Wednesday, April 23, 2008

23rd April. Saint George - Aragon Day.

Today´s is Aragon´s day. A perfect day to guide you in a virtual http://www.caiaragon.com/en/visitas/index2.asp?pProv=4&pVisita=24 visit to the origins of the Aragon´s Kindgom. The monastery of San Juan de la Peña http://www.monasteriosanjuan.com/monasterio-san-juan-de-la-pena.php?L=enwhich is located below an enormous rock. The whole area is a natural park in the beautiful pre-Pyrenees mountains...and just 1.5 h from zaragoza by car. The most interesting is the marvellous Romanesque Cloister (in the Old Monastery, from the X century) but you shouldn't miss the summer pic-nic in the forest at the top of the mountain, nearby the new monastery (XVII century) where you can sleep. http://www.inturmark.es/index.htm Pd. if you are around Zaragoza, watch out, concerts, soirées and open-air performances are waiting for you. Besides, the public institutions in Aragon hold an open-day, providing an ideal opportunity for people to visit the Pignatelli building (the Government of Aragón), the Aragon Parliament in the Aljaferia Palace, etc.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

UAE...the power of petrol

Imagine a country with virtually no fresh water....traditionally that wouldn't be the paradise for human development..., however with massive construction projects and rising population United Arab Emirates http://uaeinteract.com/ (UAE) proves that oil revenues and entrepreneurship together are able to achieve the unimaginable....with desalination plants providing most of the water...even to ski. UAE 500 square metres pavilion at Expo Zaragoza 2008 will sell and promote the UAE highlighting contributions in the protection of the natural, wildlife and marine environment. A number of films will show how closely the UAE's progress is tied to the supply and management of freshwater. The documentaries were made by famous freelance wildlife filmmaker and documentary cameraman Doug Allan http://www.dougallan.com/ According to Deputy Chairman of NMC and Head of the UAE pavilion supervising committee Salim Saeed Al Ameri the first objective of the UAE Pavilion is to provide visitors with a window through which they can see and learn about the Emirates, a secondary mission is to convey the UAE's very committed approaches to solving its needs for fresh water in a sustainable way. Priorities are priorities, I would say... Till we have the opportunity to watch the videos they will show at the UAE pavilion at the Expo, I leave you with 2 videos from this amazing country, one 14 minutes documentary that provides you an overview into the environmental & social situation in the UAE http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=6_RNoxO-5ms and a 2nd one, a cool add promoting the UAE in around 1 minute. http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWhP-Ch2AU&feature=related Pd. The photo is from Dubai ski resort http://www.skidubai.com/ ...which btw is quite environmentally friendly as they "recycle" the snow they produce using it both for air conditioning and for irrigation purposes...maybe to irrigate the palms nearby too...