Ah Spain!

AI generated, please excuse any errors!

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[Music]
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Buenos Diaz Gayano. How's it going this morning? It's going good. And guess what? What? Second week in a row. I have
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an Ah, Spain. I think our hook is taking off. I have one for you. It's working maybe. So, we actually have more things
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to share. Yeah. So, Ah, Spain. The title is actually It's relative to our hook.
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Oh my gosh. Who knew? Who knew? Who knew? I mean, we did if we were smart enough to actually keep including it. I
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think if we had actually remembered what we talked about when we first started talking about this podcast, we wouldn't
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have had this whole discombobulated idea of what we were going to do here. Exactly. So, what is your ah Spain? So,
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this week I have a an a Spain. Oh, no. Yeah. So, remember um I don't remember
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what episode it was. It was not that long ago. We were talking about finding stuff in the stores and grocery items
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and all that stuff. Yes. Yes. So that was I think was like how we got situated or something like when we were buying
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things. How we settled in or something. I think that's what it was the how we settled in episode. Well, me and my
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daughter yesterday went to Carapor at what we call the Fancy Fun American Mall because there's a mall called Saler Mall
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next to the City of Arts and Sciences, which I know you know, but I'm I'm explaining it to all those others if they want to Google map our lives. And
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just to be just just to be clear, it's Salair Mall because the way you said it sounded like Saler. Oh, yeah. It's two
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words, which could be a Spanish word for like something bad and we're going to
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get hate mail. So Celer is the name of the mall and it is the probably I mean
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we're a bonire mall on the other side on the outskirts sort of of of Valencia on
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the west side but the one in the big one in the in the city is that one which is
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it is nice. Yeah it's nice and it's very you know it's it's three stories and all that kind of stuff. So there's a big car
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for there. If people don't know car 4, it's kind of like a target of Europe kind of thing. And um so they I had seen
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there. So my friend Tanya had introduced to me two summers ago this Robinson's
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lemon like concentrate that you can make. What do you call it? Let me let me introduce this bush. What's it called?
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Let me introduce this properly cuz No, no, no, no. You can't have an American explain what lemon squash is.
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Okay. So, one of the joys of us moving for me as an English person moving back
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from America to Europe is finding some of these English things and how we do lemonade. You know, if you ask for
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lemonade in England, you're going to get a squash and tell people what a squash is. I didn't know what a squash was
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until I went on the Queen Mary too and they're like, "Oh, really?" Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, it's basically you buy a
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concentrated a bottle of concentrated um juice that you then just put like a little bit in the bottom and then you
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mix it up with water. So, you have like instead of buying a whole thing of a whole bottle of something that you
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drink, it's just it's a it's a concentrated and it's so good because you can get in lemon and you found like
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mixed fruit, mixed fruit, orange. Yeah. And Robinson's is kind of the
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quintessential one which is why it's the one over here. But I think in England there'll be a lot of different brands, but Robinson's is the kind of brand for
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it. That's the It's like the band-aid of bandages, right? That like And I got so excited when I found it in the grocery
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store here in our little tiny town in our little tiny grocery store and I was like, "What is going on?" And then you
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came to my house and you had it and you were like, "This is great. This is amazing." And so then we would go visit
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her or she would come visit us in the city and we'd I'd tell Tanya, "Stop by the the consume in your neighborhood."
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I'd bring like five pack home to the city or I'd make you bring some down when you come to the city. So, I had found a few months ago that Caraphor
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sells it and I I had seen it there and I didn't buy it cuz I had a couple in the
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house still and so u my youngest daughter and I wanted to go she wanted to go clothes shopping and so let's go
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to the fancy fun mall and I can go to the to Carfort and get our get our lemon
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smash smoosh. What's it called? Squash. Squash. That's what I said. is what you said. Lemon squash, orange squash, mixed
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fruit squash. Yes, I want lemon. And and I was also on the hunt still for this
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horseradish because I still don't remember what story I bought the horseradish for. But that's another note. Anyway, so yes, just look for that
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everywhere. Every everywhere I go. You sell shoes here. You got horseradish. So anyway, I tried to find that in England
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and I totally forgot to go look. I was going to see if I could bring a pot over. A thanks. I'm sorry. Next. So,
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we're at the car for and and and the car is huge. It's like a super Walmart, like the ones that mall, as you know. It's
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it's ginormous. And so, they have a food section and they've got like four aisles
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of beverages. One's just water, one aisle is just milk, one aisle is just
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like sodas and mixers, and another aisle is like juices and mixers. And I'm like,
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I know I saw it here and I saw it in these. And I am going back and forth and and Paloma is getting fed up with me.
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She's like, you can't find it, Dan. Let's just here. It's not here. Let's just go. I'm like, no, it's here. And
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look, and then I went online. I'm like, see, they're even selling it online. So, I'm sure they still carry it at the store. It has to be at the biggest one,
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right? And we've all had that experience walking around Spanish stores where you think you know where things are going to be and you go up and down. And poor Zena
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has also followed me on these travels. And it's like, I know it's here, but maybe it's just one ne between two
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waters. So, I'm going to go down the water aisle again. Yeah. And and that's what I did. And where it was, I know where I saw it, it was not there. And
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now we've we've circled forever. And I'm like, "Fine, you can have some cookies." Like, she's just like now putting stuff in the cart cuz I'm wasting her time.
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So, she's I'm like, "Fine, you can have what you want." And so, getting ready to leave and I was like, "You know what?
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Let me just walk down the wine aisle. And that's where they had the wine and
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the liquor. And in between, I should have photographed it. In between like lemon cello and rum was a stand of lemon
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ramensons and the orange robinsons. No other mixers or squashes were in this.
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No grenadine, no nothing. No. No. What? No. No. The grenardine was in a different aisle. So Oh, really? Yeah.
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So, cuz I thought it would then have been next to all the, like you said, all the concentrated mix. I have to remember
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I wasn't thinking about the grenadine but it wasn't like where other things were where it was before and where it's
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at your grocery store. Your grocery store is with like the grenadine and the juices but it's not next to the the wine
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and the the rum. This was literally next to a bottle of lemon cello and rum.
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Yeah, I think ours is a section of concentrated things like grenadine and and the squashes along with along with
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like um like nest tea like iced teas and bottles. Yeah. Like it's in it's in the
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non-alcoholic aisle. So you found it with the alcohol. I found it with the alcohol which you found it. I did find
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it as I was ready to give up hope. So it was a but it was an ah spin. It's like things aren't where they're supposed to be. But it's also an a spade. I did
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found it eventually. I did find I did find it. But you were so frustrated by the time you got there. You were like,
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"Now this isn't working. This is I'm so angry." But and then we and they do carry the um ocean spray with sugar. So
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um Oh, okay. Well, that's good enough. I mean, some ocean spray is hard to find in the city and some stores will sell
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outside the city and they'll have the the no sugar, which is like, yeah, that's great and healthy and all, but then they have the ones with like the
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little like the real cocktail, like the real cranberry juice cocktail, and I'm like, it's just a little bit of America in a glass. It really is. Well, I wonder
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too like I mean I sometimes wonder whether things are being put randomly because they don't know what they're
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really used for which would be totally like understandable or if they use it for something different here and
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therefore it gets put in that aisle for the peanut butter we've talked about like it's over in the protein bar
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section at consume it is in yeah in consume but I mean to me that is like dominance with the jams and jellies.
