Day #32 - Travel Day - Leon to Santiago de Compostela

Meat on crusty bread

Breakfast of Champions

Thursday, April 15th

Today was a long travel day. I am taking a 6 hour train from Leon, Spain to Santiago de Compostela, Spain. I thought I would take some time to write about some general observations thus far in Spain:

1) Food -- I notice a fascination with donuts and thin meat on hard, crusted bread. I'm even including a couple pics. Everywhere you go, people have constant donuts, of all shapes and sizes, out on display. In the mornings, this is really the only thing available in most street shops. Lunchtime, they bring out the tapas (finger foods). They'll also put out their sandwiches. A big favorite is what appears to be beef-jerky on really hard, crusted bread. The beef jerky you buy in the bags, really thin-sliced, not the sticks. Now, I'm a fan of beef-jerky, not so much this stuff. Yesterday I found a place with gatorade. It was a huge find. It was one of the biggest things of my day. I need electrolytes. I gulped down 2 bottles in no time. Generally speaking, you have water, coke, or liquor for drink options. The other morning I ordered a coffee. They bring me this small sippy cup. It's the same size I would use to play "tea" with my little nieces, when they were 4 years old. Two sips later, it was done. I had a beer the other day in Segovia - draft beer. They again bring me this small glass - must have been about 6 ounces. Do Spanish people have a fascination with small? Small coffee, small beer, small sandwiches - what's up? I've been getting by with pollo (chicken), pavo (turkey), or jamur (ham). If a listing on a menu has 1 of these words - that's what I get.

2.) TV -- The other night I watched the DaVinci Code in Spanish. I was desparate. I read the book so I generally understood what was going on. Have you ever watched a program where you couldn't understand the language? You begin to appreciate the art of acting better. You can really tell when an actor is good and when they are not. I've often wondered how people get nominated for Oscars, etc. Besides being political I'm sure, maybe folks watch the films without volume.

3.) Speaking -- The act of speaking and being heard is really underrated. Man - I can trully appreciate those people who, due to illness or genetics, can't speak. I bet they get so frustrated and have so much to say. Now, I'm a test-proven introverted person at heart. I'm OK with this - I can find motivation within; whereas, trully extraverted people must find their energy from others. I wonder how a trully extroverted person would fare in a country that they can't speak the language and were travelling alone. I think if you would stick to the big areas, you could be OK. Eventually, you would find someone to talk with. A couple things against me. It's not true vacation season and I'm exploring more than just big cities. I find myself with stuff to say. I just want to go up to somebody "Hey - did you see that" or "What's the significance of this" or "Where am I right now". Now, I've been getting along fine with Spanish words combined with English flavor, but you still can't carry on a meaningful conversation. It's limited at best. I got to say that writing this blog has been pretty fun. Without it, I wouldn't be able to express my thoughts - and that's hard.

4.) Miscellaneous ---- (A) I'm looking out the train window and see alot of windmills. Maybe this is a key form of electric power. Exactly the same as those in North Dakota (which happens to be the windiest state (sustained wind) in the US) (B) I wonder if people apreciate the historical significance of their towns or cities. So many buildings are from the 13th, 14th, 15th centuries. The US didn't even exist at this time. I bet people don't appreciate it. Just like in my home town of Ste. Genevieve, MO. Every summer they have a festival celebrating the history of the town. I never got it when I lived there - and don't recall seeing any of the older buildings up close. (C) What are all these people, who appear to be school-aged, doing on this train at 3:30pm (D) Spain is pretty green and it has some small mountains. although the train isn't as smooth as French trains, at least they are not on strike (E) They are playing a movie with Angelina Jolie and George Clooney. I wish I could watch it. Angelina Jolie is solid - but I would have stayed with Jennifer Aniston if I was Brad Pitt. (F.) What if your job was the guy who walks up and down the train cars to check tickets. They are very strict here in Spain. Not so much in France or Ireland. The second a new person boards the train, the guy is there asking to see the pass. I did see somebody get retained the other day. They brought him off the train with 2 escorted security guards. (G.) I'm getting the hang of temperature in degrees Celcius. My guidelines are 30F (0C), 50F (10C), 70F (20C), 90F (30C). These are not exact, I'm aware - I did the calculations. But - they are close. An even better rule of thumb, if temps are between 10-20C - you're good. If below 10C - put on a coat. If above 30C, take something off. (H) Kilometers to miles. Just look at it in terms of 10. 10km = 6.2 miles. So, if you are going 100K, it's 62 miles. I just divide the km by 10 and multiply by 6 - easy enough and it's a good estimate.

I'm going to get some shut-eye now. Tomorrow I'll be in Santiago de Compostela. Pop Quiz: Rome, the Holy Land, and Santiago de Compostela have this in common? Until tomorrow, keep the faith.