Beautiful, just beautiful. That balcony could be used in any performance of Romeo and Juliet. Were you not tempted to take the cow for a walk around the moat? Spanish question - do most schools/workplaces start later in the morning, what with the super late night dinner hour? I can't imagine putting a kid to bed at 11pm and having them fit for school by 9am. Or do children eat earlier? Do people start work at 8-9am, or do offices and shops not open until late?
Just to be clear, the photo with the cherub on the wall is the library (common area) not my actual room. Which I'm grateful for, as trying to sleep with a cherub staring down on me would be weird. Yes. Sadly the cows were behind a fence or I may have tried it. I hear you. I thought it was funny that the hotel dinner hours are 9-11pm and breakfast 9-11am. Kind of too late for me on both counts, though those are normal hours here in Spain. I've never worked in a Spanish office or had children here, so I'm not sure how it all works. I would think it would make for a very complicated and long day! What seems to happen is offices and smaller stores opening around 10am, then they normally close for a few hours in the afternoon (varies but 1:30-4:30-ish) and then going again until 7:30pm or so. Dinner starts around 9:30 and is in full swing by 10pm. I can see how this all could be OK if you lived close to where you work, but if you are commuting into a larger city, it seems like it would make your work day incredibly long with a big three hour break in the middle of it. What the heck do you do with yourself for three hours every day? I guess that's why restaurants do such a booming business. For me personally, I just don't do the late dinner thing but it's not that big of a deal as I don't eat out much. When my father visits, with his US mid-westerner's love of eating dinner at 5pm, it works out fine as most Spanish restaurants are still serving lunch at 4pm and my dad just thinks of it as the Early Bird Special.
I know it's their normal, but it's so peculiar. It seems like a very inefficient way to run a business, too. Lol at your dad eating dinner when the Spanish are still finishing their lunch It's interesting to read about different ways of life.
It's a hugely inefficient system and that's why there's a movement to scrap the siesta. I've read that the Spanish work some of the longest hours in Europe yet have one of the lowest efficiencies. It needs to change. So, what happens with kids is, yes they do have dinner at the same time as the adults. Spanish culture is very inclusive of all members of the family. But remember, there's a siesta (they even have this in some schools) so they get plenty of sleep, just in two lots. It sounds weird to us 8-hours-a-night types but it's actually been shown that we humans aren't designed to have a single block of sleep anyway: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-16964783
I thought the exact same thing! I don't think I could resist having a Juliet moment - I hope you did, Emily. You did in my head whatever actually happened in real life
The current Labratour may be over, but I got this new photo from Labratour 'visitee' Curly (or more accurately from Curly's mum) and wanted to share. Here is Curly Murphy surveying his kingdom in Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland.
I keep checking in to the tour in the hope of you've found your Labrador - no luck so far I guess. Curly Murphy is gorgeous by the way
That's a very long story which I may tackle sharing one of these days. But no, for now, no dog of my own but doing lots of Spanish shelter dog walkies and getting my dog fix that way.
