The Love & Hates of Visiting Spain

[Music] hey the F Travelers Mark here with Walter world and today we're in Granada Spain we have the alhamra right behind us today we're going to talk about our five things that tourists love and well let's just say don't like so much when it comes to visiting Spain and I'm going to go into the kind of negative things first and talk about the first thing that tourists hate when they come here to Spain and this is one thing that our fans have brought up in numerous conversations with me over the years about things that just get them it's just the little tourist annoyances when they come here for example if you want to go see the alhamra make sure you're booking your tickets weeks months in advance of the summertime because it books out you want to see the ciga Familia you got to pre-book for that there's a lot of pre-booking little annoyances that tourists just don't like like I can't just show up no unfortunately you can't you need to pre-book that's one of the things they've done very well here is to make sure that you're not overrun with tourists in location so it's actually a good thing that you get upset about but some of the other tourist annoyances are like the pickpockets and scams you see in some of the major cities and major tour sites you know you're going to L rambla in Barcelona or in the elbourne neighborhood or bario Galo you have all those like pickpockets around there that really are just could ruin someone's trip or or maybe in some of the major places in cost Del solo you have to pay attention to that or if your places like here in Granada or sevill or CBA you have the people that are coming up trying to give you Rosemary and they're saying it's a gift and you're like I don't really want it but like it's a gift it's for free and then you give they give it to you you take it and they won money and it's just those little kind of small travel annoyances or what people really don't like about coming to Spain and honestly there's not a lot really not to like about coming here and that's why I mean I'm starting with one thing that really has been brought up a lot of times but let's go to some other parts of Spain to talk about the loves so now we're here overlooking civo you got the mosquito over here you got the Roman Bridge behind me this is one of my favorite places if not my favorite place that I love the most coming to here in Spain and that's why I think it's a good place we start off with our first love of coming to Spain and that is tapas and just the tapa culture in general I mean think about it where else can you get four plates of food and people think it's normal like if I go to a normal restaurant anywhere around the world order four plates of food they're like no wonder you're so fat is there something wrong what's going on here they're like oh yeah you want some cetta sure how many better go sure have the hand oh you want a TOA sure we have that oh you want some potato bre sure no big deal like you get to experiment so many great Foods when you're here through the Toppers and they're just little plates so you can stack and see if you like it if you want to have a big Rio on a big plate of it but the little small things those to of versions let you experiment with the food and it's so fun but the food part I mean it's cool because you see the culture with the food because you do have different Toppers different parts of the country like peen shows up in the bass country where it's bread and there's meat or cheese or seafood on top or if you're in you go down to Sevilla and you have the solomo a whiskey which is like a like little cooked up like little pork tenderloin with this whiskey oil sauce it's so good or or you go to go to Galia and have pimos Deon the peppers that are from there there's so many different like egal ones but there's ones that go all over the place like the cetas and P bravas it's just so tasty and so delicious but what's really great about it is if you're going to a tapis bar or restaurant or just having Tapas in general that's one of the best times actually meet locals when you're here in Spain cuz people are sitting out they're having a drink maybe they have a Tinto Deano or we're here in Cordoba and they're having a 50/50 you know it's like half sweet wine half Vino you know they're sitting back relaxing and talking and nobody is pressuring you to do anything so it's like the greatest way just to relax sit back Ki back have a drink have a snack and you know what when you're in Spain you're going to talk to the person next to you at the next table you're going to have a chat here and there and that topest bars give you that opportunity so it's like a way to like really enjoy the culture really enjoy the food and really relax when you're here that's what I love about it it's just the food the relaxation and the fun of just sitting back and enjoying the topless culture when you're here so don't pass up topless when you are here okay I want to tell you that but also don't pass up a chance to talk to locals when you're sitting there because it's not just tourists that are sitting en join Tapas it's the locals as well and speaking of those locals I guess I need to mention something that you might not like and the the second kind of maybe hate or dislike that tourists have when they come to Spain is kind of the uh Spanish concept of time I mean think about it if they eat late it's no big deal you arrive late for you know to meet with your friends it's no big deal having dinner at 8 or n o00 starting time no big deal you have a different concept of time when you're in Spain things take a bit longer sometimes and sometimes tourists get really upset they're like oh what's taking so long why is the