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Maybe that's what they don't maybe they don't actually use it like a spread here. They use it as a protein
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supplement. Therefore, it's with the protein stuff. So, it makes sense for them but not for us. Right. Possibly. Or
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it makes sense for consume but not for different different right. And then like
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if you're if you're lucky to find maple syrup, right, you'll find in some stores it might be near the honey and another
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store it's not at all if you if they have it, right? Well, and the same the same for like Nutella and the chocolate
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spread. Sometimes it's with the jams and jellies and honeys and sometimes it's its own complete section in with the
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candy, which is probably where it should be. Frankly, it probably should be with the chocolates and the and the candy,
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but we don't want to be reminded that it's a chocolate candy that we're having for breakfast. So, I would like it with
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the honey and the jelly, please, and the jams. I mean, it's nutritious, right? Serotonin levels for the day. I think
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it's a mood regulator. The Nutella. It's a mood regulator. I think it's a mood dere deregulator. No, it's good for you.
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Get your brain going. Sure. Absolutely. Yeah, that's how we like to think about it in this house.
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Exactly. It's a staple. Okay. Staple. We need it. Oh my gosh. Well, okay. So,
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that was your Spain. Not what we were supposed to be talking about today, but we're now like half an hour in, so we
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apologize for that. But how we got there. Oh, yes. How we
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got there. how we got there. Well done. Segue because we had we had planned what we were going to talk about this episode
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and how we got there was we walked but our our that's not helpful. Well, that's
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a way of transport. And then and then on our way back though since our hands were laden with bags, we had the choice of
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taking the subway or the bus. Oh, okay. Yep. And we chose the bus. Okay. So, we
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are going to talk about we're going to talk about transportation today. and we both have very different ways of um
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getting around. So that's kind of helpful. So we're because we're out of the city, we basically depend on our car
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and we might sometimes take the car to the train, but you are really, you know, bus. You're really in on it with the
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with the with the cards and all the things that I know nothing about of how to get around in the city. We are urban.
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We are um we are all about transport. And ironically though, we we don't you I
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we don't use transport that often because the city is so geographically small that most of it is done walking
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and there are times like with the the mall it was like we could walk back but you know this stuff's heavy. You know,
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we've got like several bottles of squash and cranberry juice. It's nice to have the option. And I you're right. I mean,
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if I've ever driven in or if I've driven to the metro and taken the metro in or
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something, I've never had to get on a metro or a bus to get around to somewhere. Like, you can walk everywhere, right? You can walk
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everywhere and the bus is not going to get you there quicker than your feet until it reaches like a certain distance. What's like one and a half
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kilometers? You're like, I guess I better take the bus, right? So, you would take the bus or the metro to go to
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like IMED, the hospital or to the airport, for instance. I in Burus. So yes, obviously I would take the I would
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not take the bus. I would take the subway. The subway. So like for us to get to B. So it's two subways. We're there in like 20 minutes. Like it's like
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40 45 minutes door to door from my house to the hospital door is how I have to plan for it. Explain something to me
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because I don't use it enough. And I think it works the same way as the London Underground I think. But I don't
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really know because I'm constantly taking really transportation into the city from from outside of the city. Are
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there zones or areas or the cards that you have? Like do you get different cards for different things or does one
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card work for everything? Because this is where my brain goes like poof. And it should because this is a this is an oh
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Spain moment because you want to beat your head in and yet it's also a Spain because it's very nice. So there are
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zones to the city. There's an A zone, AB zone, B zone, and a C zone. So your town
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like when I take the train to you, I have to have a Bzone ticket to get me there. So, we're not even the furthest
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out even though we're at the end of the line there. Well, there you are the furthest out. C does not mean furthest
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out. C there's only one stop in the C zone and that's the airport. Oh, okay.
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Again, my brain just went poof again. Yeah. You could live like, you know, across the street from the airport and
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you need a C zone to get in if you're going to take transport. Okay. So, they're just making the airport a special that makes that's the most
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expensive zone. So, but I will tell you how not to make it. Well, it still be the most expensive zone, but very
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cheaply. But anyway, so you have these Azones, AB zone, B zone, I think, and BC. Like you can Is there a BC? No. Then
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then you So you can buy a card. Um, so you can pay one off for each ride. And
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that's the most expensive way to go. I think it's like 150 to ride a one ride on the subway and the bus. I think
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someone told me the bus may have gone up, but I don't know. Okay. I don't ever pay full fair, so I don't know. So you
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then you buy the Suma card and you can buy five packs, 10 packs of rides and
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they become at a considerable amount of discount and for the past couple years
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they've been really under like like they every six months they pass a law or
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repass a law that keeps them even at a like half 50% discount. So if you buy a
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10 pack for like one zone for like the zone A, it's €4 plus €2 for the plastic
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card that's then refillable. But but when you refill it for 10 rides, it's €4. So 40 cents a ride. Like you can't
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beat that with a stick. You really can't. No, that's amazing. And then the different and so I bought a card and I
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have a card, but I bought it outside probably in zone B. So I'm using So that
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card is only is always for AB. Even if I float around the city and and go from a A station to an A station, I'm paying
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more because I'm using an AB card, right? So So I should separate I should have separate cards for all of these
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things then, right? So that's what I do. I have one that's a B card for when I want to come visit you or if I want to
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go to the because you can use the BC card on some of the commuter rails to a certain distance. So, I can use it to
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get to the girls school in Pusole. I can take the commuter rail, which is not a metro train. Okay. And then it's 60
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cents the ride and then I can use that to get back. But that's actually the LA I think that's the last stop that you
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can use that card to go. I have used my I have used my Suma card to go on that
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rail from Puthall into the into the um the Nord station, I guess, right? And
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I've used that card for it. So, is the is the card for a only is it a different
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color? No. So, this is this is not Oh, I didn't feel like I had seen different
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color cards, but of course, I only have the one that I have that is obviously AB then. Well, well, it's the red card.
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They're all red plastic cards and u so I have with Sharpie. This is an A card.
