The Rhythm of Life

While I loved many aspects of Barcelona during our week’s trip there the other week - the beautiful architecture, the great food, the shopping, the sunshine - the one thing that was a real struggle was the Spanish rhythm of life.

Lunch would start at the earliest at 1.30pm and many of the shops would close. We would be there at the door of the restaurant, starving and fainit at 12.30pm and then have to find something to occupy ourselves for an hour before being able to rush in when the owners sauntered over to let us in. The Spanish customers would turn up around 3pm, chic-ly dressed and with no sign of famine about them.

Dinner would only start at 9pm and most Spanish people would arrive at the restaurants after 10.30pm. We’d of course be there on the dot of nine, grouchy and tired from the need to eat, and the restaurateurs would still be laying out the table and doings some last minute floor-sweeping.

“I just want a light meal and then get to bed,” I’d say through half-closed eyes. But the menu would be so enticing that I’d end up eating three courses with delicious wine. By the time we got back to the hotel and ready for bed, it would be past 1am. My meal would sit there heavy and laden in my belly and I knew it would take another few hours to digest but I’d be too tired so I’d just fall asleep.

And in the morning, I would just feel terrible.

The worst was the during the two days of the EuroComm conference which started at 8.30am (”What??!” I thought when I first saw the programme). Which meant I had to be up at some ungodly hour with a belly full of lead, getting dressed, having breakfast and trying hard to be perky when I met my communicator colleagues. Groan.

Here in the UK, the cycle of my working day starts early - up at 6.30am to get into the office for 8am, lunch at 12-12.30pm, heading home before rush hour around 4pm, dinner at 7.30-8pm, bed by 11pm. At the weekends, I sleep in a bit but usually no later than 9am and I may go to bed around 1am but meal times are never far off the usual mark.

And London could only cope with two rush hours a day. Imagine if there was a long break in the middle of the day for lunch and people headed off home and then had to come back again around 4pm. Nightmare…

I just don’t know how Spanish business people manage. If you’re Spanish or live in Spain, please tell me!

And whether you live in the UK, Spain or anywhere else, if your rhythm of life is different, I’d love to hear about it, too. Please add a comment.

Photo: thanks to SeraphimC from flickr.com (CCL)