España

So I’m back from Spain. My whirlwind visit to see Sera and her new hometown of Granada started well, and ended not so. Yet I’m still glad I went. It was great to see Sera again and also to experience a relatively non-touristy part of Spain in a relatively non-touristy time of year. The rest I can only hope to learn from.

Spain is a really nice place to visit and I can see myself spending significant amounts of time there, especially if I have any ambitions of learning the language. It is a mix of a liberal relaxed lifestyle but which also harbours a slightly harder, more extreme edge. It was this second attribute that directly led to many of our problems whilst over there.

Spain is a perfect example of 24 hour drinking working. I felt this unexpected psychological weight lifted from me knowing that the bar wasn’t about to close in a frenzy of panic buying. Instead people drink one or two drinks every hour or so. You can afford to take your time and enjoy yourself. It didn’t turn into the chest beating savagery of your typical night out in the UK, it had an all together more civilised and refined feel, helped in great doses by the classiness of the Spanish girls. Not a looped earring, white mini skirt or an Essex accent in sight. Bliss.

The scenery in Granada is defiantly worth a look. It is home to the ‘Alhambra’, which is a former Islamic Palace that sits atop a mountain and overlooks its impressive domain. Inside it is breathtaking. Engravings span the walls, ceilings and floors of massive chambers and the pillar architecture in the gardens certainly was the inspiration for the Catholic age that was to follow. The Muslim Moors have been gone from these parts for over 500 years now, yet their buildings remain, paying tribute to a far more peaceful age. (The Moors lived side by side with their neighbours, a trick Catholicism has never been able to pick up).

Unfortunately it was not all smooth sailing. We found ourselves at odds with their siesta lifestyle always waking up and heading out in to a ghost town during the middle of the afternoon to find breakfast. We did few favours for Britain’s international reputation when we finally gave in and went to the only place that was open, McDonalds. Once in we found ordering incredibly difficult. Considering I am sure that a monkey could happily order a McDonalds meal this was embarrassing beyond belief. In the end we took what we could and retreated to our hotel room.

The Spanish are also a lot more intolerant of racial differences that we are in Britain, in fact it has made me realise that Britain is in many respects the most liberal place in the world. While we don’t sell Marijuana legally nor do we show hardcore porn on terrestrial television, we get pretty close and still have that unique accepting quality. We have our BNP and UKIP, but these guys are soft and cuddly compared to the European and American equivalent.

Overall. Racist underpinnings and strange opening hours aside, I think me and Spain can be friends. But I'm still not speaking to the seafood.