
We are Tania and Gaetano, two expats who moved our families to Spain for new adventures. We both moved here from the US, Tania (originally from the UK) in 2020, with her husband and daughter from Northern Virginia, and Gaetano in 2023 with his two daughters from Los Angeles. We all met in Valencia and got along incredibly well, but while we cracked each other up discussing our fun times adjusting to Spain, there were quite a few eye-rolls from our girls (tweens and teenagers anyone!). In an effort to give our daughters a little break we thought what the heck, let’s share our experiences with unsuspecting strangers instead. This podcast came to life and we hope you enjoy the pitfalls and joys of our experiences - we all have!
AI generated, please excuse any errors!
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[Music]
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Hi Tanya. Hi Gano. So So I was told that we need to like have a hook when we
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start our show by a a friend who is a podcast afficionado. I agree, but I
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don't know what a hook is. So I don't know what it is either. So, um, I if
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anyone out there wants to, you know, message us on Instagram or Facebook with what you think would be a good hook,
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we're, you know what, we'll do a competition. Oh, there you go. I love that because I really, we just want
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don't want to be saying the same thing every time that we start, right? That's the goal. So, we want something that kind of sort of just brings you into the
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episode. Exactly. Besides just hi, hi, how are you? I mean, it's like, you know,
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Exactly. So, we already know we're so pleasant with each other. I think everyone's gotten that by now. So, most of the time, most of the time.
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So, yeah, if you have any ideas of how we can start the episodes, because if
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you might have, somebody else might have felt the same way about it. So, if you have any ideas, please message us, post
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it on the episode, you know, comments, post on the episode or message us on
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Instagram, Facebook, Facebook. Yeah, we want we want ideas, you know. And also
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don't forget to uh let us know of any questions you have or any comments you have because that's
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also a great way to open our show. I think we did that last week. Well, it has Yeah, we did do it last week about
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the comment from the woman in Minnesota. So, I mean, that's also a great way. Yes. And this week we have a we we had a
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comment from somebody that wanted to know more about food in Spain. Now this
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week we're going to talk a little bit about an introduction to food but we will get more into food later. So the
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food is coming people. The food is coming. Um and I think the food will be a constant like there will be many an
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episode and you know the restaurants are different. You
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know it's about restaurants. You know maybe we'll take some cooking classes and make complete fools out of ourselves. I mean don't worry we'll be
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talking about food. Yeah, the food is coming and sharing recipes in the future cuz I did do I will bring this up like
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last Easter. Excuse I have to also let everyone know my allergies are really bad and we may have discussed this in
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the previous about living in Spain and allergies are different and I am suffering. So if you hear some sneezing
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or coughing I will try to edit out but understand that if I don't sound as sparkly as normal you sound sparkly you
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just sound a little stuffed up. I sound like snuffleop snuffus a little bit. Yes. So, but your sparkle has not waned.
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My sparkle hasn't diminished. You're still sparkly. Thanks. Um, speaking of speaking of
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sparkly, um, or non-sparkly, have your sparkles actually been deleted this
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week, I think. So, tell me, cuz I know this week has been very rough. I've had
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probably the the the worst week I've had since we've moved here. And I will honestly I will
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say this. I had this thought this week that I have not felt this stress since we moved here and this was like the kind
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of stress I haven't felt like in years and some of the stress I was continually having in life in LA with the stress of
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LA that was just this constant baseline and I was having the feeling again this week I'm like I have not felt this way a
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long time and that and because we moved here with the plan and
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guarantee of getting Italian citizenship and we're in the process and our appointment would be in about a month or
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two um to go to the consulate to get Italian citizenship by the descent for me by descent for me and my daughters
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and Italy. Um on Friday the 28th out of
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the blue of March uh unbeknownst to anyone
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um they did a like an executive decree or whatever. I don't know all the legal
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Italian legal terms but decided that they were ending um citizenship by descent worldwide and if your
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application wasn't in the night before they're no longer being accepted. So they didn't even give a warning period
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of people saying you have two months to get your ducks in a row. They said and it takes a long time to get your ducks
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in a row. But to be clear, it's not all descent. It's great greatgrandfather. Correct. It's great grandfather. So if
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you have a grandfather, you maybe are still okay. But but yeah, but so it's
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they've in they've effectively cancelled it forever because if your grandparent
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has it, it doesn't get passed to your children anymore. Before it was like where was your link and then all your
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descendants down could keep it. Right? So me and my daughter my daughters would be on my application. Now that's no
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longer. So possibly it's all descent because it's not it's not being transferred from generation to
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generation anymore. And then the what the last link that they had where it was they've canled.
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Right. Before it was great grandparents or even great great grandparents. it went down to a certain year like they
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had to be born after 1860 or something like that. I don't know all that. So the
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so the gist of it is that um we all come over here with some kind of plan and
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that's you know it's very stressful as people that are doing it now. It's already stressful getting all your papers together where you're where you
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are in order to come wondering if that's going to work because you don't you you're doing a lot of work getting
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papers together and when we moved we were doing it here because we were doing residency versus a visa and that's very
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stressful as it is like you probably like the stress that you had when you were trying to get all the stuff together when you decided you want to
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move to Spain and you're in LA trying to get that stuff together when you finally get it all sorted it's like a huge
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relief and then you're here with a plan and then and that plan blows up. So obviously it's not it's a you never know
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what might happen. This is you never know what might happen and unfortunately no one knew this was happening. So there
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is a lot of there's a lot of stress. You know the lawyers didn't know. I mean this is just a complete blind side. And
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so I've been wrapping my head around what what the new reality is. And so it's been a hard week and we can we will
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talk about this more when I know more. But um uh I'm I there is a lot of anger
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in my heart right now. Of course. Yeah. Everything's changed because this is you and I know you know we've spoken about
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it a lot. I mean you've been working really hard gathering papers doing all this stuff and this was the goal and this was the avenue for you staying here
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and I think it's it's just it's hard when these things get blown up and it it will you will be fine and everyone
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that's doing it will find another way. There are many ways you can move to Europe. It's it's just that the it's the
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our so my whole thing was for my daughters. We moved here with the
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ultimate goal of becoming European citizens. It wasn't just to be to live a
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fun life in Europe. The goal was and that was we're going to have Italian citizenship so let's move now and we'll
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be on a visa and then that will be done and then we will be able to be Europeans
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and benefit from all of that. So that was, you know, that was we had we had
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the truest of intentions of being here, right? This wasn't some flippant
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um line of like like come over and see how it goes and stay if you like it kind of situation. You you were saying this
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was it. You were going to be moving here living here. And the citizenship wasn't a flight of privileged fancy of like
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I've got five passports from different countries. this was like, "No, this is our I legitimately was in the process
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for legitimate reasons to live in Europe, right?" So that so it's hard and now we're now we're on a natural now it
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looks like we're going to have to be on a naturalization path. So citizenship is 9 years away versus like 6 months away.
