February 24, 2025 • 40 mins
From a borderline passive-aggressive roommate experience in Madrid, to watching friends tear apart a rabbit skull in traditional paella in Valencia, to recommending a wealth of truly Spanish food recommendations and culture tips to be aware of as a tourist in Spain, Joshua Craig takes us on a colorful, more local, cultural-enriching journey through the eyes of his experiences of living twice in Spain - once in Valencia and once in Madrid - as an American.
(00:00) Trailer Intro & Overview
(01:48) Background on Josh & How/Why Spain
(03:31) Time & Life in Valencia
(05:32) Recommended Places to See in Valencia
(08:17) Paella Birthplace & Food Recommendations in Valencia
(09:54) Bad Roommate Story in Madrid
(15:25) What to See & Eat in Madrid
(17:59) Other Spanish Food Recommendations
(19:20) Air Pollution & Air Quality Problem in Madrid
(21:52) Spain Eating Times to Know
(24:01) Spain's "Later" Culture & Adapting to it
(29:31) Quick Barcelona Tips & Tidbits
(33:02) What to Know about Spaniards, Degree of Warmth Comparisons
(36:21) Other Tips for a Better Time in Spain :)
(37:42) "100 Montaditos" Fast Food Recommendation 3
(39:06) Last Remarks
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
(00:04):
My friend Joshua Craig, who is joining with us today,
is my American friend who I went to university with
at the University of Georgia.
Josh has had the opportunity to live in Spain
on two different occasions,
once in Valencia and the other in Madrid.
So Josh has had an opportunity to really dive deeper
(00:24):
into Spanish culture and what it's like to live in Spain
from a more local's perspective.
In this episode today, Josh and I talked about
so many insightful recommendations,
places to see in Valencia, places to see in Madrid,
dabbling a little bit in Barcelona,
and the perfect places you should go to
(00:45):
to try the most traditional of Spanish cuisine,
a really hilarious roommate story,
there's a really good fast food place we will mention,
and some very helpful tips,
any person who is going to Spain for the first time
would find very helpful.
We hope you enjoy, and of course, as always,
be sure to share your feedback with me on Instagram,
(01:06):
and please give this show a five star review
if you have not done so already.
Sending you lots of love,
let's go ahead and dive deep into this episode.
Hello, Josh, long time no see.
Yes, indeed, long time no see.
I am so happy to have you back here on the podcast.
(01:28):
For those of you who don't know,
Josh was actually in our France episode
probably a couple of months ago or so.
Tell us a little bit about yourself from your perspective
and about your overall involvement
and experience in Spain.
So my name is Josh or Joshua.
(01:49):
I am living near Atlanta, same as Mary Grace.
Yes, yes.
And I teach English as a second language,
and I really got interested in Spain when I was in college.
My sophomore year at UGA,
I went to Spain in the spring semester,
and it was a blast.
(02:11):
I loved every minute of it,
and since then I've been obsessed with Spain.
Why did you go to Spain?
Spain is the only Spanish speaking country in Europe,
and so since I really wanted to live in Europe,
it was Spain.
It was Spain.
I was studying Romance languages,
and so I studied both Spanish and French.
(02:32):
My Spanish is much better than my French,
so I decided to go to Spain,
tried my hardest to practice every day and got in,
did the program, and I fell in love with Spain.
Why, living there, studying there.
I really love that.
Spain definitely is one of those countries
that I think just about anybody could fall in love with
(02:53):
if they immerse themselves in the culture
and really just have fun and meet people
and learn the language.
Josh has had the opportunity to live in Spain twice.
So the first time he lived in Valencia,
and you live there 10 years ago now, which is crazy.
And then the second time, Josh lived in Madrid.
(03:16):
So let's start with your time in Valencia.
Yes.
Based on your experience in Valencia,
what was your first impression of Spain and Spanish people
and Spanish culture, Spanish life?
Valencia is very beautiful.
It has a lot of old architecture, beautiful plazas,
(03:36):
a lot of history.
Valencia is very close to the beach,
and so you can go to the beach really easily.
One of the things that I first noticed
is that in Valencia, they do speak Spanish,
but a lot of the signs are not in Spanish.
The signs are in Valencian, which is close to Catalan.
And so they're very proud of having their own language,
(03:59):
but most people do speak Spanish.
And so it was very interesting to be learning Spanish,
doing everything in Spanish, but none of the signs
were really in Spanish per se.
So it was an interest.
That was kind of interesting, to say the least.
Not sure if many people know, but there's
Catalonia, which is in Spain, and they specifically
(04:21):
like the Barcelona area.
And they are very much interested in becoming
independent.
But Valencia is one of those areas
that some people like independence,
some people don't like independence.
And so you have that interesting mix there.
Another impression is that people there are quite very nice.
I was able to make friends relatively quickly,
(04:44):
living in the dorm.
A lot of international people were there,
got to speak Spanish, got to make friends.
It was very easy, especially in comparison with France,
which was a lot harder to make friends in.
Spain was easier, more laid back, not as stressful.
What are some places that you would
recommend for anybody who is planning to visit Valencia?
(05:08):
And also, if there are any special foods
that people should be trying when going to Valencia,
what would you recommend?
So in Valencia, there are a lot of different places
you can go to.
So one is Plaza de la Virgen.
So Plaza de la Virgen, it is a very nice area.
Even the floor is just beautiful.
(05:29):
It's marble.
It's classy.
Classy.
There's a beautiful water fountain.
There's a basilica as well.
Very beautiful area.
And that was actually close to where I was living,
in the dorms.
And then also, you could go to Plaza de la Reina,
so Plaza of the Queen.
And so that actually has a little McDonald's.
(05:50):
Next to the McDonald's is a cute little ice cream place.
Beautiful shops there.
And then that connects to the Town Hall Plaza.
So that's a much bigger plaza.
So you have all these plazas connected together.
And it's just very beautiful, beautiful architecture.
Another cool feature about Valencia
(06:11):
is that they have a park called the River, Rio.
And essentially, there used to be an actual river
that was there.
But I think it was the 1940s.
I might be mistaken on the year.
It flooded really badly, and a lot of people passed away.
And so they actually decided to drain the river
(06:32):
and convert that into a park.
And so where this river used to be
is a very long park that goes throughout the entire city.
Very beautiful.
A lot of things to see and do in the park itself.
They have places you can play soccer,
play different sports, different things for children.
So different jungle gyms and whatnot.
(06:54):
Nature, a lot of places to just walk around, relax, enjoy.
Another cool area is called the City of the Arts
and the Sciences.
It is a more modern area.
And so it has a lot of water features,
has some cool museums.
I think the aquarium is close to there.
So it's just a really cool area.
(07:14):
And then, of course, going to the beach.
At least for me, I have never lived in an area
where I could go to the beach frequently.
I know Valencians think that.
They're like, oh, there are so many tourists.
So we go to another beach.
But for me, it was great.
It was a great beach to go to.
We didn't go that often because we were there
(07:37):
from January to April.
And so we didn't have time.
It was just too cold to go in January, February.
A lot of cool places to see in Valencia.
In terms of the food, Valencia is actually
the birthplace of paella.
And so I do recommend eating their paella.
Especially if you're going to go to Valencia,
(07:59):
don't get the paella in other places.
Even like Barcelona or Madrid, they have paella
but it's more for tourists.
The tourist trap, if you will.
A classic paella in Valencia will actually have rabbit meat.
I didn't know that.
And so one funny thing we got paella
when I went with my American friends,
(08:21):
they had the entire skeleton of this rabbit.
And so we saw the skull.
And we're like, oh my.
You see this dead rabbit skull.
Other than that, it's really good.
I do recommend it.
Lots of vegetables in this paella as well.
You could also get seafood paella.
