Have you ever travelled with someone who doesn't do any research? At all. Fun times.
I can suggest a whole collection of sights to see and things to do and if they aren't interested, they are none the wiser unitl they get there, by which time it is too late. Travel bullying.
Although to be fair, it only lasts a few a few Antoni Gaudi buildings in Barcelona before they catch on.
They allow us to see some things that we never thought we might, like how to get scammed out of €50 on the street.
Travelling with an extra person also allows us to travel in the sort of luxury that we can't afford with just two. A hire car. This avoids the hilarious but often stressful non-conversations with staff at train stations as you try and decipher if what direction you want to go, and there is no need to use those sweet pointing and sign language skills to make sure you are getting off the bus at the right stop.
But it does mean we got to see a bit more of the countryside than we would have from a window overlooking the motorway (and boy do the Spainiards love their EU funded motorways).
And I was surprised at the revalation of how much more imporatance I place on learning how to order a coffee, ham and cheese sandwiches and a beer for Bretty.
So after a complaining time in Barcelona, Tapas in the Pyrenees, partying in Pamplona, a pub crawl, chocolate churrios and a quick run down on how to say "coffee with milk" in Madrid, we left our slightly more prepared companion alone in Spain. I think he's still there.
I can suggest a whole collection of sights to see and things to do and if they aren't interested, they are none the wiser unitl they get there, by which time it is too late. Travel bullying.
Although to be fair, it only lasts a few a few Antoni Gaudi buildings in Barcelona before they catch on.
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| Gaudi's Sagrada Familia |
They allow us to see some things that we never thought we might, like how to get scammed out of €50 on the street.
Travelling with an extra person also allows us to travel in the sort of luxury that we can't afford with just two. A hire car. This avoids the hilarious but often stressful non-conversations with staff at train stations as you try and decipher if what direction you want to go, and there is no need to use those sweet pointing and sign language skills to make sure you are getting off the bus at the right stop.
But it does mean we got to see a bit more of the countryside than we would have from a window overlooking the motorway (and boy do the Spainiards love their EU funded motorways).
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| On the road from Jaca to Pamplona |
It also made me realise how much of a nana I am, going to bed at 11pm in order to get enough beauty sleep before the 5.15am wakeup call to catch the Running of the Bulls. Not to mention the cautious decision to watch from the sideline, rather than underneath the hooves, after a night on Don Simon's startling red wine drunk straight from the €1 litre carton and much yelling with locals over thumping music.
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| Oh Don Simon |
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| Stink to be a Georgian Reuters reporter about now |
(As jaded as we were, we weren't feeling half as sorry for ourselves and the guy in the jersey - A Reuters reporter from Georgia who had fallen asleep, waking up to find his ideal shot had been crowded in by the spectators awake an hour earlier)
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| Bull run survivors getting a second chance at death |
And I was surprised at the revalation of how much more imporatance I place on learning how to order a coffee, ham and cheese sandwiches and a beer for Bretty.
"Hola
Uno cafe con leche, uno cerveza y dos bocadillo de queso y jamon, por favor.
Ummm... Ci?
No I will not pay twice as much to sit outside. Gracias."
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| Museum of Ham. You are great. |
So after a complaining time in Barcelona, Tapas in the Pyrenees, partying in Pamplona, a pub crawl, chocolate churrios and a quick run down on how to say "coffee with milk" in Madrid, we left our slightly more prepared companion alone in Spain. I think he's still there.
