My first trips to Spain. Impression
BARCELONA. LA RAMBLA
Barcelona, like any seaside Spanish city, has the Rambla. This is an avenue that, as a rule, passes through the old part of the city, conditionally dividing it in half. There are ramblas in many seaside towns, including Tarragona and Girona. There are even two in Tarragona: Rambla Vella and Rambla Nova.
This is a wonderful place, but rather out of season. There are too many people during the season. On the Rambla, along the entire length, there are mimes. They paint, dress up and freeze, portraying someone or giving a short theatrical performance, sometimes humorous and very funny))) Pay attention to the “white” man on the push)))) Taking a picture with a mime costs 2 EUR. Some perform mainly for photography.
There was one girl I liked very much; in a Spanish national long dress, in black patent-leather high-heeled shoes, black hair, laid back, a flower in her hair ...Red and black dress, in which flamenco dances, castanets in their hands. The face is like that of a doll))) There are a lot of cosmetics, but it seems that this is how it should be in this case; eyes, lips - bright.
In Barcelona, the Rambla leads to the monument to H. Columbus. After all, it was the Aragonese kings, who at that time ruled in Spain and owned Catalonia, who equipped Columbus to discover America. He arrived at the very Port of Barcelona, which you will later see in the photo, and which is located to the right of the monument, when viewed from the Rambla.
In calmer times, when the influx of tourists subsides, the Rambla turns into a rather pretty Mediterranean boulevard.
On both sides along it there are benches, on which Spanish pensioners sit - grandfathers, constantly playing something (chess, backgammon, something like dominoes ... ) and pensioners - grannies with small dogs. The presence of dogs is an obligatory attribute of their life. Moreover, it is surprising that you will practically not see large breeds; and all are small - pugs, toy terriers ...Spanish grandpas are cool. Very responsive and simple, a bit like ours. They like to show the way and answer different questions. Well, what else can they do...They don’t do anything there at all...Our people are retired: some work, and if they don’t work, they plant, saw, build something in the dachas. . . Swarming, in short. And the Spanish grandfathers do not need anything. Only - a zucchini, put some cognac, play checkers, neigh, discuss something.
Grandfathers also dress similarly: they like to wear rag caps, light shirts (grandfather's) out, parachute trousers and wicker sandals)). But the Spanish grandmothers are different! And in general, women differ in general from ours significantly. Grandmothers are all with pedicure-manicure, perms, dressed more or less modern (according to age, of course); that is, no shoes and clothes from chests when they were, like, young in the sixties.
More about dogs. I went to the bar, I sit at the bar. A Spaniard is sitting next to him, drinking beer. The hostess and her son (he helped his mother as a waiter) know a few words of everything in English, but in general - not boom-boom. And this guy asked me for a lighter. Feels that I am a little "dim", asks: "Who are you? Where? And he doesn't understand English either. Zero! ...Okay, I think, we will talk in Spanish half-phrases using vocabulary))) I say: "I am Russian. "
That is, you see, my friend, they have a dog, not like ours - he started it, and to hell with it.
And in zucchini - local. All are the same. If, for the sake of experiment, you sit for an hour and a half, then during this time Pedro will come in first, then Juan, then Jose, then again Pedro will draw, then again - Jose with Juan. And so - along the chain ...I have a feeling that they will get lost somewhere, roll, then go home, lie down. Then they will devour, roll, sit on a bench, have a go at with one of the neighbors. In other words, they kick the bulldozer all day long.
Parallel to the Rambla, on both sides there is a roadway, sidewalks and facades of the central quarters, on the first floors of which everything is shops, shops and various catering establishments. In Spain, I would say, the cult of food. They eat a lot and cook accordingly. The cuisine is delicious, rich and very varied. Lots of meat, fish and seafood.
Moreover, because of the love for the abundance of food, they are happy to include in the sale dishes and products that are typical for neighboring countries, primarily France. They sell a lot of sweets and sweets, dozens of varieties of sweets, chocolate, some marshmallows, unfamiliar Turkish delights, and 50 other types of nut products in syrups, and in something sweet and incomprehensible! Everywhere all sorts of "CONDITORIA", "CONFETERRIA", "GELADERIA", "BOKERRIA" ...There are moments when I'm dying, I want sweets. And once I went in, I bought all sorts of cakes with some kind of various cream, some pies, I didn’t even understand with what ...They put it all in envelopes for me. Everything cracked in an instant! The taste is impossible! In short, eating is not a problem. But there is one subtlety. You need to be clear about what you want and in what capacity. All cafes, even small ones, are called - "Restaurant". Here you need to be more careful and look closely. But good restaurants are not everywhere, and a purely restaurant dinner costs 100 - 150 EUR per brother.