One cool one is like a black paella.
(08:41):
They use, I think it's octopus ink or squid ink
to dye the rice black.
And then they put aioli sauce on it.
It's really good.
That's delicious.
If you like seafood.
If you do not like seafood, do not have.
It's not going to be good.
But if you do like seafood, I think it is quite delicious.
They have a lot of different options there.
A lot of very good restaurants.
(09:01):
One of the cool restaurants that was close to where I was living
is called Hasta La Pasta, which was an Italian place.
I think they made their own pastas and stuff.
Very, very good.
I love this.
Oh, I love it.
I have never been to Valencia personally.
But just hearing you talk about it
makes me want to go whenever I have the chance one day.
(09:22):
Just to see Valencia.
Let's also talk a little bit about your time in Madrid.
Yes.
So this is very colorful.
And I am very excited for Josh to be sharing
these juicy details with us today.
Let's talk about your living situation in Madrid.
And your roommate situation.
(09:45):
Yes.
So originally found a place in Madrid.
And the guy was from Peru, super nice.
Was able to set it up easily.
And I was under the impression that his girlfriend from Peru
was moving, or not moving, but visiting.
She ended up moving there.
So I had another roommate.
(10:07):
And so she caused a lot of issues.
One of the first things that occurred is when we were there,
I was sleeping because I had to work the next day,
as a normal human being does.
And she needed to FaceTime her friend at 2 in the morning.
Oh my gosh, we have a conduction oven.
(10:29):
Very loudly at 2 in the morning.
I'm just like, this is wild.
You need to stop.
The other issues included when she would cook,
she would always use the one pot.
We would only have one pot for the entire apartment.
I don't know why.
My roommate would work at night.
And then she didn't have a job for the first couple of months.
(10:51):
She was there.
And so she was just always there.
And so she would use the pot.
And then she would not put the food away from that pot
into the refrigerator.
She'd just leave it there.
So I had nowhere.
I had nothing to cook in.
And I'm like, can you clean the pot?
And she would do it if I asked, but she would never
(11:14):
do it if I didn't ask.
And so I ended up getting another pot
and then hoarding it in my room.
Because I'm like, I don't trust you.
You're going to just use the two pots.
Another issue that came up was my roommate
had his family live in Spain as well.
And they would just show up without any warning.
(11:36):
Because he would have maybe one day off a week
or something like that.
He worked at a bar or something.
And they would just all be there.
And I'm like, it wasn't a tiny, tiny apartment,
but it wasn't a big apartment.
I'm not going to lie.
It was quite small.
There wasn't really a lot of room.
They were quite loud.
When my roommate was there with his girlfriend,
(11:57):
they would fight a lot.
They broke up shortly after.
But one of the worst things was I would say hello, buenos
dias in the morning, hola, like a normal person.
And she'd just look at me, Joshua, and walk away.
And I'm like, I'm sorry.
(12:18):
What?
No, that's aggressive.
That's not even passive aggressive.
That's aggressive.
So I remember I called my roommate
to talk to him about this.
He's like, oh, yeah, my girlfriend mentioned.
It's probably your religion or something.
It's not my religion that she treats me like trash.
What's happening is she's not saying hello,
like a normal person, like girl.
(12:41):
So she was not a nice person to live with,
making a lot of noise in the early morning, like 2, 3 AM,
because she started working at the same place that he would.
And they would come home together,
making a ton of ruckus.
It was just not a good living arrangement.
And so I was lucky I got to move out of that.
(13:03):
And then I could, you know, a week later,
the pandemic came to Spain, and we were confined.
So I'm very lucky that I was not confined
when I was living at the toxic roommates.
That is one way to refer to that place.
I think that you really did luck out
(13:23):
by literally within one week of the pandemic exploding
and taking over the world,
that you were able to escape this dungeon of hell,
so to speak.
Wow.
Yeah, having a horrible roommate is definitely,
I don't even have words for it.
It is just unbearably awful
(13:44):
if you are ever in that situation.
I have been in that situation, not in Spain,
but in other places, which I will get into at another time.
But I do understand how that is.
It is no fun.
And it really tainted my experience living in Madrid.
And so I don't have as many good memories in Madrid
(14:05):
as a result.
I do have good memories.
Don't get me wrong.
It's just, that was a very large part of my time there.
And it just never got better and actually got worse.
I just felt like I couldn't do anything in the apartment
and just live normally.
And so definitely, if you're in a bad roommate situation,
try to get out of it as soon as possible.
(14:27):
Do not wait, like I did.
I probably moved there in September
and I got out of that in February the following year.
So luckily the place I moved in afterwards,
it was a nice young couple from Venezuela.
Very nice.
They had a dog.
We all got along.
We had to get to know each other more than we would have
(14:49):
had it been normal because we were all confined
in that space.
It was much nicer.
It wasn't bad.
So with this very unfortunate roommate situation
now being said, let's talk about the good things
that you got out of Madrid
and also any specific recommendations
on what to do in Madrid, what to be aware of in Madrid.
(15:10):
Madrid is a very cool city.
There's a lot to do.
You can go to their main museum.
I think it's the Prado.
Very nice.
You can see a lot of famous artwork
if that is what you're interested in.
En Retiro, yes.
This place is beautiful.
It's a park where there is water
and you can take a boat there.
(15:30):
I went there.
That was probably at least for me,
one of my most favorite places in Madrid.
I loved that place.
Yes.
In summer especially.
Parque de Retiro, very nice park.
Spacious, the lake.
Yeah, and you can go on these like-
Paddle boats.
Paddle boats, yeah.
They have paddle boats.
They have like cute little oar things.
There's also the Palacio Real,
(15:51):
which is the royal palace,
which is a really cool place to go to.
And that is just a really nice area.
And then around that, there are a lot of cool stores
you can go to.
One other cool thing about Madrid is the diversity.
So a lot of other Europeans moved to Madrid
because Spain has a lot better climate
(16:12):
than the rest of Europe.
It's not as cold.
And so you'll see a lot of Europeans there.
You see a lot of Latin Americans there as well,
which is really cool.
You get to not only experience a Spanish culture,
but Latin American cultures as well.
They have like really cool Peruvian restaurants.
You can go to Venezuelan places.
(16:33):
It's a really nice mix of cultures.
Madrid is really close to other places.
So if you wanna go to like Toledo,
it's not that far of a, I think train ride or bus ride.
You can do one or the other.
And that is, the Toledo is really cool
because it is the city of three religions.
(16:55):
So they have a history of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
And so you see a lot of different places
and the mix of cultures, architectures,
and all that cool stuff.
From Madrid, you can easily go
to a bunch of different places.
Another cool place is called the Casa Lucio.
It's a nice little restaurant.
(17:17):
There are a lot of places you can get tapas.
And if you don't know what tapas are,
they are little side dishes, typically.
And so you can get like three or four
to try different things.
I really liked their garlic shrimp.
Typically when you buy like, it's called una caña,
like a thin of beer, you get free tapas with that.
I remember that from Spain.
That's very nice.
That's a very nice thing.
(17:38):
It's mean it's not like a huge thing.
It's like either olives or something like that.
But that's a really nice scene of Spain.
You can get like a bunch of tapas.
Are there some specific tapas that you would recommend
or that you really, really love?
Or that even are very specifically special to Spain
that any visitor should absolutely not miss?
(17:59):
So the classic in my eyes are patatas bravas,
which are potatoes.
And normally they have like an alioli sauce on them.
It's quite simple, but it's fantastic.
There are also these things called croquetas,
which normally like have ham and cheese in them.
(18:20):
Amazing.
I love croquetas. Those are my favorite.
Here we do have some croquetas,
but you're just like disappointed.
There's also a dish called tortilla española.
So Spanish tortilla.
And it is not a tortilla at all.
So think of like an omelet-esque pie,
and then it has like potatoes in it
(18:40):
and is really, really good.
You can get it for like brunch time.
If you are going throughout Spain,
I recommend getting seafood closer to the coasts,
not in the central region.
Well, one thing that Josh actually mentioned to me
before we hit record and something that came up
that I found very interesting
that I would love for you to go into more detail about
(19:02):
is Madrid's pollution.
So what is this?
Like explain to us the pollution problem that is in Madrid
and how you came to know about Madrid's pollution
specifically.
So I didn't even notice the pollution until I left the city.
So I went with one of my friends in Madrid
(19:23):
and he needed to deliver a package.
So we had to go a little outside of the city by bus.
And I remember getting off the bus
and realizing how fresh the air was.
I'm like, oh no.
That probably means that Madrid is not
going to be the healthiest city to live in
if you have a lot of breathing problems.
(19:46):
There is a lot of smog in Madrid.
You can tell a difference in the air quality.
I don't think I've ever had that before.
Like in Valencia, I bet there are problems,
but it just didn't feel like there were as many problems.
We also lived not too far from a park in Valencia.
The trees must have absorbed some of that pollution.
(20:09):
And Madrid, where I was living for the bulk of it,
not all of it, there were not as many parts.
It's very heavily populated.
And so I really noticed the smog.
It wasn't great.
It wasn't great.
Not going to lie.
It doesn't sound like it was great.
(20:29):
I really just didn't realize that Madrid was that polluted
because I told Josh earlier that I had gone to Madrid
almost 10 years ago, and I don't remember it being
that polluted.
I never realized that that was truly a problem.
I mean, I would expect that maybe in London.
I would expect that in Paris, maybe somewhere else.
(20:50):
But Madrid?
Like what?
So it was very surprising to learn that information.
You know, for sure.
Like, so if you ever go to Madrid, be careful.
The air quality is bad.
For sure.
Although you might not notice it as much if you're only
there for even a week.
But if you're there a long term, you definitely
(21:10):
start to notice it.
But just for vacation, I think it'd be fine.
But it was super noticeable when I left.
And I'm like, this is not good.
This is not good.
One thing to note about Spain is if you go there
and you want to eat there, they do not
start eating until very late.
So restaurants typically will close after lunch.
(21:35):
And they will not open up again until around 8 PM
to maybe midnight or something like that.
So if you are an early eater, you
need to definitely go or get some snacks to hold you over.
Because most people do not eat dinner until around 9 or 10
in Spain.
So that is something that you would
(21:56):
have to get used to being there.
They do not really cater to people who eat at 5 PM.
5 PM is when they have a snack.
But they will eat closer to 9 or 10.
They have five meal times officially.
So you have your desayuno, so your breakfast.
Then you have your muerto, which is
(22:18):
in between breakfast and lunch.
You'd normally have it at 11-ish.
And it would be like a sandwich or something.
Then you have la comida, which is lunch for people in Spain.
And that would be more at like 2 PM, not 12.
Here we eat more at 12, but Spain, too.
(22:39):
Then you have your marienda, which is your snack time.
That's when you could go get churros, for example,
or something.
And that would be 4-ish, 5, 6 maybe.
And then dinner la cena.
8 PM is the time that children eat.
So adults normally would want to eat probably at like 9 or 10.
(23:00):
It's much later.
So the times in Spain are very different.
If you are really hungry, that's why the touristy places
are there.
So you could get your paella at 5 PM.
Just note that it is not authentic,
because no Spanish person is going to eat at that time.
So keep that in mind.
(23:21):
That is very, very helpful, I think,
to anybody who is visiting Spain and who does not
have a clue about how any of the meal times work.
Spaniards and people in Spain operate
on an extremely late schedule.
Like I remember when I was in Spain,
I remember the Spaniards would stay out all night long.
(23:43):
I mean, they literally maybe go home at 6 in the morning.
That is not uncommon to see, which
is just wild.
So for you, Josh, how did you adjust
to this type of late culture?
So maybe in terms of going out, in terms of eating late,
in terms of operating on a completely later schedule?
(24:04):
I'm probably not the best example,
because I like to stay home.
But the nights that I did do stuff, one,
I would just drink coffee to stay up super late.
Because otherwise, I was going to go to bed.
A lot of people in Spain will take a nap.
And so you have a nap hour.
(24:24):
Siesta.
Yeah, your siesta.
That's what a lot of people would do.
Another thing, I'm not sure.
I don't know.
Do you know the history or the reason
why there is a siesta period?
Where did that come from?
Why do people take a nap in the middle of the day
for a couple of hours in Spain?
(24:47):
I know it's cultural, but I just wonder, yeah,
why don't other countries do that?
Might be traditional.
I'm not sure.
But people would go home for lunch.
And then they would take their nap.
And then they would go back to work.
Nowadays, I don't know if that's always the case.
It would probably depend on the place
you're in, like in smaller villages, that might be the case,
(25:07):
more so than the city.
It's a slower pace of life.
Even in Madrid, it is more chaotic.
But it's not like France or even in Germany,
and especially not like the US and New York.
And people take their time to do things.
People often show up late.
Not everyone's late.
But it's just there's not this, like, let's hurry up and go
(25:31):
kind of culture that we have, at least in the United States.
It's just a lot more like, oh, we have time to do it.
Oh, there's no rush.
Yeah, I'll do that later.
I'll do that later, yes.
They even say like, oh, there's always tomorrow.
There is always tomorrow in their book.
We don't have to worry about doing it today.
(25:52):
So it's not that they're lazy.
It's just that they're working to live, more so
than living to work.
It's a much more relaxed culture.
Like, after you're done working, you go out.
Even on the weekdays, there will be people
that are out all night.
And then even on Thursday, you probably
(26:12):
could go, I might be wrong on that.
But like Friday and Saturday, a lot of people
just go to the clubs all night, sleep all day,
and do it all over again.
So it depends on the person, honestly.
Like, extroverts definitely like to do that.
And introverts prefer to, you know, stay low.
Lay low.
Lay low.
(26:32):
I did go out, but it wasn't like some of my other friends
that were out every weekend, every weekend,
had to go to the discotheca.
In the US, you pregame, and then you probably
go out to the clubs, what, right?
Like nine?
Yes.
And Spain, you pregame until midnight.
(26:54):
And then you go out to the clubs,
and you're there from like one to five or one to six.
Some people even eat breakfast right before they go to bed.
That is just, yeah, that is hardcore.
Very different party culture for sure.
I, that's why I need my coffee.
(27:14):
Like I couldn't stay up.
I'm one of the first ones to fall asleep, so.
Just like me.
Yeah.
Actually, there is a quick story,
and this is related to Spain.
So Josh and I also studied in France together,
and there was a weekend at some point during our France time
when us and our group went to Barcelona.
(27:36):
And we went out that night, and I think
that I had fallen asleep, or that I was one of the first ones
to fall asleep.
And I think Josh, and maybe one other person,
I think forced me to get up and forced me to stay awake.
And I did, and I was very happy that I did.
But yeah, I mean, it's real.
(27:58):
People in Spain, I mean, when they party, they party hard,
and they party long and late.
So if you are in that crowd, and that is your thing,
Spain will be your place.
Yes.
I mean, no doubt in the world.
Be careful when you go to these places,
because there are a lot of instances
(28:18):
where people do get drugged.
People do, bad things happen.
So make sure you're going with friends.
Just go alone, and that's not a good idea.
Go with friends.
No.
Make sure you know where your phone is.
Make sure you're putting it in a safe place.
There's a lot of paypocketing in Spain.
So you want to make sure you have your wallet,
(28:39):
have your keys, or your phone, because that will be missing
if you're not careful easily in those discotecas.
