As well as steak and kidney pudding I approve of all sorts of British customs. Stiff upper lip suits me very well. So when people in the UK suddenly started saying "Love you" as they said goodbye on the phone and began to hug people every time they met I felt a bit discomfited.
In Spain, when men greet, they shake hands. This I approve of; friendly but with an appropriate distance. With women it's cheek kissing. Now this I don't really like but at least there is a routine to it. Right cheek to right cheek first, left cheek to left cheek second. I do it clumsily, I fail to make the appropriate kissy kissy sound but I can just about manage it. Well most times.
Yesterday, we arrived in Ciudad Rodrigo after a couple of nights away from either home - stop overs in Toledo and Salamanca - where we were greeted by Maggie's landlady. I nearly knocked both of us out when something went wrong with the right cheek kissing business.
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