Taste of Spain Part VI, Seville Part I - "Speaking Spanish."

So after arriving in Seville really late after stopping by Granada, Nerja, and Malaga, we just miss the rental car check-in by a few minutes.

Which, I guess, was a blessing in disguise since it would force us to get up early
because we had to return the car first thing in the morning. Getting up early wasn't a bad thing. It would at least give us a head start on sightseeing.

Since we failed to return the car, I decided to try and buy our tickets to Madrid for Wednesday.

Luckily the rental car return was at the train station. I go in, and I noticed the ticket office was closed, so I decide to ask the police officer.

I ask: (And I apologise to Spanish speakers if I butcher your language)

"Necesitamos comparar billetes para Madrid." (My translation: I need to buy tickets for Madrid)

The officer responds:

"adflkajsd aklfjaofi cbjsdfdoi alkdajapio"

And I say:

"Que?"

And then he says slowly:

"asldkfjasldkfjqw cerrado asdfkjaodifu manana adpfui"

I smile and say: "Oh si!" as I nod happily.

Did I understand what he was saying?

Hell no!

The thing with Speaking Spanish to Spanish speakers is that they'll answer back to you, just really really fast to a point where its almost another language!

And then they read it in your face that you have no idea what they just said, so they speak slower.

At that point, you maybe pick up a few key words like I did. "Cerrado" - Closed and "Manana" - tomorrow.

Which if I think about it, he probably said something like:

"It's closed right now, try buying your tickets tomorrow."

Which of course I could have figured out myself.

The other funny thing that dk experienced was this:

dk: "Donde esta 'W' 'C' ?" (WC - is water closet, or restroom)

bartender responds in perfect English:

"Oh its downstairs to your right."

That's the other funny bit. When you are trying to speak Spanish, some people are happy you tried, but they'll answer back in English!

Three phrases used most:

Cervezas por favor? - Beer please.

La Cuenta por favor? - The bill please.

Tapas? - Tapas? (which I will get into later..)

To be continued...