I think it's an intimidation thing, really. A few weeks ago I was in a McDonald's in BCN (once in a while, you gotta have the fries) and there was a LARGE American family next to me in line, having a really difficult time explaining what they wanted (of course they were no-onioning and such). After he finished his order, I just looked at him and said, "You're in a country with some of the best food in the world. What on earth are you doing in here?" The guy's wife said, "Oh, we wouldn't even know where to start."

They were intimidated to go into a tapa bar and try something unfamiliar. Probably afraid they wouldn't be able to communicate with the waiter. So while they were waiting for their (enormous) order, I took my fries and led the wife outside to Pg. de Gracia, and pointed out three places where they could get amazing food, and the waiter would speak to them in English. I even told her what to order and asked her to promise that they would try Spanish food that night instead of eating in the hotel or another FF chain.

Edited to add: Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. It'll be interesting to see if they roll back the gigantisizing here too.

------------------
-alan in sitges

*** YOUR AD HERE ***
Promote your Do or other FT event here! Reasonable rates!

[This message has been edited by alanw (edited Mar 08, 2004).]