Kate's Thoughts IV
Part IV
Default Language
Languages are not my strong point. I don’t hear the sounds very well and find it really hard to pronounce the sound back. Sienna corrected me most of the time in Thailand and Vietnam if I tried to say a town name, even though I was sure I was saying it the same as her.
Being in Europe, my GCSE French is all coming flooding back to me, which means I can ask for a ham sandwich and ask where the train station is. Not overly helpful, but I recognise a few words. German, Solvenian, Croatian, Italian and Spanish however, I’m completely in the dark. Not a clue. And to make the situation harder, for some reason I default to Oui and Non when responding to any of the above languages, despite not really speaking French either. Thankfully no one has then assumed I’m fluent in French and restarted the conversation in French, but somehow my brain thinks it’s better to try at least a foreign language in response, even if it’s not the same.
Sienna and Seb have Italian lessons as part of school, so their Italian vocabulary is far more advanced than Matt and me combined. There’s a reason we ask Sienna and Seb to ask for their own gelato in Italy (apart from the obvious learning experience) we have no idea how to ask for it for them. But a cute 10 year old trying to say it is way more likely to result in smiles and extra gelato, than a 43 year old barely mastering Ciao.
Giving Way
Driving isn’t easy, but we manage. We really have no idea and just follow the car in front. We panic slightly if there is no one in front of us - usually along the lines of is this a one way street and we are going the wrong way. But generally following the crowds seems to work.
What doesn’t work is Italians - and yes I will be specific to a country, not giving an inch to let anyone else in. They literally create a huge back up of traffic because no one wants to let anyone go first. I know I am British and it’s inbuilt that we see a queue and we join it, but at least on the roads we understand that when two lanes go down to one it’s easiest for everyone if you just smoothly weave in like a zip one at a time from each side (except for that one car that pretends they’ve not noticed the 18 signs saying merge lanes and keeps going until it almost hits a lane closure sign and pushes in at the front not so sneakily but we’re all too polite to do anything at the time, but will easily moan about it for the next three years over a cup of tea and a biscuit).
In Italy if we go down from two lanes to one, suddenly there are four lanes - cars just edging over lines and making their own lane, no one giving an inch all at a standstill and the one lane ahead is clear as no one will let anyone through. When we first entered the outskirts of Rome off the motorway we were in a standstill mash of cars for probably 30 mins due to this, not because there were too many cars, just because everyone wanted to go first so no one went at all.
In Germany some of the motorways had no upper speed limit, keeping right (drive on the right in Europe) unless overtaking was a must as the cars in the outside lane bombed past like they’d just robbed a bank and were on the run. You do not want to get in the way of those cars.
Crowds / Selfies / Videos
We found the crowd’s in Europe. Thailand and Vietnam were populated and ‘busy’ but not overly so at the tourist attractions. The USA was too big to feel the crowds and Iceland was too remote. Turns out all the tourists hang out in Rome and Venice. There were just masses and masses and masses of people, and this was ‘off’ season.
How are you meant to encourage a kid to stand in a queue for 30 mins, just for a bag check they don’t carry, to then queue another 30 mins to get our tickets checked, where kids are free and technically don’t have a ticket, and then find out the attraction we queued for is a church that’s really old or really big (often both). After the first time fooling them, there’s no hope. And they have no sense of relief that at least it’s not peak season.
I love a good picture to remember something by. But, does it need to take 20 mins to find the right pose / angle / backdrop / lighting - no it does not. Point and press. Done. Maybe I am well behind the times and maybe when I look back at my photos I might think, did I go travelling with a hairbrush. But seriously people. All the pouting, taking videos of yourself walking into things, is unnecessary and completely in the way when there are 200+ tourists all trying to appreciate and enjoy the same view, just with their actual eyes and not through a camera lens. I’ll admit I deliberately walked through some peoples videos and photos just to annoy them. I saw the same women enter the gates of Dubrovnik old town (Red Keep for Game of Thrones fans) three times trying to get her video just right - in hindsight she might have been waiting for the four Australians eating homemade wraps for lunch by the fountain who were front and centre laughing as she tripped on the cobbles every time.
3 in 1
The early nineties was a time of wonder and new exciting things. Including 2in1 Shampoo and Conditioner….’I just wash and go’, we all remember those ads right. And then maybe 3 years later the fad wore off and everyone realised that it’s not great for your hair or the marketing team realised they were selling half the products. Well Europe never let go and have since moved on to 3 in 1. All your shower needs are covered in one handy fluorescent coloured slime. Except I’m not sure it’s made that well for any one individual thing it’s meant to clean, condition, or cleanse. It must have been bad as even Matt agreed to buy some shampoo from Lidl.
