# Do you eat at Spanish mealtimes?



## Clemmie00 (Jun 10, 2012)

A light hearted thread...

When you moved to Spain, did you start eating in the Spanish way? Sweet breakfast (tostadas with jam, magdalenas or biscuits), big lunchtime meal at 2-4pm and small dinner after 10pm? Or did you try to stick to the way it was back home?

When I first lived in Spain, I stuck to my home timetable for the first week or so and then I realised it just wouldn't work. I was studying, so had a big break between morning and afternoon classes, perfect for a big lunch and nobody really went out for tapas or to eat dinner before 9pm, so there was no point trying to eat earlier. I just found it easier to take on the Spanish lifestyle and ended up preferring it. I felt better and lost some weight when I was eating small, light meals in the evening. 

I also started eating stuff I didn't really eat at home - pate on toast, loads of prawns, olives, gherkins, jamon serrano. Aside from the odd trip to El Corte Ingles for some baked beans, tea bags or crisps, I ate the same way as my Spanish flatmates. What about you?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Clemmie00 said:


> A light hearted thread...
> 
> When you moved to Spain, did you start eating in the Spanish way? Sweet breakfast (tostadas with jam, magdalenas or biscuits), big lunchtime meal at 2-4pm and small dinner after 10pm? Or did you try to stick to the way it was back home?
> 
> ...


for us it just doesn't work to eat any other way really - with kids in school you soon adapt to the timetable

coffee & fruit/yoghurt really early in the morning
almuerza of a boccy or something around 11ish
main meal at 2-3ish when the kids get home from school
maybe a snack around 7ish & something else light later on 

the last one doesn't happen during term time though, cos the girls have to be at school at 8am .......... so an almost before dawn wake up means a fairly early night


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Yes, I do eat at Spanish mealtimes more or less, having lunch later than most Spanish people when I'm working, but like xabiachica and yourself, if you're living with Spanish people and working on a Spanish timetable it's difficult to keep to the British way.
Most people find the mealtimes and the way of eating (enormous amounts at lunch time and little before or after) one of the most difficult things to get used to. Actually, in our family we don't have a 3 course blow out at lunchtime; we divide it out more evenly between lunch and evening meal, but my MIL and BIL in the Basque country tend to have LUNCH and little else.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2012)

I generally eat only one meal a day at around 5pm. If my blood sugars are low when I test in the morning I just have a chocolate chip biscuit with my tea. I find that this regime suits me very well especially in the heat we have at the moment.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Since we are no longer out at work, we now eat our main meal at lunchtime (1 pm before the sun gets onto the dining room at 2-2.30) but have put teatime back to 7. Breakfast, if we take it at all, may be tostada and coffee if we are out early (e.g. hospital appointment in Granada and there is time to kill between parking and appointment)


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

4tunate said:


> I generally eat only one meal a day at around 5pm. If my blood sugars are low when I test in the morning I just have a chocolate chip biscuit with my tea. I find that this regime suits me very well especially in the heat we have at the moment.


Yes, when it gets very hot like this week, and I'm not working I'll eat fruit and fruit and fruit and then a salad with cheese or tuna or egg, and that's not a very Spanish approach, I'm sure!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

Yes. We dine by candlelight on our terrace at around 10.00 in the summer.

Sounds posher than it is as I do the cooking....


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

mrypg9 said:


> Yes. We dine by candlelight on our terrace at around 10.00 in the summer.
> 
> Sounds posher than it is as I do the cooking....


Trying to cause trouble again, Mary. Your poor neighbours can't afford food let alone the silver candlesticks. The only time they use candles on the terrace is to attract moths which they then toast in front of the candle flame for their main meal of the day!


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## thrax (Nov 13, 2008)

Pretty much adapted to the timetable now. I've never eaten breakfast, instead relying on whatever amount of coffee is needed to make me remember who I am and why. Lunch is around 2 - 3 and evening meal, usually the largest (dreadful, I know, but it is the last vestige of our English way of life) can be anytime from 9 onwards but the latest on record was 11.30, a BBQ, far too bl&&dy hot to have a BBQ any earlier. Can't wait for winter when we can return to having lunchtime BBQs! We have a mix of Spanish and British fare, with far more home made tapas being consumed than the rest of my life put together (not ast the same time, of course).


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

baldilocks said:


> Trying to cause trouble again, Mary. Your poor neighbours can't afford food let alone the silver candlesticks. The only time they use candles on the terrace is to attract moths which they then toast in front of the candle flame for their main meal of the day!