And so, in principle, you can eat deliciously in large cafes or taverns, for 15 euros.
BARCELONA. PORT
If you reach the Columbus monument and turn right, you will exit to the piers of Port de Barcelona. The port is actually huge and only in the central part is accessible for walking, because this is the passenger part. There is nothing to do and see in the cargo section; some containers stand in the streets and wagons with cargo. The central building of the port is not very big, but pretty, you will see it; it is with two turrets, gray-yellow. There are three more imposing buildings in the port area: the Telegraph, the Main Shipping Company (Captainia Generale) and some kind of Aduana (sorry, I forgot what it is). A lot of boats, yachts, boats are moored. They stand very tightly, I don’t even understand how they taxi into the sea? ...And although I am not touched by the romance of the sea, ships, sails, but ...I really liked the port of Barcelona. There is a pleasant atmosphere, it is good to walk and look there. Or just sit.
The mood rises. The yachts are all white. And along the piers, there are mostly non-walking yachts, restaurants are equipped there.
BARCELONA. SINGING FOUNTAINS
Be sure to mention the show of singing fountains in Plaza de Españ a. It seems that they say that in St. Petersburg - no worse. But I, unfortunately, was not in St. Petersburg ...
In general, in the evening, in my opinion, at 9 (or 10, according to the season) o'clock, when it gets dark, fountains are launched and they beat to the music. The performance goes on for about an hour and a half: half an hour, then a break for 10 minutes, then the second half an hour, etc. , with breaks of 3 parts. In the first parts, the music is classical (Mozart and others like him), and in the subsequent parts - up to modern (ABBA, "Barcelona"). Very beautiful and spectacular: the music is louder, the jets are higher into the sky. Yes, even with backlight! Blue, yellow, pink, orange flashes like flames! There is a large fountain in the center, and a smaller one around the ring. Lots of people, of course! It was better to watch last year; there was no wind.
And this time everyone had to constantly run back, the wind carried water dust like a storm))) Photos of beauty do not convey at all. The music is loud, the fountain is high and luminous.
BARCELONA. GAUDI
A very special theme in the story of Barcelona is the work of the famous architect Antonio Gaudí . Surely you know all this, so I won’t go into details for a long time. In general, Gaudí was a modernist, and I would say an avant-garde. He had many creations, but I will focus on two: the world-famous Sagrada Familia, La Sagrada Familia, and Park Gü ell. I really liked the cathedral. To be honest, I'm not a fan of Gaudi's avant-garde, I don't understand the flight of thought invested in architecture ...That's why I like "Catholic" architecture more! And Gaudi is an artist. It was the cry of his soul, and such things are so intimate. Try to understand someone else's soul...But the Cathedral is simply magnificent. It is still being built.
They say that Gaudi died in poverty at this construction site. The Spaniards say that if this cathedral is completed, then the end of the world will come (joking). The peculiarity is that it is useless to photograph it entirely - it does not fit, there is not enough area of the surrounding sidewalks and roads. He is very tall. No, not just tall, but huge! I don't know how many meters ...Probably 200 meters ...In general, it resembles a Gothic temple. It was built of reinforced concrete and the outside is all openwork, decorated with stucco statues of saints in dynamics, with scenes from life according to the Gospel. From a distance it seems that all this modeling is like stalactites in caves. It is asymmetrical, different from different facades. As they say: “If you haven’t seen the Sagrada Familia, consider that you haven’t been to Spain either”))))))) You should definitely see it. It seems that in Russia, in no city, even in Moscow, there are no such grandiose and tall buildings. And even if there is, our spaces are painfully wide, and the height is not so high.
But we are not only talking about this creation of Gaudi ...In the same Germany, next to the cathedral, my head was spinning from the height of the building! ! !
The second creation is Park Gü ell. I did not understand this miracle. Did not impress. In a general sense - "gingerbread" houses. That is, a park on a hill in which Gaudi built all sorts of cottages with multi-colored roofs, like cakes. Made a bench. A semicircle is a concrete bench (like a sofa), lined with multi-colored ceramic tiles. The guides said that Gaudi forced the builders to take off their pants and sit down with their bare asses in liquid concrete, so the seats were obtained, which he then decorated with tiles. And supposedly because of this, the seats are insanely comfortable. I don't know...I sat down with my bony...oh...I didn't take off my pants, of course...It was hard and uncomfortable. In short, this park did not really delight me.
