I have long wanted to visit Europe, I love history, old buildings, long gone crafts, stories and traditions however I have a husband who has an aversion to flying. Late last year I sensed a weakening of his resolve to travel too far so I seized the opportunity and asked him where in Europe he would like to go if he had the chance. France, Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Greece maybe?
| To my surprise he very quickly responded “Spain”. Needless to say I was at the travel agent within the hour! And then I got to thinking, wouldn’t it be cool if I learnt to speak some Spanish before we went? So the next stop was VLLC and the delightful Mali and Vivian. I didn’t have time to complete the Cert II before we left, however, I did get a fair way in and we covered a lot of relevant subjects. And I must say, I surprised myself, when after landing in sunny Barcelona after a long 30 hours in transit, I immediately struck up a conversation with the taxi driver…in Spanish…and he didn’t laugh at me! Confidence riding high, I went on to order all of our meals and drinks in Spanish, ask directions, shopped and purchased tickets all without incident for the rest of our trip. Yes, I got some things wrong sometimes…damn conjugations…but at least I tried, and bless the Spanish, they seemed to appreciate the effort. |  |
 | There really is a special feeling that you get when you are at a stall in La Boqueria in Barcelona ordering various fruits like a local, or asking a local where the nearest bus stop is without having to ask if they speak English first. Or, as happened to us in Madrid, assisting an American family in ordering their dinner at a restaurant where the waitress spoke no English and the family in question spoke no Spanish. It was 42 degrees and the family had just arrived from the States and they were tired, hungry and very hot and could not get the waitress to understand them. The father was getting quite stressed so I went over to them and asked if I could help. They relayed what they wanted to me, chicken on this, no meat on this, cheese with this, beer, coca cola etc. I, in turn, passed the order on to the waitress, clarified a few things with both parties and all out war was averted! I even had to visit a local hospital in San Sebastian and managed to convey to a doctor who spoke very little English what was wrong. An hour later, medication in hand and all was well! |
| Spain is a wonderful country. It exceeded my expectations and we barely scratched the surface. I can’t wait to get back there and see some more. I loved wandering the cobbled laneways of the Gothic and Jewish quarters in Barcelona and stumbling on sitar players strumming in the shade of the Cathedral, the quirky eccentricities of Gaudi and the fascinating story behind his buildings, the grand buildings in Madrid and falling asleep under a tree in the most beautiful park on a 43 degree day, the Alcazar, the flamenco and the relentless heat in Seville, wonderful, traditional Toledo, crazy, crazy Pamplona (did I mention how crazy it was) and the San Fermin festival and of course the beautiful beaches and fabulous food of San Sebastian…and don’t get me started on how good the sangria was! |  |
But one thing I will say, knowing even a little of the language enhanced my trip in more ways that I ever thought it would.
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