Have you ever had a friend who had that happen?
Probably, I don't remember.
But it wasn't me.
Let's hope it was not you.
(29:00):
Let's also quickly touch upon Barcelona,
because I know that that is one of the most common places
that most people who go to Spain visit.
I know you didn't live in Barcelona,
but you spent more time there than even I did.
So what do you recommend in Barcelona?
And what specific things, in terms of food, activities,
(29:25):
et cetera, should people try or be open to trying
if they are only going to Barcelona?
The Sangra FamÃlia is very impressive.
It does cost money to go in, but I do recommend it.
It is beautiful inside.
I think they're finishing it up in the next year or two.
(29:46):
It's coming close.
It's almost as if they're just trying to build it.
Yeah, that's what it seems like.
Because it'll be different the next time you come back.
They're finishing that up.
That's really nice.
In Barcelona, another thing that's very common
is tomato sauce on bread.
They love to eat that.
That is typical Barcelona appetizer.
(30:10):
Actually, one of my friends is married to someone
from Barcelona.
And we went to a restaurant here in Atlanta called Barcelona.
And he was disappointed with the bread, because in the US,
we do bread and olive oil more.
But he's like, where's the tomato sauce?
You put tomato sauce on the bread,
(30:31):
and that looks very typical.
That's more Barcelona.
For us, we're just like, oh, yeah, bread and olive oil,
dip it.
That's cheese, pepper, typically.
It's not that sophisticated.
Yeah.
No.
It's good.
It's good.
I'm not complaining, but.
No, it's not.
It's delicious, but it's not traditional in that sense.
In Barcelona, there are things called fartons.
(30:56):
They sound quite bad.
They're not.
They're really good.
They're like lawns, beans of bread.
Very good.
No matter where you are in Spain,
you can get very good churros.
Most Americans are familiar with Mexican ones,
where you have a lot of sugar on them.
The ones in Spain don't really have as much sugar.
(31:16):
But what you do is with your churro,
you can dip it into hot chocolate.
And their hot chocolate is to die for.
So if you don't like that artificial hot chocolate
we have in the US, it is definitely not like that.
It's like they melt pure chocolate.
It's typically not super sweet chocolate, actually.
(31:37):
And you could just dip your churro in the chocolate.
It is amazing, indeed.
I do recommend that, no matter where you are in Spain.
Those are good recommendations.
I was not aware of some of this stuff, especially fartons,
which sound really funny.
But you know.
When you go to a bakery anywhere in Europe,
(31:57):
I do recommend just getting small things,
but trying things you wouldn't normally.
You probably would be surprised at what you enjoy.
If you go to Barcelona, keep in mind,
there are a lot of people who speak Catalan, not Spanish.
So keep that in mind.
People speak Spanish in Barcelona.
But keep in mind, it is different.
(32:19):
Even if you don't agree with the fact they want to separate,
it's just good to be respectful of that.
Know that they speak Catalan.
And a lot of people prefer to speak Catalan first
before Spanish.
Of course, they'll speak Spanish if you don't know.
For anybody visiting Spain, what would you
say are important things to know about Spanish people
and Spanish culture that, especially to Americans,
(32:43):
would be very helpful to be aware of?
The Spanish are quite friendly.
It's not like in France.
It's not that people are not friendly in France,
but people are not as warm.
Warm, yeah.
I do recommend learning a little bit of Spanish.
People are learning English.
Their English is better than it used to be.
(33:04):
But they're still not as proficient as Germany.
Or if you go to Northern Europe, they're a lot better.
But Spain is not known for its English level.
But people are very nice.
So even if you don't understand, they're
going to try to help you.
If you are there for a longer period of time,
(33:25):
it's easier to make friends over there, I would say.
Easier to feel connected.
Whereas in France, from my last time here,
it was a lot harder to make friends.
It took a lot longer.
But in Spain, I was able to find people, some friends,
within like a month or two.
So it was a lot easier.
(33:46):
Though, of course, there are differences between Americans
and Spanish people.
I would say that the Spanish are warmer in comparison
to the rest of Europe.
But they're not as warm as Latin Americans.
So if you do have experience traveling to Mexico,
to Colombia, to Peru, people generally
(34:07):
are warmer there than they are in Spain.
But Spain is warmer than the rest of Europe.
So you see that transition of warmness.
One thing about Spain is there are a lot of immigrants there.
And so it actually might be easier
to make friends with Latin Americans in Spain
than the actual Spanish.
(34:27):
But it's not difficult to become friends with the Spanish either.
So I wouldn't say that would be an obstacle, per se.
So it is interesting to see the differences of warmth
between Latin Americans and Spanish people.
I would agree with that.
Yeah, I don't know what it is about Latin America
(34:48):
and South America compared to Spain.
But overall, yes, Latin and South America regions
are both definitely, typically, the places where you
can find the warmest people.
What is the order of warmth, exactly?
If America's included, it's very difficult,
(35:09):
because I would feel like it depends
where you are in America.
And the warmth you get.
That is true.
Maybe Southerners are warmer than the Spanish.
But the Spanish are going to be warmer than the people
from the North in the United States.
Yeah, I would agree with that.
So it would be a little bit more nuanced there.
Also, depending where you are in Spain
(35:30):
will also determine how warm.
So people from the southern regions
are warmer than the people from the northern regions of Spain.
Of course, there are exceptions.
But by and large, I would say this is a general,
the southern area of the country, at least in Europe,
is nicer than the North.
There are a lot of people who will speak English to you.
(35:52):
That is true.
But to really get into their hearts, if you speak Spanish,
that's going to be much easier for everyone.
You don't even have to speak it fluently.
Just saying your basics, or even ordering,
or something like that, saying please and thank you
in Spanish, it just goes a long way.
(36:13):
Unlike France, France, you have to really watch your volume.
You can't just be super, super loud.
In Spain, it doesn't matter as much.
So people are much more boisterous.
They're more friendly.
They want to express themselves more.
If you are louder, it's not going to be much of a problem,
I don't think, in Spain.
(36:34):
If you're in a touristy area, it's OK.
But always try to go a street over,
and it will automatically become non-touristy,
like the streets connecting to these very touristy streets.
And it's just good to see the real Spain, or more authentic
areas where locals go to.
(36:55):
So if you go to Spain, I do recommend small destinations.
Doesn't all have to be the big cities.
You will be surprised by what you can see.
It's really cool to just go to smaller areas, and things
that are not on the typical path.
One last recommendation that I also have, thanks to Josh,
(37:16):
and I think that you very well will remember
this when I mention it.
Remember 100 Montaditos.
Ah, yes, Montaditos.
This is a fast food recommendation, very local,
very, very cheap.
Josh can tell us a little bit about that.
Montaditos, they say 100 Montaditos,
is a little tiny sandwich.
(37:36):
And so they call it 100 Montaditos,
because there are 100 different sandwiches or things
that you can get on their menu.
It's a fast food chain restaurant.
Fast food, I guess.
You could sit down or get it to go.
And it is a nice place for cheap food, and it's really good.
I do recommend it.
Get all sorts of things on your sandwich.
(37:59):
And actually, in the US, they have one location in Miami,
and they have one location in, I think, DC.
But other than that, it's not very common here in the US.
So in Spain, it's all over the place.
Doesn't matter where you go.
If you're in a city, you're bound to find it.
So each Montaditos can be typically like 2 euro and under.
(38:21):
Some might be more expensive.
They're like specialties.
Oh, and then you could get Tinto de Verano,
which is like similar to sangria.
Not exactly the same.
Again, very cheap.
And you could get it actually at many different restaurants.
It's a nice drink.