MONTSERRAT MOUNTAINS. MEN'S MONASTERY
I am very glad that I went to this monastery.
The trip is short and exciting. First you go by bus, you climb up the serpentine to a high plateau. There the bus says goodbye to you, because there is no road to the rocks. The monorail goes there. A train (funicular) of 5-6 wagons with wide windows and glass doors travels along it. On this train you go up steeply, outside the windows are sheer cliffs. Many photos of mountain landscapes from above were taken just from this car. The Montserrat Monastery is very famous, solid and, as it were, ...status. There is a very big competition for the education of children and a limited set. The monks undertake to teach children for several years, but they cannot take on many, because there are not many monks themselves. After training, almost ready doctors, chemists, biologists leave the monastery ...and - the "green light" to many prestigious universities. The monastery's boys' choir is the best in Spain, they record psalms in good studios.
Their singing at masses is, so to speak, a classic of the genre. To get married in this monastery, the newlyweds are recorded 2 (!!! ) years before the expected date of the wedding. I was lucky, I caught the ceremony and managed to photograph the leaving couple. The Spaniards joke: “While the turn comes, the couples break up”)))) The territory of the monastery is large, the infrastructure is quite developed and is well woven into the ancient buildings. They have ideal roads, a postal hub, everything is telephoned. Well, it's kind of a small town. On several photos you will see the clean sidewalks and roads adjacent to the monastery complex. Everywhere lighting, flashlights, lawns, parking lots, gas stations, shops. I saw in a small gorge even a small fire department was equipped, cars were standing. All this is monitored, and I think not only by the monks.
After you get off this funicular, you get to the square. From it there is a narrow entrance up the stairs to the bell towers and the cathedral.
Also impressive. Because at first you don’t see, and then you start to go upstairs, and the facade of the temple opens up to you. Beautiful.
The main attraction of this monastery is the Black Madonna, a statue of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ child on her knees. And in her right hand she holds a round sphere. This is, first of all, why tourists tend to visit Montserrat. The history of this statue goes back centuries. From there, a monastery arose. In the 6th century, a shepherd grazing sheep, in the gorge below (it is in the photo) in a cave, found this sculpture of the Madonna carved from wood (!! ! ). Rumors spread throughout the villages: who hid in the cave, why? They took this figure and handed it over to the local abbot Oliva, who was the founder of a nearby monastery in the mountains. The abbot took the statue and placed it in the monastery cathedral in the main hall. And suddenly, the figure turned black. Modern scientists believe that this happened over time from candles constantly burning for centuries.
Like, the tree emitted resins that gave it a black color. She and Christ have black faces, black hands and feet. But the priests, of course, gave all this a mystical meaning. Imagine this statue - made of wood! It has been preserved for almost one and a half thousand years! The statue is small, about a meter high in total. Unfortunately, it is strictly forbidden to photograph it. Yes, and it is very difficult to choose the moments, since the inspection of the Black Madonna is a whole ceremony. Tourists are brought to the side entrance to the cathedral. The door is narrow. Everyone is lined up in single file, one after another. They lead the procession along a narrow corridor. For some reason, everyone is silent. It's even scary, to be honest. The corridors are very beautiful, impressive. Everywhere there is painting, artistic modeling, carving, gilding, vaulted ceilings, carved wooden doors with bas-reliefs of saints. There are no windows. Candles are burning in high places...Terribly...
The procession reaches a small hall and stops for a few minutes. Everyone is silent. Then the movement begins. From this hall there is a spiral staircase with a narrow corridor going up steeply. The staircase is long. It feels like you are going up to a great height. The meaning of the inspection is also that there is one ancient Spanish custom: one must approach the Madonna, make a wish and at the same time touch the sphere. The wish will surely come true. And a woman, in order to get pregnant, should not touch the sphere, but the hand of the Madonna, her fingers. The Madonna is covered by a convex glass case, while the hand with the sphere is open and accessible.
This custom made the statue a national Catalan pride. Therefore, many copies of it were made in many churches and cathedrals in other cities of Catalonia. I took a photo from another temple, you'll see. The copy is quite accurate, but brand new.
