Zaragoza: Bitz & Bobz*

August 09, 2023

Zaragoza: Bitz & Bobz*

*Bits & Bobs is the title of a segment of our World Cup (men's and women's) companion podcast After the Whistle with Brendan Hunt and Rebecca Lowe.

Once again, it is time to fill our faithful readers in on some of the significant aspects of living in Zaragoza that we have heretofore neglected to address.

Zaragoza, City of Cierzo (or Spain's Windy City)

Our first night in Spain, walking from the train station hotel to the nearest neighborhood for a bite to eat, the wind literally threatened to sweep me off my feet. Great gusts of wind. At the time it was hot, so the wind wasn't altogether unpleasant. But to visit Zaragoza is to encounter the cierzo.

"The cierzo is a strong, dry and usually cold wind that blows from the North or Northwest through the regions of Aragon, La Rioja and Navarra in the Ebro valley in Spain." I mean - it has its own Wikipedia page. Apparently, Zaragoza resides in a valley not far above sea level, and the cierzo comes in off the Ebro river and frolics about with we mere mortals.

There's not a clothes drier in our new flat because...why would there be? Clotheslines seem to be typical, or foldable clothes drying racks placed out on the balconies. Zaragoza has so many sunny days and - I repeat, the wind is plentiful. There's a washing machine next to the dishwasher in our kitchen, and then we have a little back balcony with three respectable clotheslines affixed to the rail, just like all our neighbors.

I scoured the interwebs because I know that the documentary we watched in the Roman forum ruins (or was it the commentary on the tour bus...?) mentioned another wind whose name I can't find. "In general, westerly winds from the North Atlantic are dominant most of the year, while the warm, dry Saharan airstream blows less frequently" (Britannica). But my family will tell you that 99% of documentaries put me to sleep, so my notes aren't too clear. More wind links at the bottom of this post.

2-Second Rule

No this is not the 3-second (or 5-second) rule related to dropping food on the ground.

For all that we've discussed walking around Zaragoza and how pedestrian friendly it is, that first week we all saved each other's lives on the crosswalks a couple times each because we had yet to learn the 2-second rule:

When the green crosswalk signal starts to blink, you have 2 seconds before it turns red and the cars come at you. If you blink you might miss it. Don't think that because it's still green that you have a chance. You either go or you wait to cross - but there's no time for indecision.

Again - 99.9% of the time, the drivers are conscientious to the extreme and will stop for you. The only exception was turning onto the street where our tourist flat was. EVERYWHERE else, the drivers have been extremely patient, and we're learning to be more patient as pedestrians.

T-Shirts

There's a funny T-shirt shop close to the Basilica (many of them here), with all the jokes in English. In general, there are a lot of T-Shirts, or dresses, with little sayings in English on them. My favorites thus far are the "BECAUSE THERE IS NO PLANET B" T-shirts.

Meanwhile, I don't understand the plain, simple T-shirts that read "Fuck Off" - and I don't mean in Spanish (castellano). In English. A 10-year-old boy walking down the street with his older sister and parents wearing a "Fuck Off" T-shirt. He's in good company. All the ones I'm seeing online are dressed up with kittens or spirals. Here in the street, I've only seen the basic T with the basic message, and at least a half dozen times. And I don't see T-shirts with Spanish profanity, so what gives?

Kentucky

The NBA (and basketball in general) is big here - we see a lot of NBA jerseys and stores and sports bars to rival the soccer culture. (Zaragoza's soccer team is not the best right now. More on that another time.) So we see our fair share of mostly Lakers or Los Angeles shirts with some Celtics, Cleveland, and the random Suns or Nets shirt. (I'm thinking the Cleveland shirts are basketball related - let me know if I'm missing something.)

New York City is a brand, just like Paris is a brand. There's tons of NYC memorabilia or accents around town. California has its fair share of references too - San Francisco and San Diego sharing the spotlight with Los Angeles.

Apparently I don't pass for Spanish yet, so when they ask me where I'm from, I tell them the United States, and when they ask where in the United States, I tell them Kentucky. I guess I thought the Kentucky Derby would be more famous than it is, because that doesn't ring too many bells around here. We've seen UPS trucks around, so I can mention that.

There was an American-style diner that had a cardboard cutout of Muhammad Ali. And there was one shop owner who knew about the bourbon...

But KFC is Kentucky's mark on the world, at least as far as branding goes. When you go to restaurants and they want to entice you with fried chicken (#8 pictured above) or they want you to know you can get fried chicken on your burger instead of a hamburger, that chicken is Kentucky-style. There are KFC's around town, and I guess it should make me feel at home...? But just so you know, for better or worse, Zaragoza sees Kentucky as the home of fried chicken. Or at least the associated spice blend...? (I'm not sure why the Hamburger Kentucky patty below is beef/ham combo.)