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So it's which which in which for a lot of people that's how they move over here and some people move back because you
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know it's not for them and some people stay on it and and and love it here and and so th those paths is are still there
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for you. So, it's not it's not a total disaster. It's just it's a shock and it's a shock and it limits my my my
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daughter's futures for the next several years. And that's what I'm wrapping around and we'll have more information
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when I've wrapped around like what it means for school and what it means for all these different things. And that's the stuff that my mind is kind of going
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crazy over. And when things and also when things settle, we will also interview um some immigration lawyers,
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some people that help with visas and things just to help people out with all the things that we we've just done what
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we do. We don't have all the details of everything else. And to be honest, how we all did it is obsolete. So Tanya and
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I telling our stories isn't going to help you because yeah, I got I we got ours through through England, which you
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no longer can pre-rexit. Literally 5 minutes. The 11 the 11th hour 59 minutes
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of Brexit is how you got here. 2020 was so stressful. Speaking of stress, that was that was Yeah. Also very stressful.
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And we didn't know if we were going to have to pivot like you are because that was as opposed to your situation where
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you thought you had it sorted and you now have to pivot. I was like pivot a piv pivot plan A. Pivot plan B. Like we
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was just you know there was a good chance that we would have to. So, you know, it's always good to have a plan B, I guess. Um, right. Well, I mean, yeah,
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sorry about that. I um had a little coughing fit, so we had a mute and now we've lost our train of thought. And
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trust me, you'll be happy you missed that. Um, and just so you know, we're on video, so she got to see it. It was
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beautiful. You know, don't don't feel the things you do for your friends and
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for our fans. You know, I'm I am I'm on I'm on I'm on a my my my um figurative
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um um I don't know what I'm trying to say. Well, we have the cough button, I guess, right? I was like, just make sure
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you know where it is. And he knew where it was. So, that's awesome. All right. So, we don't know what we're talking
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about, but that's where we're at. And updates will come, but now we're going to talk about something way more fun.
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More fun, which is Well, is it though? I I don't know. So this is this is a
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learning curve transition thing. Can I just say I'm still in the learning curve. I still don't know when to go out to eat or where like I still am. That's
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because you're country folk. You know, you're up in the mountains and you're not with us. And to a point that is a good point. It is very different. So,
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we're going to talk about just a little bit about restaurants and when they're open and when they're not and what it
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looks like and and then, you know, like we said earlier, we'll get into real like food and stuff at another episode,
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but this is kind of I don't know when to call it like restaurant etiquette or something. Well, it's restaurant etiquette and it's also it's you know,
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assimilation into culture. I will I will so so for first I think everyone needs to know that I'm slightly hyperbol
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hyperbolic here but there are 17 meal times in Spain and each of them have their own verb on top of it so oh and
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they're different in different regions so we're talking about Valencia but you know when I when I first was in Spain al
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mutoo in Barcelona area as far as I knew was breakfast but here in this area it seems
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to be the second breakfast that often involves alcohol Um, no. It is alcohol. It's it's it's
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your illegally sanctioned and culturally accepted first time of drinking at at
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9:30 8:30 in the morning. I think it's 10. It's 10:00. It's 10. Yeah, it it
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might be a little earlier for some, but it is one of those things where if you learn Spanish somewhere, you may be taught that Elmoto is breakfast. It's
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not, right? I don't think. It may be somewhere, but not here. Well, so and but I will I will I will agree with that
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because breakfast is technically like 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. and no one's eating breakfast here. So breakfast has a verb
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and I don't know anyone who has like what would be the sanctioned breakfast time breakfast in Valencia because
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that's literally the only two hours we're allowed to sleep in Valencia and in Spain, right? Because dinner is so
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late. But I will say there's there is a difference between breakfast for me. There seems to be a difference between breakfast and although here and I could
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be totally wrong because this is just purely my observation. I will go out for breakfast with friends and I'll have
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tostadas which is like a a mostly what we have here is you'll have it's like a baguette that's been that's been cut
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horizontally and toasted and then on top of that you get hamon cheese olive oil or this smashed um tomato the rubbed
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tomato. Yeah. So that type of thing and that that is your like breakfast. But if somebody goes for aluerto they're going
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for like alcohol and a massive bokado sandwich from what I've seen the bokado it's different the alto is different
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from what I have when I go for breakfast and I can go for breakfast at any time in the morning for the tostalas right
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but I think you know I mean but since someone's having breakfast their breakfast consists of alcohol and a bokead
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and and they do serve the bokeadillas which like like you said is a sandwich on a baguette which will sometimes have
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the tortilla which in Spain um is not a tortilla that you put a taco in. It is a
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basically an omelette, a potato and egg, right? Not omelette, kiche, kiche frittata type thing. And they will put
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that inside the bag, which I find is one of the most delicious ways to have a boad with the And I will say the bokado.
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So the bokadillos are usually, and this goes back to when we first moved here,
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we we did some little trips, but it was there weren't a lot of people about. So there were we went to I think um some
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town south of Valencia and there wasn't a lot of people there at the beach and we went to this little area that had all
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the restaurants and there were like four or five restaurants, right? And we went to each one and we're like, "Do you have
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a menu?" And they're like, "No, we don't have a menu. You can have whatever you want." So we went to the next one. We're like, "That can't be true. Can't have
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whatever I want. I mean, they can't thermodor, right? I mean, that's what I want." Um then we went to the next one.
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No, no, you can have whatever you want. Next one. No, you can have whatever you want. So, we would like clearly something's going on here that we do not
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understand. We finally, at this moment, we found a restaurant that had an actual menu and we ate there because we didn't
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know what else to do. Our Spanish wasn't good enough to order whatever we wanted. Turns out whatever you want. If you're
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going to all the there's there's cafes everywhere and they're all just these little cafes where everyone's having
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their Almorto, they're having their breakfast and they're having coffee and whatever. And then all these places
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serve an array of tapas. And these tapas are like what you're talking about, the Spanish tortilla. It's a calamari sepia,
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which is like a grilled um type of um squid. It's another It's another type of
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whatever those whatever those things are crustation. Another crustation. Exactly. And then they have like um well, there's
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no the sardines and oil. So there's like there's like an array of maybe 10 tapas
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that you have in every single restaurant. every single restaurant and there'll be 17 restaurants on every
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street that sell the exact same food. Exactly. That and how they all say in business is stunning, right? But to my
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point, that is what they mean. Anything you want any of the 10 tappers in a
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baguette is anything you want in a sandwich. So that is your goal there. So it's like as an American, if you were to
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go to McDonald's and you take your kids to McDonald's and you could say you can have anything you want, they already know what's on the menu. So they already
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know what their limitations of everything they want is. But we foreigners come to Spain and you tell us
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anything we want is we don't know what the anything we don't know what our boundaries are. And to that end, if you're not in the city, I think the
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city's quite different in this way. A lot of the restaurants do not have menus at all. They don't have they don't have a QR code. They don't because they all
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serve the same thing. So you have to go to a restaurant that's doing something different in order to get a menu because otherwise, you know, you're not going
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to, you know, it's not a menu. It's not a menu. It's a So that's the other thing. Again, going back to your
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Spanish, right? If you learn Spanish and that you type in menu, it's going to say carta, right, as your Spanish word. That
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is a carta. But they also have menus. And a menu is what you know we would call a prefix thing that is there's a
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price and it's a menu dela is most places will have, which is a lunchtime
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menu, and they can be anywhere from I've seen them as cheap as seven up to €30, right? Depending on the restaurant and
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the neighborhood. If you go into one of the more working-class neighborhoods, you can get one for seven and it's and you you get three courses depending.