Half a day later I took out the needles from my fingers ...But I knew that you couldn’t grab it with your bare hands! The needles are scanty, barely noticeable. The adult prickly pear is large, and the kids are small)) In general, the garden is beautiful, in harmony with the landscape. In some places there are buildings in a typical Spanish style, in the form of a hacienda. By the way, there is only one employee for the whole garden, who sits at the entrance and sells tickets. But overseers do not walk in the garden itself; -) There is no one there at all; -)
PORT AVENTURA PARK IN COSTA DORADA
I have already mentioned this park in previous stories. It is located in the Costa Dorada, in the square between the cities of Salou, Reus and La Pineda. It is the second largest in Europe after the French Disney Land. I liked the park. There are many people, of course. Noisy. Was there for 2 days. If you take a ticket and leave the park later, in my opinion, 7 o'clock (or 8 ... ) in the evening, then at the exit you will get a free extension of the ticket for one more day.
There are a lot of rides for different age groups, extreme and not so much. All attractions externally correspond to the zones of this park. The park is divided into zones: Polynesia, China, Wild West, Europe, Mexico...And also cafes and restaurants located everywhere correspond to the zones. In each zone, dance and song groups in appropriate costumes perform on variety venues. For example, bands dressed as cowboys play in the Wild West zone. You will see the photo. I watched the performance of a dance group of some natives (in the Polynesian zone). The platform on which they danced was sandy; sand is white. And around, like an amphitheater, rows of rough-hewn, wooden benches rise. There were many spectators. And since this is a park, a public place, the whole mass of tourists in it is very motley. Europeans, of course, the majority. Spaniards, Dutch, French, Italians, British, Germans, Belgians...
And now they are all sitting on the benches, watching these Indonesian dances with pleasure. Dancers (boys and girls) are swarthy, Asian type or some kind of mulattoes. The girls have flower garlands around their necks, Hawaiian skirts. The men looked more like Indians. Dancing is nothing. In the style - "Uuu! Ahh" ...under the tam-tam. And then, suddenly, the soloist of this ensemble began to turn on the audience, shouting in three languages (in Spanish, in English and in French): “Guys! Come on, get up!...Ee-ee-and, hands - to the right, to the left...to the right, to the left...rraz, two...rraz, two. Estimate, and all this mob of different feathers, this whole European Union rises together and begins to move its hands from right to left! ))) It would be nice if there were children...Otherwise, everyone stood up! All! Moreover, with such concentrated, gloomy faces. I took pictures, take a look. By the way, on one of them, where everyone is photographed to the left (and people are to my right), zoom in and look for one dude there, red-haired Irishman with short hair and sideburns.
He is wearing a white shirt and black pants. Look))) It looks like a "brother" ...It stands like that, selflessly, and waves ...For a long time I was touched by this situation.
And in the Wild West zone, a country ensemble played. The soloist was black. Well, they sang a few songs, and the Negro began to introduce the members of the group to the audience. He says, “Thank you gentlemen! They played for you: drums - Mr. Pablo! ...Saxophone - Mr. Nikolai! ...Keyboards - Mr. Arrrman! ...”International collective).
It is also important that in each zone there is a characteristic landscape and all buildings correspond to the style. Even the vegetation is selected and planted specially. And it's all man-made! Everything is stuffed. In the Mexican zone, the soil is sandy everywhere, stones roll around, cacti grow. There are many palms in Indonesian. I already told you about the sailing of the boat along the river (canal) to the Europe zone.
You need to visit the park for two days. One is not enough; the park is big enough.
TARRAGON. GOTHIC QUARTER
The ancient Gothic center of the city is very beautiful, it differs in its originality from almost all the cities I have seen in this province. And so it made a big impression on me. For example, only in Tarragona I was able to see buildings with the years of their construction carved on their facades (for example, 1216 (!!! ), imagine... ). Again, only in this city did I notice the tradition of hanging beautiful flags between houses (across the streets) with some wonderful dwarf characters in clothes from different eras (although there were no carnivals in my presence). Everywhere (on lanterns, balconies... ) Catalan striped pennants. The peculiarity is also in the fact that Tarragona has the most decorated facades of houses. I saw one such house, I almost fainted))) Painted on a flat wall: balconies, people on balconies, cornices, windows, flowers, blinds, a door with a horse looking out from there. Everything is drawn! And all this with penumbra!
Only the blue window showcase is real (below, left) ...Simply - there are no words!