service so slow what's going on look it just takes time to make these things you just got to relax man chill out calm uh everything will be all right but for some tourists that gets very frustrating and sometimes they take it out you when they think about like the Siesta look when people talk about Siesta they're not doing like they it sound like they close the door of the shop put their hat down and take a nap it doesn't work that way they're out doing other things or if you're like here like you're in sevill and Corda in the summertime when it's in incredibly hot incredibly the sun is beating down on you you need to get out of the sun you need to go relax from 2:00 to 4: cuz it's so hot and so uncomfortable you need to get away from it but tourists get frustrated I want to do my shopping from 2:00 to 4:00 I want to do this well they're going and having their lunch remember lunches are later here eating this later here that's that time you know kind of fits up I mean you have a lunch break your job don't you well let them have theirs but I do know that timing thing does get some tourists I know you if you're coming from a culture where dinner is like 5 or 6 at night and when you realize that restaurants actually close their kitchens from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. at night those people that like to eat at 500 or 600 they're kind of upset and so I know like my dad he's very much the 5:00 p.m dinner kind of guy well again let's go back to that topas things cuz one of the best things about those toas they're available all day long so when the kitchen is closed you can't get like the Iberian pork which is so good you can still get some batatas bravas or cettas to get through the day but yeah the the Spanish concept of time that is one thing I've seen that some tourists get a little bit annoy with so now we're here in Sevilla the actual place I filmed the original five love and hates of Spain and yes it's it's been a while since we made that video and I think the second thing you're going to love about coming to Spain are just the crazy friendly hospitable outgoing Spaniards I mean you can't help but love them because they will try to feed you until you pop masas masus masus and you're like please stop I don't want that I want to eat more but I can't eat any more and they'll just be like it's okay you can have some more hey why don't you come out and drink with us why don't you come out to the square the plaza and have some tapas with us why don't you come to the beach with us I mean the people here are so incredibly friendly even with all the tourists that come here they are great and that's one thing I love about coming here because it doesn't matter if you're in Catalonia it doesn't matter if you're in the bass country it doesn't matter if you're here in andalu or if you're in Galia or in the capital I mean Spaniard just so much dang fun to be around that's why I mean I've taught all around the world and whenever the exchange students in the class everybody always wants to be friends with the Spanish ones cuz they know they're going to have a good time with them because dang it the Spaniards are awesome and sadly that awesome Spaniard you want to hang out with and be with also leads into something you're going to hate about coming to Spain your lack of Spanish knowledge now I'm not saying their lack of English knowledge CU we're in Spain like you should know the local language or some of it but one thing you need to realize is foreign language teaching in schools here yes people have it in school but it's not reinforced very well and so a lot of locals even younger people either don't speak English or they don't speak it well enough or confident enough so that can make kind of like a barrier between you and the locals and that's why you'll be mad at yourself that you don't remember some more of your high school Spanish your college Spanish so you can use it here you're like dang it I'd have even better time with the locals if I remembered it but in all seriousness not knowing Spanish won't ruin your trip here but it will make things a little B more difficult whether it's ordering food whether it's going you getting tickets for things or or kind of figuring out what's going on if there's any issues like that can be an issue just because of lack of overall English it's here but honestly you'll be fine you'll figure it out cuz the Spaniards will make sure that they communicate things to you and it'll work out just fine but maybe do review that old Spanish textbook you have in the back of your parents' closet before you come now to a more serious I mean dislike cuz let's be honest you don't really hate anything about Spain is actually I would say the weather in terms of the summer heat and the surprising coldness you can have in the winter here in Spain cuz I've come to Spain every month of the year and I still remember the first time I was at Aila in January I was cold as cold can be I'm like I thought Spain was warm all the time what's going on here no people you have mountains here so higher elevation you have those PLS you have cold weather in the winter that you get surprised you're like oh no I'm not going to have my wonderful Beach vacation all year round no no you're not even the Canary Islands aren't very warm in the winter time you're probably not going to want to celebrate Christmas on the beach when it's like 17° C it's just not a thing unless you're from Scandinavia then you might like the beach then but it is something to consider when you're looking at your vacation here make sure you're checking that 10day forecast to see if it's winter time would you maybe need something more than just you know your t-shirts and summer wear but but