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It's usually an appetizer, an entree, a dessert and a coffee. Yeah. Or sometimes you get to pick between a coffee or a
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dessert. Exactly. But then So every So all these restaurants have menus and cartas. The menu is the actual menu and
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I the carter is the menu is the actual I'm getting confused is the prefix meal that you have a limited choice and then
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they have the cart which would be alart which you can that you can actually see
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what all of their offerings are and pay accordingly. Right. But if it's a small but if it's a small little cafe it's not
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going to have either of those things. Either of those things. It's just they may have a menu del. They just won't let
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you know. It won't be listed. I think maybe it'll be on a chalkboard of what their offerings for that menu of that
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day is. Right. Yes. And I do feel like the further out you get from the city, the less that the more traditional and
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the more basic the less handholding they're doing for you foreigners. For sure. We are not having our handheld at
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all. That's been my experience. But but once you kind of get the hang of that, it's
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it's quite it makes things a lot easier because I was confused for quite some time about the menus and the cartas because I just was trying to learn
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Spanish and I'm like, well, it's a carta. Like why do you why do you suddenly have a menu? Like I don't understand. Right. Right. And sometimes
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you just give up and then you're like I just want to go home and eat and and and do you and you know I've had you know
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visitors come. So like so let's let's let me just go through the list for everyone. So there are literally what is
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it five meals a day. day of your desuno which is your breakfast which is early like which would if you are a working
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member of society living on a schedule that would be before you go to work that's 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. is when you're
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eating that and then you get your aluerto which is your midm morning break
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at 10 11:00 a.m. This is legitimately like a lunch meal. So, it's going to be a big It's It's Yeah, it's it's a bokea
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which is like kind of like a sandwich and your first beer or glass of wine of the day. And I mean that was a shock for
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me when I moved here and it was like a Wednesday and I walked out of the apartment and I was like, "Why are all
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these people smoking and drinking at 10:00 a.m. on a Wednesday?" And it was like workmen like there was guys in
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suits and there was the guy the construction workers. I'm like, "So, what? you going to go back and install a toilet. Is it going to work? Well, and I
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will say the El Muo as far as I've seen is is quite dedicated to people that are working hard like you said, the
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construction workers and everything and people that are riding their bikes. Those seem to be the two groups of people that I've seen doing Alto in like
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with a passion, right? So, they're like leaving home with all their gear, riding their bike to the local cafe and having
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a big alto and riding their bike home. So, depending on how fit you are probably depends on how far that cafe is, right? But we've had stuff done on
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our house where the people come. We've had like some renovations and they come and they they set up at like 8 8:30.
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They set up everything. 9:30 out of there. Almoto and then they come back around
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10:30. So that is the time for the alto. And I'm like, did you all drink? I don't
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know. You're like using childhoods. Yeah. But I mean, but no one's getting drunk. That's the interesting thing. It's so they're just having a beer,
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glass of wine, or whatever it is, or they're having the al the liquor in their coffee as well. The espresso.
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Yeah. I I we're getting I want to get through the list, but I want to also I I want to get back to the the alcohol
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consumption thing. Anyway, so then after I'm wear So then you have Comeda, which is lunch, and then you have Marienda,
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which is around 5:00. So anyway, lunch is around 1 to 4:00 p.m. is when you
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have Ka because that's also the siesta time. So people take siesta and that's when
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they have their lunch. And then and then you have your Marianda which is around 5 to 700 p.m. which is your coffee and
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dessert. That's when you have something sweet and your coffee because if you're going to stay up until midnight to have dinner, you have to have coffee at 5:00
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p.m. And it's also very popular for the for the kids. I think they come home from school and they have a meranda like
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right then. It's very much, you see the little churros in the toddler's hands and the Yeah, that's definitely where
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mom takes them after she picks them up from the dayare and you will hear that phrase as well where people are like,
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you know, let's have a like with the kids. If you you're coming over with the kids, that's that that word is going to pop up, right? And definitely is used as
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the word for snack. So that's I mean that's really what it is. But that hold on. And then the last one is
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your senna, which is your is your dinner, which is, you know, really going to be between 8 and midnight. Most
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people aren't eating until 10:00. And you will see you will see schoolage children at a restaurant on a Wednesday
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night on a school night at 11:00 finishing their meal. It's crazy. But what I All of them are coma because all
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of them are food, right? Well, yeah, I was going to say, but the coma also means food. So everything's food, but
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each one of these meals has their own verb. So you would do breakfast, you
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would do ammoa, you would you would have marianda. Like these these are also verbs and the verbs spell obviously
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slightly different but they they all have their thing. So you you wouldn't say I eat marianda. You would say I
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Marienda. I'm not conjugating it but that's what you do because not at that level. You have that in English and not
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Spanish. Spanglish is what we're going with. Spang English. I don't even I have I
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have I have ignorantish. That's what I have. Right. Right. And the the little
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old ladies in my building who are so sweet and adorable, but after a year and a half, they're still like, "When are
22:02
you learning Spanish?" And they they they look at me and they point their little fingers up at my face and say,
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"You need to learn your Spanish." Have they snapped you around the back of the head yet? That's coming next. They're getting close. They're getting close.
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And I'm like, "I'm paying for ballet lessons for my daughter. I there's only so much funds I can I can expend right
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now. Yeah. And and the other thing is with the which was kind of a new thing for me
22:26
too is in the when you get the the karta with all the different things it it you have hamburgeras and bokadillos and
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sandwiches and those three things are different based on the type of bread that they
22:38
use. So and well bread and also what's in it. Not from my experience. In my
22:43
experience, it's been a hamburger is anything inside a hamburger bun. Well, no, it's not anything. It can be
22:49
chicken. It can be beef. It can be pork, but it's not it's not sliced ham that,
22:56
right? But but what I'm saying it wouldn't be anything. It would be like a like a chicken patty, like a chicken fried on the menu. But I think they're
23:02
calling anything in a hamburger bun a hamburger, even though you're doing it might be a a crispy chicken. It could be
23:07
a chicken like a grilled chicken like you said, a hamburger. It could be a pulled pork or something. And I think if
23:13
they it's not pulled pork. It's really just I'm No, I've been to I've been to different restaurants that have
23:18
different things inside them. So I mean a different maybe traditionally. I think you're talking traditionally and I'm talking like Oh, I've seen our menu. I I
23:24
haven't seen that anywhere in the city where they have anything other than like a chicken patty or a burger or a pork
23:31
burger, you know, like the ground beef, right? No. I mean, I haven't seen sliced meat inside of it, but my feeling is,
23:37
and I could be wrong, that if they did have if they did put sliced meat inside of that bun, it would be called a
23:42
hamburger type sandwich. Anyway, that's just my feeling on that one. Then a bokado is is always a a baguette. And
23:49
then it's it's the baguette, but but and it's also But the bokado is never elaborate. So, it's very The bokado has
23:54
all the the tapas inside usually, right? But it's just one thing like it wouldn't be like lettuce, tomato, and a thing. It
24:01
would just be Wait, you've seen lettuce? Yeah, it's hard. You've seen lettuce.
