Spain - some interesting observations and talking points

I have since re-branded My Camino Adventure, to My Tour of Small Towns of Spain following the Camino Frances.  I am adapting to catching buses, cabs and trains, and am practicing my Spanish with the locals, who, like most native speakers in their country, both appreciate the attempts, but delight in the misuse of their language!

Life in Spain is a little different to back home.  For a start, everything starts later.  We are staying in hotels,  so our breakfasts are a little earlier than traditional Spanish breakfasts, which begin around 10am - which is when all of the cafes and shops open in the towns.  They stay open until about 2pm and then close for 2-3 hours and reopen at 5pm, usually with only drinks and pinchos - pre-made delicacies served on bread.  Dinner services start around 8pm, so you can always tell the businesses that serve tourists as their kitchens open at about 6.30/7.00pm.

The Spanish culture appears to be based around community, with beautiful squares that cities and towns are built around.  The squares are surrounded by cafes, bars and restaurants, the kids play in the square while mum and dad enjoy a drink and food, and they are a bustling hive of activity.  This is where I find myself most days after I’ve travelled to my next destination, and it’s an excellent place to people-watch as I wait for my room to be ready.

Public toilets are not a big feature in every town.  The larger places (Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos) have all had readily available public services.  But the smaller towns do not, which means that you are usually obliged to buy something from the local eateries to use their toilets.  On the other hand, water fountains are found freely around the city, and they are accessed by tourists and locals alike.  The irony is not lost that there is plenty of free water with no easy access to loos!

The cities have narrow streets that allows small cars and delivery vans right into the heart of the squares, which are all shared zones with pedestrians.  Drivers here are much more patient, and will give just a light toot on the horn to get walkers to move aside, and pedestrians are pretty good at moving over.  It is something to see with the courtesy and respect shown - something that I can’t imagine seeing in Australia.  

The same can be said for cyclists.  Some of the roads between towns just barely have room for two cars to pass.  The bus drivers will wait patiently behind cyclists riding two abreast until they can clearly see it is safe to move to the other side of the road to pass, there are no horns involved and no anger from the drivers.  It really is something to see.

Speed bumps are merely a suggestion here - I’ve seen drivers barely slow down to approach them, and speed limits are also really only a suggestion on the highway - but if you are in the towns, you will be pinged if you speed, as the streets are so narrow you need to be able to correct quickly if there is pedestrian around a corner or a truck coming the other way.  In some towns, I’ve seen cars have to back 200m back down a street as the bus is as wide as the street and there is only about 20cm each side of the bus to buildings, which come right down to the edge of the street.

The Spanish people are so friendly - they all want to help (even if they have no English), and I love that when I speak haltingly in Spanish, they speak quickly back with the expectation that I understand everything they say!!!  At our hotel in Carrion de Los Condes, our host had no English and I had to order a cab for the first time.  Cue “Yo necesito tomar un taxi manaña” “ah si, a que hora” “a los diez por favor” and then there was a string of questions where I looked confused until he said “Donde?” and I could answer my destination.  

The food here is absolutely amazing, and while you can get relatively Western fare (burgers fries etc), they all come with a Spanish twist.  I particularly loved Burgos, as the food there was next level.  Pulpo (octopus), seafood pizza, marinara ensalada, bocadillos (subs with tuna and anchovies), and the pinchos - oh my.  One of them was a salmon mousse topped with squid tentacles and prawns - it was just the most amazing burst of flavour.  However if you’re after fresh vegetables, they are few and far between.  Most dinners come with fries or peppers, we have only had broccoli, carrot or cauliflower once so far, but it tasted fantastic after so much bread with every meal.  

Even breakfast is very different to home (god I miss Vegemite).  Lots of sweet options - croissants, pan au chocolate, cakes, heavy breads with butter and jam.  Then the savoury options - cheese, ham, turkey, salami, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs.  Occasionally cereal, and always coffee and orange juice.  It’s quite a spread each day to choose from.

There is a real distinction between supermarkets, convenience stores and food stores.  You won’t find many supermarkets with pre-made sandwiches or rolls, or cold drinks.  If you want food or drinks like that, you go to a cafe or bar.  Convenience stores will have a small store of cold drinks, usually not the whole range they stock, and let me tell you, Coca-Cola has an absolute monopoly in this country.  I am yet to find a cold bottle of Pepsi Max anywhere in this country.  I have to buy it hot at the supermarket and hope that the next hotel has a fridge to get it cold.  So far I think I am about 4/18 on fridges in hotels, so it’s not good odds!

Tomorrow we head into the big smoke - Leon (that’s Lion in English), where I have a rest day which coincides with my beloved Brisbane Lions playing in the AFL Grand Final at 6.30am local time.  I’ve scouted out some librerías (book stores) that have an English language section, so I can stock up on a couple of books for the beach in just over a fortnight.  I’ve been doing some work for my mental health, mainly some meditations, getting a sleep routine in play (thanks Auntie Liz for the suggestion), and some positive thought affirmations, and gratitude work to build some resilience when it all goes pear-shaped.  And I’ve been doing all I can to try to rehab this foot of mine, but it is proving stubborn.

Until next time, enjoy just a small selection of pretty things I’ve seen or eaten over the last couple of weeks.