Carry me caravan take me away
Take me to Portugal, take me to Spain
--Spanish Caravan by The Doors
Perhaps others have had a different experience but traveling with KLM across the continent and over the Atlantic ocean is a treat. They make you feel like a special guest- pillows, sheets, meals, complimentary drinks, headphones, and so on. I don't care so much for frills and all those things, but all that good KLM treatment is just fine by me. I also don't want to disparage our national airline, Air Canada, but I think they could learn a thing or two from KLM on how to treat customers right. Right on, KLM!
The flight is only interrupted by the lady sitting beside me, who briefly chats with me and lets me know that people are overly friendly back in Vancouver.
"When you go into a store there, people wave or say hi aloud, they seem so excited to see you, like they're old friends whom you haven't seen in a long time. They chat about this and that and are interested in how your day is going and so on. In Germany, vendors and shopkeepers don't do that. They provide the service, you pay, and that's it. I mean, if one is going to just shop, there's no need to be so flamboyant."
I chuckle and stroke my chin abstractly. "That's an interesting observation. I think I read something about it online. It's partly cultural, I guess. Efficiency is important for Germans while Canadians expect a bit of friendliness on top. We also have a lot of tourism-focused industries in the west coast, so a bit of over-the-top cheerfulness might be good for business."
"It's very disconcerting."
You know what's disconcerting? When you arrive at a place and realize they don't speak English. They have their own language, for reals. What used to be just an intellectual curiosity back home is now a tangible reality that you have to navigate.
Bem-vindo a Lisboa!
I have no idea why the cobblestones/tiles fascinate me. In this timeline, I'm not so concerned about content creation. Hive is a few years into the future. I'm just a guy on a mission to Lisbon.
But first, the important things in life. This hotel truly knows their audience. What better way to spend the first night in Portugal than by having some chocolate bars and alcohol.
Living la vida coca
But enough silliness, let's get to what we all came here for- giant crocodiles!
We don't have art on this scale and style back home in Van. The large murals we have are all carefully curated by the city so they come across as somewhat staged. The mural art in Lisbon seems a bit more... urban.
I complete my mission and wander the streets in the evening, admiring the historical sights. I do not take photographs, however, content creation is the furthest thing from my mind.
In the morning, I head out to the airport and my rendezvous with Rochelle.
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