24:08
We'll get into that in a second. Vegetables in Spain are are a myth. They
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are they are a what's that? What's that called? An apparition. It is. Sorry. Yeah. So anyway, yeah, but you're you're
24:20
100% correct. So that's the bucket is usually a the baguette. And then a sandwich is like your sliced like white
24:26
or brown bread or whatever, which is to what you were saying earlier. That's where you would probably find a mixedto sandwich, which is like ham on, not
24:32
hamon, like a York ham, which Yeah, ham on with tomato and maybe a little springrig of lettuce. They love the like
24:37
the British the sliced ham, like the deli ham that you know that you're used to in America with sliced cheese and
24:44
that would go in like a sandwich. And I think maybe that's possibly more designed for kids possibly. I don't know
24:49
why it's like that, but those are the three things that I've seen. And they're all sandwiches, right? But they do have
24:56
a variety of names and and it was weird like when we first moved here hamburger I'm like why is there a chicken patty on
25:02
thisburg this section that's not this section and then yeah it was weird at first I was like
25:08
you know cuz I I was looking at hamburger as the title I'm like well I'm not going to look there for a chicken sandwich obvious obviously so right let
25:16
me look over here and I'm like why don't they have any chicken sandwiches anywhere and then and then when you also
25:22
look at the and you know um as an American coming here, it's very shocking
25:27
to what they do to an actual hamburger here. Um, we're not going to talk about the quality of the meat. That's a whole
25:34
another topic. We are sort of we are actually having so we have a a person lined up for an interview to discuss
25:40
meat in Spain. Um, I can't wait for that cuz I really need someone to explain it to me.
25:46
But um you go to hamburger restaurants and and and they'll have a whole list of
25:54
hamburgers and what when we first moved here. So oh so I'll also tie this in because it goes in with it. All the
26:00
meals when you move here it takes a while to acclimate to the meal times
26:05
because all of the meal times we've just mentioned to you are none of the meal times as an American would expect to be
26:11
eating. Right. Right. All the times they don't serve is when Americans eat. All
26:16
the times they do serve here is when we don't eat. Yeah. You will be constantly going out looking for food. And don't be
26:23
do not be tricked by the fact that there is a that 100 cafes with people sitting at them drinking coffee and their
26:29
whatever. You'll go in, the kitchen is closed, right? So you can get your coffees and you know whatever. You can
26:36
sit out there and and have like a whatever maybe a little peanuts or something, but you are not getting food. So it looks very deceiving. You're like,
26:43
"Oh, I'm going out for lunch. Great." And then you go there like, "No, no, we're not serving." Yeah. And it's And
26:48
it's 6 p.m. You're like, "I'm hungry at 6 p.m. I'm packaged since dinner time." And they're like, "No, kitchen opens at
26:53
8:30." And you're like, "But you can have beer." I'm like, "Oh, that's I'll be real pretty by dinner time if I have
26:59
my beer." Right. And outside and outside the city where we are in certain areas, I found that if we go out at like
27:07
2:33, the kitchens are closing. Oh, yeah. Yeah. You have to eat early. You can't have lunch at 1:32. You will be
27:14
getting you will be getting pissing them off a little bit and getting to the point where they're like, "Well, we're closing our kitchen and really the cook
27:20
wanted to go home and now we got to cook you our menu." Like that's not happening. I mean, I think that's more of a country thing because But it does
27:27
change the second you leave the city like, right? Cuz the city the city lunchtime is 1 to 4. 3:30 is usually
27:34
when the kitchen's closed, right? I mean, some stay open till 4:30. They'll they'll kick you out by 4:30. like
27:40
that's when they want you out, but like you're not getting a reservation before 1:00 p.m. and you're probably and you're not getting one after 3:30. Those are
27:46
kind of like the constraints for lunch. And as an American, I'm like, that's when we're back at work. Like that's not
27:51
lunch time. Well, very different. We've gone out, we've gone out so many times and then
27:58
had to go home because we couldn't. And then we're like so hungry and it's like really too late to go by the supermarket
28:04
and pick up something to cook cuz now you're going to be eating at 4:00. And we're just like, well, that was the whole afternoon just driving around
28:10
looking for a restaurant that that Google says are open. And legitimately, they're open, but all we can get
28:15
legitimately they are, right? Um I mean, when we first moved
28:21
here, we were we were like where like we did not know any of this. So, we was and and it took a few weeks of acclimating
28:29
into it. And now we're full, you know, fully acclimated into it. And we wouldn't we wouldn't expect life to live
28:34
any other way. So when we were in London a couple, you know, back in January and
28:40
my friend said, "Oh, let's go for like let's go eat." And I'm like, "It's like six. Like why are we looking for food
28:46
now?" Like I had so already acclimated that I'm like dining times in England are just wrong to me now, right? So So
28:54
different, right? So different. And and and you know, we've had visitors come
28:59
here and it's funny because we're we're in it and they're like, "I just want to eat now." And I'm like, "Aren't you
29:06
cute?" Yeah. And then and then have them be like, "Why are they not giving us the
29:12
check?" It's like I I had one friend was like, "Well, I'm not going to tip them." But I was like, "Um, you know what? Um,
29:18
they're not expecting it, right? Oh my gosh, it's so funny." Oh, speaking of etiquette and speaking of restaurant
29:24
etiquette like that, um, the Spanish will sit at the table the whole day and that's totally fine. That is acceptable.
29:31
you you can go there and have a coffee at a cafe and you can eat. Now, I don't know like when if you come here and
29:37
think I'm going to hover over a table until they leave, you're it that does not that is not happening. You're the
29:43
one being rude. Like there is no culture of that because it is perfectly okay to have your meal and sit at that table.
29:50
And they're not in this culture where you have to turn over that table and all the tips like what you were talking about. It just isn't happening. So do
29:56
not if there isn't a table, there may not be a table for hours like No. No. And but and to add to that, um if you
30:03
see 50 tables, that doesn't mean there's a table for you to sit at. Oh. Because when they take a cuz when they take a
30:10
reservation, say at 9:00, that means the table's been booked. If the restaurant opens at 8, if that reservation's for 9,
30:17
9:30, that no one's sitting at that table at 8 because that that table's been booked for the night, not for a
30:23
time slot. They expect you to be there all night. So, we've had that especially those first few weeks of being like
30:29
there's at lunchtime there's no one here like it's well it's reserved for two and like but it's one and then I've said to
30:35
them well we're Americans we eat that as long as you're gone in 45 minutes I'm like we will be like we're American we s
30:42
they let you do that yeah we do and then I thought they would be a bit worried you know it's so funny because you know
30:47
that is one of those things where it's like look we all moved here for a more relaxed culture you don't come to Spain
30:52
unless you want to be more relaxed so these are the things that fall into the category of it's going to be a but relaxation takes work. It does. It takes
30:59
adjustment and patience to be as to be more relaxed in the way that you wanted to be. So you really have to keep that
31:05
in mind in those moments. And we had a family staying with us and there's six of them. And I I get anxiety now when
31:13
people come to stay and I have to go to out to a restaurant because I'm like it
31:18
I I want to do a reservation but not all places. Sometimes people just want to go out to a place that's doing tappers.
