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Spain - Continued

When it comes to peoples of the Espanya - no i-device addiction here. They seem to be content walking around a lot accompanied by smoking and networking by actually talking with each other. Whether on a train or on the streets or by a pub outside a University the folk seemed to be engaged in intense conversations unlike the keyboard addicts stateside.

Food as I may have mentioned earlier was not all that great shakes as it tends to be mildly flavored and not really warm either. Paella which is a traditional rice and meat or seafood dish was enjoyable in some instances but again felt lacking in spice. Nonetheless the mingling and wandering led us to understand that people actually do spend their time relaxing quite a bit true to the cliche of having siestas and easy lifestyle. Late night wandering on work days seemed common as witnessed from our hotel balcony (that overlooked a busy cafe), frequented by natives and tourists alike into the wee hours.

No mall shopping mania either given many of these guys cannot actually afford to spend on the commodities available. Bull fighting is as cruel as it gets - no mace or pepper spray or waffle fighting betwixt humans in stores. It also costs a whole lot more to buy similar product in Spain in general compared to the US which may be one reason why the consumer is relatively non consuming in Europe.

Between the time zone adjustments and the Holas and navigating crowded metro stations though it was truly comforting to land back in the land of plenty and enjoy my space, more than an elbow length apart.

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