But we live in big houses....we deserve to be robbed! 

Seriously, my friend/neighbour Meri is a retired primary teacher and her husband Juan a retired trucker.
They built their large house themselves over a period of years. Aty one time they lived in the garage....

Rich *******s


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## 90199 (Mar 21, 2010)

We eat the way we have always eaten, main meal about 6 p.m., we have tried the way the locals eat, but do not feel comfortable with large mid afternoon meals, and we do not need late night dinners.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

We have no routine. It's different every day depending upon what we feel like.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jimenato said:


> We have no routine. It's different every day depending upon what we feel like.


Same here. I just eat when I'm feeling hungry.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

We've stayed very British - through necessity.

With the children at school, we choose to give them a good breakfast before going in (so we eat then as well). At lunch time, the children come home and just have a snack. Then we all eat our main meal at between 8 and 9 in the evening (sorry, afternoon).


We've tried the Spanish times but I found that I couldn't wait 'till 10 for a Boca. I then found that a large meal at lunch time killed me for the afternoon.

The one thing we are doing though is eating a little later in the evening when it starts to cool off.


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## GUAPACHICA (Jun 30, 2012)

Hi - I'm virtually nocturnal - even more so, here in Spain, than when I lived in the UK. So, mornings don't really exist for me - usually get up around midday, far too early to contemplate food! I do need at least 3 cups of Assam tea 9 ('cos it's listed as '_strength 3_') to wake me up - (even '_English Breakfast_' tea, which is available, via Carrafour, is not strong enough for me, sadly..). My supplies are replenished during my twice yearly trips to see family and friends in England (I fill huge plastic bags with the stuff - luckily, it weighs very little!), hosting UK friends here (who are ordered to bring at least their own weight in tea with them, or will be refused accommodation!) and very occasional trips to the Gibraltar M&S!

I then drink coffee when out and about, late afternoon. Fruit sustains me till 'lunchtime' - around 3-4p.m. when I can just manage a home-made sandwich, or a tapa and a beer/tinto de verano, when meeting friends. On weekdays, I couldn't contemplate a large traditional Spanish lunch at home - far too time-consuming to prepare and I can't afford to snooze away the afternoon! 

Weekends and fiestas are different, as I'm usually out with friends of different nationalities, so the traditional 3p.m. lunch is often shared, in a local bar, restaurant - or as a beach picnic! Then, none of us can move, except, possibly, to a beach lounger..!

On weekday evenings friends and I normally meet up, before going on to a live music gig or concert, or to some other entertainment, starting around 11p.m. So, we'll have tapas or a shared supper outdoors somewhere, 9.30ish. and then head off. Alternatively, we'll have a quick snack before leaving home, go to hear all the music - and then share tapas/raciones in a late-night bar Last night, the concert ended around 2a.m. and a group of us were then sharing a meal in a local establishment until 3.30a.m! La vida, no?

I do love the informality of my life here and 'go with the flow' - but I do live alone, so haven't got to consider anyone else's needs, unless I choose to, which suits me, perfectly.

Prices for eating out here, (as opposed to 'dining'), on the terraces of local bars are as cheap as cooking at home - and drinks are also very inexpensive, so we really prefer not to cook at home, if possible, given the current soaring temps!

However, I am famous, amongst friends here, for hosting long, lazy Sunday lunches at home (friends arrive around 2p.m, share lunch from about 3pm. - and leave sometime after dawn, lol! But, those are strictly 'cold season' gatherings - in my flat, we'd all die of heatstroke if I attempted to roast a chicken in my oven any time before late October!

GCxx


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2012)

We are staying with family so we cook and eat the main meal at 3:30pm. When we are out and about on our own we revert back to a 6pm dinner. Which in Barcelona was only 3 hours after the bloody library opened..jajajajaja...

Personally I don't like Spain time but respect others choices. But getting up as early as we like to just does not fit into the scheme of things. If we come here more than four months a year...I nor my bh convert to Spain time.

Soon we will return home to S. American time, where we can get up at 5am, eat a light breakfast, hit the pool at 6am...work for a couple hours...and have the rest of the day to kick it...but to bed at 9pm...we like that schedule...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

folklore said:


> We are staying with family so we cook and eat the main meal at 3:30pm. When we are out and about on our own we revert back to a 6pm dinner. Which in Barcelona was only 3 hours after the bloody library opened..jajajajaja...
> 
> Personally I don't like Spain time but respect others choices. But getting up as early as we like to just does not fit into the scheme of things. If we come here more than four months a year...I nor my bh convert to Spain time.
> 
> Soon we will return home to S. American time, where we can get up at 5am, eat a light breakfast, hit the pool at 6am...work for a couple hours...and have the rest of the day to kick it...but to bed at 9pm...we like that schedule...


