Spain 101

Spain is an interesting country.There are beaches, mountains, deserts, valleys, gardens, forests, ghettos and suburbs. Surely, every country has a mixture of this but every city in Spain is so different. There is no east coast or big south that boasts the same everything. From the train on I found completely new weather, customs, foods and there was always something brand new. This is utterly confusing because you arrive with misconceptions. You expect for everything to be revolved around windy, rocky beaches and bullfighting rings. I didn't think tapas would be as primitive as it was. I didn't expect Spain to be as modern as it was. I truly didn't know what it was to be Spanish. There are really no parallels in North America. Surely, there are concepts and traditions that we have taken but we have diluted most of them. Honestly, Spanish culture is more than olives and flamenco. Spanish culture is about relaxation, luxury, high art, design and love. All the infusion into Hispanic, Latino, and Caribbean culture as we know it cannot even begin to compete.