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This is a B card and this is my ABC card. This is my or the airport. I call that the airport card. Right. So, so you
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have to write them out that way. So, then that way because I'm I will be I will be frugal over 20 cents. I am on a
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I'm on the biggest budget here. Yeah, of course. But the biggest problem is going the other way. Like what if you if you
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get on at like Beta, which is a a B zone with your A card. Will it just not take it or will it just charge you more on
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it? Do you think it will not take it because there it won't take it? Because I have done that because if you don't
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swipe it in then swiping out is the problem, right? So, Betto or like some of these suburban stations for our
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listeners, they don't have turn styles. So, it's an honor system that you swipe. Um, otherwise you because you can just
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get on the train. There's it's just a platform. And in the city, it's turn style. So, you have to swipe to get in
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and out. But, if you're coming from the suburbs and into the city and you haven't swiped, I think you can. It
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won't open the Yeah, it will. You don't have to. So if I get on at Basel and I don't I I swipe when I get off and it
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knows where I got off and it knows I mean it knows that I got on at a it just charges the ride. It would have to be a
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B station like you said because all the A stations probably have turn styles. So if you haven't swiped going in then it
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knows that you came from a B place. Plus I have an AB card. So, and I don't know if it's that advanced in in in meaning
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that um what I do know that I kind of I haven't fully explained the other thing, but I'll get into this is that um you
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have 90 minutes to use your card for it to be so I've had it where it takes like
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I said it takes us like 40 minutes to get to birth. So, my doctor has seen me right away and I've gotten to the back
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to the train right away and gotten home like in the turnaround like the was under 90 minutes. So, I only got charged
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one ride for the whole trip. So, it cost me like 45 minutes to go the whole thing. That's really good. It was like a
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It was a miracle of miracles, right? Can Can we just take a moment to say that
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you can go to the doctor? You can actually go to the doctor, see the doctor, get out of there in like 15
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minutes, which is such a joy. Depending on the doctor, I know the specialist
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harder. And I will say it was really good and a total tantrum, but since the Dana, I feel like they're still backed
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up with those appointments of those two weeks of not appointments to bring specialist. Yeah. Yeah. So anyway,
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um, so you have 90 minutes. So I think it's also maybe because it just registered that's like you using it and
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they're just going to take the ride off no matter what. Right. Right. And so,
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um, so there the the so the card can only have a maximum you can load it up
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to 30 rides per card, but you can't load the card up with two different versions,
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right? So, if you've got eight rides, it can only be eight rides and and and and
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so on and so forth. Now, the airport thing, which is amazing, is it's 450, I
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think, for the one-way trip to the airport by the subway. But if you buy a
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10back, it's €10. But if you're buying the card new, it's 12 because you have to pay for the card itself, right? So
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you're really doing the trip for €1. And that's amazing. And if you have a European youth card, so after your if
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your children are over for between 14 and 30 and you've lived here for more than a year, I think you have to be a
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year to get it. I think someone can yell at me and tell me I'm wrong. We love the
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interaction and the engagement if you want to. I'm being yelled at. But I know I tried to get it for my
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daughter when she turned 14 and we were denied it. And then I Tris tried again
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and she has the European Youth Card. You have the European Youth Card. You can apply for the free subway card. So my
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daughter rides all Azones for free. Ironically, she cannot use it to get
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home from Pusoul because it's only like a one zone car. Right. Well, that makes sense. They probably are not encouraging
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kids of that age to be traveling so far by themselves. Maybe. I don't know. I mean, they are, but no, but no, but it's
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from 14 to 30. So, I hope they're allowing 27 year olds to be responsible, right?
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One would hope. Yeah, but she can use it to like Bettera by herself. So, so who
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knows? Who knows? Maybe but so for that she can't use it. But um but they can
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use it to zone C for free. So when we go to the airport, it only cost a family of three one euro to go to the airport.
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That's amazing. See, that's totally worth it. That's worth moving. I mean, that's why we're here. And then you're
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using the same card on the buses, right? So you have the same system on the buses and and that that and they have these
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other and you know these I don't know to what distance the commuter trains, but the commuter trains as well. As well.
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Yeah. And um the other thing is we have these other buses that are called metro
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buses. So, the buses in the city are the EMT buses, which is not an emergency medical transport.
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Um, that's called something. And I'm sure Tanya might want to Google that and let us know and let us Oh, I'm sorry.
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Tanya is just going to know that. She's not going to Google it. She's very smart. She just doesn't pull this up. I know everything. So, EMT, just so we get
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back to just into the car a little bit, like when you drive around the city, you have these EMT lanes. So when I when I
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obviously I thought these were like emergency medical like transportation or something but I think what so they're
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their own lane. They're for the buses. I mean I'm sure they're for the I'm sure I'm sure they're also for the um for
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emergency transportation and stuff but and cabs. Buses and cabs and cabs. Buses and cabs basically. Um and so basically
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it's the and it says EMT on it like the whole thing. And it's the Empressa Munipal de Transportion, I think is how
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you say it, but not in like my Spanish is terrible. I know, right? My Spanish is so beautiful. Please excuse it. Um,
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so it says EMT on all these lanes. So you have to be careful if you're driving in the city because you're not allowed
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to drive in those lanes, but you do need to cross them if you need to get over to the right to get to another road that
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you want to go down. But so you have to kind of cross it and you'll see other people doing this. Like you just need to
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cross it at the very last moment, right? You can't just be driving down them like, "Yay, it's a free lane."
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And like I I live on a street that has an EMT lane, but everyone's double parked in the other lane, so
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people I'm not saying it's a perfect system. And also because also when you cross over you're if you're crossing
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over in a lot of places in the city especially like near you I think but basically everywhere you're crossing an EMT line and then you'll have a small
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sidewalk where people are walking and then you'll have the bike lane and then you'll have people walking again. So
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you're crossing like 15 things that you have to be paying such good attention to. Oh crossing roads crossing road
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crossing road or frogger. remember Frogger though? It's totally like Frogger. And you add the scooters to
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that and yes. So I'm not a scooter rider. I'm not a scooter rider, but
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those people will kill you and and and do it with with happiness with smiles on their faces. Bike cyclists will slow
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down and stop. I have found when we're crossing the scooters who have like I think a quicker break that will stop
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them. They're like I'm just going and they will flip you off. I I've been and from what I've heard from locals, there
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is a there is a war between the scooter people and the non-scooter people like what they people don't really like that
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like walkers don't like them and they I think this is kind of an ongoing thing and I will say from a driving point of
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view and probably you've experienced this when walking is yeah you're exactly what you're saying the scooters are
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really not stopping and they're also coming at a much faster speed and they do now are required to wear a helmet and
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have insurance I think that's not relative new like But when you're driving all these lanes,
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I do feel like people on bicycles are kind of powering their own bike, they're much more conscious about slowing down,
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whereas the scooters tend not to. And then you've got people walking. And the people going back to driving a car, if
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you're driving a car, please please please do take into account if you're coming from another country like England
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or America and I don't know about other countries. You not you are expected to
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stop. Not which you are in the other countries, but we don't here. People will literally just walk out of the
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street because they know you're going to stop. So don't be thinking that people are going to stop and see if you're
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going to go first. You are expected to stop. the pedestrians are expecting you to stop. They will come out from behind
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a tree with their phone in their hand and just walk across the road and you have to stop always. Well, side note,
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um, bus drivers will run you over. So, other than the bus drivers, they take it as a sport. Oh, there's a pedestrian in
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the crosswalk. I'm gunning it. Oh my gosh. Well, yeah, but you cannot do that as a car. You really, really, really are expected to stop here. And it's better
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to so you when you're going across all those lanes to make a right turn or a left turn, you are just kind of stopping
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and looking and stopping and looking for like three or four times to make sure you don't hit anything. So it's a bit stressful, but just be aware of that. I
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think that's kind of unique to European cities, maybe. I mean, I don't know. I mean, we had bike lanes and all that
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stuff in LA. Um, but uh what was when I live there? No, it was all new. That was
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survival of the fittest back then. Yeah, it's all new. Um, although I was going to finish the
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thought with the subway cards is then then my younger daughter is under 14 and that's a different process, but she has
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a free card as well. So, it's just unlimited rides and like every six months they renew the law that it's
24:45
still active, right? Kind of thing. I don't have to keep reapplying for it. But it's like twice a year they keep,
24:52
you know, that they get the funding. I I think they get the funding from like the state, you know, the the I don't know if it's from Valencia State or the or like
24:58
the federal government gives the money or whatever. So, yeah. Anyway, that's how it is now. And they just switched
25:05
the cards. They used to be these cardboard cards. Now, they've got their IDs, their picture on them and stuff.