Spain, like both Josh and I have mentioned in this episode,
is the place if you want to have fun,
(38:42):
if you want to have a warmer place to be in in terms of Europe.
And yeah, just in terms of party culture, it is the place.
So you won't regret going either way,
even if you're not into the parties.
You're going to definitely have some wild nights to remember.
So please go and enjoy yourselves.
(39:03):
Thank you so much, Josh, for this episode.
I'm really so happy that you could join us today.
We intend to have Josh again for the next episode
after he comes back from his very soon to be taken trip to Japan.
So we will look forward to having Josh back
for talking about Japan when he gets back.
(39:24):
So stay tuned for that.
We are very, very excited.
Yes, I'm excited too.
Thank you.
Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
(00:04):
My friend Joshua Craig, who is joining with us today,
is my American friend who I went to university with
at the University of Georgia.
Josh has had the opportunity to live in Spain
on two different occasions,
once in Valencia and the other in Madrid.
So Josh has had an opportunity to really dive deeper
(00:24):
into Spanish culture and what it's like to live in Spain
from a more local's perspective.
In this episode today, Josh and I talked about
so many insightful recommendations,
places to see in Valencia, places to see in Madrid,
dabbling a little bit in Barcelona,
and the perfect places you should go to
(00:45):
to try the most traditional of Spanish cuisine,
a really hilarious roommate story,
there's a really good fast food place we will mention,
and some very helpful tips,
any person who is going to Spain for the first time
would find very helpful.
We hope you enjoy, and of course, as always,
be sure to share your feedback with me on Instagram,
(01:06):
and please give this show a five star review
if you have not done so already.
Sending you lots of love,
let's go ahead and dive deep into this episode.
Hello, Josh, long time no see.
Yes, indeed, long time no see.
I am so happy to have you back here on the podcast.
(01:28):
For those of you who don't know,
Josh was actually in our France episode
probably a couple of months ago or so.
Tell us a little bit about yourself from your perspective
and about your overall involvement
and experience in Spain.
So my name is Josh or Joshua.
(01:49):
I am living near Atlanta, same as Mary Grace.
Yes, yes.
And I teach English as a second language,
and I really got interested in Spain when I was in college.
My sophomore year at UGA,
I went to Spain in the spring semester,
and it was a blast.
(02:11):
I loved every minute of it,
and since then I've been obsessed with Spain.
Why did you go to Spain?
Spain is the only Spanish speaking country in Europe,
and so since I really wanted to live in Europe,
it was Spain.
It was Spain.
I was studying Romance languages,
and so I studied both Spanish and French.
(02:32):
My Spanish is much better than my French,
so I decided to go to Spain,
tried my hardest to practice every day and got in,
did the program, and I fell in love with Spain.
Why, living there, studying there.
I really love that.
Spain definitely is one of those countries
that I think just about anybody could fall in love with
(02:53):
if they immerse themselves in the culture
and really just have fun and meet people
and learn the language.
Josh has had the opportunity to live in Spain twice.
So the first time he lived in Valencia,
and you live there 10 years ago now, which is crazy.
And then the second time, Josh lived in Madrid.
(03:16):
So let's start with your time in Valencia.
Yes.
Based on your experience in Valencia,
what was your first impression of Spain and Spanish people
and Spanish culture, Spanish life?
Valencia is very beautiful.
It has a lot of old architecture, beautiful plazas,
(03:36):
a lot of history.
Valencia is very close to the beach,
and so you can go to the beach really easily.
One of the things that I first noticed
is that in Valencia, they do speak Spanish,
but a lot of the signs are not in Spanish.
The signs are in Valencian, which is close to Catalan.
And so they're very proud of having their own language,
(03:59):
but most people do speak Spanish.
And so it was very interesting to be learning Spanish,
doing everything in Spanish, but none of the signs
were really in Spanish per se.
So it was an interest.
That was kind of interesting, to say the least.
Not sure if many people know, but there's
Catalonia, which is in Spain, and they specifically
(04:21):
like the Barcelona area.
And they are very much interested in becoming
independent.
But Valencia is one of those areas
that some people like independence,
some people don't like independence.
And so you have that interesting mix there.
Another impression is that people there are quite very nice.
I was able to make friends relatively quickly,
(04:44):
living in the dorm.
A lot of international people were there,
got to speak Spanish, got to make friends.
It was very easy, especially in comparison with France,
which was a lot harder to make friends in.
Spain was easier, more laid back, not as stressful.
What are some places that you would
recommend for anybody who is planning to visit Valencia?
(05:08):
And also, if there are any special foods
that people should be trying when going to Valencia,
what would you recommend?
So in Valencia, there are a lot of different places
you can go to.
So one is Plaza de la Virgen.
So Plaza de la Virgen, it is a very nice area.
Even the floor is just beautiful.
(05:29):
It's marble.
It's classy.
Classy.
There's a beautiful water fountain.
There's a basilica as well.
Very beautiful area.
And that was actually close to where I was living,
in the dorms.
And then also, you could go to Plaza de la Reina,
so Plaza of the Queen.
And so that actually has a little McDonald's.
(05:50):
Next to the McDonald's is a cute little ice cream place.
Beautiful shops there.
And then that connects to the Town Hall Plaza.
So that's a much bigger plaza.
So you have all these plazas connected together.
And it's just very beautiful, beautiful architecture.
Another cool feature about Valencia
(06:11):
is that they have a park called the River, Rio.
And essentially, there used to be an actual river
that was there.
But I think it was the 1940s.
I might be mistaken on the year.
It flooded really badly, and a lot of people passed away.
And so they actually decided to drain the river
(06:32):
and convert that into a park.
And so where this river used to be
is a very long park that goes throughout the entire city.
Very beautiful.
A lot of things to see and do in the park itself.
They have places you can play soccer,
play different sports, different things for children.
So different jungle gyms and whatnot.
(06:54):
Nature, a lot of places to just walk around, relax, enjoy.
Another cool area is called the City of the Arts
and the Sciences.
It is a more modern area.
And so it has a lot of water features,
has some cool museums.
I think the aquarium is close to there.
So it's just a really cool area.
(07:14):
And then, of course, going to the beach.
At least for me, I have never lived in an area
where I could go to the beach frequently.
I know Valencians think that.
They're like, oh, there are so many tourists.
So we go to another beach.
But for me, it was great.
It was a great beach to go to.
We didn't go that often because we were there
(07:37):
from January to April.
And so we didn't have time.
It was just too cold to go in January, February.
A lot of cool places to see in Valencia.
In terms of the food, Valencia is actually
the birthplace of paella.
And so I do recommend eating their paella.
Especially if you're going to go to Valencia,
(07:59):
don't get the paella in other places.
Even like Barcelona or Madrid, they have paella
but it's more for tourists.
The tourist trap, if you will.
A classic paella in Valencia will actually have rabbit meat.
I didn't know that.
And so one funny thing we got paella
when I went with my American friends,
(08:21):
they had the entire skeleton of this rabbit.
And so we saw the skull.
And we're like, oh my.
You see this dead rabbit skull.
Other than that, it's really good.
I do recommend it.
Lots of vegetables in this paella as well.
You could also get seafood paella.
One cool one is like a black paella.
(08:41):
They use, I think it's octopus ink or squid ink
to dye the rice black.
And then they put aioli sauce on it.
It's really good.
That's delicious.
If you like seafood.
If you do not like seafood, do not have.
It's not going to be good.
But if you do like seafood, I think it is quite delicious.
They have a lot of different options there.
A lot of very good restaurants.
(09:01):
One of the cool restaurants that was close to where I was living
is called Hasta La Pasta, which was an Italian place.
I think they made their own pastas and stuff.
Very, very good.
I love this.
Oh, I love it.
I have never been to Valencia personally.
