CS Get-Together- Barcelona, Spain 26-28 September, 2008 ( This Event is Past) (709)

Somehow that left a bad taste in my mouth. Got a fresh mint?

best sincerely...
you neednt believe it for it to be true

Another reccomended read:

The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones

"The recent translation from Spanish into Portuguese of La Catedral del Mar, by Ildefonso Falcones, a Catalonian lawyer in his first venture in the literary world, has been well received here in Rio de Janeiro, and it became the topic for my November book club's discussion.

The book is set in Catalonia in the 14th c. and has as its subject the building of the Gothic Cathedral mentioned in the title. It also relates the importance of this building to Barcelona and how society, from noble to serfs, was affected by the construction of the church. In the meanwhile we are given what I would call one of the best series of history lectures describing life in the middle ages. To give a solid structure to the text we follow the life of Arnau Estanyol who was born a serf and ended a baron. In this manner we can understand the daily duties of serfs, free men, to merchants and money lenders. We see the beginning of the Church's Inquisition, the life in the Juderia [ Jewish neighborhood], the life and concerns of religious men, of free men, the way a mercantile city worked and the rights and obligations both of nobles and free citizens. Prejudices and values of all social layers are brought to the foreground.

And yet, despite so much information, this is an interesting, fast-paced and easy to read book with only a couple of passages that could have been more succinct. I am referring here to a few explanatory dialogs that were chosen in a clear attempt to give the reader the necessary information about the era and its manners. This is no way diminshes the pleasure of reading this novel, which was a true best seller in Spain, and responsible for the appearance of new tour routes covering Barcelona and the Catalonian areas mentioned in the book.

The real surprise was to discover how different Barcelona was in relation to its companion merchant sea ports, with a large population of free men.
Surprising also is the depth of knowledge demonstrated by Mr. Falcones, and his ability to carry through this almost 600 page novel, with such diverse topics.

I'll gladly wait for Mr. Falcones' next novel. And I know that millions of other people will also have great expectations for his next work. "


From Amazon

You've been reported.....

i had a feeling that as the time of the event closed in all the more people would get interested

we are going to have fuuuuuuuuuun

she will be

yeah...she will come on her magic broom haha

hey, one of your emoticons is walking away with the beer !!!

And this one is bringing it back again...