25:11
So, they're like so they're not transferable and scam people aren't scamming this. Well, speaking of ID
25:16
cards, let's jump in quickly to transferring driver's licenses.
25:22
Um, ladies and gentlemen, I have not done that yet. Oh my gosh. So, this this guy doesn't drive at all, which is great
25:28
for me because I'm basically a chauffeur. Um, but that's obviously the
25:33
case for a lot of people that live in the city. It's not often worth um having a car in the city. I totally see that.
25:38
Some people do, but if you are coming from anywhere outside of Europe, you need to now, including England, you need
25:46
to um you cannot Well, the English probably might be able to still transfer the driver's licenses. H I'm not sure.
25:52
Probably not. I don't think so. No, I don't think so. I don't think they can. I feel like on the message boards I see
25:57
a lot of chatter. I don't There is possibly a theory that sometime in the
26:02
future if they make an agreement that might come back, I suppose, but right now you can't. And for Americans 100%
26:08
you cannot transfer your driver's license. I was lucky that when we moved and I managed to not only get in before
26:15
Brexit, thank God, but I also managed to they were they kept moving the the deadline for transferring the driver's
26:21
license and it was very very stressful, but I did manage to succeed to do that. So, I was very fortunate. But otherwise,
26:27
you have to take the test and you have to pay for the lessons. Mhm. And yeah, so this is why I have not done it yet
26:34
because it is a several months ordeal and it's about $1,000 is the average
26:41
price people say. They're like 800 to a,000 you're going to spend, which um that's a lot for if I'm if I'm if I'm
26:47
hemming and hawing over 40 and 60 cents on a subway, I'm obviously not right now
26:52
just doing a thousand for a driver's license for a car I don't even have or plan. So, but I do need to have one. You
27:00
do at some point, I think. But and everyone has to pay. It's not like an American tax. If you're a Spaniard, it
27:05
cost you a€,000 euros to get um a driver's license. Everyone has to take you have to take the written test. You
27:11
have to go to school and you have to take the practical test. It's not like a punishment. The only people that don't
27:16
have to do it is I did a little I'm actually very smart myself. I I did not Google this at all, but it's a very
27:23
small number of countries that have treaties with um Spain where they can
27:30
transfer their drivers. Well, since you're so smart and you know that off the top of your head, why don't you read from your phone and tell us what those
27:36
countries are? So the list a little bit longer but And
27:43
Pandora, Algeria, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, South Korea, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Philippines,
27:49
Georgia. Uh the country not the country, not the state. Wouldn't it be funny if one state in America was allowed to
27:57
Guatemala, Honduras, Japan, North Macedonia, Morocco, Muldova, Monaco,
28:02
Nicaragua, New Zealand, Panama, Paraguay, Peru. Oh, it still says the UK.
28:08
I mean, it might have come back. Something might have happened, but it it wasn't on the agreement at the
28:14
beginning. So, everyone was frantically trying to change their driver's licenses. And let me tell you, I walked
28:19
into the into the um Department of Transportation to exchange my driver's license and I had to do it a few times
28:26
because I was made an appointment, then I made the wrong appointment. They're very uptight there. like if you have to make an appointment for the thing that
28:32
you need to go to do. So you can't just make an appointment for something else and hope that that person will help you
28:37
do that other thing. It just doesn't work that way. So I was like there's no appointments. Let me go in and try it. Didn't work. And they had created a
28:44
whole department for people ch exchanging their driver's licenses that were British. And I was so embarrassed.
28:50
And I'm like I'm so sorry about Brexit. I'm so sorry. Like I'm just walking around the whole I'm so sorry that you have to do this. Like cuz you know it
28:56
would have been fine. But they hadn't made they hadn't made that part of the agreement. So that we I think
29:02
everyone's possibly hoping that that will change, but that hasn't. So it might have if it's still on there, but
29:07
according to this and this is their this is the website of the government. I'm not doing this off of some Reddit
29:13
thread. And and the rest of the list is where so Dominican Republic, El
29:19
Salvador, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uruguay. Ironically, I thought it would have been
29:25
like all of the EU. Well, I I think they're skipping the most EU countries because you don't even need you don't
29:31
need to transfer your driver's license if you come from France. Yeah. So, yeah, because Andor is not the EU. Yeah. So,
29:37
it's countries around here that aren't part of the EU. But so, basically, you have to you like like um like you just
29:43
said, you have to actually pay for that. Everyone does. Um and you can take the
29:50
written part in in English or another language. I don't know which languages they do it in. Um, but you can take that
29:55
in a few other languages, but you will have to take the driving part in Spanish. But the people that are teaching you, there's only so many
30:02
phrases you need to know. You need to know your lefts and your rights and things like that. So you, even if you're basic in Spanish, you can succeed in
30:09
that. And from what I understand, what people have told me, again, I've not gone down this rabbit hole myself yet.
30:16
This will be a threepart podcast episode. I've walked by the school. I know where it's at. the one near me that
30:22
does the classes in English and from what I'm understand is that that um your driving instructor is in with the
30:29
practical exam with you. So they're in the driving exam. They're not supposed to translate but from what I've heard if
30:34
you're having a really hard time they will translate from this from the Spanish exam giver pro whatever those
30:41
are called. I mean that's nice proctor. Is that what that's called? I don't know. Oh I haven't started my glossery
30:47
yet. I need to start a glossery. Um, so basically the other thing is is you have
30:53
to decide if you want to take the driving test in manual or automatic. That is an option here. And I know that
30:59
in America a lot of people like it outside of certain sort of areas probably it's not very common to know
31:05
how to drive a manual. Most Americans I think nowadays don't know how to drive a manual. I would highly
31:11
recommend learning how to drive a manual car. I think every adult should know how to drive a manual car for goodness sake.