When you've got sunrise and sunset at 6 all the year round and with temps in the 60-70F bracket (I was in Bog), that is great but here it is a slightly different story.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> When you've got sunrise and sunset at 6 all the year round and with temps in the 60-70F bracket (I was in Bog), that is great but here it is a slightly different story.


I put more blame on those bloody outside window things here (blinds) that one can block out all the light...and of course its' very quiet here like i suspect it is there for you...

but in medo..jajajajaja...someone is going to start drilling or grinding something or ringing the bell or fruit/veggie vendors calling out their products pretty early in the morning...and as you know medo's weather is 61 low in the morning...and 80'ish in the afternoon. 

if they could replace the mechanical engine buses (coming soon, and made in Spain!) I'd probably never leave there again...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

folklore said:


> I put more blame on those bloody outside window things here (blinds) that one can block out all the light...and of course its' very quiet here like i suspect it is there for you...
> 
> but in medo..jajajajaja...someone is going to start drilling or grinding something or ringing the bell or fruit/veggie vendors calling out their products pretty early in the morning...and as you know medo's weather is 61 low in the morning...and 80'ish in the afternoon.
> 
> if they could replace the mechanical engine buses (coming soon, and made in Spain!) I'd probably never leave there again...


But what about when some idiot starts letting of firecrackers at 1 in the morning; at least here, when they start letting off their rockets for fiestas and saints days, it doesn't usually start until about 8 am by which time the dogs have usually nagged SWMBO to take them for their first walk of the day.

SWMBO has just reminded me of the last time we were in Bog, the in-laws had a ground floor flat and some dog started digging a huge hole in the flower bed outside the window/door - it had managed to get it piled about a metre high against the glass before it could be scared off. Th sound of shrapnel as the stones were hittng the glass was quite alarming until we found out the cause.


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## Guest (Aug 13, 2012)

baldilocks said:


> But what about when some idiot starts letting of firecrackers at 1 in the morning; at least here, when they start letting off their rockets for fiestas and saints days, it doesn't usually start until about 8 am by which time the dogs have usually nagged SWMBO to take them for their first walk of the day.
> 
> SWMBO has just reminded me of the last time we were in Bog, the in-laws had a ground floor flat and some dog started digging a huge hole in the flower bed outside the window/door - it had managed to get it piled about a metre high against the glass before it could be scared off. Th sound of shrapnel as the stones were hittng the glass was quite alarming until we found out the cause.


jajajaja..we learned to sleep through everything...we live off la 70...centro de touristco...my garage door vibrates from the the different tiendas which can now stay open to 5am. It took a bit of time as we are from the desert of Arizona...where it's scary quiet...

The bottle rockets that they have in Colombia are nothing less than frightening, our US bottle rockets are little tiny things, the Colombian's have small war heads on them. We were sitting at one of the local tiendas enjoying Medellin's winning of the Postobon tournament and there was a local shooting them but standing under a tree, so they started veering at head level. A police offer went over to him (I was thinking to confiscate them) but he showed him how to point them at an angle so they would blow up 20 fee above peoples heads...jajajajaja The freedom...

One thing I truly miss, though I do love Spain, is the happy friendly people...when we first looked at Colombia...they were ranked 2nd happiest people on the planet...as you know, you can't appreciate what that means until you are there...

on topic...uhm...at ika bana in Bembibre...drinking wine as we can get a russian salad with each one...there are no common restaurants here unless you want telepizza...:eyebrows:

but if you want to wander over to San Romano de Bembibre...the Buey is to die for


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## Chica22 (Feb 26, 2010)

One of the advantages of not having to work is the ability to choose when to eat, sleep etc. We found that we quite easily adopted a Spanish approach to mealtimes.

In summer we are always up by 7.00am, to enjoy the coolness of the morning, OH in the garden, and me sweating it out at the gym (air con seems to be non existent in gyms here!!!!).

Mid morning usually consists of plenty of cups of strong coffee and sometimes an ensiamada, followed by a cooked lunch around 3.00pm/3.30pm. Obviously in summer this is simple cooked fish, bacalladillas, merluza or caballa with salad.

