A short update on what I did with my day off. As most students around the world headed to their Wednesday classes, I partook in a slightly different adventure. A general strike (the first in eight years) had all major modes of transportation(Metro, flights, etc.) shut down throughout Barcelona, as well as many other major European cities, yesterday. No one was really clear about how this strike would manifest itself, but we knew there was going to be a protest in the Plaza Catalunya. Interested, and with time to spare, Matt, Kevin, and I decided to run the 5km (~3mi) from our apartment to Plaza Catalunya. There we met our friend Cassie and walked through the crowds of protestors. At some point in the middle of the afternoon the (rather large) protest got interesting (read: violent). This prompted the city's riot police to create a barricade around the bank in Plaza Catalunya. From there, the protestors got a tid-bit worked up. They were singing protest songs (none of which I could quite make out) and alternated between peaceful protest and hurling glass bottles at the riot police. Nearly every trash can within a 1 mile radius of the Plaza Catalunya was dumped into the street/used as a blockade to shut roads down/ set on fire.
As the afternoon went on, things got more serious. Empty bottles turned to Molotov cocktails and a police car was burned to the ground. I had an interesting conversation with a local protestor about my perspective on the situation as an American. Needless to say, it was a new experience.
Heres some video: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11439079
So, what did you do with YOUR Wednesday?
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