But just hearing you talk about it
makes me want to go whenever I have the chance one day.
(09:22):
Just to see Valencia.
Let's also talk a little bit about your time in Madrid.
Yes.
So this is very colorful.
And I am very excited for Josh to be sharing
these juicy details with us today.
Let's talk about your living situation in Madrid.
And your roommate situation.
(09:45):
Yes.
So originally found a place in Madrid.
And the guy was from Peru, super nice.
Was able to set it up easily.
And I was under the impression that his girlfriend from Peru
was moving, or not moving, but visiting.
She ended up moving there.
So I had another roommate.
(10:07):
And so she caused a lot of issues.
One of the first things that occurred is when we were there,
I was sleeping because I had to work the next day,
as a normal human being does.
And she needed to FaceTime her friend at 2 in the morning.
Oh my gosh, we have a conduction oven.
(10:29):
Very loudly at 2 in the morning.
I'm just like, this is wild.
You need to stop.
The other issues included when she would cook,
she would always use the one pot.
We would only have one pot for the entire apartment.
I don't know why.
My roommate would work at night.
And then she didn't have a job for the first couple of months.
(10:51):
She was there.
And so she was just always there.
And so she would use the pot.
And then she would not put the food away from that pot
into the refrigerator.
She'd just leave it there.
So I had nowhere.
I had nothing to cook in.
And I'm like, can you clean the pot?
And she would do it if I asked, but she would never
(11:14):
do it if I didn't ask.
And so I ended up getting another pot
and then hoarding it in my room.
Because I'm like, I don't trust you.
You're going to just use the two pots.
Another issue that came up was my roommate
had his family live in Spain as well.
And they would just show up without any warning.
(11:36):
Because he would have maybe one day off a week
or something like that.
He worked at a bar or something.
And they would just all be there.
And I'm like, it wasn't a tiny, tiny apartment,
but it wasn't a big apartment.
I'm not going to lie.
It was quite small.
There wasn't really a lot of room.
They were quite loud.
When my roommate was there with his girlfriend,
(11:57):
they would fight a lot.
They broke up shortly after.
But one of the worst things was I would say hello, buenos
dias in the morning, hola, like a normal person.
And she'd just look at me, Joshua, and walk away.
And I'm like, I'm sorry.
(12:18):
What?
No, that's aggressive.
That's not even passive aggressive.
That's aggressive.
So I remember I called my roommate
to talk to him about this.
He's like, oh, yeah, my girlfriend mentioned.
It's probably your religion or something.
It's not my religion that she treats me like trash.
What's happening is she's not saying hello,
like a normal person, like girl.
(12:41):
So she was not a nice person to live with,
making a lot of noise in the early morning, like 2, 3 AM,
because she started working at the same place that he would.
And they would come home together,
making a ton of ruckus.
It was just not a good living arrangement.
And so I was lucky I got to move out of that.
(13:03):
And then I could, you know, a week later,
the pandemic came to Spain, and we were confined.
So I'm very lucky that I was not confined
when I was living at the toxic roommates.
That is one way to refer to that place.
I think that you really did luck out
(13:23):
by literally within one week of the pandemic exploding
and taking over the world,
that you were able to escape this dungeon of hell,
so to speak.
Wow.
Yeah, having a horrible roommate is definitely,
I don't even have words for it.
It is just unbearably awful
(13:44):
if you are ever in that situation.
I have been in that situation, not in Spain,
but in other places, which I will get into at another time.
But I do understand how that is.
It is no fun.
And it really tainted my experience living in Madrid.
And so I don't have as many good memories in Madrid
(14:05):
as a result.
I do have good memories.
Don't get me wrong.
It's just, that was a very large part of my time there.
And it just never got better and actually got worse.
I just felt like I couldn't do anything in the apartment
and just live normally.
And so definitely, if you're in a bad roommate situation,
try to get out of it as soon as possible.
(14:27):
Do not wait, like I did.
I probably moved there in September
and I got out of that in February the following year.
So luckily the place I moved in afterwards,
it was a nice young couple from Venezuela.
Very nice.
They had a dog.
We all got along.
We had to get to know each other more than we would have
(14:49):
had it been normal because we were all confined
in that space.
It was much nicer.
It wasn't bad.
So with this very unfortunate roommate situation
now being said, let's talk about the good things
that you got out of Madrid
and also any specific recommendations
on what to do in Madrid, what to be aware of in Madrid.
(15:10):
Madrid is a very cool city.
There's a lot to do.
You can go to their main museum.
I think it's the Prado.
Very nice.
You can see a lot of famous artwork
if that is what you're interested in.
En Retiro, yes.
This place is beautiful.
It's a park where there is water
and you can take a boat there.
(15:30):
I went there.
That was probably at least for me,
one of my most favorite places in Madrid.
I loved that place.
Yes.
In summer especially.
Parque de Retiro, very nice park.
Spacious, the lake.
Yeah, and you can go on these like-
Paddle boats.
Paddle boats, yeah.
They have paddle boats.
They have like cute little oar things.
There's also the Palacio Real,
(15:51):
which is the royal palace,
which is a really cool place to go to.
And that is just a really nice area.
And then around that, there are a lot of cool stores
you can go to.
One other cool thing about Madrid is the diversity.
So a lot of other Europeans moved to Madrid
because Spain has a lot better climate
(16:12):
than the rest of Europe.
It's not as cold.
And so you'll see a lot of Europeans there.
You see a lot of Latin Americans there as well,
which is really cool.
You get to not only experience a Spanish culture,
but Latin American cultures as well.
They have like really cool Peruvian restaurants.
You can go to Venezuelan places.
(16:33):
It's a really nice mix of cultures.
Madrid is really close to other places.
So if you wanna go to like Toledo,
it's not that far of a, I think train ride or bus ride.
You can do one or the other.
And that is, the Toledo is really cool
because it is the city of three religions.
(16:55):
So they have a history of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
And so you see a lot of different places
and the mix of cultures, architectures,
and all that cool stuff.
From Madrid, you can easily go
to a bunch of different places.
Another cool place is called the Casa Lucio.
It's a nice little restaurant.
(17:17):
There are a lot of places you can get tapas.
And if you don't know what tapas are,
they are little side dishes, typically.
And so you can get like three or four
to try different things.
I really liked their garlic shrimp.
Typically when you buy like, it's called una caña,
like a thin of beer, you get free tapas with that.
I remember that from Spain.
That's very nice.
That's a very nice thing.
(17:38):
It's mean it's not like a huge thing.
It's like either olives or something like that.
But that's a really nice scene of Spain.
You can get like a bunch of tapas.
Are there some specific tapas that you would recommend
or that you really, really love?
Or that even are very specifically special to Spain
that any visitor should absolutely not miss?
(17:59):
So the classic in my eyes are patatas bravas,
which are potatoes.
And normally they have like an alioli sauce on them.
It's quite simple, but it's fantastic.
There are also these things called croquetas,
which normally like have ham and cheese in them.
(18:20):
Amazing.
I love croquetas. Those are my favorite.
Here we do have some croquetas,
but you're just like disappointed.
There's also a dish called tortilla española.
So Spanish tortilla.
And it is not a tortilla at all.
So think of like an omelet-esque pie,
and then it has like potatoes in it
(18:40):
and is really, really good.
You can get it for like brunch time.
If you are going throughout Spain,
I recommend getting seafood closer to the coasts,
not in the central region.
Well, one thing that Josh actually mentioned to me
before we hit record and something that came up
that I found very interesting
that I would love for you to go into more detail about
(19:02):
is Madrid's pollution.
So what is this?
Like explain to us the pollution problem that is in Madrid
and how you came to know about Madrid's pollution
specifically.
So I didn't even notice the pollution until I left the city.
