Sunday Reflections: Lunch, Lingo and Loving Life
It's been four days since I left Portugal to go on this wild adventure. And wild it has been. We're barely scratching the surface!
So here are the takeaways I have from this first phase of my trip and four of my favourite photos.
1. Comprehension is useful but a phrase book never hurt nobody
I'll admit I wasn't all that invested in learning too much Spanish before arriving here because I was just passing through. I knew how difficult it would be to absorb two languages in tandem.
Unsurprisingly, everyone I encountered in Spain bar one family (which I'll discuss is tomorrow's story) spoke to me in Spanish.
Not even slow-because-you're-a-tourist Spanish. But full on conversational pace Spanish.
And guess what?
I understood every word.
Clearly the Portuguese was getting me much further than I expected. I struggled to respond but the words felt familiar. If Portuguese is akin to a mother tongue, Spanish is my aunty tongue.
This is encouraging. I have future plans to explore Latin America and South America. I would 100% need to study the language to respond in confidence. But comprehension? Strangely simple.
2. Hanger is a problem
If you read the post on Zaragoza, you'll see evidence of how pervasive hanger (hungry anger) can be. Although my car is stuffed to the gills with snacks, apples and nuts do not make a full meal. Even a sandwich is leaving my stomach crying out for more.
So I've decided to increase my food budget to accommodate my growing appetite. It'll hurt my wallet but at least I'll have brighter days.
3. Driving in Spain is a dream
One of the biggest worries I had going into this trip was driving abroad. Though I learnt to drive in the UK, I've only ever driven confidently in Portugal - and even that took a few years. Because of how brutal Portugal can be, I'm adept at sharp corners, tight streets and impatient arseholes.
But those are my arseholes. Who knows what new type of arseholes would await me on the other side of the border.
To my surprise, driving in Spain is incredible.
Drivers don't speed that much or overtake too close or climb up your backside on country roads. The roads are generally wide and I can count on one hand the number of pot holes I passed (even in the mountains).
The best part? No tolls!
Yes you read that correctly. I was on the major motorways throughout the North of Spain for a total of 8.5hours and didn't hit a single toll road.
This saved me far more money than anticipated so I'm thrilled.
4. I love this
Yesterday, I stopped my car outside a string of tunnels carved into the rock of a mountain on the Spain-France border. My hazard lights were on. I switched my podcast off. I breathed in and realised how fucking cool this is.
I mean, I'm not doing anything that people haven't done before. I've actually spent meaningful time with someone who has done this.
But that's the thing about doing cool stuff: you can replicate the adventure, but no one will experience it like you do.
I'm not the first to stand on the Pyrenees mountain range. But I might be the first to stand on the Pyranees mountain range in bright pink leggings and woefully inadequate footwear just to take one photo she didn't even like very much. (Full story on Wednesday).
I'm not the first foreign black woman to visit Toledo. But I might be the first to be labelled a bruja by an elderly local and document it.
People travel every day. People are doing things I've always wanted to do. But nothing and NO ONE can take away how cool this is and how proud I am of myself right now.
Stories will resume tomorrow! Thank you for reading and sharing the blog so far. Although it's imperfect (I scribble and upload these on my phone) I'm having a lot of fun!
Ta ta for now,
Olivia
