This and That, Spain

Here is a random list of things that I have noticed about Spain, particularly with reference to the differences with Portugal.

Olive oil. Used in everything, on everything, to the exclusion of anything else. It's used as we would use salt, honestly, drizzled over the top of your food. This has been the same across Iberia. I even got a small bottle of the stuff included in my train lunch!


Smoking, as in Portugal, is extremely common, and is still extremely disgusting. Nothing ruins an enjoyable meal as the overhanging filth of cigarette smoke (they still allow smoking in public buildings, by the way).

Sidewalks in Portugal were those awesome black and white stone patterns I posted about in September. In Spain, sadly, not so much detail goes into the streets. Most sidewalks use this sort of tiling.


Crosses are all over the place. Made of marble, stone, iron, sandstone, whatever material, they can be found at the coastline, in parks, near churches, in shrines.... everywhere.


Clothing: More than any place I have ever been, women here dress. I am talking high heels, short, short skirts, purses that exactly match the color of their shoes, etc.... It's unbelievable. I think that the women here put more thought and care into their appearance in ONE day as I put into my appearance in a week!

Ham is perhaps the national bird, flower and language. Ham everywhere. In fact, in Madrid, there is a chain of stores devoted just to ham. It is called Museo de Jamon-- Ham Museum. It's amazing. The ham is really a form of proscuito, but it is softer and not as salty. They make sandwiches and small tapas in addition to the purchase of meat to take home. Fun fact from my kind host here in Sevilla: The best ham comes from pigs raised on an acorn diet! YOu can recognize it by small white flecks that appear in the meat.


Greetings suit me better here than in Portugal. In Portugal it is polite to greet people with a complete "Good morning," or "Good afternoon," etc. However, here everyone uses the familiar form Hola--essentially translating to "Hi." I like that. It's less restrictive.

Daily schedules here are just like those of Portugal. During the week, people rise at the usual time for work, then leave work around 2:30 to come home to make lunch, usually having about 2 hours for lunch in the afternoon. The work day ends between 6 and 7, eating dinner between 9 and 11, and generally going to bed after midnight. On the weekends, you can find folks staying up till 3, 5 or even 7 in the morning, and sleeping in until 1 in the afternoon. Unebelievable schedule.

Muslim art makes it's way into home furnishings and architecture. Of course, the further south you go in Spain, the more prevalent this becomes. It's not uncommon to find arched doorways, intricate detailing on walls, and beautiful tiling everywhere. This is the lounge area of my last hostel.


Pastry: While the Spanish aren't quite the sweet-loving people the Portuguese were, they do have some delicious treats here. While most Portuguese pastries were made with a thick custard made of egg yolk and cream, the main ingredient in treats here is almond paste. One example is these small rolls I am holding. They are a thin almond cake rolled and filled with different creams in the middle.


Fresh bread must be eaten with every meal. Really. My fabulous hosts in Pamplona even told me this. A meal wouldn't be complete without bread. So, every day at lunch time you can see the streets filled with people coming home with a fresh loaf of bread. It is wrapped lightly with a piece of parchment, and carried straight to the table.


Stray cats are everywhere. This has been true throughout my trip in Iberia. In Madrid there was a public park filled with them, in A Coruña they lived under the rocks near the ocean, and they live in any other abandoned corner they can find. The nice thing, though, is that there are always kind folks who leave them food. Across Iberia, I have seen many cats gathered around a tray of cat food in the middle of nowhere.




Ice cream is a popular treat, especially the type we can get from ice cream trucks back home. Here, though, they are sold in most corner stores, who advertise their wares with these signs out front.


Drying clothes across Iberia is done by air dying. In Portugal they had convenient clothes lines outside their windows, but here in Spain they have cool folding dry racks. Every home has atleast one with a steady stream of drying clothes on it. Way to save energy!

Fried food is really common across Iberia. Although what gets fried changes by region, frying is a popular way of cooking. In one supermarket I even found this bin of frozen food that you scoop and buy by the kilo to fry at home. This was particularly amusing to me, as so many of my European students complained about our unhealthy food in Boston. I realize now that what we eat isn't so different, but rather how much.


Water fountains are really common to find across most cities. They serve many purposes--drinking for humans and dogs, hand washing, and I even saw one guy rinsing paintbrushes with it right there in the street. They look like this. You have to crane your neck upside down to have a drink.


Soccer is the national food, I think. Every Spanish guy I have met so far has a team they follow, and atleast one of these scarves. Every team has a set color; a new scarf is designed for each year and any new big games.


Forgive the morbidity, but there is an appreciation for the dead here. The graveyards are lovingly taken care of by family, most graves maintaining fresh flowers every week. Once I even saw a woman lovongly washing the granite slab marking a loved ones memory. This is true year round, but also particularly on All Saints Day (Nov. 1).


Stripes are really popluar, which is good for me since I love them. But in any open-air market, it is not uncommon to find a whole booth like this devoted to stripes.