#4438659 - 09/13/18 09:28 AM
Spain
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Bill_Grant
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Dallas, TX
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Traveling in Spain with Wife and friends. Just now leaving from Madrid via high speed rail headed to Seville Madrid is very urban. Most people walk, cab or scooter. Did not see a single Ford F-350 Dually! Not a World traveler, but have to say on average that I am experiencing a high level of rudeness. Mind you, I can't speak Spanish. But my Wife does. Madridians go from 0-100 if you speak in English. Guess most English speaking people are A-holes or something. It was funny because a young lady in a beer kiosk asked me nicely what cerveza I wanted, and I responded in English. Bing! Instant #%&*$#. Hmm. Got my beer, euos tossed at me, then she sweetly responds to a Spanish speaking male. Mmmkay. As Panzer likes to hear me say, I am fixing to get ugly. But that said, the architecture, parks, small shops are so much fun to experience. Had a great time. Now on to the Coast!
~Bill
In my defense, I was left unsupervised...
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#4438677 - 09/13/18 11:11 AM
Re: Spain
[Re: Alicatt]
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 121,500
PanzerMeyer
Pro-Consul of Florida
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Pro-Consul of Florida
King Crimson - SimHQ's Top Poster
Joined: Apr 2001
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Miami, FL USA
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I remember visiting Madrid in August 1966, my abiding memory was that my fathers car, a Vauxhall Velox, was too wide for the streets as we had one set of wheels on one pavement and the other side was on the other pavement, we were just passing through though and not stopping. Back then once we were out into the countryside it was like taking a step back in time That was also back when Franco was in power so I'm sure the overall atmosphere was very different!
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
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#4438685 - 09/13/18 11:27 AM
Re: Spain
[Re: PanzerMeyer]
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Alicatt
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Ice Cold in Alex or Eating in ...
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That was also back when Franco was in power so I'm sure the overall atmosphere was very different!
Funny that, that was just going through my mind as I was typing the above. Not been back to Spain proper but we were in Catalonia last summer and it was great, people were very friendly and quite helpful, there was some talk of independence for the Catalans and independence for Scotland when they found out I was Scottish Back in '66 it was a lot more uptight and the police were everywhere with submachineguns, hang even the local postman had a rifle strapped to the crossbar of his pushbike. On the beaches the pretty young Spanish ladies had a chaperone walking about 5 paces behind them
Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil Sons of the hound come here and get flesh Clan Cameron
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#4438703 - 09/13/18 01:23 PM
Re: Spain
[Re: Bill_Grant]
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Joined: Apr 2001
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bones
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Earth
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Bill,
If you were in Catalonia, I'm sure the atmosphere would be way different. I've been to Madrid, and also Barcelona, and between the two, people in Barca are way nicer and more laid back. In Madrid, even though I was speaking Spanish to them, they were impatient with me because I speak Mexican Spanish more than Spaniard Spanish. Besides the Prado Museum there, I didn't really find much else appealing in Madrid except the palace where I saw in the great room a map of all the countries conquered by Spain, and noted, yup, there's the Philippines.
I may be a bit biased because although I am primarily Filipino, my Spanish roots go back to my family coming from Barcelona back in the 1700s. But you know, even in Sevilla, people were nice and I found it way more interesting than Madrid. About the only thing I liked in Madrid were the Flamenco shows. If you can go out into the country, say Jumilla or to smaller coastal areas such as Santander, Santillana del Mar, or Bilbao, you will see that people are nice there too. Madrid is a bit stuffy--not everyone is--but overall. Of course on one day I was wearing my FC Barcelona jersey there so they didn't like that but hey, Catalonia, baby...!
I think alot of the attitude also is that unfortunately enough Americans go to countries in Europe with a "USA! USA!" and "We saved your butts twice from the Germans" attitude that Europeans are tired of that form of snootiness.Not all Americans do, but like I said, enough of them do to cause a bit of disdain. I asked a Belgian friend about that once and they said that yes, it is true the Americans helped liberate them in WWII, but "We have to be reminded of it all the time!"
So, the best thing you can do to be an ambassador of sorts to those countries is to be very polite and humbling so they can see that not all Americans are like that.
v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
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#4438716 - 09/13/18 02:54 PM
Re: Spain
[Re: Bill_Grant]
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Joined: Apr 2006
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BD-123
Old Scroat
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Old Scroat
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Naunton Beauchamp Worcestershi...
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Went to Madrid in 1969, the people though very correct in their politeness couldn't have been nicer to this long hair that I was then, asking this total stranger back for meals just to have some English language practice. Not so the Guardia who roled me for a few thousand pesatas for public indecency, (snogging on a beach) I think perhaps the subsequent crass behaviour of Brit tourists have soured the populace to foreigners.
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#4438732 - 09/13/18 04:16 PM
Re: Spain
[Re: PanzerMeyer]
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Joined: May 2010
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Alicatt
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Well to add to your vocabulary then you could have a lumber to go with your snog, can't find it in the dictionary though but it is used in the Glasgow region as in "Hey mister, gie uz a lumber" or in English "I say Sir, could you be so kind as to give me a good time" Ah found it: http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sndns2445 (with examples)
Chlanna nan con thigibh a so's gheibh sibh feoil Sons of the hound come here and get flesh Clan Cameron
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#4438743 - 09/13/18 04:36 PM
Re: Spain
[Re: Bill_Grant]
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Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 24,083
oldgrognard
Administrator
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Administrator
Lifer
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USA
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I will vouch that Bill is by nature a happy fellow. Easy going and well tempered. But don’t misread that as not capable.
Excellent man.
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
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#4438791 - 09/13/18 07:33 PM
Re: Spain
[Re: PanzerMeyer]
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Joined: Apr 2001
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bones
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Excellent post and advice Bones. Thanks! Bill if you are still in Sevilla and I remember to look for it, there is a restaurant there where a scene from the opera Carmen comes from. It's got great food and a pretty terrace too. I'll see if I can dig it up later today. And those trains to Sevilla and Barcelona from Madrid are sooooo fast. I rememebr being uneasy on one because we were on it a week or two after one of them derailed near Madrid. v6, boNes
"Also, I would prefer a back seater over the extra gas any day. I would have 80 pounds of flesh to eat and a pair of glasses to start a fire." --F/A-18 Hornet pilot
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#4438824 - 09/13/18 09:40 PM
Re: Spain
[Re: letterboy1]
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Joined: Mar 2011
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cichlidfan
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Woodbridge, VA, USA
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Well, I never been to Spain. But I kinda like the music.
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#4438846 - 09/13/18 10:51 PM
Re: Spain
[Re: Bill_Grant]
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Joined: Mar 2011
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cichlidfan
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Woodbridge, VA, USA
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Old people quoting Three Dog Night. Life is good.
ASUS ROG Maximus VIII Hero, i7-6700K, Noctua NH-D14 Cooler, Crucial 32GB DDR4 2133, Samsung 950 Pro NVMe 256GB, Samsung EVO 250GB & 500GB SSD, 2TB Caviar Black, Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme 8GB, Corsair HX1000i, Phillips BDM4065UC 40" 4k monitor, VX2258 TouchScreen, TIR 5 w/ProClip, TM Warthog, VKB Gladiator Pro, Saitek X56, et. al., MFG Crosswind Pedals #1199, VolairSim Pit, Rift CV1
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