31:17
And you will be two parents and a best friend by trying to teach me how to drive manual. So, everyone except Gayano
31:23
should know how to drive a manual car. I tried many times. I remember one time
31:29
when I was 15 and my dad was trying to teach me how to drive a manual. Um, we
31:35
were we were we were driving uphill in the country. We were driving uphill and there was a stop sign and I started
31:41
having a panic attack and I was like, "What do I do?" And he just got out of the car and walked home. He said, "Figure it out." And I was like,
31:49
Well, I'm not suggesting you learn that way. That's like throwing your kid in the I think he had already he already had it with you just trying to get down
31:55
the hill before going up the hill. So Oh my gosh. Well, I mean in Europe, I think
32:01
back in my day anyway, like you wouldn't have had an option. No, it's still very common here. I mean, I I go through
32:07
fantasies of like you building cars on, you know, European car websites, you
32:12
know, configuring them and remembering that, you know, Yeah. manual is always the is the given, right? It is a given.
32:18
It's the given. Yeah, I think. But you're more likely to come across one here. So, I mean, it just it would be maybe safer or easier if you did know
32:25
how, but you know. Yeah. I'm too I'm 52. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. But nice try. I would teach
32:30
you how, but not in my car. Great things. How's that? Well, and if I do buy a car, there's no reason for me to
32:36
buy a manual. So, it's not not true. That's true. Um, yeah. So, that's the driving that's the driving test. Sorry.
32:43
Sorry, everybody that's coming over and needs to transfer and and there's there's no way around it. Um, and people
32:50
I do know people that are scoffs and have been here for a year and a half,
32:56
two years, and they're still using their foreign license to rent cars and hoping for the best. But, you know, the fines
33:03
can be pretty big and I think they can even like impound the car. I don't think you want to deal with that with the
33:08
insurance. You will also, I think, get points and that's the thing. So, I think you'll get a So, then if you ever do
33:13
manage to get a a driver's license, it might then immediately be taken away. I'm not sure if it works that way, but
33:20
[Music]
33:28
Oh, here's the funny note. So what I do like what I do like a couple times a week is I just there's a website that
33:34
has like the tests that the driving test the written test and so I will take it
33:39
just for you know oh that's a good idea something in giggles I don't want to use so you can do that for free yeah you can
33:46
do it for free like two tests a day and you can do that for free and so I'm just like winging I'm like what does my
33:52
common sense tell me and I've taken about 20 of them by now I have failed every single one so just so you know um
33:58
It's probably smart that we have to take these tests because I'm failing everything when it comes to road signs
34:04
because they have 983,000 different road signs in the EU
34:09
and America has like five. Like there is you might be surprised how many there are in America but you're used to them I
34:15
think. So when you're not used to them it is different. But maybe we can post that link that might be helpful for people to start practicing. Yeah. And I
34:22
think that would be nice to I didn't know that I know that you would sort of get that website through the place when
34:27
you sign up. app. I didn't realize there was one. I just Googled. Yeah, it's like called like practica test or something like that. We'll post it and then people
34:34
can go see it. That's so funny. Well, speaking of speaking of driving um
34:39
finding places in Spain, you may not I don't know if you have this experience in the city when like you have been
34:46
given an address of maybe a friend's apartment or something and you end up in the wrong side of the city because
34:52
Google is like it's over here. Well, I haven't been ended up in the wrong side of the state, but I did have friends that were visiting and they rented an
34:58
Airbnb and they put the address of the Airbnb in the Uber or free now app or
35:05
whatever, but they didn't pay attention to it and they ended up in like a town
35:10
about 45 minutes outside of Valencia because all the street names are duplicated in like all the towns because
35:15
they're all named after famous Spaniards and there's Yeah. only so many to go around. like put like First Street, but
35:22
First Street New York or in like Edison, New Jersey. Like, which first street are you talking about? That's right. It's like they have the same street names
35:28
everywhere. And then on top of that, I like I've had I've had friends, Spanish
35:34
friends give me their address and I put it into Google and then it changes the address on me because it switches it
35:40
from like Valencian to Spanish and Spanish to Valencian. So, every street has two names for the at the very least.
35:46
Right. Right. Our house has and it's not just like street is in a different
35:52
language. The name itself is spelled differently. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The actual name. Yeah. Like Bob is spelled
35:57
different. Like it's not obvious Bob. But like my like you know Wen is while Wim and I was like you know you never
36:04
really know like if someone's giving you an address you never really know if when they when it gets switched if you're
36:09
looking at the same place. So I and our house for instance has like six addresses, six like official addresses
36:16
because of the the parcel number is and then the the number and like and then the valenciano and the Spanish. So it's
36:21
like it's just so impossible. And especially so anytime you're given an address by somebody, especially if
36:27
you're coming and visiting and you're not that familiar and you're looking for an Airbnb or something like that, always
36:33
get a Google pen. Do not like I mean get the address because you want it, but don't follow Google on an address
36:39
because the other thing I mean that's that's the first thing I think is just a Google pin is the best way that this is
36:44
where I live. This is where you're going to perfect because we couldn't find our Airbnb when we first got here and we had
36:50
landed at like 10:00 at night and we were driving around the orange fields in the middle of the night with all of our
36:56
1,200 bags and a very tired kid and we were we couldn't find and it was a tiny
37:01
village. We could have walked around the whole village and we still couldn't find the actual address there. So, a Google
37:07
pin would have been super helpful. So, that's my advice. Also, for that
37:13
type of stuff, I use like Google has has sent me down the wrong way quite a few times in Well, I mean, I remember living
37:18
in LA and you would take Google and it would get you off the freeway just to get you right back on the freeway. I'm like, why did I get right here? Like I
37:24
mean I didn't do it cuz I'm smarter than computers but I was like why is it telling me to get off on you know Cshaw
37:30
and then get back on like and ways does that too. Yeah it's so weird. Um I will
37:36
tell you like Google and to add on though Google I use which has been really good for public transport because
37:43
it tells you when the next train is coming at what times. It's very accurate
37:48
about that. Um, so Google, we would like our commission check and Okay, but but when you take the commission check away
37:54
for this next one, which is that could you please learn when there's a one-way street that goes the the one the wrong
37:59
way. So I have on many occasions in the city been told to go down a street by people that is the wrong direction and
38:05
it won't it won't like set reset it when you start going in the other way. It just wants you to go back to that same
38:11
place. So it's very hard to get where you want to go if you don't know where you're going. So, I will and it also Google one time took me into a part of
38:18
Valencia and I'm sure that speaking of your sign thing, I'm sure there were signs for this that I didn't read,
38:24
right? There are parts of Valencia that you're not allowed to drive in unless you're a resident and it's part of the old town part. So, we went down there
38:31
one time when we were very new here and we were driving and Bla1 was a puppy and she wasn't very good in the car. Let's
38:37
just say she used to throw up and then she would get a little little car sick. So we would do like 20 minutes we could
38:43
go and then we could we would take her out, you know, take her for a little walk, get her back in the car another 20 minutes and then we were sort of hoping