On the first floors of these buildings of the XIII century in the vaulted rooms (you will see: open vaulted openings) there are souvenir shops and cafe-restaurants. In these restaurants, the layout is ancient, still from those times. The only thing new is, of course, chairs, bar counters, tables, refrigerators with drinks, chandeliers, etc. )))...
By the way, and waiters with bartenders ... )))
In one photo, pay attention, the base of the balcony is made of rough dark logs with two white columns. So these logs and columns of the fourteenth century! The oldest street of Tarragona in the photo No. 1833; a passage between the houses, covered with a ceiling also made of old logs.
Walking the streets of the city is generally very cool. The fact is that the distances are generally small everywhere. Everything is very tight. This also applies to distances between states, and distances between cities, and within cities - between quarters, houses, streets ...
Therefore, there you can, as it were, “blunt”, but not get lost. Since the route, for example, along one street from its beginning to the end will take about five minutes. Then turn, another street - about three minutes ...Again - turn. Here you are confused. Then you realize that you are going in circles. And in the end, you go out to your first street, but it’s good that the “wanderings” took only 15 minutes maximum))) But it’s even interesting! It’s good that Tarragona, for example, is located on a flat area (as, in principle, the entire Costa Dorada), but Tossa de Mar (a fortress on the coast in the Costa Brava) is in the mountains. So there, let me remind you, there are a lot of all kinds of stone steps on the streets for ascent and descent. Here, of course, you can’t do without a map ...By the way, in any city, as I already told you, there are information points for tourists, and there everyone is given a map with sights marked on it for free.
CATHOLIC CEMETERIES
As a digression from the general theme, I want to tell you about Spanish cemeteries. The topic, I understand, is far from “sunny” ...But it was very interesting for me to see. In general, there are two types of graves in cemeteries:
1) low, but multi-storey "houses" for the middle class (approximately, as reduced many times, our multi-storey buildings) and
2) beautifully (even magnificently) decorated family crypts with turrets, bas-reliefs on religious themes, statues of saints, and other artistic modeling, mainly in the Catholic Baroque style.
There are also crypts of the author's work. In this case, next to the tablet with the surnames and names of the dead, a tablet with the name of the sculptor is nailed. In the crypts inside there is a small room 2.5 x 1.5 m. , where on the right and left walls there are stone niches with stone lids in tiers: the lower and upper niches, and in total - 4 on both sides. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of the cemeteries...
“Houses” for middle-class people form whole streets and quarters in the cemetery, approximately, like our ground graves. In the walls of these "houses" there are square niches with doors, which are located next to each other and go up the floors. The total height of the "house" is approximately 2.5 - 3 meters. In these niches, as you already understood, there are urns with the ashes of the dead. From a distance you look, it looks like windows. In front of the niches there are stone shelves, on which they put vases with flowers, small figurines. And just on the doors are engraved the names of the dead, dates of birth and death, and photographs. And, often, in one niche there are urns with the ashes of two people. This principle of arranging a cemetery, of course, is dictated by saving space.
TARRAGON. CATHEDRAL
A separate selection of photographs is devoted to the Cathedral in Tarragona. You have already seen a lot and you can fully imagine Catholic churches.
Perhaps you will be bored looking and reading ...But still, I would like to show you this cathedral, and very briefly give a few comments.
The fact is that I saw the first major cathedral (namely, the cathedral) in Tarragona. Impressions - a lot. Later, having been on excursions in other cities, primarily in Barcelona, I saw similar ones, and more. And in Barcelona, in response to my admiration for the Tarragona Cathedral, our Russian guide Tanya told me: “Come on, what are you doing! In Tarragona, the cathedral cannot be compared with Barcelona! “But I think that one beauty cannot be compared with another, no less than beauty.
The peculiarity of the cathedral is that it was never completed in the Middle Ages. In the sense of 100% compliance with the project. On the photo (No. 1724) you will see the main building of the cathedral and the arched entrance to it. Look, above the entrance there is a round stained-glass window (this is called the main “rose” of the cathedral), and nothing above it. No spiers, no towers...
But everything else, the entire complex of buildings of the cathedral, the bell tower, the courtyard, the decoration inside - all this was completely completed in the Middle Ages. The completion of the construction was stopped by an epidemic of bubonic plague, which raged in almost all countries of Western Europe in the 14th century. And they did not have time to complete the main towers.