This is followed by my favourite time of the day, Siesta, when the house is closed down, the air con is put on (heaven). I know many people who have to work do not have the luxury of a long siesta, but for me, it works, I wake up refreshed and ready to start the evening.


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

In the summer we are out with Our Little Azor by 07.15. We walk him by the rio/arroyo to the beach then home by 09.00 for breakfast by the pool.
Large muscular Rhodesian Ridgebacks require a lot of exercise as do we (although not that large and muscular).
I have about an hour of ADANA 'paperwork' each day and do a day at the perrera each week as well as the occasional airport run to Malaga with a dog or dogs destined for adoption in Holland or Germany..
We take OLA out again around 20.00 for a walk along the rio/arroyo in the opposite direction, towards the foothills of the Sierra. Back by 22.00 for candle-lit dinner by the pool. 
I think it's important, for me especially, to have structure in my life in retirement. We fill the day with the usual...meeting/entertaining friends, shopping and so on. We have a gardener but I refuse to even think of having a paid cleaner. My mother cleaned other people's houses for years...
But most of all I enjoy just lying in the shade by the pool with a cool drink and a good book or listening to a Radio 4 podcast on my IPod.


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## Solwriter (Jan 10, 2012)

We eat the same as we always did, working or not.
I have a largish cereal breakfast and that's it for the morning. My husband has a 'nato breakfast' (coffee and a ***) followed by a fry-up later on in the morning.
I may eat something light for lunch and maybe later in the afternoon too - he doesn't, unless we go for tapas lunch at the bar.
And then we eat our evening meal once we have given our dogs their evening walk and their tea (so time depends on season - much later in the summer).
But what we eat depends very much on what we are doing and what we can eat. 
I need to eat little and often (low blood sugar), while my hubby is coeliac, so there are many pastry-type foods he can't eat.
This and constant dog exercising, is probably the reason both of us are skinny, despite supposedly living a more relaxed lifestyle in Spain.


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## dunmovin (Dec 19, 2008)

I work on the basis that when my body wants food, it gets food. On the other hand, our wee dog, starts staring at you 30 mins before her regular feeding time(she could outstare a snake), 15 minutes later, she wobbles from one paw to the other (right on the edge of your vision...very hard to ignore)

During working years, we had do comply with times, breakfast early, lunch midday dinner soon after you came home. I don't do that anymore. The only times I will, is we have arranged to go out with friends for a meal


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## lagoona (Jul 5, 2012)

It's good to try to eat as Spanish people, but I know a lot of people who are not from spain that eat at english hours


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

lagoona said:


> It's good to try to eat as Spanish people, but I know a lot of people who are not from spain that eat at english hours


Hola Lagoona!

Could you tell us what times the Spanish people eat, what sort of things you eat at those times, and whether it differs in winter and summer, or in different parts of Spain?

I think a lot of us would find that really interesting!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

We are now finding that we are eating later and later, probably because of the extreme heat of the past few weeks. Most evenings we are still at table at 11.30 p.m.

We tend to invite people to lunch rather than dinner....otherwise we'd still be talking at 5a.m.

I'm beginning to get used to the fact that most things here start when it was my bedtime in the UK and finish when I used to get up....


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Alcalaina said:


> Hola Lagoona!
> 
> Could you tell us what times the Spanish people eat, what sort of things you eat at those times, and whether it differs in winter and summer, or in different parts of Spain?
> 
> I think a lot of us would find that really interesting!


From my experience;

There are generally 4 meals although some would argue it's 5


When they get up - glass of milk.orange or coffee and maybe a biscuit - Desayuno
Breakfast at about 9:30 - Almuerzo
Main meal or dinner at about 14:00 - Comida
Just a snack at tea time at about 18:00 - Merienda. 
Smaller meal at about 10:00 - Cena


Any help?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> From my experience;
> 
> There are generally 4 meals although some would argue it's 5
> 
> ...


But _almuerzo _is lunch, surely?

Round here they have _desayuno_ in the bar between 10 and 11, consisting of tostadas and coffee.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> But _almuerzo _is lunch, surely?
> 
> Round here they have _desayuno_ in the bar between 10 and 11, consisting of tostadas and coffee.


Yes - here the 10.30ish meal in the bar is desayuno. 