31:24
They're not doing reservations. It's like just a little Spanish cafe, but then I get full anxiety over like what
31:29
time they're going to be open and when we're going to be able to eat because I still haven't really fully adjusted because we mostly eat at home. So, I
31:35
like, "Oh my gosh, I can't screw this up when I have friends staying. So, I'm trying to make reservations everywhere
31:40
so that I know that especially with that many people because that was the big and reservations are very important here. It
31:46
is it is a different culture here that you don't just go to a restaurant and
31:51
expect to be seated like you would in America or be like, "Oh, there's a wait time." Because they're not turning over tables. They now they will seat you if
31:58
they have space. It's not like It's not like you can't wander around the city and find a restaurant. But if you're
32:03
like, "Oh, I really want to eat at this restaurant on Thursday with my friends." Just book the reservation because it's
32:09
not a we let's all just meet there and see what happens. Right. So, I would book the book the restaurants but not
32:15
the not the cafes for like a sandwich or something or tapas or things like that. But I would imagine in the city you must
32:22
have you you reserve for lunch here. You reserve for lunch but you must also have restaurants that are open all day cuz
32:27
they're chains. No, I mean it's a bit different.
32:32
[Music]
32:38
So, so I was gonna that's I was going to bring up before was so the hamburger thing, right? So, our hamburger story is
32:44
we had just first moved here was like the first week or something and we're not used to the meal times and it's five
32:52
o'clock and I'm like, where do we eat? Like, it's like we're just knocking on doors, you
32:57
know, like like Joseph and Mary looking for an inn, you know, please take us in.
33:04
And so, you know, in this city, you will like not in my neighborhood, like once
33:09
you're in a neighborhood, you will not, but in the center of town where it's a little bit more touristy, you will find
33:14
restaurants that are open all day. No one will be in there, but they they will keep one weight staff or one chef, one
33:23
one weight staff and one chef, or maybe the chef is the weight staff on on duty
33:28
for for the the foreigners, right? So we did go to this. It was a sports bar
33:35
place, you know, hamburgers and sports. So we get the menu and then we look at the hamburger, the hamburger list. The
33:41
hamburger list, the beef hamburger list, the actual hamburgers, the actual hamburger and like what they put on
33:48
these hamburgers is just I mean we had places in America like the counter in LA
33:54
and where you they had all these different toppings and creative things, but it was a build your own, not like
34:00
crazy. And there was this one hamburger that said, "This is the American burger. And here's your crazy sandwich with everything on it." Yeah. And there this
34:07
I'm like, "Oh, let's get the American. It's American. It'll be American." Right. And it comes with, and I kid you
34:13
not, it had calamari rings on it. It had onion rings on it. It had those fried
34:19
crispy onion things. Okay. It had barbecue sauce, mayonnaise, and ketchup.
34:25
And sauteed onions. And sauteed onions. That's a lot of onions. And sauteed onions. And I was like, this would not
34:32
be an America. We wouldn't do that. This is not American. And then it was, you know, then I just realized I was musing
34:39
on this just a couple weeks ago because, you know, I was having a flashback of that because I see Americanstyle things,
34:46
right, throughout here. And then I'm like, I feel like these people have never been to America. And then it hit
34:52
me cuz like what they call an American cookie is not a cookie. What they call American cupcake is not a cupcake. Like it's not It doesn't taste the right.
34:58
It's on right design the right whatever and and then I was like well
35:04
maybe I'm just so American narcissist you know I don't
35:09
know the word I'm looking American centric or US centric that really here
35:14
America doesn't mean the United States America means anywhere from the from from the Arctic Circle down to Patagonia
35:22
in North and South America is America so I'm like maybe that's how they do burgers in Peru and I'm thinking and I
35:29
don't know. They put an ingredient on from every country in America. From every country. Was it good? Maybe that's
35:34
This is the American. It didn't sound terrible. Well, we had to se Well, we had to separate it because you can't fit
35:40
that stack in your mouth. And it wasn't horrible. The the the the the meat
35:45
wasn't ideal. Um but it wasn't horri, but it was just it was a shock that it was like this isn't just a cheese,
35:52
lettuce, and tomato on a I'm not a big fan of barbecue on burgers, but that's obviously a thing. So other people are
35:58
fine with it. They love a barbecue sauce here. They do. And I'm not I'm not a hater of barbecue. I'm not one to put it
36:05
on my burger, but I don't mind it on my French fries. And that does sound like a cross between a hamburger and a bokado
36:11
because you've got the you got the tappers in there, right? Tappers. You got tappers. You've got the whatever you
36:17
want inside the hamburgessa. So you're good. Is it a boer bokeh boa? Oh, there
36:22
you go. That's a new That's a new phrase. We're going to open up a restaurant called Boa. My gosh. And I
36:28
will say from speaking of timing of restaurants, it in anyway outside of the
36:33
city, you can confirm if it's the same in the city, it is the best time to go shopping at the supermarket. There is
36:39
nobody in the supermarket during siesta. So if you when everyone else is doing their Spanish siesta thing and you go to
36:45
the supermarket and get your shopping done, no waits, no nothing. It's it's amazing. No. Yeah. It's it's it's Don't
36:50
go at 5:30 when people have gotten off. that's when it's it's but at like 3:30 in the afternoon or something it's so
36:56
great. So there's if you can find things that are open to do siesta time is a great time to do it you know shopping
37:03
wise. Um and that but that really only applies to I think malls and you know like big big shops like the hardware
37:10
store and supermarket and things like that. Um so I found that make makes things quite pleasant. I will go do
37:15
those shopping things before I go pick up Zeno from school and it all works out quite nicely. Right. Right. Yeah. I mean
37:22
that's what I I mean, I usually do my grocery shopping when this like I take the girls to the bus stop, then I'll run
37:27
to the gym and then it's like 10:00 a.m. and it's very empty then too, right? So, they'll do that or I'll do like the
37:34
before I because or I'll do like let me run out before I get from the bus because it is in that four that four:00
37:41
range of like I can get everything. Nothing's going to be selling out and things do sell out here. And I don't
37:46
know if it's if you experience that where you are, but here at a certain hour, like the grocery store closes at
37:52
9:30, but at 7, they're already putting stuff away. So if you want an apple, they may have already put the apples
37:58
away at 7. Oh, really? I don't think I've ever been to the supermarket that late, to be honest. I think it would be
38:03
either madness or like you were saying, a little little weird. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's it's different, isn't it?
38:09
Yeah. Yeah. And that was like shocking. I'm like, "How could you not have like all the produce will be like take, you know, or a lot of it will have been
38:15
taken away." And I'm like, "I know. I know. I know. 700 apples did not sell since." No, there's no way. Oh my god.
38:22
And also, speaking of ordering food in Spanish and restaurants, we had this really funny experience when we were
38:28
living in a town that was just a little like a small little town in an apartment. And downstairs from our
38:34
apartment, there's a lot of these restaurants that are kind of I think they're run by um I'm not sure who
38:39
they're run by, but it's a certain type. And it's they sell um pizzas, but they also they sell a mix and it's always
38:45
like pizza. It's the kebab, but they also sell pizza and French fries. And it's like this. It's not really pizza.
38:52
It's not really anything, but it's these little kind of shops. And there's tons. It's like a froz It's like the And I
38:57
mean, I'm sorry to bag on it, but I have to. It's like the cheapest generic frozen pizza you would find in like a
39:02
coffee. Yes. It's not a good pizza, but it's it's it's a place that to speaking to which it serves drunk. It's often
39:08
open. Okay. It's often open and they sell literally everything from burritos
39:13
to pizza to to kebabs and everything. And you know, you might find something on there that's that's decent that you
39:20
like, but this is what was down downstairs from us um at a time when a lot of restaurants hadn't really
39:26
reopened yet. So, we had very limited restaurant thing, restaurant options at that time. And I went down there to
39:33
order food. We had some friends over and it was like, you know, four kids and a couple of adults and we were just going
39:39
to have something for for dinner. And I was like, let's not cook. Let's order from down here. So, I went down there
39:44
and ordered. And I ordered with my beautiful Spanish right at the time. My Spanish has only improved slightly, not
39:51
much. And we I ordered like pizza and I ordered some French fries and somebody wanted a um a like a kebab thing. So I
39:59
ordered all that stuff and then it was like, "Yeah, come back down, you know, come back down in half an hour. It'll be ready. Perfect. Come back down, get all
40:07
the food, take it back upstairs. The French fries are on the pizza."
40:14
And I was like, did I not explain this properly? I must have like asked I mean this is a thing in Italy actually but it
40:21
is a thing that we had in America when it's for kids that they put the that they put the French fries on the pizza
40:27
those is I've never heard of you actually thing when we had our Italian restaurant it was one of the things on
40:32
the kids menu because it is a thing it is an Italian thing that I'd never heard of before until then but I was that was
40:38
not what I asked for. I swear that was not what I asked for. But all the kids were like okay let's let's go in and
40:44
we're like well yeah let's have some carbs on top of some carbs. That seems like a good idea. I mean, that sounds like stoner pizza. That doesn't sound
40:50
like It doesn't sound like I mean, I'm just saying sometimes you might order things and get something else. It
40:56
happens, you know, when your language is a little challenged in communication, right?
41:02
Oh, what I did want to bring up about restaurants that we didn't we were talking about the etiquette of staying
41:08
at the at the tables and they like if you're there, they expect you to be there until they close. There there's no rush to get you out. The other thing is
41:15
is it it it takes getting used to and it's not go. They will not bring you a
41:21
check. They will not even look at your direction and it's I mean we've the visitors and and my first few months
41:26
here it was like kind of a slight because you're expecting someone to you want the attention that you get and you
41:31
want the attention and you want you don't want to have to tell people you're ready to leave. They should be on it
41:37
that it's right or and and and feeling. So, so here it is not considered rude.
41:45
It is expected that if you're ready to leave before the socially acceptable time of forever is
41:52
to is to go up with your credit card to the counter or to the waitress or to
41:58
whomever and say, "I'm ready to pay." versus waving your hands around the restaurant to get them to come over.
42:03
Yeah. Because they are being they are being respect they are ignoring you respectfully. That's how it's done. You're not being ignored on purpose. And
42:09
I will say like out out in a again outside the city if I've just gone for a coffee and I know how much the coffee is
42:16
and it's like a E50 or a E80 or something I'll just leave the two euros
42:21
on next to the coffee thing and leave. I'll leave my money on the table out there. And in the city I would not leave
42:28
my money on the table and leave. But what I have done but what I have done in the city is if the waitress or waiter is
42:34
walking by I'll leave my euros there and I'll say like oh you know it's here and then I'll leave and she can come back
42:40
for it right away if she wants. So, I've done it. I will leave the money on the table if I know if it's just for like
42:46
Yeah. If it's been acknowledged in in the city outside of the city, I'll just leave the No one's taking your euros out
42:52
there, you know? I mean, not in my experience. And and it's the Well, I don't know. Let's ask her experience.
42:58
All the coffees I've had. Oh, you mean the crazy the the crazy English lady that just is is is leaving money for all the
43:06
beggars and I haven't we haven't been paid in months, but it also leaves a little bit of a tip. I know it's not a tipping culture, but it we'll leave.
43:11
It's not I know that sounds stingy. It's like it leaves that 20 cents. It's like that's okay. Or I go in and just go in
43:17
and put it on the bar when the man he might be making coffee and say, you know, here for the for the, you know,
43:23
cafe leche or whatever. Yeah, great, great, whatever. Bye. See you later. And it's really not a tipping culture. And
43:30
it is nice if you want to leave something, but some places will not even be able to accept it if it's not in
43:36
cash. So, we were at a very nice Italian restaurant here in the city just a few weeks ago with some friends from out of
43:42
town and they wanted to leave a tip. They were they were coming from Canada.
43:47
So, there's still tipping culture and they're like, "We want this was a great meal." They wanted to leave. It feels rude not to when you come. Yeah. They
43:54
wanted to leave a percentage tip, right? So, it wasn't just like a euro or two and they didn't have cash on them and
44:01
and the restaurant was like, "We can't. We some restaurants will add a tip or some like it's the hair salon I tip
44:08
they'll add an extra five onto the onto the charge but the restaurant won't and I'm sure they don't want it because they
44:13
don't want to do it for whatever reporting whatever they have to do because it might not be an accounting thing and I don't even think that it
44:20
like you know to hide accounting but it might be like the meal costs this why why is the bill showing up different and
44:25
so we're like well we don't have cash and they were non plus they were like okay then we're not getting a tip that
44:30
wasn't like oh well like now we're mad They're like, "Well, we tried." And they're like, "Well, we can't and you
44:36
don't." And have a great day. And I know I know a lot of places will do tipping in in on the credit card or whatever,
44:43
but I also think it's nicer maybe to tip in cash anyway if you're going to even in America. I mean that's well as a
44:50
service worker I think I would never tip on if I now I wasn't I always kept cash
44:56
to tip because when you like in America if you tip on the credit card the reality not only is it getting taxed but
45:02
the reality of the worker ever seeing that tip is zil next to none right there's so many restaurant owners steal
45:08
those tips it happens all the time it's there's investigations all the time on this so the reality or they pull those
45:15
tips so if you're leaving a hundred bucks cuz your waitress was going to I
45:20
think cash is I mean there's you know there's there's a lot of issues you can have with the cash as well but I think
45:25
cash to me anywhere in the world that if you're tipping it should be in cash but that's just yeah I agree so that's our
45:32
personal etiquette outside it's a worldwide lesson from two people that had been
45:37
service workers and one had owned a restaurant so I think uh but so here it's not the case
45:42
and it's that is an adjustment I think because you're used to it um so I you know if I just get a coffee or something
45:48
I just leave the the I round up to the euro and I think that's pretty common because people are kind of coming in and
45:53
out for that but um yeah I think it's and who wants who wants a bunch of these little coins because you know side note
46:00
they have 17 different coins like America wants to get rid of the penny right and here they're adding you have a
46:07
1 cent a two cent a 5- cent a 10-centent a 20 cent a 50 cent and you get all of them in change back and you're like and
46:13
the one cent and the two cent are like a a tenth of a millimeter are different in size. So, when I'm pulling those out, I
46:20
can't tell which one's which. I'm I don't handle it enough to where it's in my brain. Right. Well, I will say at
46:26
least it's um I think at least it's in order of size, unlike the American
46:33
money. No, no, the dime is smaller than the nickel, just like the America. Yeah. The 10 cent piece is the 10 pencil is
46:40
like is very like almost like the size of like the penny size. Yeah. And then they have the different cuz I'm still
46:45
when I pull it out I'm like I don't know. And then the one and then they have a one and a two coin because they
46:51
don't have one bills and then then I'm trying to figure out those cuz yes the two euro is bigger but not enough to
46:57
where I'm like fueling and again I'm not handling cash that often. So it's you know and then it looks a lot like
47:03
British money the euros obviously and the pound now. So it's it's really annoying cuz it's is the pound different
47:10
sizes like the euro like it's a coin. So my pounds I gave a I I tried to give a5
47:16
pound note to to somebody here. Um and I was just looking at that. It's like
47:21
that's not euros. I'm like it's the same color. It's blue. And and I I I mean lived here long
47:29
enough. I don't handle the cash long enough, but I have cash on me all the time. I do not understand the sizes of
47:34
the bills. I don't understand the color schemes. Like I don't look at a wallet and be like, "Oh, I've got 320s, a 50,
47:39
and a 10." Right? Like I don't I don't know that yet. And you know when I was back, you know, living in the States, I
47:46
knew all my bills. Like I I knew where the one where the 1 5 10 and 20 was on the bill and I knew what my wallet was.
47:52
And you know, I remember as a bartender as having this like kind of back and forth with a with a European being like,
47:58
"I don't understand your money. It all looks true." I know. And I was and I was saying to them, I said, "Yeah, but I
48:04
mean, this was such a snotty remark, but I was like, "Yeah, well, in America, we don't need to have them different sizes
48:10
and money, different sizes and colors to tell our bills apart." And the reason for that is what?
48:16
Because he was saying they all look alike. And oh, the reason was because I could read one, five, and 10, right? Oh
48:22
my god. I was much younger at the the hubris of obnoxious Youth. And I was also tipping in a bar. I mean, I was
48:29
also working in a barn, working for tips and all of that stuff, right? Good lord.
48:34
I do think it's better that it's different colors, but yes, like you said, it's getting I just still don't know the color scheme. And I mean, I
48:40
know the size, the really small ones, the least amount, right? I think, right, the five is the smallest. So, you get
48:47
used to the colors. It'll be good. Anyway, so tipping. Yes. Tip if you wish, but have cash because it'll be
48:53
hard to tip otherwise, I think, is the be hard. Yeah. And this is a side note too that credit cards are
49:00
accepted everywhere here for any amount. So for any it is very I think I've only
49:07
seen one place that had a limit and it was like5 like that was nothing under€5
49:13
but they they will charge 40. No. And it's funny because I'm like I'm so sorry. And they're like no no it's fine it's fine. And I'm like I just to me I'm
49:20
obviously you don't do that. I mean, I don't know if the percentages are different here, but the percentages are
49:26
completely different. They cannot gouge the the establishment like they can in America. So, it's it's they pay the fee,
49:33
whatever. What? So, it's not it's very low in our businesses. But, I mean, because
49:39
it was it was so expensive. So, it just that makes sense. So, I think that's a legitimate thing in the States, but
49:44
that's it's different here. And you really can use use your card for everything. I mean whether or not you know if you're coming over just and
49:50
you're visiting and you're getting charged a percentage you know for the transfer of fun money and um currency
49:57
and stuff. I mean you probably want to check yourself on on how much you're doing that but um it it you can you can
50:03
if you wish. So like I I will give my like my what my experience is the the credit card I have from the states is
50:11
what I use for every purchase and because they don't have any foreign
50:16
transaction fees and they use the Google transaction amount so it's cheaper for me because my assets are in the states
50:24
still that I only transfer over what I need for school electric rent because it costs me money to transfer that money
50:31
over. If you just charge it, then you're not getting that extra charge. I'm not getting it. And then and then I'm
50:37
getting my miles and all that stuff. So like that's the benefit. But it's a whole new accounting method that I
50:42
wasn't thinking about. And it took me a few months of, you know, of of like where's the best way? Do I move money?
50:48
Do I keep money there? Like how do I I think um I think like Wise is a good
50:53
place to to transfer money probably. It's the cheapest cheapest, but but if
50:59
you're still if it's still costing you $30, it's still $30, right? So that's a
51:05
lot of things to to consider, I think, is to look at all those things to make sure you're not wasting your money on
51:10
transfer. For sure. Right. Right. And and then Yeah. So you don't and bankto
51:16
bank transfers is like the most expensive. So Wise has has changed the world in transferring money for sure.
51:23
And it and it can happen pretty instantaneously. Um I did find out this not about food but this is since we
51:29
brought it up that in Wise the money has to have been in your account for like five or 10 days for it to move more
51:36
instantly. If you're transferring one from one American bank account to the one that's attached to your Wise and
51:42
it's only been there, it could take five to 10 days for the money to then transfer. Yeah. I've noticed I've
51:47
noticed recently that it's giving me a a a time frame of how long it's going to
51:53
take that's completely incorrect when I get it done. So I think it's defaulting onto the longer fiveday thing even if it
52:00
even if it turns out when you press send that you have it and it gets it to you immediately. So I've not that's
52:06
something that I've noticed that's happened recently with Wise. But um but so give yourself make sure you give
52:11
yourself the time to to move that money if that's something that you're doing just in case because I I haven't seen it
52:17
doesn't say anymore like oh you know you know immediately or whatever but then when it goes it's like it's only
52:23
happened to me one time because I learned my lesson and was like was like oh rent's due let me transfer it and then they're like three days I'm calling
52:29
my landlord I'm like and it was like maybe like third or fourth month here so I was like I'm not like a scoff I'm not
52:35
going to like I'm not going to squat in your apartment can can be mad at me. It's it's going to take me like 3 days
52:41
to get this money because Yeah, that's very stressful. And he was like, "It's okay, you fool."
52:48
Oh my goodness. Well, I think that the eating out in Spain is if you once you
52:54
get used to it, then we can move on to the food and all the delicious things you get. Then we can move on to the food. Yeah. Right. But adjusting to the
53:00
to the time frame and everything, I think especially coming from America was quite an adjustment for us. And and because the
53:08
meal times are different, we I don't know if we have even said this before, lunch is the meal. That's the meal
53:14
Spaniards eat. Um dinner is more of a snack. If you're eating at 10:00, I
53:20
mean, you can order tons of food, but they're ordering a much smaller port. If you go into a sushi restaurant at 10:00,
53:25
as Americans, we're still ordering all the sushi because it's our favorite food. But they're ordering like one or two rolls and that's it. Because at
53:32
lunchtime, they had their three courses, right? That's their big that's their big meal. So it things things shift. At that
53:39
point, if you have paella, it's supposed to be eaten on Sunday lunch. That's it, right? That's the that's the lunchtime,
53:45
not any other time. But they're eating it. They're eating it whenever. But if you if you're going to ask that's if
53:50
you're going to ask well I mean any Spaniard will tell you you don't eat it at night and why would you and Right.
