What's Different about Spain? Dragons!

Before my final travel blog about the last two days of our trip, I want to talk about cultural differences and similarities we encountered. This is, to me, is the best part of traveling. Some things are unique to a region, but there is a lot we all have in common.
I will punctuate this post with dragons. All over Spain, but especially in Catalonia, dragons are everywhere. This is because San Jordi--St. George of dragon slaying fame--is a patron saint and a favorite of the people. I collected every dragon I could find with a photo. I would like to share with you my collection of dragons while I tell you about the culture we experienced.

In Catedral Primada, Toledo 

Thanksgiving is of course a major holiday in the US. It is not a European holiday. But they have picked up on Black Friday. Everywhere we went were advertisements for "Black Friday" sales. In English. And the sales started at least a week before the usual Friday and continued on afterward. So they took up, not the American holiday where we feast and tell everyone what we're grateful for, but they picked up on our aggressive commercialism of Christmas shopping. So that is nice.

Assorted dragons on Gaudi's famous fountain in Parc de la Ciutadella

Things happen later in the day in Spain. The one sit down, reserved meal we did was a lunch, which knowing Spain's meal schedule I made sure our large party booked for an early lunch: at 12:30. When we arrived at the sweet little Bodega, it was empty. By the time we finished, around 2:00, it was packed and only getting more so. We went for tapas one night around 8ish and were eating at the same time as the wait staff of the bar. We pushed our meals as late as we comfortably could, but after 12 hours on our feet, we just couldn't stay up as late as the locals.

I've heard that Europeans complain about how loud Americans are, this is not a problem in this country. People in Spain aren't overly concerned with being quiet in restaurants, very similar to what we're used to at home. though you still get a "nobody talk or make eye contact" rule in the metro. That is universal.

On the block of discord in the Eixample, this balcony has some great dragons.

Street performers and buskers in Barcelona have to get permits and demonstrate that they are skilled to get prime spots in the metro or near tourist attractions. As such, you can hear some pretty great Spanish guitar players just in the streets, along with other instruments and performers, but the guitarists were the best.

I believe this is the city building or mayors office or something, featuring St. George and the dragon prominently.

I'm convinced there is not a single drinking fountain in the entire country. The tap water is perfectly fine, but restaurants will not serve it. Refills aren't a thing either. Get your water bottle refilled at the bathroom sink--sorry if they only have hot water!--and drink that if you don't want to pay for a drink at a restaurant.

El Barri Gotic is home to lots of gargoyles.

If you do want to drink something and you're a teetotaler like me, here are my recommendations: There is coke zero everywhere. Gross, but if you're into that sort of thing then you're safe. Better is the Fanta Limon: it's like a carbonated lemonade. Legitimately delicious. Other good option: Fanta Naranja: Orange Fanta. Now, if you have negative feelings attached to Fanta because it tastes like artificial sugar garbage and you had a bad experience in your childhood involving a giant Maverick mug of orange soda, a long car trip, and up chucking into said Maverick mug, fear not. Orange Fanta from the rest of the world is very different. It tastes like actual orange juice with carbonation. It probably won't trigger you. I mean, not that I know anything about any of that. It was a totally random, totally not real example. We also tried an alcohol free vermut that I thought was very tasty. There are a lot of alcohol free versions of traditionally alcoholic drinks, some of them are delicious and some are alcohol free beer.

Frederic Mares's collection of pipes included this dragon claw pipe.

People sometimes confuse Spanish and Mexican food. They are not at all the same. People in Spain do not eat spicy foods. They can handle about as much spicy as my children, based on my experience and the information of a reliable guide. Another big difference is a Spanish tortilla: an egg and potato kind of omelette like dish. Mexican tortilla: I think you know what that is.

Frederic Mares also had this statue in his collection.

The main language of Barcelona is not Spanish, it is Catalan. Which has some similarities to Spanish, but an equal number of similarities to French. And when I heard it spoken, some of the accent and pronunciation reminded me of my friends who speak Portuguese. Most everyone who lives there is at least fluent in Catalan and Spanish, and lots of people knew at least a few words in English. With our broken, 8th grade Spanish and their bits of English we managed just fine.

carving on the side of a building on a little side street.

Even in what may be the cheapest hostel in Barcelona, the wifi was faster than the garbage service Comcast has back home.

Most every bathroom in Spain, regardless of how big the museum or monument attached to it, is a three holer and one of them is out of order. But the stall doors don't have a gap and are adequate for even the tallest of people. We could maybe take some of that privacy in the States.

We found this dragon shaped helmet in the Barcelona History Museum.

Shopping for groceries at home, I've seen persimmons around. Usually they are smaller than my fist and pricey. They must grow in Spain, because there you can get a persimmon the size of your heart and they are reasonably priced. My mom had never had one, so she tried them for the first time and I think she's a fan now. She kept talking like she'd never see them again, though. I want to reiterate, Mom, you can buy these at home. I frequently do.

Also in the Barcelona History Museum, this quilted wall hanging. Most of these dragons look very Komodo-esque...

Jamon flavored potato chips. They are superior to most chip flavors I've tried in my life. If you are in Spain, bring back some for me. Please. I love them.

From the maritime museum

We encountered soccer hooligans one time. There was an FCB game that night and a group of fans were heading to the game, walking down our street singing at the top of their lungs. 

We encountered one protest, it was very sedate. People gathered around with a few flags and ribbons listening politely to one guy at the microphone. Overall people were extremely nice, friendly, and I can't think of a single instance of rudeness, with the exception of a pick pocket who very politely stole some cards from my mother's purse.

Look was hanging out in one chapel in the Cathedral of Tarragona.

I hope you enjoyed this collection of dragons and observations. I certainly enjoyed collecting them.