The Plane in Spain

• September 23
• September 24
• September 25
• September 26
• September 27
• September 28
• September 29
• September 30
• October 1
• October 2
• October 3
• October 4

October 4

So we're all packed and ready to go. The worst part of a vacation for me is getting ready to go home, especially if you've had a great time. I haven't really thought a lot about home since getting here. We watched CNN a couple of times, and it sounded like bad things are happening there. So I'm not in a big hurry to rush right back. I'm watching Ron shave, and he is so much more meticulous about it than I am. Maybe that's the secret of his terminal cuteness.

I've really enjoyed our stay in Sitges. Cats, did I mention cats on the beach and in a couple of doorways? It reminded me of the fierce watchcats that we saw guarding cafes when we were in Amsterdam. I am in love with the feel of this place. It's white, sunny, warm, and absolutely beautiful. I feel a little guilty about not bringing back more souvenirs. I made two purchases of goods: a clock and a scarf. I bought two books, and that was about it. But took nearly a thousand pictures. Many of them are repetitious, but I think some of them are going to be pretty stunning. I read a book on travel photography before we left. I'm hoping that I actually learned from its techniques.

I promised some travel tips. First, take the camera. If you're only going to be in a place once, take a picture. The EXIF information is very useful for date, time, and other information. Coupled with the journal like this, it helps identify photos, and the photos add a lot of color to the journal.

So I guess that number two is to keep a travel journal. It's not difficult. I usually wrote at the end of the day, or when I was on the train, or just waiting for the boys. I always kept it in a convenient place.

Tip #3, if you have a limited amount of time to see things, cram as much in as you can. My philosophy is, I may never be this way again, so I want memories. The tours of Seville and Granada are very good and even necessary. You can plan your own way around Madrid and Barcelona, although both cities have many tours that can be arranged through a travel agent or your hotel.

Tip #4, if you get a chance, you must see the Cathedral/Mosque in Cordoba and the Alhambra in Granada. They are outstanding. They are also overrun with tourists, so you'll want to cultivate your best of Zen-like state.

We just made it to the Airport. Perhaps you should cultivate a Zen-like state on your trip to the Airport, too. We caught an early commuter train from Sitges. It was packed, so we stood in the passageway at the end of the car. The train stopped in Garraf for twenty inexplicable minutes. Nobody seemed to mind for the first 18 minutes. There was a guy standing at the door who kept waving at arriving passengers. He was some kind of a local chick magnet. I wonder what kind of cologne he uses. He collected three women before the train closed its doors and departed.

We arrived at El Prat de Llobregat, the transfer station to the Airport. The Airport train, departing at 9:09, arrived in El Prat de Llobregat at 9:22. put the Zen back into international travel.

Check in at Barcelona was fairly straightforward. We got to the gate quickly. Just a note, we went through two security checkpoints, and the boarding checkpoint was extremely thorough. Let's just say that people's belongings were being completely deconstructed, and the officers during the deconstruction had guns. They were being extremely intimidating with passengers who had packed gels or liquids in their carry on. I struck up a conversation with a young woman in the boarding line. She's originally from Colombia, but has lived in New York City for the past five years. She was here in Spain visiting her brother who lives in a town outside Barcelona.

Tip #5, tipping is pretty haphazard in Spain. Servers don't generally expect it, but are always happy to get one. We tipped around 10%. So you don't need to do it, but it's nice to do.

Tip #6, you always have to ask for the check. Relax. Expect the check to come eventually. "La cuenta, por favor." That's all there is to it. Count on one and a half hours for lunch and up to three hours for dinner. Lunch is usually after 1:30 p.m., and dinner is never before 8:30 p.m.. We ate as late as 10. Expect to get to bed after midnight. Even on early nights.

Tip #7, we got along okay with our lack of language understanding, and in fact, we got pretty good at reading signs and deciphering menus, but if you're going to Spain, take a course in conversational Spanish. It should add to the enjoyment of your trip. Many times we were in situations where the people we were talking to did not know English. You actually make by a pretty well, but having a working vocabulary of several hundred words will probably give you more confidence.

In a few restaurants we were offered in English menus. This strategy has its own problems, because the server most likely knows only enough English to greet you and seat you. He or she may not actually understand the English menu (and you may not understand it either). This happened to us a couple of times, and was quite humorous. We weren't always sure what we were getting, but ended up eating some marvelous food. In the end, we decided to opt for the Spanish and Catalan menus, and then guess. It really does make the vacation more of an adventure.

On occasion, we went to "foreign" restaurants, Indian, Chinese, and Italian. This was also fun because we could experience the Spanish transformation of that cuisine, and indeed it is markedly different from eating those cuisines in the United States.

So the lowdown on language is this: learn as much as you can before you go, but by no means feel intimidated. Treat it as part of the adventure, and keep smiling. Words you should know: greetings, numbers, time, money, food, common transportation terms, café or restaurants talk. You don't need a lot. "Hola," "Por favor," and "Gracias" always kept the conversation cheerful. Ron I did fine with our tortured high school Spanish. Just another weird happening, Spain appears to be overrun with German tourists (we really didn't see many Americans). Although German is pretty incomprehensible to my ears, it sounds a lot like English, not only to me, but evidently to the Spanish as well. Of course, maybe (and this is a hypothesis) everyone's second language in Europe is English, so it's a good default if a person doesn't speak Spanish or Catalan. In fact, most people thought we were from the UK Hmmm (not necessarily a good thing).

Tip #8, I didn't start reading my many guidebooks (I had five, plus two Spanish language guides) Until somewhere over the mid-Atlantic. That's better than not reading them at all, but I should've been more disciplined about it. We used (mainly) Lonely Planet guides, and they're very good. We got a guide for Spain and "Things to See" in Madrid and Barcelona. We pretty much hit the high points. The only a big item we missed of what we really wanted to see was El Escorial, and that will have to wait for future trip.

So when I get home, I'm going to crack the guides again, and begin planning my next trip. In addition to the guide books, I highly recommend having a travel agent. We had some very specific requests for our trip that would've been difficult for us to do on our own. We worked with an agent, told him what we wanted, then refined our trip. He was very helpful in making recommendations, and was willing to do as much or as little as we wanted. We had him make a most of our reservations, including two tours, and we were very pleased. Working with an agent, especially our first trip, freed us from a lot of details and helped our Zen-like personalities emerge.

Tip #9, decompress before returning to the States. I love America, but I didn't want the vacation to just "end." Staying over in Sitges, spending time on the beach, having nothing to do was wonderful.

Tip #10, Be a good sport, remember to smile, to greet people, to thank, and say excuse me. Remember cultural differences. Don't get offended. Zen out. Treat your travel companions with respect and love.

Tip #11, watch your pockets. We had about $200.00 snatched, and it was done so well we didn't notice until well after the fact. If it happens, just let it go and realize you're helping the local economy. We could have let it ruin our vacation, but, instead, we became a little more savvy. By the end of the trip, we had a lot of jokes about it.

Well, that's about it. We're about 2/3 across the Atlantic. In time, Spain will be just a memory except for this travel journal and the thousand photos. Omigod, I don't know how I'll ever process them, but I will because they're all memories. This journal has been a lot of fun. Even now, this trip has a happy unreality about it. But I can always tell people to check out my website.