“Custom House” by flickr user Davido

During our one day in Barcelona, we started with an early morning walk to Las Ramblas, the main drag and tourist trap. Seeking a city map, we approached a tourist information booth.

The booth was surrounded by barkers for a tour bus, who mobbed us, and anyone else passing by.

We studiously ignored them. Having lived and traveled in Asia, where people on the streets are extremely interested in catching your attention to sell you something, anyone who starts following us on the street saying “Hello!? Hello!? English? How are you?” just gets tuned out. I mean, we walk past those people as if they are invisible. Whatever they’re selling, there is about 0.01% chance we want it.

No one in China ever seemed bothered when you ignored them, or answered with the standard “bu yao” (don’t want)[1], but these Barcelona pushers seemed genuinely offended by us.

When we made it past them to the actual booth, the woman there explained that she could sell us a city map for 1 euro. Lame, we thought. Everywhere else they give you maps for free.  But, she continued, pointing to the tour pushers who we’d snubbed, they will give you a map for free.

Ah, well, then. Guess we should have listened to them this time around.

Of course, we still didn’t want to engage with the barkers. So, to save face, we asked where we could acquire a regional map, which we needed for route planning anyway. A bookstore.

The moral of the story? Well, there’s a couple conclusions to draw. First, that the taller half and I are stubborn and have a lot of (perhaps occasionally misguided) pride about traveling independently without falling into tourist traps. Second, Barcelona is no Beijing. And finally, what the heck, 1 euro for a map?

(We got along fine with a smart phone and the system maps in the metro.)

[1] Funny story from someone’s China memoir, although I’m sorry to say I can’t remember which one. After passing the same street sellers for weeks, and every day telling them “bu yao!” this particular expat had been learning some Mandarin. One day as she went by, she expanded her statement on noninterest to “don’t want yesterday, don’t want today, don’t want tomorrow!” And they smiled and laughed at her. And probably continued to pitch to her the next day and every day until she left the area.