honestly in terms of the weather thing you're going to hate it is the heat in the summer I'm talking July August here in Sevilla you understand why people take cestas because it's so hot you don't want to do anything you don't even want to move you don't even want to breathe you're just like help me and the thing is you can't even Escape it in some places cuz not all the hotels not all the airbnbs have air conditioning so it might be hoping for a breeze to come in during the night or how hoping for a breeze underneath a patio somewhere so when it is middle of the day it is that 2 to 4 cesta time and things are closing down I do recommend you find a place to sit relax have some Tito dado have some Tois and get out of the sun because you don't just get sunburned you can get heat stroke you can you just get dehydrated it can be unsafe and that's something you're not going to really like so do be safe with the summer heat here cuz as much as you love it being so warm and everything it might be too hot for you like we were here before and it was over 40° C I'm here in May and it's 34° you know just like oh it was a cool day yesterday and now we're at 34 and it's going to get a lot hotter so just a heads up and I'll be honest with that heat can be pretty bad any time of the year I came from Sevilla to Cordoba and it dropped 20° all right cuz I really felt like I was melting when I was filming yeah and speaking of the melting from the heat also um heads up with the melting heat that comes from the chocolate with your chosen chocolate cuz it's like melted choca so it retains heat so like it can really burn you or your kids's mouth you drink it too fast that's why it's for the dipping of the churros not of the chugging of the chocolate okay so see you can melt from the heat outside but you also can melt from the heat like in your mouth with that chopal Lattin all right so going on let's go back to the loves Okay the third thing you to love about coming to Spain is just all the different tourist activities you can do when you're here think about it I'm here in Cordoba see that I can go to the mosquito right there it's a cathedral built inside of a mosque I can walk on the Roman bridge and car I got I have so much history I can go see I can go to the alhamra and Granada I can go see the cathedral and the Alcazar and Sevilla you can see so many great historical things here in space that could be a true historical vacation but also it can be a fun time you want to hit the Beach yeah you can go to the peach the coast so coasta Bravo all around the country you know it's cover the beaches on lots of parts right you could enjoy a Beach vacation here party in Barcelona party in Madrid I mean you have great night life so no matter what you want to do you have a lot you can do you want to go religious things heck you can do the community to Santiago and Trek across Spain getting to the cathedral and Santiago to castella I mean it's an incredible experience going there when you see the people walking with their sticks and then sometimes people have their donkeys with them and the the Huts that are there to help people doing the Camino I mean there's just so many great things to do when you're here you want to bring your kids from the beaches to activities easta maika and Sevilla it's a music bar you can go to there's just so many different things for people to enjoy when you're Spain that it really can be something for everybody that's why millions of people come to Spain every year because there's so much for everybody you can have stuff for Grandma grandma wants the history you can have stuff for the kids East the majika and the beach you can have stuff for the wife the shopping here Spanish people have fantastic fantastic style and the shoe are amazing so you do shopping here it's all kinds of stuff you're going to love and that's why I really love coming here for all the things you can do okay and and what's cool with that is all these things you can do here that that number three leads to the number four love you have and that's you don't have to bust your budget when you come to Spain but you don't feel bad when you do come here because you know sometimes when you travel you go to places and things are so cheap you feel kind of uncomfortable like man I just had a dinner for the our family of four for $5 like I I feel like I should give more back back I really feel that Spain is probably the most fairly priced destination in Europe for people to go to so when you go out to eat like I can take my family of FL out to eat at a nice meal and not worry about not paying my mortgage right I can go out with my friends we can go out for drinks and I'm not worried and why it's going to be upset that I spend you know the the grocery money I mean you have these really fair prices so you can enjoy the food you can enjoy those toas you can enjoy those drinks you can go to the S museums you can go to the parks and enjoy things and you're not like busting your budget but also you feel that hey that's a fair price it's a good price but it's a fair price so you don't feel like you're ripping the locals off because like I said before you're going to love the people they're fantastic when you're here and when you can get all this fantastic people with fair prices on accommodation tours Transportation the trains all the kinds of stuff it really makes it a wonderful place to visit that's that's why I love coming here so much and and sadly that leads into like uh one of the negatives because it has all those great things to do and it has all those fair prices and that's one of the things that sometimes our loves lead into hates because with all those great things you can do here and the affordable accommodation and the affordable sites and the fun you can have the friendly people and the great weather most of the time people flock to Spain this is one of the most visited countries in the world not just in Europe but in the world I mean people love coming here with the people and all kinds of stuff so what you're not going to like that fifth hate you're going to hate about coming here is just all the tourists that come that are being bad not tourists in general there's a lot of great tourist we here you can have a great time you'll meet friends from other Travelers here there's a lot of great tourists over here not everybody's a bad tourist that's one thing I don't like when people say oh all tourists are bad no the only people the only tourists that you're going to hate are the ones that are bad you know if you're in the Canary Islands or in your myor or coost Del Soul the ones that have too much to drink you know the The Bachelor parties in Barcelona that are get a little bit too frisky those kind of things you won't like or or when you're walking the streets in C or Sevilla when they're really the small streets and people are shoving You by or the the tour groups where the tour leader just is like I don't care about any other tourist in the city the only thing that matters is my tour group and they like shove through and you can't get through things and and it gets really packed and when you're when you're during the festival times and the it's so many tourist and all the locals just it gets a little overwhelming sometimes but the thing is I it really frustrates people and that that upsets them but what's interesting about Spain is that when you do get kind of the overrun by the tourism or by the tourists there's a lot of ways to get away from it all like those those historic streets where you're getting all smooshed up like I can't deal with all these people you go a couple blocks off it's completely empty here in Cordo you go from the the tight streets you know by the cathedral and you come off a bit there's a wall you're on the outside of the wall you're like wait I have a big Boulevard here there's a park for me to get away from you can get away from those bad tourist when you're here but you still have to deal with them sometimes and if you're coming from a place that had typically has bad tourists that will reflect probably in your care at different places here so do be aware of that okay so it's not all the tourists that you're not going to like it's just certain tourists you know and and you know because all the tourists that are there you know you have the pickpockets and the scams and the oh take this little sprig of of herbs it's good luck it's it's a gift and then they're like give me money like these kind of things that come with all the the tourists that come here all right and then let's finish off with a positive one thing I really love about same is they make this place ready for you but not just for you but for the locals as well the infrastructure here in Spain for tourism is outstanding from accommodation options to food options to all the stuff I talked about before things to do they've done a really good job to make it that not just locals can understand it but tourists can as well so if you're coming here and accommodation and you're you know you're in your 20s you're going to University you want to go to your buddies there's accommodation for you there's transportation for you if you want to spend up a little bit and bring your family on your trip to Spain to see your family heritage they have places for that as well you want tours that are specific like for Game of Thrones to I want to know about the moish history of andala they have that I mean the tours of infrastructure is outstanding and what's cool is even if your Spanish isn't so good they're so good at what they do with the tourism that it won't affect your time here if you don't speak Spanish because the infrastructure is set up with signs that are in Spanish and French and English you know and then they do a great job like you go to some of the museums you go to some of the sites you can just download the audio guide you can download the map in your language in multiple languages and they do all these things and it helps out tourists really enjoy the country and I think Spain doesn't get a good enough like reputation for all that they do for the tourists to come here because Millions come here and nobody realizes that yeah it's one of the most visited countries in the world but you never really notice it like when you go to France you feel there's tourists everywhere when you go to Italy you feel like there's tourists everywhere but here Spanish tourism infrastructure helps everybody integrate better so you can sit and have toas with the local and go to the fair for the city and go do all these things in a way that really helps you like enjoy Spanish culture enjoy Spanish people and just love your time here so that tourism infrastructure that's the fifth thing that I love about coming here as a tourist because it gets it set up for you to enjoy everything you can about Spain so I hope this helps you know some of our five love and hates or things we see that tourists love and hate about coming to Spain what are things that you love and hate about coming to Spain I mean aside from the Sunburn and the the hangovers the next day from too much uh Cru compo beer let us know in the comments below and have a great time here in Spade bye from CA

Channel: Wolters World

Views: 32,762

Keywords: travel, europe, wolters world, travel advice, tourist attractions, travel vlogger, honest travel, Walters World

Id: Zk87jVIYk64

Length: 18min 25sec (1105 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 21 2024