The very early one often seems to include aguardiente or brandy


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> From my experience;
> 
> There are generally 4 meals although some would argue it's 5
> 
> ...


yes - breakfast/desayuno - before leaving home - coffee/juice/milk & a biscuit/magdalena - 
11ish - almuerza - more like a 'breakfast' - a bocadillo & something to drink
Lunch/comida - 2ish - the main meal of the day
Merienda - 6ish - a snack - drink/yoghurt/fruit/magdalena type cakey thing
Dinner/cena - 10ish - a light meal, maybe salad or pasta


almuerza is often translated into English as 'lunch' - maybe because they know the English eat their lunch at a ridiculously early hour


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Don't forget that Lagoona is in Barca and Catalans seem to make their own rules that differ from the rest of Spain as do the Basques.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

xabiachica said:


> yes - breakfast/desayuno - before leaving home - coffee/juice/milk & a biscuit/magdalena -
> 11ish - almuerza - more like a 'breakfast' - a bocadillo & something to drink
> Lunch/comida - 2ish - the main meal of the day
> Merienda - 6ish - a snack - drink/yoghurt/fruit/magdalena type cakey thing
> ...


You're right, I wasn't really translating almuerzo(a) as breakfast it's just that 'round here they have a boca, nuts, olives a coffee, brandy (of course) and wine at anywhere between 9:30 and 10:30. 

When I discussed this with them it seemed more akin to breakfast as they don't really have anything else to eat before this.

As people having a job (ha-ha!) tend to take their midday break & siesta between 1:30 and 15:30, I think 11ish would be too close to this.


I think this show again just how the various regions vary and, perhaps, how they are influenced by foreigners.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

snikpoh said:


> You're right, I wasn't really translating almuerzo(a) as breakfast it's just that 'round here they have a boca, nuts, olives a coffee, brandy (of course) and wine at anywhere between 9:30 and 10:30.
> 
> When I discussed this with them it seemed more akin to breakfast as they don't really have anything else to eat before this.
> 
> ...


yes, maybe 11ish is a bit late - I was just thinking about what time all the doctors & receptionists from the salud & the local shop & office people come into the bar for theirs - it's anything from 10am to 11:30 - I guess it depends when they have their break & they'd probably have their comida later if they have a late almuerzo

I have my almuerzo at 10:30 - after my first class & before my second


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jimenato said:


> Yes - here the 10.30ish meal in the bar is desayuno.
> 
> The very early one often seems to include aguardiente or brandy


Known here as the _espuela_!


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> Known here as the _espuela_!


I'm thinking we have a regional difference here - the mid morning break is definitely Desayuno around here - I've come across it many times. snikpoh and Xabia are from way up in the North East - might explain the difference?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jimenato said:


> I'm thinking we have a regional difference here - the mid morning break is definitely Desayuno around here - I've come across it many times. snikpoh and Xabia are from way up in the North East - might explain the difference?


I'm rather hoping Lagoona or another Spanish native will come back and tell us!


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jimenato said:


> Yes - here the 10.30ish meal in the bar is desayuno.
> 
> The very early one often seems to include aguardiente or brandy



A Spanish friend took me to his local bar for coffee and churros on Saturday.

The guy behind the bar produced a bottle of a clear obviously home-made liquid and three glasses, two of which he filled and one half-full -for me. I don't know what it was but I knocked it back in one gulp and nearly expired.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

mrypg9 said:


> A Spanish friend took me to his local bar for coffee and churros on Saturday.
> 
> The guy behind the bar produced a bottle of a clear obviously home-made liquid and three glasses, two of which he filled and one half-full -for me. I don't know what it was but I knocked it back in one gulp and nearly expired.


Mary - beware men trying to get you pissed early in the morning - It's happened to me and they're only after one thing - which may be a different thing in your case I suppose. 

I guess they've got as much chance with you as they have with me...


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## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

jimenato said:


> Mary - beware men trying to get you pissed early in the morning - It's happened to me and they're only after one thing - which may be a different thing in your case I suppose.
> 
> I guess they've got as much chance with you as they have with me...


Well, I suppose at my age I should be thankful anyone would bother to make the effort....


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## Minerva.909 (Jul 29, 2012)

When I lived in Almunecar I ate Spanish breakfasts (luckily my local cafe served rustic toasts with garlic olive oil and tomatoes to both locals and expats - not the sweet stuff) and Spanish lunches (around 2:30 pm most often in a company of other expats: grilled sardines, piri piri any kind of fish, which I love), but most often no dinners - just tapas with friends (or gazpacho or a sallad - with tuna and olives - on my balcony overlooking a paseo). I really liked it that way.


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