Kathryn wrote:
We had an great lunch. The last of the Croats skipped out for another meeting so it was just the Spaniards and us. The ones that weren't strong in English sat quietly and listened while the two best (one from Catalonia where they speak Catalan, not Spanish, which is actually Castillian) chatted away with us. I stayed with a couple of them a bit longer (so one could finish his espresso) and we came back a bit later, actually, much later because we got lost (all three of us in the car were from out of town!)
I found out why it is so dark in the morning (and light in the evening.) Spain is on Europe Time but we are actually farther west of London (and Greenwich). So, actually, our 'sun time' is the same as England but our 'clock time' is an hour later. So when it is 7 in the morning in London, and the sun is just rising, it is 8 here and, because we are slightly further west, it is still 10 minutes until sunrise.
This also leads to the later eating times. Why rise at 7 when it will be dark for another 70 minutes? And since that has shifted your day, all other things come later as well.
So, I'm beginning to understand more fully the why of this social habit of later meals. Obviously, if dinner at 7:30 is a norm (which it is in much of Europe), 8:30 would be the logical time for Spain to eat, if it is to eat at the same 'sun time' as the rest of Europe.