So I went with one of my friends in Madrid
(19:23):
and he needed to deliver a package.
So we had to go a little outside of the city by bus.
And I remember getting off the bus
and realizing how fresh the air was.
I'm like, oh no.
That probably means that Madrid is not
going to be the healthiest city to live in
if you have a lot of breathing problems.
(19:46):
There is a lot of smog in Madrid.
You can tell a difference in the air quality.
I don't think I've ever had that before.
Like in Valencia, I bet there are problems,
but it just didn't feel like there were as many problems.
We also lived not too far from a park in Valencia.
The trees must have absorbed some of that pollution.
(20:09):
And Madrid, where I was living for the bulk of it,
not all of it, there were not as many parts.
It's very heavily populated.
And so I really noticed the smog.
It wasn't great.
It wasn't great.
Not going to lie.
It doesn't sound like it was great.
(20:29):
I really just didn't realize that Madrid was that polluted
because I told Josh earlier that I had gone to Madrid
almost 10 years ago, and I don't remember it being
that polluted.
I never realized that that was truly a problem.
I mean, I would expect that maybe in London.
I would expect that in Paris, maybe somewhere else.
(20:50):
But Madrid?
Like what?
So it was very surprising to learn that information.
You know, for sure.
Like, so if you ever go to Madrid, be careful.
The air quality is bad.
For sure.
Although you might not notice it as much if you're only
there for even a week.
But if you're there a long term, you definitely
(21:10):
start to notice it.
But just for vacation, I think it'd be fine.
But it was super noticeable when I left.
And I'm like, this is not good.
This is not good.
One thing to note about Spain is if you go there
and you want to eat there, they do not
start eating until very late.
So restaurants typically will close after lunch.
(21:35):
And they will not open up again until around 8 PM
to maybe midnight or something like that.
So if you are an early eater, you
need to definitely go or get some snacks to hold you over.
Because most people do not eat dinner until around 9 or 10
in Spain.
So that is something that you would
(21:56):
have to get used to being there.
They do not really cater to people who eat at 5 PM.
5 PM is when they have a snack.
But they will eat closer to 9 or 10.
They have five meal times officially.
So you have your desayuno, so your breakfast.
Then you have your muerto, which is
(22:18):
in between breakfast and lunch.
You'd normally have it at 11-ish.
And it would be like a sandwich or something.
Then you have la comida, which is lunch for people in Spain.
And that would be more at like 2 PM, not 12.
Here we eat more at 12, but Spain, too.
(22:39):
Then you have your marienda, which is your snack time.
That's when you could go get churros, for example,
or something.
And that would be 4-ish, 5, 6 maybe.
And then dinner la cena.
8 PM is the time that children eat.
So adults normally would want to eat probably at like 9 or 10.
(23:00):
It's much later.
So the times in Spain are very different.
If you are really hungry, that's why the touristy places
are there.
So you could get your paella at 5 PM.
Just note that it is not authentic,
because no Spanish person is going to eat at that time.
So keep that in mind.
(23:21):
That is very, very helpful, I think,
to anybody who is visiting Spain and who does not
have a clue about how any of the meal times work.
Spaniards and people in Spain operate
on an extremely late schedule.
Like I remember when I was in Spain,
I remember the Spaniards would stay out all night long.
(23:43):
I mean, they literally maybe go home at 6 in the morning.
That is not uncommon to see, which
is just wild.
So for you, Josh, how did you adjust
to this type of late culture?
So maybe in terms of going out, in terms of eating late,
in terms of operating on a completely later schedule?
(24:04):
I'm probably not the best example,
because I like to stay home.
But the nights that I did do stuff, one,
I would just drink coffee to stay up super late.
Because otherwise, I was going to go to bed.
A lot of people in Spain will take a nap.
And so you have a nap hour.
(24:24):
Siesta.
Yeah, your siesta.
That's what a lot of people would do.
Another thing, I'm not sure.
I don't know.
Do you know the history or the reason
why there is a siesta period?
Where did that come from?
Why do people take a nap in the middle of the day
for a couple of hours in Spain?
(24:47):
I know it's cultural, but I just wonder, yeah,
why don't other countries do that?
Might be traditional.
I'm not sure.
But people would go home for lunch.
And then they would take their nap.
And then they would go back to work.
Nowadays, I don't know if that's always the case.
It would probably depend on the place
you're in, like in smaller villages, that might be the case,
(25:07):
more so than the city.
It's a slower pace of life.
Even in Madrid, it is more chaotic.
But it's not like France or even in Germany,
and especially not like the US and New York.
And people take their time to do things.
People often show up late.
Not everyone's late.
But it's just there's not this, like, let's hurry up and go
(25:31):
kind of culture that we have, at least in the United States.
It's just a lot more like, oh, we have time to do it.
Oh, there's no rush.
Yeah, I'll do that later.
I'll do that later, yes.
They even say like, oh, there's always tomorrow.
There is always tomorrow in their book.
We don't have to worry about doing it today.
(25:52):
So it's not that they're lazy.
It's just that they're working to live, more so
than living to work.
It's a much more relaxed culture.
Like, after you're done working, you go out.
Even on the weekdays, there will be people
that are out all night.
And then even on Thursday, you probably
(26:12):
could go, I might be wrong on that.
But like Friday and Saturday, a lot of people
just go to the clubs all night, sleep all day,
and do it all over again.
So it depends on the person, honestly.
Like, extroverts definitely like to do that.
And introverts prefer to, you know, stay low.
Lay low.
Lay low.
(26:32):
I did go out, but it wasn't like some of my other friends
that were out every weekend, every weekend,
had to go to the discotheca.
In the US, you pregame, and then you probably
go out to the clubs, what, right?
Like nine?
Yes.
And Spain, you pregame until midnight.
(26:54):
And then you go out to the clubs,
and you're there from like one to five or one to six.
Some people even eat breakfast right before they go to bed.
That is just, yeah, that is hardcore.
Very different party culture for sure.
I, that's why I need my coffee.
(27:14):
Like I couldn't stay up.
I'm one of the first ones to fall asleep, so.
Just like me.
Yeah.
Actually, there is a quick story,
and this is related to Spain.
So Josh and I also studied in France together,
and there was a weekend at some point during our France time
when us and our group went to Barcelona.
(27:36):
And we went out that night, and I think
that I had fallen asleep, or that I was one of the first ones
to fall asleep.
And I think Josh, and maybe one other person,
I think forced me to get up and forced me to stay awake.
And I did, and I was very happy that I did.
But yeah, I mean, it's real.
(27:58):
People in Spain, I mean, when they party, they party hard,
and they party long and late.
So if you are in that crowd, and that is your thing,
Spain will be your place.
Yes.
I mean, no doubt in the world.
Be careful when you go to these places,
because there are a lot of instances
(28:18):
where people do get drugged.
People do, bad things happen.
So make sure you're going with friends.
Just go alone, and that's not a good idea.
Go with friends.
No.
Make sure you know where your phone is.
Make sure you're putting it in a safe place.
There's a lot of paypocketing in Spain.
So you want to make sure you have your wallet,
(28:39):
have your keys, or your phone, because that will be missing
if you're not careful easily in those discotecas.
Have you ever had a friend who had that happen?
Probably, I don't remember.
But it wasn't me.
Let's hope it was not you.
(29:00):
Let's also quickly touch upon Barcelona,
because I know that that is one of the most common places
that most people who go to Spain visit.
I know you didn't live in Barcelona,
but you spent more time there than even I did.
So what do you recommend in Barcelona?
And what specific things, in terms of food, activities,
(29:25):
et cetera, should people try or be open to trying
if they are only going to Barcelona?
The Sangra FamÃlia is very impressive.
It does cost money to go in, but I do recommend it.
