Mérida is the capital city of the Autonomous region of Extremadura and is set in the heart of the Province of Badajoz. One of the most important Roman capital cities at the height of Roman occupation of Spain, the city today has one of the best preserved collections of Roman monuments anywhere in Europe.
Have Bag, Will Travel 
Buenos dias!
‘…
His face went blank and I think that shock came over him when someone speaks to us in a foreign language and we are completely thrown off balance.
…’
You have lost me here, Andrew. Surely you were not speaking to him in a foreign language. He WAS Spanish
… no?*
I guess you mean foreign ACCENT.
* The nearest monoglot-me can ever get to a linguistic joke!
‘…
we remembered that we needed some alcohol for the room because being a five star hotel there was no way we were going anywhere near the mini-bar
…’
I salute you both for your sound sense.
And one aspect not known to many is the fact that these mini-bars are often computerised.
Just lifting bottles up to inspect them, can register as a purchase! So when you go to check out, you suddenly find a staggeringly high “extras” bill.
Indeed, one hotel where Larissa (my wife) and I stayed, we were putting our milk in the minibar to keep it cool.
And yes, I have “telegraphed” it: we were stunned to find that we were being asked for the price of that milk about a dozen times over!
Thanks for the good read.
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Thanks for stopping by Dai,
you were quite right about that paragraph, it didn’t read right so I have changed it to take account of your comment – thanks.
I haven’t seen one of those computerised mini-bars for some time but I do generally try to avoid them at all costs wherever I am.
It is an interesting coincidence that this weekend I will be leaving Spalding, my home town for the last ten years, and moving to Grimsby!
Andrew
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
It is an interesting coincidence that this weekend I will be leaving Spalding, my home town for the last ten years, and moving to Grimsby!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Good God!
You have my condolences, Andrew.
(No, to be serious, I guess that perhaps Grimsby does have its saving graces.)
Having once been employed for over a year by Geest Horticultural in Spalding though, I have to say that Stansted is that vital 55 minutes nearer!
As for Grimsby, our two incredibly inadequate local newspapers have never printed the comments of the great John Hurt when interviewed by James Lipton (American academic) on "Inside The Actors' Studio", some years back.
Lipton was looking at Hurt's CV. He reads out "Lincoln Cathedral Choir School" and then a moment or two later, in hushed – almost awed – tones, says "I see you lived two years in a place called GRRRRIM-sby! What was THAAAT like?!!"
The packed audience erupted in laughter when the urbane Mr Hurt, replied, quick-as-a-flash:
"Grim by name, grim by nature!"
Kindest,
Dai
daigress@hotmail.com
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I am keeping an open mind and there is no going back now, I will be a resident next Tuesday. I think it has something to do with the name which has unfortunate connotations but so far I have been very pleasantly surprised. I used to live in Rugby which also has that that Viking ‘by’ which makes it sound unnatractive and rough around the edges but I always enjoyed living there!
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Re Grimsby:
Ah “it may be the NAME” you say!
Yes it may.
A rose by any other name, etc.
And there is something in that.
A colleague of my wife at the hospital told me that when they advertise jobs in the BMJ, they get fewer applications than any other hospital he knows of in the UK.
Why? (The top hospital doctor jobs PAY the same after all, and money goes further here than in most other parts of the UK – my haddock and chips cost me £2.20 here, for instance – so surely people should flock here in numbers?)
So could it be the name itself?
Maybe.
I suggested when I moved here three weeks before the Millennium that they change the name to McDonaldsville. The last time I looked, there were five in the area.
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