This temple is distinguished from others by the special beauty of the portal, the presence of sculptural groups on both sides of the gate (I have not seen this in any temple), the special beauty of the “rose”, the division of the gate into 2 parts by the sculptural composition of the Virgin Mary. The interior decoration of the altars is also beautiful. The stained glass windows are certainly smaller than in Barcelona. But they are also impressive.
Most of all I liked the ceiling there in one of the aisles of the cathedral. He is pictured #1739. The ceiling is wooden, fully painted and varnished.
It is a “cage” timber ceiling with patterns drawn over the entire surface, symbols, the coats of arms of Tarragona (a white letter “T” on a red shield) and the coats of arms of the local nobility.
A characteristic moment is noticeable in Catholic (yes, in any Western European) icons, in contrast to Orthodox ones. We have all the characters on the icons, regardless of the time they were painted, always, so to speak, in the same “Byzantine” appearance (this applies to hairstyles, clothes, faces and poses of people, even plots that are completely and strictly tied to the Bible) . Well, of course, the school is Byzantine. The Orthodox canons of icon painting have changed little since the twelfth century for almost a thousand years.
And on Catholic icons it’s different: on the samples of the 11th - 12th centuries, some Greco-Roman influence is still felt, but already on the icons of the 13th century you can see saints surrounded by dukes, counts, and representatives of other noble estates in absolutely typical clothes for that era , Against The Background Of Meadows, Palaces And Castles. And the plots are quite diverse, sometimes reflecting real historical events. Well, just the same - the whole picture! This is very interesting, since it is quite possible to study, for example, the history of a costume from European icons))) The ladies are all in appropriate dresses with trains, frilled frills. Knights in armor, and quite clearly traced; each rivet is drawn.
The only drawback in this temple is the not very good condition of the walls inside the cathedral (in some places), different colors of stones and potholes.
RUSSIAN TOURISTS
One hundred bows to you in return, a thousand smiles, jokes, jokes; humor, sometimes, peculiar ...but you have to make a discount)). I don’t seem to consider myself a boor, but at first it was even difficult for me out of habit, because I constantly had to hand out right and left: “Hello! ", "Goodbye! ", "Thanks! ", "You are welcome! ", "How are you? ))", "Sorry! » On the streets, our people dissolve in the crowd of tourists, but when groups form on excursions, just sit and be impressed! We get on the bus. They sit down noisily. But not like the Spaniards - noisy and fun, as if the carnival is stuffed into the bus, but noisy and evil. Watching a middle aged couple. The wife, energetically moving her shoulder, pushes the tourists who are gaping at the front door, breaks into the bus interior ...At this time, her husband attacks the middle door (She distributed everything in such a way! Hedged ... ))) Entering, she waves her hand, points it’s not clear where and yells to her husband through the whole bus:
- Grisha! ! ! Borrow me there!...Borrow me!
At this time, other couples, groups of friends, having sat down, suddenly start to jump up, beat their foreheads:
- Come here! ! ! There will be sunshine!
...How do they know where and when the sunny side will be? Let's turn a hundred more times...The curtains are pulled...One pulls and closes the window. At the neighbor behind - opens. That - come on! Just like that, just not to give in. Vomit! ! ! What are they doing with the seats? Two elderly women sit side by side. The one by the window begins to tilt the seat back. The back already, poor, creaks. Grandma, stop it! Your sunbed has almost turned out...But that's not enough for her. She begins to beat with all her might with her elderly back (as it turned out later, very sick)))) in the back of the seat. Behind them is a very young couple - a girl and a guy. The guy (he is at the window) began to hammer with his knees into Grandma's seat. From evil so, in the sense: "Nna, old woman, - pollluchay! ... " And all this at first without words. Fuss and swotting: boom-boom, boom-boom ...Oh, what started here!
Babkin's neighbor harnessed:
- Young man! You have completely lost your mind! ? The woman's back hurts!
The culprit of the brawl let out a little stingy tear (apparently because she beat her back ... )
Almost got into a fight.
It seems that the Russians do not know what "politeness" is at all. If, for example, you approach the door to the store at the same time as a European, then he will step back a little and politely, bowing his head, will show with his hand, they say: “Sorry! I beg you ...”You (such a polite dude) for your part answered him: “ What are you! Only after you…” Then he will come in and sincerely thank you. At first it seems - excessive mannerisms. But when you get used to it, it is clear that these are the norms of decency. Life somehow becomes more pleasant. It is more pleasant to buy, work, have fun, move around, communicate, etc. But the elementary norms of etiquette are just a component of how many more norms make human life pleasant and healthy.
