Middletown transcript., 1884-02-08
Travelling in Spain.

Inc real SPAIN is Jn6 l6aSC aCJfdcClY0
country in Europe to the tourist.
The traveller goes there to see certain
unique objects. He sees them, enjoys
them, is entranced by them, leaves
them with regret and a tender memory,
and is glad to get out of Spain. There
are six things to see-the Alhambra,
the Seville and Alcazer, the mosque Of
Cordova, Toledo and its cathedral, the
gallery at Madrid and Monserrat. The
rest is mainly monotony and WEAKNESS.
With the exception of the Alhambra,
which has spell that an idle man finds
hard to break, and where prehaps he
could be content indefinitely, there is
no place in Spain that one can imagine
he would like to live in for the pleasure
of living. Taking out certain historical
features and monuments, the towns
repeat each other in their attractions
and there disagreeables. Every town
and city in Italy has its individual
character and special charm. To go
from one to another is always to change
the scene and the delight. This is true
of the old German towns also. Each
has character. The traveller sees
many a place in each country where he
thinks he could stay on from month
to month, with a growing home-like
feeling. 1 think there is nothing OF
this attraction in Spain. The want of
it may be due to the country itself, or
the people. | fancy that with its vast
arid plains, treeless and tiresome, its
quilted hills and it's esearped mountains,
Spain resembles New Mexico. It is un-
softened, uIITeffievedd landscape landscape, fer the
most part, sometimes grand in its vast
ness and sweep, but rugged and un-
adorned. The want of grass and gentle
verdue is a serious drawback to the
pleasure of the eye, not compensated by
the magic tricks of the sunlight, and
the variegated reds, browns and yellows
Of the exposed soil and rocks and the
springtime green of the nascent crops.
[ speak, of course, of the general aspect,
for the mountain regions are rich in
wild flowers, and the cultivation in the
towns is everywhere a redeeming feat
ure.
The traveller, Of course, gets his i'm
pressions of people from the outside.
These are correct so far as they go, and
it is in sense safe to generalize on
them, though not to particularize. He
catches very soon the moral atmos-
phere of strange land, and knows
the people seem pleasant or the reverse.
He learns to discriminate, for example,
between the calculated gemuthlichkiet
of Switzerland and the more spontan-
eous friendliness of Bavaria. He can
pronounce at once upon the cordial
good humor Of the Viennese, the Oblig-
ingness of the people of Edinburgh, the
agreeableness Of the Swedes, simply on
street knowledge, without ever enter
ing a private house or receiving any
personal hospitality. He knows the
willy poetical ways by which he is be-
guiled in Italy but grows fond of the
sunny race.
In spain he is pretty certain to berub-
bed the wrong way most Of the time.
He is conscious Of an atmosphere Of sus-
picion, of distrust, Of contempt often.
He cannot understand, for instance,
why attendants in churches and cathe-
drals are so curt and disobliging, keep
ing him away, on one pretense OF
another, from the sights he has come
SO far to see and for which he is willing
to pay. Incidents occurred both at
Granada and Toledo that could be
accounted for only on the supposition
that the custodians liked to discom-
mode strangers. If we had been French
men, whom the Spaniards hate as the
despoilers Of churches and galleries, we
could have understood it. By reputa-
tion the Spaniard is at home hospitable,
on acquaintance, gracious and generally
willing to oblige. But the national at
mosphere is certainly not what the
Germans call gemuthlich. In no
other European country is the traveller
likely to encounter so much incivility
and rudeness, so little attempt at pleas
ing him and making him like the coun-
try. Atleast, the attitude is that Of in
difference whether the country pleases
him or not. Perhaps this sprinsg
from a noble pride and superiority.
Perhaps it is from q provincial con
seriousness Of being about 200 years
behind the age. But, elsewhere, the
pleasantest people to travel among are
those whose clocks stopped two cen
turies ago. Individually, 1 have no
doubt, the Spaniards are charming.
Collectively, they do not appear to well
come the stranger or put themselves
out to make his sojourn agreeable
Charles Dudley Warner, an Atlantic
Monthly.