the great outdoors...

After doing my first bit of "real" travelling to Barcelona, I've decided that I like travelling to cities, but I think that I would still prefer to travel to remote destinations which have more nature than city to offer.

Interesting architecture intrigues me to a certain extent, but it cannot hold my attention like that of a perfectly orchestrated mountain. In Barcelona, my favourites part by far was seeing the mountains from Mountserrat and the Meditteranean Ocean from the Castle. I couldn't care less about actually seeing the castle or the monestary on the mountain. They hold their own with historical value, but they cannot compare to the natural landscapes.

And frankly, I see nothing wrong with this. I still would love to travel anywhere and everywhere, but for the landscapes more than the cities.

Another note on this thought: natural landscapes versus religious buildings. I can totally see why they would build a monestary on top of Mountserrat - the view alone is a tremendous spritual experience, but why do most of the tourists not see it this way? Many people mill around the outdoors giving the natural landscape a respectful glance, but do not feel the spiritual connection they are looking for until they actually enter the monestary, or, the main church hall (where silence is the rule) for that matter? Basically, what I'm getting at is why do religious buildings contain religion? Why can't spirituality be contained in the outdoors, in nature? Is religion supposed to be checked at the door? If one believes in a "god" I'm sure he is not merely contained within the walls of a building.

If one is truly spiritual/religious, it shouldn't matter if one is in a building or beholding a natural wonder. If anything, the latter should hold one's faith more, for that is such that a higher power has ultimately created.