38:49
that we could train her, which we did, thank goodness. But at that time we had gone like 21 minutes, I think, and we
38:56
were in the middle of like probably behind like the central market or something. And and we got we found a um
39:03
we got stopped by a like a police. What they'll do here, they won't just like come up behind you and kind of roll the
39:09
lights and get you to pull over. They'll do like places where they're just stopping everybody and seeing like a
39:15
checkpoint. Yeah. So, they had a checkpoint, but obviously this I obviously I wasn't the only one doing this because they had put a checkpoint
39:21
here and they were like, "Well, you're not allowed to go down here, you know, roll down the window." Three policemen,
39:27
not speaking Spanish very well, the dog throws up in the back of the car. The second I roll down my window to talk to
39:32
the policeman, Zena starts screaming. The dog's thrown up in the car. The dog's not running. The dog's thrown up. The guy's trying to speak to me in
39:38
Spanish. I don't know where I am. I'm like, I just want to get out of here. Like, I so don't know what to do. So, we
39:44
do. Did he let you go or did he even No, we got a ticket. We did get a ticket. Yeah. Don't tell me it was a lot. Was it
39:49
a lot? It was I think it was like €200 or something. It was a lot. It was a lot. It was a lot. So, we were allowed
39:56
to drive through and drive out. Obviously, there was no way back, but be do read the signs. And I what I do now
40:02
is I will use Google to find places but I will use ways for directions because ways has for some reason has a better
40:09
sense of one-way roads and restricted areas and stuff and I don't know why. So is this I wonder if this is it because
40:15
um I have friends or actually you know parents of my daughter's friends that
40:21
like they live outside the city and they they dread driving in the city and now mind you I haven't driven in the city
40:26
but for me I look at the city I'm like how could you dread driving in the city? There's no traffic here. There's barely cars. No, it's great. Yeah. It's like
40:32
like fantastic. Maybe this is why they dread it. They don't know. Maybe they've gotten a ticket. And it's not me
40:38
thinking that they're scared of traffic. They're just scared of going down the wrong street and that's true. I mean, pay their mortgage this month. There's
40:45
definitely that. I mean, I don't mind driving in the city at all. I think, like you said, there's never any traffic. You can get in and out really
40:51
quickly. Um, the only thing is, you know, there are sometimes like one of
40:56
the things I've noticed in Spain, they'll have roads that you can drive down, but the whole thing looks like a
41:01
sidewalk, right? So, it doesn't look like you should be able to go down there. It's common in eur in older
41:06
European neighborhoods, right? Like the older the old sections of towns, right? I think you're right. Yeah. And that that can kind of throw you a little bit,
41:13
I think, sometimes because you're like, I don't and then you're hoping a car goes down there in front of you basically because that's the only hope,
41:18
you know, but once you get used to it Yeah. It's it's great. I mean, we came to visit you one one night and it was
41:24
packed for some festival that we didn't know was happening. And I think that's the only thing you have to be careful of
41:29
is like try and stay tuned to festivals because if that's the only thing that will really miserable soccer matches cuz
41:36
that like where the stadium is is by the like Valencia has like I I swear three entrances and exits egresses into the
41:44
town, right? There's one in the north, one in the west, one in the south and that like that I feel like that's Yeah. So there's the one to the north which
41:50
goes past the the Mista Stadium and if you if there's a soccer match you might get backed up. We were coming a friend
41:56
we were at the girls school and a parent was like oh I'll drive you back. We're there for I don't know some wine and
42:03
cheese night back to school or something and parent was like I've got space in the car. We'll drive you and the girls
42:08
back. I'm like great. And then we got caught in traffic like and and it's like but you're flying down the highway
42:14
nothing and then you're in this like bottleneck cuz that's where the stadium is. And we were stuck there for like 30 minutes and then once we passed the
42:20
stadium it was like smooth sailing. Yeah. Totally fine. So Zena has a friend that lives right there and they invited
42:25
us to dinner which was lovely but none of us knew. They just moved there and I don't think they were really up on
42:31
football times like the matches. So we went there and it was literally 8:00 and the match starts at 9:00, right? So
42:38
everyone's there. Mhm. And we're driving around trying to find parking. And one
42:43
of the funny things about when these sorts of things happen, there is not enough parking, right? Obviously. So
42:49
what happens is you are literally allowed to park anywhere. So we the dad came out. He's
42:54
like, "Well, up on up on where like you've got you've got grass with trees and it the cars are parked between the
43:01
trees. Really? They're parked halfway up the sidewalk. They're parked on the side." So you got a you got a $3 million
43:07
ticket for going down a street that was clearly a street, but you weren't allowed to go down the street. It wasn't a football match. Oh, so I can't park
43:14
there just on a Tuesday morning. Only Oh, but for football, you can do anything. Okay. Football is life, right?
43:22
Is that that the quote from Ted Lasso? So, basically, yes, you I mean, they
43:27
people were double parked and that means that the people that were parked regularly knew that they weren't getting
43:33
out until 1:00 in the morning because that football match is going to start at what 9:30. You're getting out of there
43:38
at like midnight, 12:30. Whatever you say. Never been to Never been to a football match. So, I don't know. Either
43:45
we are going to be deported. Okay. So, anyway, but it was funny. He's like, "Yeah, just park here like on the grasp." And I'm like, "But I feel like
43:51
this is illegal." And he's like, "No, it's football. It's football night. Like, no one cares." And it is. It was true. I mean, I just parked everywhere.
43:57
I mean, it was amazing. Yeah. So, there are sort of times where rules don't apply. And I think it's usually related
44:03
to football. Gotcha. Yeah. We haven't been yet. Um, And what I will say also
44:08
what's refreshing back to the like the transport life, you know, for a city, us urban folk. Um, when we first moved
44:16
here, we went to the zoo with uh friends of ours. Oh, the zoo. Hold that thought. Put a pin in it. We'll get back to the
44:22
zoo. Okay. We are trying to learn to hold off on our tangents and keep our thoughts
44:28
linear. I'm not doing very well. We're going to fail. But just so you know, we are mindful that we are should be more
44:36
mindful. So for what that's worth, whatever that means. So when we first we went to to
44:43
the to the zoo with family friends that we had just met and we were on the we
44:49
were on the bus and uh the the the the father had said he's like, "Yes, just
44:54
tell me about transport and and give me the lowdown." I mean, we'd literally been here like a week or two. and he
45:01
said was showing me that on the the bus there's different colored seats and it's the same for the subway for people who
45:07
are handicapped, pregnant, elderly in whatever incapacitated people who deserve a seat
45:13
more than maybe you do. Right. Right. And I was like, "Oh, that's interesting." Because in in my really
45:19
only big, you know, mass transit situation was in New York and like there's like a handicapped area for like
45:25
a wheelchair but like no seats for pregnant people. like you're like if you're pregnant in one leg and and and
45:31
you're on the A train in New York if you're on your own like you're lucky if someone's going to let you sit down, right? Are people actually letting
45:37
people sit down if they see someone that needs Well, he said he's like you'll see that like even children like the like
45:42
you know swarmmy teenagers, hooligans will see an older person or someone who
45:48
needs a pregnant person or someone who needs to see and without ask without the person coughing without eye camp they
45:53
just see them enter the bus and they automatically get up knowing that the seat doesn't belong to them anymore. Yeah, humanity doesn't do that. Get out
46:01
of here. So then for my uh I guess this is like my is this my third a Spain moment? This is another A Spain moment.