Clarity of Sea
Australia has pretty impressive beaches and the sea can be very blue and inviting. However, I was incredibly impressed with what Croatia had to offer. The sea was so blue and amazingly clear. We were able to see the bottom very clearly. We ended up buying a snorkel set and a pair of goggles for the kids to use given how good it was. There were lots of fish to see and Sienna and Seb enjoyed following them and spotting different types and colours. I also barely saw any rubbish, which also made the experience far more enjoyable.
I did struggle with the pebbles though. Every beach had pebbles and most other holidaymakers had the water shoes to walk in and out of the sea (damn those prepared 2 week holidaymakers that can pack everything they could possibly need). I ended up wearing my flip flops in and out, and even then it wasn’t elegant. The kids and Matt laughed all the time at how much I struggled. I like to think I just have sensitive feet, the family think I am soft.
Mood of Europe
Unsure if it’s because we are the dreaded tourists or because we look British, but everyone seems a little bit grumpier in Europe. Some parts of Europe are rising up against tourists, well AirBnB in particular, with multiple protests happening throughout Spain and some other countries during the summer, a protest occurred in San Sebastian just two days before we arrived (whilst there we had no trouble thankfully, I did see ‘go home tourist’ graffitied on a map, but that was all) .
If anyone asks I say I am Australian to try and come across slightly better - assuming the effort and distance travelled to see their city would mean they’d like us more, but didn’t seem to improve the mood. The smile doesn’t seem to go a long way here. It’s the end of the peak season, so maybe everyone’s a bit tired, but in the touristy places everyone seems a bit glum, not mean or rude, just not overly welcoming.
I think back to when we visited Fiji, many moons ago with no kids and when we arrived on an island the locals would all come down to the beach and sing a little welcome song with a guitar. Maybe I will put that in the San Sebastian suggestion box and see what happens.
Monastery Stay
Facebook finally came in handy, I knew trawling FB for a few hours everyday would lead to something and not just completely unattainable ideas for book week. I joined various Travel groups prior to leaving - Travelling with kids worldwide, Italy with kids, Adventurous family travel community, Thailand travel advice, Vietnam travel info, Vietnam travel advice for Australians to name a few. There is literally a group for everything on FB. Anyway, one of them finally paid off and mentioned staying in Monasteries when in Rome. Matt’s face was a picture of delight when he realised we could stay central for less and say we’ve stayed in a Monastery, win win.
When we weren’t greeted by Whoopie Goldberg (Sister Act reference for those not in the know) I’ll admit I was slightly disappointed, but it was a nun working reception and I did hear singing the first morning I woke - presumably from morning prayers - it was Sunday and 6:30am. The singing was more like before Sister Mary Clarence joined the choir, but it was singing all the same and made me smile.
So what was staying in a Monastery like? It reminded me a little bit of halls of residence, bare minimum and uniform. But comfortable and functioning. Very quiet (not like Uni) and even I felt like I needed to be on best behaviour (not just the kids - you can imagine the stern talking to they got before we arrived).
There was no bible in the room, not that I needed one, but I think I was expecting a few crosses and bibles reminding me we were in a place of worship. Apart from the nun at reception and the one manning the coffee machine in the breakfast room it honestly looked like any other dorm type hotel. There was no mention of joining their service Sunday morning. Or helping scrub the floors and polish the pews (OK, I’m back to Sister Act now), but you get the idea.
The only slight anxiety I got was the doorbell (you needed to leave your room key with reception and everyone got buzzed in). We were staying right by reception and the bell sounded like I was back on the Camperdown RPA maternity ward hearing me and all the other mums pressing the buzzer for help. But the curfew put a stop to that between 10pm and 6am - phew. No one needs to hear a buzzer going every 5 minutes all through the night again.
Overall a great stay, the location and convenience were amazing. It was clean, warm and welcoming. I’d highly recommend and definitely stay again.
Spending a penny or a pound
We’re on a budget holiday - no that doesn’t mean we can’t afford to pay for a toilet, but it means we often need to use a public toilet as we are not eating out all the time in restaurants / cafes as we take a packed lunch out for the day.
So when we’re in Dubrovnik and Seb announces hopping from one foot to another whilst in a monks chapel that he needs the toilet and the closest I can find charges 3 Euros, yes 3!!!!! That’s £2.50 (UK people) or $4.80 (Australian people). I almost faint - I don’t really, I’m not a fainter and I have a child hopping from one foot to another in desperation, so I fish around to find my credit card given the loose change is not going to cut it this time and the man thankfully says kids can go free. I’m 99% certain he meant with a paying adult, but I just shove Seb in and wait outside in shock.
That was the most extreme I’ve seen, usually it varies between 50 cents and 1 Euro depending on location. Even McDonald's throughout Rome were charging 1 Euro (all major credit cards accepted) unless you had a receipt for food which included the secret code.
Some toilets look like a local has decided to take over the block and stand at the entrance with a relatively fake looking sign not letting any foreigner in for less than 1 Euro, but I’m not willing to question it and am grateful it’s not 3 Euros.