Earlier this month, I visited Barcelona, Spain, on business. I didn’t get to see any of the traditional sights (the giant cinder block convention center is apparently not quite as visually striking as Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia). But I did get the chance to see Europeans in their natural habitat and that is always fun for an ugly American like me. A few observations…
- Europeans love rules. I showed up for breakfast at my hotel a few minutes before 7:00 a.m., when breakfast officially started. All of the wait staff were in place. The buffet was laid out. But when I made a move to sit down, I was shooed away. “We are not open yet,” the girl said, tapping her wrist, the international sign for temporal disputes. I stood there for another minute or two. “Okay,” the girl said, finally, and showed me to my table. One night, a few of us showed up at a restaurant for dinner. “Do you have a reservation?” the host asked us. We did not. He disappeared for several minutes and then, in a show of true generosity, brought us into the dining room — where we were the only people in the entire place.
- Europeans do NOT love clothing. After nine hours overnight in coach, I took a walk along the beach to stretch my aching legs. Most of the women were topless and it is just SO not a big deal there. Janet Jackson flashes her boob at the Super Bowl and America has a meltdown. Not so much in Barcelona. The funny thing is that when boobs are on such rampant display, they lose all of their magical, hypnotic powers. Sadly, many of the men were in Speedos and one guy was strolling down the beach completely naked. Nothing magical about that.
- Europeans like to drink. My company is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and, at the convention center, we invited customers to come by our booth for a little celebration. In the U.S., we would have passed out “sparkling apple juice,” the beverage equivalent of dry humping, but in Barcelona, they handed out genuine Cava, a type of Spanish champagne. A few hours later, all of the executives from my company gathered to do a conference call with financial analysts — but not before another round of Cava was passed around.
I would like to return to Barcelona someday as a tourist. I visited Madrid many years ago on business, but managed to extend my stay for a few days and really loved it, so I would expect similar success in Barcelona. I’ll be sure to pack my Speedo.
July 6, 2009 at 10:56 pm |
Hola Tom- next time you are in Spain, let me know! your obsvervations are right on– having just returned to Spain from a month in the states I can add:
-Spaniards never say “Good morning.” Maybe if you say it first, they MIGHT mumble a reply. That drinking you noticed may have something to do with this..
-Customer Service: NOT a priority! Que es esto? I noticed that in the US, many people actually DO their jobs, which was a revelation to me after 10 years in Spain. The US’s Tipping culture could be a factor here, but even in stores I noticed people were generally enthusiastic about being there.
Good to see you’re still rising.