my 62 year old younger sister came to stay with us for six weeks. she is a proud aussie(of 35 years)and before coming out she attended a reception in the spanish embassy in canberra. the cultural attache told her that they were eager to promote spain in australia for tourism reasons and would like to know her impressions of spain when she returned. she is also appearing on a local tv show on her return,to speak about her travels. she wanted to go to fatima,in portugal,during her stay and i booked her hotel over the internet,no problems. she was taking my wife for company,it was to be my wifes first holiday away from me in 40 years of marriage. i thought she deserved it. booking the travel arrangements was a bit more difficult as the alsa site kept crashing etc. but it was done eventually, two return tickets from granada to fatima. the travel arrangements were printed out,with the appropriate reference number,and the ticket stated it would be accepted by the bus driver. oh yeah. i told my wife to go to the information desk at granada station to confirm this and that is where the first bit of trouble surfaced. the young lady at the desk,who i know speaks perfect english,told my wife and sister in no uncertain terms that they were to ask the driver and not her. they explained that they couldnt speak spanish,whereupon the assistant said "if you come to this country you should speak spanish". my sisters eyebrows went up,and not for the last time either. they found the bus to fatima and asked the driver if the internet form was acceptable, he barely glanced at it and threw it back to my sister. eyebrows raised again. she asked him if he spoke english, his exact words were "i speak french,i speak german,i speak russian, but ENGLISH, pah" and the spanish gesture of disdain with the flicking fingers. all this said in english. she took a photo of him to show to the ambassador in canbarra by the way. my sister held the bus up while my wife found the office to have the ticket stamped,presented it to the driver who didn't even look at it. onto the bus and out of the station and back into the station again. half of the passengers were on the wrong bus. fatima and portugal itself were a revelation. so clean and tidy. my wife kept commentating on how courteous and civilised the people were. in the shops the assistants could speak three languages,a trait needed to get the job. the hotel staff were brilliant and couldn't do enough for them. everywhere they went they met portuguese who were so proud of their country and heritage and welcomed strangers with open arms and civility. after spending some years in spain and getting used to the resentment and bad manners you meet in practically every walk of life, my wife was over-joyed to be treated as she was. on the way back they got the same driver. my sister is taking back some lovely memories of portugal and her times with us but i am afraid spain left a lot to be desired. she couldn't believe how unhelpful those in authority were to two strangers in a strange land. when she returns she is going to be very frank with the spanish attache and also on the airwaves. they ain't going to like what they are going to hear. nothing will be done,the spanish are the spanish and that is that. but my wife has said that she has seen in portugal how spain could be if only the people would change their attitudes to outsiders. having read this forum for some time i know this will not be liked or welcomed by the majority of the readers but it has to be said.

I bought a bag in town the other day... when i got home it was too small so i took it back... the lady who served me spoke good english and when i took it back she blatently ignored me and didnt speak any english, to my amazement when i spoke in my pigoen spanish she siad she couldnt give me a refund.

She asked me to come back when she had spoken to her boss (all in spanish) been back twice and still she says come back ... she thinks im a touristo...

What can i do to get my money back?

Have you thought of kidnapping her children until she pays up????

cheers

It was amazing, she was so nice selling me it.... and now !!!!!!!

Get a crossbow and shoot her in the butt as she leaves the shop.

Or failing that, you could keep the handbag and get rid of half of the junk you carry around with you. Then it would not be too small.

I sometimes watch my wife looking for her mobile when she has a call, her handbag is so big, with so much crap inside, that she cant find a thing.

I watch in amazment as she empties it out, even if we only leave the house for half an hour, she lugs it around with her.

She takes, credit and debit cards, Cash, bank books.....and the funny thing is she never pays......bloody women......

Take a policeman in with you. ;-) She is trying to outrun the 14 days refund warrenty.

Sorry but I struggled to read that and gave up, I think others might too, it would be much easier to split it into paragraphs

I found it difficult on the eyes too but I persisted, However I don't recognise the spain described there. The alsa site doesn't crash for me and the driver has never queried my printed tickets. Your sisiter seems to have been very unfortunate.

Then again, I've never tried to return a bag because it turned out to be smaller than I thought.....

Sorry - its a school bag and the books dont fit.....

Take some of the books in with it and show her.

We've done that.. she is not having it! I'm going back to ask for the complaints book...!

Have you tried returning the books?

Yeah No school for ever....!

wassa paragraph? anyfink to do with a turnip? just funnin' folks. the spain described in observations may not be known to some but is all too familiar to many. sorry but thats how it is.
(paragraph) as for the bag lady, they are so cheap that i would have thought it best to keep it,buy another and save all the bother of going back and forrard.
(paragraph) i left a lot of stuff out of the observations thread, all of it negative, most of it petty. one thing, my sis is,as i said, 62, in bad health(hence the trip to fatima), invariably good-natured(hence the raised eyebrows and not raised voice), and well-travelled. my wife is the same(she has been married to me for 40 years and is deserving of sympathy and not the treatment meted out on their trip.)
(paragraph,,,you get the idea). did i tell you about the time she was shopping in caprabo in garrucha and a woman(spanish) emptied my wifes basket out onto the floor and took it? the basket not the shopping. what fun.

school bags cheap!!!


the one my 10 year old had her eye on is 75 euros!!!

thankfully she knows the value of money & took one look at the price tag and changed her mind