Borrowed those above terms from  Laura Viarengo .  Barcelona: Is next to Madrid as the second largest city in Spain, with 1.6 million within the city limits and a metro area of 4.8 million. Founded as a Roman city around the time of Jesus Christ. Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille were married in 1469.  It was not a love-match, but a highly choreographed political union that united Spain.  They commissioned  Christopher Columbus for his voyage to discover America . Of course,  Asians entering North American nearly 16,000 years ago  formed Indigenous Americans. Further, in 1405 Chinese Muslim eunuch Zheng He launched the first of seven voyags west from China across the Indian Ocean, and over the next 30 years commanded the world's largest fleet funded by the Ming Emperor.   He discovered America in 1421 .  His ships were gigantic compared to that of Columbus. Hosted the 1992 Summer Olympics. Barcelona is the UNESCO-UIA World Capital of Architecture from 2024-2026. 

  First, this is a big day for celebrations: Columbus Day. Still a federal holiday in the USA and many countries of the Americas. Italian Christopher Columbus  representing Spain arrived in the Bahamas on October 12, 1492 after a journey of 3 months.   This was a surprise, for they were expecting to find a way to cross the Atlantic Ocean to Asia.   However, America was named after Italian  Amerigo Vespucci  ( right ) on his second journey across the Atlantic in 1501, for Portugal, because he was the first to indicate that he found a New World. The other controversy is that many today feel that Columbus was responsible for lands to be taken away from the Indians.  Thus, there seems to be sentiment for this day to be called something like  Indigenous Peoples Day . The third controversy is that the first European to visit North America was Leif Erickson, around the year 1000, almost 500 years before Columbus.  Congress in 1969 did designate October 9 as Leif Erickson Day, but efforts to m

The numbers keep changing, but the Senate today approved the $740 billion economic package .  I've never seen Chuck Schumer looking so ebullient.  Next, the House, where the vote will occur on Friday, as they are in recess.  Next, President Joe Biden.  The odds are about as close to 100% as you can get.  You can read the whole thing.  Only 755 pages now. This weekend I watched two new films, in the comfort of my home, for free.  I was attracted to  Uncharted  because  Rotten Tomatoes  reviewers gave it a miserable 40% rating, but audiences scored it a 90%.  The audience is almost always right. The premise is enticing:  search for Magellan's gold, which has been missing for 500 years.   Americans all learned about him as the first to circumnavigate the world, a Spanish expedition mostly funded by 18-year old King Charles 1 of Spain ( who was broke, so the Fugger Family from Germany came up with the resources )  led by a Portuguese explorer, Magellan.   Can you believe that the f