It is beautiful inside.
I think they're finishing it up in the next year or two.
(29:46):
It's coming close.
It's almost as if they're just trying to build it.
Yeah, that's what it seems like.
Because it'll be different the next time you come back.
They're finishing that up.
That's really nice.
In Barcelona, another thing that's very common
is tomato sauce on bread.
They love to eat that.
That is typical Barcelona appetizer.
(30:10):
Actually, one of my friends is married to someone
from Barcelona.
And we went to a restaurant here in Atlanta called Barcelona.
And he was disappointed with the bread, because in the US,
we do bread and olive oil more.
But he's like, where's the tomato sauce?
You put tomato sauce on the bread,
(30:31):
and that looks very typical.
That's more Barcelona.
For us, we're just like, oh, yeah, bread and olive oil,
dip it.
That's cheese, pepper, typically.
It's not that sophisticated.
Yeah.
No.
It's good.
It's good.
I'm not complaining, but.
No, it's not.
It's delicious, but it's not traditional in that sense.
In Barcelona, there are things called fartons.
(30:56):
They sound quite bad.
They're not.
They're really good.
They're like lawns, beans of bread.
Very good.
No matter where you are in Spain,
you can get very good churros.
Most Americans are familiar with Mexican ones,
where you have a lot of sugar on them.
The ones in Spain don't really have as much sugar.
(31:16):
But what you do is with your churro,
you can dip it into hot chocolate.
And their hot chocolate is to die for.
So if you don't like that artificial hot chocolate
we have in the US, it is definitely not like that.
It's like they melt pure chocolate.
It's typically not super sweet chocolate, actually.
(31:37):
And you could just dip your churro in the chocolate.
It is amazing, indeed.
I do recommend that, no matter where you are in Spain.
Those are good recommendations.
I was not aware of some of this stuff, especially fartons,
which sound really funny.
But you know.
When you go to a bakery anywhere in Europe,
(31:57):
I do recommend just getting small things,
but trying things you wouldn't normally.
You probably would be surprised at what you enjoy.
If you go to Barcelona, keep in mind,
there are a lot of people who speak Catalan, not Spanish.
So keep that in mind.
People speak Spanish in Barcelona.
But keep in mind, it is different.
(32:19):
Even if you don't agree with the fact they want to separate,
it's just good to be respectful of that.
Know that they speak Catalan.
And a lot of people prefer to speak Catalan first
before Spanish.
Of course, they'll speak Spanish if you don't know.
For anybody visiting Spain, what would you
say are important things to know about Spanish people
and Spanish culture that, especially to Americans,
(32:43):
would be very helpful to be aware of?
The Spanish are quite friendly.
It's not like in France.
It's not that people are not friendly in France,
but people are not as warm.
Warm, yeah.
I do recommend learning a little bit of Spanish.
People are learning English.
Their English is better than it used to be.
(33:04):
But they're still not as proficient as Germany.
Or if you go to Northern Europe, they're a lot better.
But Spain is not known for its English level.
But people are very nice.
So even if you don't understand, they're
going to try to help you.
If you are there for a longer period of time,
(33:25):
it's easier to make friends over there, I would say.
Easier to feel connected.
Whereas in France, from my last time here,
it was a lot harder to make friends.
It took a lot longer.
But in Spain, I was able to find people, some friends,
within like a month or two.
So it was a lot easier.
(33:46):
Though, of course, there are differences between Americans
and Spanish people.
I would say that the Spanish are warmer in comparison
to the rest of Europe.
But they're not as warm as Latin Americans.
So if you do have experience traveling to Mexico,
to Colombia, to Peru, people generally
(34:07):
are warmer there than they are in Spain.
But Spain is warmer than the rest of Europe.
So you see that transition of warmness.
One thing about Spain is there are a lot of immigrants there.
And so it actually might be easier
to make friends with Latin Americans in Spain
than the actual Spanish.
(34:27):
But it's not difficult to become friends with the Spanish either.
So I wouldn't say that would be an obstacle, per se.
So it is interesting to see the differences of warmth
between Latin Americans and Spanish people.
I would agree with that.
Yeah, I don't know what it is about Latin America
(34:48):
and South America compared to Spain.
But overall, yes, Latin and South America regions
are both definitely, typically, the places where you
can find the warmest people.
What is the order of warmth, exactly?
If America's included, it's very difficult,
(35:09):
because I would feel like it depends
where you are in America.
And the warmth you get.
That is true.
Maybe Southerners are warmer than the Spanish.
But the Spanish are going to be warmer than the people
from the North in the United States.
Yeah, I would agree with that.
So it would be a little bit more nuanced there.
Also, depending where you are in Spain
(35:30):
will also determine how warm.
So people from the southern regions
are warmer than the people from the northern regions of Spain.
Of course, there are exceptions.
But by and large, I would say this is a general,
the southern area of the country, at least in Europe,
is nicer than the North.
There are a lot of people who will speak English to you.
(35:52):
That is true.
But to really get into their hearts, if you speak Spanish,
that's going to be much easier for everyone.
You don't even have to speak it fluently.
Just saying your basics, or even ordering,
or something like that, saying please and thank you
in Spanish, it just goes a long way.
(36:13):
Unlike France, France, you have to really watch your volume.
You can't just be super, super loud.
In Spain, it doesn't matter as much.
So people are much more boisterous.
They're more friendly.
They want to express themselves more.
If you are louder, it's not going to be much of a problem,
I don't think, in Spain.
(36:34):
If you're in a touristy area, it's OK.
But always try to go a street over,
and it will automatically become non-touristy,
like the streets connecting to these very touristy streets.
And it's just good to see the real Spain, or more authentic
areas where locals go to.
(36:55):
So if you go to Spain, I do recommend small destinations.
Doesn't all have to be the big cities.
You will be surprised by what you can see.
It's really cool to just go to smaller areas, and things
that are not on the typical path.
One last recommendation that I also have, thanks to Josh,
(37:16):
and I think that you very well will remember
this when I mention it.
Remember 100 Montaditos.
Ah, yes, Montaditos.
This is a fast food recommendation, very local,
very, very cheap.
Josh can tell us a little bit about that.
Montaditos, they say 100 Montaditos,
is a little tiny sandwich.
(37:36):
And so they call it 100 Montaditos,
because there are 100 different sandwiches or things
that you can get on their menu.
It's a fast food chain restaurant.
Fast food, I guess.
You could sit down or get it to go.
And it is a nice place for cheap food, and it's really good.
I do recommend it.
Get all sorts of things on your sandwich.
(37:59):
And actually, in the US, they have one location in Miami,
and they have one location in, I think, DC.
But other than that, it's not very common here in the US.
So in Spain, it's all over the place.
Doesn't matter where you go.
If you're in a city, you're bound to find it.
So each Montaditos can be typically like 2 euro and under.
(38:21):
Some might be more expensive.
They're like specialties.
Oh, and then you could get Tinto de Verano,
which is like similar to sangria.
Not exactly the same.
Again, very cheap.
And you could get it actually at many different restaurants.
It's a nice drink.
Spain, like both Josh and I have mentioned in this episode,
is the place if you want to have fun,
(38:42):
if you want to have a warmer place to be in in terms of Europe.
And yeah, just in terms of party culture, it is the place.
So you won't regret going either way,
even if you're not into the parties.
You're going to definitely have some wild nights to remember.
So please go and enjoy yourselves.
(39:03):
Thank you so much, Josh, for this episode.
I'm really so happy that you could join us today.
We intend to have Josh again for the next episode
after he comes back from his very soon to be taken trip to Japan.
So we will look forward to having Josh back
for talking about Japan when he gets back.
(39:24):
So stay tuned for that.
We are very, very excited.
Yes, I'm excited too.
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!