53:56
And and the the other we'll have a paella conversation but you know um
54:03
it it kills me the the liking paella is
54:08
like football fans right. So they will like Spaniard will tell you what is the
54:14
best place. Yes. And they will also tell you that that other place is is is shite
54:19
as they say. And I hope that doesn't give us a buzz. Um should have spelled it out. And
54:27
you'll tell someone that, oh no, but I love that place. And they will look at you like you are the worst person. How
54:32
just how dare you eat that paella? And you're like, well that and they all hate everybody else's restaurant except the
54:38
one that they like, right? Like I mean that's I think that's because it's such a specialty, right? like everyone's doing it a little bit maybe a little bit
54:44
different and and it's that's fine. We had you know we had some friends staying
54:50
and they wanted obviously they wanted to go out for pa so we I and but they didn't want ku on it. They didn't want
54:56
the rabbit like oh we're going to go ask. Luckily,
55:01
my friends spoke Spanish fluently. So, I'm like, I'm taking you with me to the restaurant to ask this because I some
55:06
want to be the person asking if you can make the traditional Valenciano paella without the rabbit on it. Right. Did it
55:12
have the snails, too? The snails I don't think are on the meat one. Yeah. Yeah. The real traditional Valenciana. The
55:20
real traditional traditional is rabbit, chicken, and snail. That depends on where you go because everybody has a
55:25
different idea of what the perfect traditional one because when we were a little bit north of Valencia and we were
55:30
staying with the family there their traditional one in that region which is literally here but there was different
55:37
so it varies whatever the traditional one but I mean the the basic traditional with just anyway with the rabbit whether
55:43
it has the snails or not I'm no someone else can eat the snails to to answer your question. Well, in this definitely
55:49
in this city, snails is traditional and if you find it in what I have been told, if you find a restaurant that isn't
55:56
serving snails on it, it's because that's for tourists. Oh, well, I don't Well, that might be true in the city,
56:01
but out of the city, there's plenty without. I've literally had I've had so many pas and it's never come with
56:07
snails. So, maybe that's maybe that's a city specialty. That's very possible, right? But they they were happy to
56:12
change the the rabbit to chicken and he was like, "Yeah, yeah, no problem." Maybe because and they did it on the fly
56:18
because No, no, you can't do P on the fly. You have to order it. So, we went like a few days before and Oh, so it is
56:24
how there's like there's I mean there's places here that you can order pa for two. They're they're mass producing it in the morning. That's because they're
56:30
not doing it p pan probably and it's not freshly made for you. So, you're getting it out of a pot and that's never as
56:36
good. So, you always if you want to have a good paella, you need to order it ahead at a proper restaurant that's doing it. Well, I mean, that's at the
56:41
real traditional places where you have to order it the day before or when you make your reservation. There's a place
56:47
here that is considered like, you know, one of these these places and it's very fancy and very nice and all of that, but
56:53
you may you you have to when you make the reservation, tell them what party you're having. No, of course. And then
56:59
and then on what depending on the day of your reservation with the day you're booking it for to the day of the week
57:05
that you're going to be sitting down. I mean they will let you know how much you can order for the table. So like on a
57:11
like extra things if it like if it's a table of for like we were 10 of us and they were like you can only order one
57:17
paella for the table. You can't order two for two for four, right? Two four like we couldn't order pao for four with
57:24
two different. That must be a thing where they have a maybe a smaller kitchen possibly. Well, it was also because it was so big.
57:31
It was and that was the busy day, right? So, they're like, "We're not making 50 paellas. This is I think it was a Sunday
57:36
that we went." So, it was the day that's the busiest. They're like, "On you want to come on Tuesday, we can we can make
57:42
three different Okay. I've never I've never come across that. But, we're we're up in the mountains. And you could never order paella for one person. It's always
57:48
a minimum of two." Yeah. No, that wasn't hard. Um I mean, when we are we're up in
57:53
the mountains, the restaurants are much bigger and they're that's what they're doing on Sundays. So we we went up and I've never had an issue with how many
58:00
pas we can order or anything like that because I don't think I don't think they would stop. Um so we we went we went a
58:07
few days ahead and I was like I I don't want to get into that conversation cuz I don't know how it's going to go. So I'm
58:14
like you're coming with me plus you are fluent in Spanish so you can have that conversation and flirt with the guy and like make sure that he's okay with it.
58:21
And so yeah, so we went and he was like, "No problem. No problem. You can we so we did like the we did one fish one and
58:27
we did one traditionalish one with the with the chicken instead and we ordered that like it was like three days ahead
58:33
at that point." And then once you are sitting down, you can order whatever you want as far as tapas and other things
58:38
obviously, but the pa needs to be done ahead. And when we've had pa, speaking of the menus from before, when we've
58:46
ever had a a a menu that had pa on it was never that good because it was always just pre-made in the in a pot or
58:52
something. You need pa to have that crispy edges. It needs I mean the crispy bottom that that So if it's not burnt in
58:59
a pa pan, it is just not the same in my opinion. So it's going to be a different experience. Well, or they're making in a
59:04
paella pan, but it's been sitting out all day, right? So, it's been there's those big restaurants, I'm sure they
59:10
they have this huge one that they then, you know, slop into smaller paella pans and heat those up really quick to get
59:16
you that crust on the bottom and that's how it's coming to your table. But definitely the menu delio ones like it's
59:22
you're just getting a little pile on your plate and it's it is it's more like they're like this is more like a peel off than a I mean I would say if you're
59:28
in Spain for like one day and you want to try pa go for it but it is not at all going to be what you want as your you
59:35
need to go to a place and get paella in a pan. That's in my opinion for the flavor the crustiness everything that
59:41
you've ordered that you've ordered two days before. Exactly. So prepare prepare for your dining
59:49
experiences. Yes. I I hope we've helped you. Yeah. I hope I I I I hope we've helped you and
59:56
um understanding and and we will get into things because I have, you know, we will do episodes. I have tried
1:00:02
traditional Spanish um recipes at home and we've already started like acclimating some of them into our our
1:00:09
routines. Talk about that. I like I said at the beginning, I'm still learning about when to go out to eat. So I still
1:00:14
I still run into problems. So there may be more in this this part in this as
1:00:20
well because it's continuous for me. But if you're in Valencia and you see a Five Guys, they will serve you from open to
1:00:27
closed. You don't have to worry. You you can get a burger there at 5:30 and the burger doesn't have calamari on it. So bonus. It doesn't have calamari on it.
1:00:33
And the five guys are pretty darn good. So on that note, are we ending? On that
1:00:38
note, yes, we're ending. We're gonna say goodbye you all. and we'll have updates.
1:00:44
So, please if you have any questions or have a hook for us, please please send
1:00:49
us some ideas for hooks because we don't have any.
1:00:54
Okay, bye. Hey, can't get enough of us? Follow us
1:01:00
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1:01:06
things as we grow. We would love for you to message us with any topics you would like to hear about. See you next time.
1:01:13
Bye.
