Ten things We Loved About Spain

Things we Loved about Spain (our joint list in no specific order)

1. The way that the Spanish socialize in restaurants and plazas late in the evenings rather than stay home for dinner and television.
2. Cleanliness- other than graffiti, everything was clean. The streets, the bathrooms, the buildings were for the most part, clean everywhere we went.
3. Openness to us- The Spanish were generally friendly and receptive to our attempts to use their language and understand their country.
4. The weather was outstanding except for one or two days of rain and a few days that were way too hot and humid. In between it was sunny and beautiful every day.
5. It was relatively inexpensive- not as easy on the pocket as Portugal and our 50 cent cups of coffee, but not as expensive as home or as we expect in France and Switzerland. We found the 50 Euro per night rooms perfectly acceptable and found absolutely no relationship between price paid and effectiveness of air conditioning.
6. Coffee. We loved coffee con leche in the morning and espressos several times a day afterwards. We loved the same coffee with the lower price tag in Portugal more, but this is a habit that will be hard to give up and expensive to keep.
7. Walled cities are our favorite place to visit. We like the smaller size of these towns (usually less than 50,000 people) and the charm of the historical buildings restored for usage in the present.
8. Spanish trains were by and large better than we expected. We were surprised to find the requirement to purchase reservations for almost every trip on top of the pass we bought before the trip, but nevertheless, the trains were comfortable and got us where we were going.
9. We loved the Camino de Santiago and all that this pilgrimage means to the people that make it. It is a spiritual journey that fascinated us and sparked an interest in doing the walk sometime in the future.
10. We are not Spanish food fans, but we found a few things we like. Ensalada Mixta with its tuna on top, grilled vegetable plates (we found these twice and loved them) and Mike’s BAPs were good. None of it stands out as something we have to find a restaurant at home to supply, though.