46:08
Um jump Yeah. jump start to um several months later I get on the bus and some
46:17
zitfaced teenager looks at me, gets up and then
46:22
like shows me the seat. Oh, that's so nice. Is it though? It is. Is it? No,
46:28
it's not. I mean, I took it cuz you know, but you're older than him. Oh, I
46:34
know. I mean, but I mean, I'm not I I look incapacitated. I know I've put on some few pounds and I've lost my hair.
46:40
Well, can I just say can I just say that is not the purpose of those seats necessarily. And that is where your uh
46:46
Spain comes in, which is that those seats are not for the young kids. It's for anybody. It's for anybody. No, no,
46:53
no. You do not have to be elderly, incapacitated, pregnant, or anything to have those seats. They will be given up
46:58
to somebody older. So, like you said, if a kid sat down, like if it was a teenager, he knows that anybody older
47:05
than him should be having that seat. So, you could be like, you don't have to be an old fart. I love how you tried to
47:12
save me from ruin on Sunday, but um I thank God there's no Dunkin Donuts
47:18
nearby. Oh, there is one nearby. I'm not going to it, though. I'm not going to draw my sorrows and donuts. We found the
47:24
Dunkin Donut. We didn't know that it was there and Zena and her friend went bananas and made us drive in to go there. Did you try them? Were they good?
47:31
Cuz I I haven't we haven't been to it. Actually, look, look at this tangent. We have to I'm not even allowed to talk about the zoo. Um, let me talk about
47:37
Dunkin Donuts for a minute. It's not my It's not It's I'm a Crispy Creams donut if I'm going to And I'm not a big donut
47:43
person, but I do believe it tasted like Dunkin Donuts. Is it So So they tasted
47:48
American. They tasted like You would have to go and and answer that question because I'm not the person here at the
47:54
store and the bakeries don't taste like anything we're used to. Well, it is a legit it is a legit Dunkin Donuts. So, I
48:00
mean, I don't see why it wouldn't. And they have Yeah, but McDonald's here is legit McDonald's and you cannot get a
48:07
Egg McMuffin to save your life. So, okay. But the other food you get at McDonald's does it taste like McDonald's
48:12
as much as it's allowed to in Okay, there you go. So, I'm sure it would. I'm sure it would. We just got Coke last
48:17
night and we were talking about how Coke tastes like Diet Coke because it's not allowed to have the same amount of sugar in it. So, we're like, it's still not
48:23
the same as American Coke. It doesn't have that bite as what we're used to.
48:29
Well, then I don't and then I'm going to say you might be disappointed, but for us who haven't had a donut in like five
48:35
years, let's say, and her friend was a friend who is in the military and her
48:41
dad's in the military, so they travel around a lot. So, she appreciates those things when she finds them as well. So,
48:47
it was an excursion for the kids that was very exciting. And it's been a while
48:52
since you've lived in LA, but I don't know if you remember though, so we're not Dunkin Donuts fans. So, in LA, chain
48:58
doughnut stores aren't really a thing. It's all about these like kind of mom and pop owned by I think it's like
49:03
Cambodians and Vietnamese are like the the big owners of a lot of the doughnut stores in LA. So, we're used to these
49:09
kind of like mom and pop situations, but it's that that taste. So, we get a glazed donut here. We're like, it still isn't that fluffy that same taste. I
49:16
think you'll find that. I think you'll find that. I Okay, we'll try I will try the Dunkin Donuts. Um but okay, let's
49:22
talk about the zoo. Okay, let's talk about the zoo. I just want to say since you brought it up and it's way more
49:29
exciting than donuts is that the zoo here is amazing. I love it. It really
49:34
is. It really is. And we've been there a bunch of times and speaking of really
49:40
bad American foods, they have slushies there that we is basically the reason that Zena goes there and then we get to
49:46
see the animals. Okay. But also as a tip for the zoo, this is really what I just wanted to mention
49:51
because it's kind of travel relatedish, which is um the price for a day and the
49:57
price for a yearly pass is the same, right? So if you live here, get get the
50:02
yearly pass and you can just keep going back. And the daily pass is really just for tourists. But I love how they do
50:08
that. I think that's really nice. It's very nice. And and the zoo itself is amazing because it's not like a zoo.
50:14
It's very small. It's only African animals and so it's a very specific zoo,
50:20
but you feel like you're on safari. They have set it up that you don't see the the habitats are like you see a clearing
50:27
in trees and there's the habitat and then there's like the monkey area that you go through doors and I mean it's not
50:32
like gorillas aren't running around you but there's like the little whatever those little monkeys are called are hopping around you and stuff. So that's
50:38
very cool. Yeah, the gorillas have like they do have a glass, right, that you have to look through, but everything
50:44
else is done with dips in the ground and water and things like that. So that the for the most part I think so that you
50:50
are just looking free freely at the animals at the animals and you don't see the bars and stuff. I remember there's a
50:56
walkway and we saw a giraffe's head come over from one side and eat the trees from the other side of the walkway and
51:01
I'm like that is so weird. This is making me want to go to the zoo. I want to go to the zoo now the kids at home.
51:07
Yeah. And then the other thing they have there which you can miss but try not to miss it because it was really cool is they have a open air auditorium area and
51:14
they do shows there I think like several times a day at a certain time and they are at those times and they have like
51:22
the falconry and they let the the bird like flies over you and comes back to the guy and then they have a grass area
51:27
in the middle where they bring out from underneath the seats like all these animals and they run around the grassy
51:33
area and then they explain them and then they go back. You don't have to do that. Oh, that sounds kind of cool. So cool. And you just sit there and it's just
51:39
it's a really nice show and it's I don't know maybe half an hour or something. You can totally sit through it. Well, we we're due for a zoo visit because we
51:46
haven't been since we since that first time we moved here. I will say another you know for it feels like every episode
51:51
we do have to mention something about food because you know food because it's food. Um is that what what I was another
51:58
thing I was impressed about the zoo is was the the food the cafeteria the the restaurant or whatever was like a legit
52:04
restaurant. I mean, you go up and you order it and you know, you get a tray and take it to your thing. But it's real
52:11
food. They have like the paella that's been cooking all day, like a couple forms. I think they they How do you pronounce it? The fedua the fedua fedua.
52:19
And that's not how you pronounce it, by the way. Some the guy at the restaurant was trying to get me to say it and he like I think finally after the 50th time
52:26
I said it correctly and then the 51st time he's like, I give up on you.