Pay attention, it is not customary for us to say hello to strangers. For us, this is quite the norm. They don’t look askance at “unhealthy strangers”, they are not condemned, this is normal. After all, right? It's just not possible without it!
Somewhere on an excursion in the Czech Republic (sorry, I don’t remember exactly where) they lead our group, as always, to a one and only shop with one and only souvenirs. Well, as usual, we launched forward for reconnaissance ...Whom? ...Of course, our brave women from the group, who went to a burning hut, a galloping horse, and a souvenir attack. Damn, launched! Whatever - they "launched", it was they who "launched" there.
"Wind" over the door: ding-ding! From-roof-va-em ...
The shuffling of shoes on tiles.
The people in front, for some reason spreading their arms, twisting their backsides and stretching their necks, cautiously enter the shop. For some reason they look around. What happened? Oh, God, now we will all turn into a flock of penguins who saw the first polar explorer! ! !
Or do we assume the "inquisitive excursionist" posture? Is this the local Moravian custom? Or does our brave "vanguard" want to rush into the fray? But with whom, damn it; I don't see what's going on ahead?
Sellers, Czechs with Slovaks, exchanged glances behind the counters. They smile. It seems as if a minute before we arrived, they made a bet.
Finally, one of our ladies breaks the silence:
- Soooo! Well, what do you have here? ! Show!...
The Czech exhaled, and the Slovak asked:
- Dyefchata, but ...you, how is it ...accepted ...healthy?
- Mmmm ...Ah ...but in OUR stores it's NOT ZDA-RO-VA-YUT-SAAAAA! Pa-ta-mu-shta in Russia, all the stores are large, and there is NO ONE to say hello to! - puts a fat point in the Czechoslovak bet is ours.
Hey, well done! But we still have resourceful people!
The language barrier?...
I don't think.
In connection with the question of the barrier, a small story came to mind, connected with such a trait as our own, Russian envy.
In Tarragona, in one of the cafes (I'll throw off a cool photo with two aunts), I got into a conversation with a waitress, a young woman. And not far away a Russian young couple sat down. Since the waitress was a guest worker from Uruguay, she spoke English so and so. She goes off in a relaxed mood, puts something on the table, comes back and starts talking to me. Well, I understand, she's interested ...Yes, I'm interested. He asks where I live ...Where is my city located, how far from Moscow (well, Moscow is our capital ! ! ) Then she suddenly told me that I was not Russian ...Like, either an accent, or a dialect not the one ...I was taken aback and ask:
- Yes, you, - he says, - do not speak Russian!
- How so, not in Russian?
- Yes, the guys were sitting here ...They spoke a little differently. They told me they were Russians. I asked them: where are you from? They told me that from Gdansk (!! ! )...
- You are a fool, Lorraine (that was her name), the gentlemen deceived you! Gdansk is in Poland
She shakes her head.
Polonia! Carramba!
We laughed at this for a long time ...And in general, I was always interested in how, for example, the same Spaniards perceive other peoples. It is clear about Western Europeans, since ancient times they all lived together. But what do they think about distant neighbors, Eastern Europeans, Asians? Interesting...
- The most disgusting people, - says Lorraine, - this is the Romanians! They are all thieves. And the Moldovans are the same ...
He leads me to the exit and slowly points to the opposite side of the cathedral square:
- There, you see, two girls-waitresses stand at that cafe? Romanian! And they try to look like Spaniards.
But if you don’t look closely, then it’s true, it’s hard to distinguish a Romanian from a Spanish woman. Then suddenly I remembered a trifling incident a year ago in a small shop in Salou. There was a shop next to the hotel, a convenient location. Walkability was good. At the checkout all the time the same brunette about forty years old was sitting. Foreigners, entering, greeted, who - “Hi!
", who -" Hello! ”, who in Spanish is “Ola! ". The Spaniards come in, begin to discuss something with her in their own language. She's good at dialogue. We also go: “Ola! "Yes" Ola! ". She gives change and counts in Spanish. And ours don’t know the language, they try to speak English to her ...She, like, but undesten ...They switch to fingers. Once I bought something there. I stand looking at the packaging. There are no buyers, silence. And then, this cashier on a mobile phone began to chat with someone. I listen to the speech: “Buzulesti. . .