And We're Back

Some of the reasons I very much liked my week in Spain:

* The tapas bar in Sevilla that keeps one's tab running in chalk on the bar. How unbelievably and effortlessly cool is that? (See above photo.)

* One of the main department stores is named "(Sfera)," actually within parentheses, like Smog once was. How unbelievably cool is that? Obviously, this one is not effortless -- likely painstaking full of focus groups -- but Macy's, or something, equivalent would never try it. Also, none of the department stores in Madrid occupy massive buildings. Instead, they have smaller parcels, so it's common to see three stores of the same company within two blocks of each other, each devoted to different items. For some reason, I find something amusing about wandering around different countries' department stores. We probably spent an hour doing that one day, in search of an alarm clock and shirts. Overall, as further proof I probably should've lived in a previous era, I think department stores are wonderful. They sell clothes of a higher quality than their prices suggest -- and there are often saleswoman hoping to give you an extra discount (or did that only happen to my bubby?) -- and the designs are simple, nice colors that aren't marred by tattered bleach stains and annoying, over-sized fonts spelling out companies' name. (cough cough American Eagle Abercrombie Fitch cough). It's a shame they've been reduced so much by hyper-niche markets.

* Even around the larger tourist destinations, the restaurants and souvenir stores aren't gratingly aggressive about trying to lure you into their shops. (And, yeah, those tourist destinations are wonderful.)

* President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has this great voice that's so much lower than his boyish face would suggest and is a little froggy. Here's a video from the good times, in his acceptance speech after winning re-election, before his popularity rating started to fall because of the global financial crisis: