Story Time: Travelling in Spain

Seville, Spain

In this lesson, you are going to read a real-life story about travelling in Spain. 


STORY TIME

"I went to Spain with my family in the summer of 2016. We visited Barcelona, Madrid, Granada and Málaga. As this was our first time in Spain, we didn't know much about the country and the places we went to. Of course, we tried to prepare a bit in advance by reading articles online. 

Even though our spoken English is not very good*, we were able to get by. What I noticed is that local people in big cities know English and they can help you if you ask them questions. It's also quite convenient to order food in restaurants because waiters speak English as well. The problem was when we travelled to some provincial cities and places that are not that popular with tourists, because people there don't speak English. It can be quite challenging to take a taxi or eat out. Another thing is that menus in little Spanish restaurants are written only in the local language and there are no images. This made it a bit difficult for us to choose something from the menu because we couldn't understand anything and without any pictures, we didn't know what to expect. We ended up looking at other tables and what the people around us had already ordered. We managed to order food even though the waiter didn't speak English. What really helped us was using hand gestures and pointing out at dishes on other tables. Well, I know this can be really embarrassing, but it seems to be the only way to order food in these kinds of situations. It really helps if you know the local language, but that's not always possible. 

I definitely love Europe and in the future I'd like to visit Finland and Denmark. So far I've only been to France and Spain. I'd say I enjoyed Spain the most because of their cuisine and the people there are very hospitable. We saw a lot of street performers playing musical instruments. There's something about Spanish people and their culture that makes you feel good. 

My favourite destination in Spain is Málaga. It's a beautiful coastal city with a historic centre. There are lots of archaeological remains and monuments. We were actually pleasantly surprised because we were there during their holiday. It was a festive atmosphere with local people dancing in the streets. 

My advice to tourists visiting Barcelona would be to keep an eye on their personal belongings. They need to watch for some of the most common scams like offering you a flower or bumping into you in crowded public transport. I was almost robbed on my first day in Spain and it was in the daytime. I was very alert while walking around." 

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​* You can say that your English is not very good, poor or terrible instead of saying that it's 'bad'. 

• My English isn't very good. 
• My English is poor. 
• My English is terrible. 

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VOCABULARY 

• get by (phrasal verb) - to have enough knowledge so that you can do what you need to do 
• provincial cities (collocation) - in a part of the country that is not near the capital 
• popular with tourists (collocation) 
• eat out (phrasal verb) - to have a meal in a restaurant 
• select/choose something from the menu (collocation) 
• end up (phrasal verb) - to find yourself in a place or situation that you did not intend or expect to be in 
• feel good (collocation) - happy or physically comfortable (e.g. Sunshine makes people feel good.) 
• pleasantly surprised (collocation) - surprised and pleased 
• a festive atmosphere (collocation) - when people are celebrating 
• keep an eye on something (collocation) - watch them, especially to make sure they are safe 
• watch for somebody/something (phrasal verb) - to pay attention so that you will see when something happens 
• in the daytime | during the daytime (collocations) 

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Other lessons:
English Lesson: 5 Types of Lifestyle 
Commonly Used Phrases in Spoken English 
Story Time: Running out of petrol on the highway 

English conversation lessons: 
English Conversation: Travel opinions 
English Conversation: Travel experience 
English Conversation: Travelling in Europe and Asia 

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