52:31
But they have like poach salmon and but it's not like you know the rubbery hamburgers and and chicken fingers like
52:36
you find in the states. And it's not a $15 burger. Like the the meal that they had like a menu delta and like the whole
52:43
meal for was like paella an appetizer and a drink and a dessert. I think it
52:48
was like 1617. I'm like you have a captive audience. You could so charge more for this. Right. Oh my gosh. Right.
52:54
There's nothing else there other than which which is basically what we'd use this the smooth the the slushies and the
53:00
ice cream and everything like that. But and speaking of the fidua I guess if that is how you say it that is in case
53:05
anyone doesn't know that is like a pa except it's made with these little bits of pasta like vermicelli like vermicelli
53:10
pasta basically. Yeah. Like little like one inch long pieces of Yeah. And it's it's really good. It has kind of the
53:16
same flavoring and it's cooked kind of the same way as as a pa and it comes in a pa pan and everything but it's with
53:22
the pasta instead. It's very very good. It is good. I prefer the paella myself over that. But you know, I like both.
53:29
You can you can like both. I know. Well, I love it when I have friends in town and there's enough of them. So, we had
53:34
the friends in town. I think I told you that it was a family of six. So, they were staying with us. So, we were a big
53:40
group when we went out to eat. So, we could we had the luxury of getting a couple of paas for dinner. So, we did
53:45
the fidua and the and the pa, which was great to get both in the same meal. So good. Yes. It was so so so good. I say
53:53
it was I'm trying to think there's something else to say. So, we've talked about the
53:58
transport, the subways, the buses. Now, the buses is a very extensive system here in in Valencia. And they also have
54:05
trams, which I never take the tram because the tram's really on the other side of the And then we also have the trains going from city to city. So, I
54:11
will say overall I want to just point out that having been on the New New York underground and London and different
54:18
places, it's really nice here. The trains, the buses, the trams, like the the rails,
54:26
clean and new and nice. Really, really nice. The new nice and ironically free
54:31
of graffiti. You see graffiti everywhere in Europe, but you don't see it on the subway cars. You don't see them. You
54:37
just don't. It's kind of interesting now. They just thought of that now. Um, yeah. And really nice. And then we have
54:43
the highspeed train that goes between here and Madrid. Um, and you got trains going up to Barcelona and stuff, but I
54:50
mean that's not a high-speed one, but it's not, you know, it's still it's a nice train. And but it's the Euromat isn't necessarily high speed, but it is
54:56
it's express. It only has one stop. So there is a local train that's like four hours, but I think that one's like three
55:03
hours, right? And rumor has it they're building a highspeed line from here. They I think so. I think they are
55:09
building more highspeed around. I think there's a new highspeed that's going in maybe between I'm not going to get it
55:14
wrong, but maybe between like somewhere in the south to Madrid as well. So, they are definitely building more high-speed
55:20
trains around around Spain, it seems. Um, very very I think Spain has one of
55:25
the most extensive train systems in Europe, I think. I think it's Oh,
55:30
really? I think it has like the most miles, like the most tracks or something. Length. Do you know length of
55:35
There's something. It's a most of something. It's a superlative of something. Wow. I mean that's that's fascinating information. Also the also
55:43
the price I think the price of going between they have is very very good. And again I haven't like done that yet cuz
55:48
we drove to Madrid when we went because you know we had to go to Costco and come back with a car full of stuff. Well I've
55:54
only taken the train to and from Madrid and I've done it three times now. And what's great here is we have the
56:01
staterun train system and then there is so they have but it's it's they don't
56:06
have a monopoly because they have the IO trains and the we go train. So the Italian there's a private Italian train
56:13
company and a French um train company that compete and so you can get if you book far enough in advance in the right
56:20
time you can get like a train ticket to Madrid for like €9 one way and which is
56:25
amazing. It's amazing. And I mean, we're taking a a a trip this summer, which
56:30
we'll talk about later, but we're doing a train trip, and it's like the amount of what we're spending on the trains to go to all these places is relatively
56:37
nothing, you know, compared for the the distance that we're doing. And um but
56:42
yeah, if you're here in Madrid in less than two hours and it's and the stations are very, you know, located centrally in
56:49
each city. So, right. So, you could go to Madrid for the day for lunch. she go for lunch and come back and and and not
56:55
be tired for dinner because we did that. We my aunt was in town in the fall and with her grandson and we went to Madrid.
57:02
We went to the Prada. We had lunch and well we would have been back earlier. We
57:07
missed the train and take the next one. Well, pseudo planned. Pseudo planned.
57:16
But yes, you can do that easily um without be like, "Yeah, let's just go for the day and come back." But don't
57:21
try to think. I mean, I calculated taking a train like to London. Oh, no,
57:26
no, no. That's the American myth, right? And totally the American myth. I'm like,
57:31
"Oh, Europe, the trains, you could take a train everywhere." Well, I mean, you can't. It'll take seven days. Like, I remember and €2,000.
57:39
It's not cheap. Once you cross a border, it's not cheap. Now, I think if you're like in France, like in that central
57:44
western Europe, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, you can take trains and go to different countries much
57:51
easier. But if you're in like Spain or Italy on these peninsulas where you are the only country, it takes hours and
57:58
hours to get outside the country. So, for us to get to like Paris, it's over 9 hours to do it. you have to change
58:06
trains I think in Barcelona where the flight's an hour and a half and and and maybe 20 if you if you don't get when
58:12
you go. So I mean the flights and especially if you want to go to England which we were thinking it would be fun
58:17
to to you know do the train or drive or something but the cost of it and you really have to make that your trip and
58:24
make a twoe trip out of it and spend one day in England and come back because you know the cost of going over the the the
58:30
channel and everything. I mean, it's just it with the price of of airfare now, it's just not really worth it. So,
58:37
unless that is your trip is the driving or is the taking the train and stopping and that's something that you want to
58:43
do, it's definitely not the most cost effective way to travel, right? Um, exactly. For sure. Um, not from here
58:51
anyway. Spain Spain is bigger than it looks, people. I mean, I if you start trying to do things, it's huge. you look
58:56
at it and you're thinking, "Oh, yeah, you could just go from here to here and and it's like it's it's a long trip. It's a long trip, right? Means there's a
59:04
lot of great things to to see and a lot of different foods to eat and but if you're like me and you're carless, it
59:10
does take a lot of planning and a lot of time because there's a lot of places that aren't easily accessible by train or if you do, you have to go to Madrid
59:17
and then come back all the way around where like you may been able to get there by car in three hours but might take 12 hours by train because they
59:23
don't have a link that way, right? But you'll figure that out when you visit, when you move here, or if you're just
59:29
bored and you go on the websites and and see how these things happen. Exactly. Well, I think that pretty much covers
59:35
transportation or whatever it was we were supposed to talk about today. Plus the zoo, plus the other things plus food and donuts and now you have to go taste
59:42
the donuts. What's it called? Squash. What does squashes? And squash. Yeah. See, so many things. So many things.
59:50
All right. Adios. See you later. Hey, can't get enough of us? Follow us
59:56
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1:00:02
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1:00:08
See you next time. Bye.