THE SECRET CITY

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 218, 15 June 1925, Page 9

THE SECRET CITY

English people travelling abroad may be divided roughly into two classes. There are those who look always for English tea-rooms, jbops where English tobacco may bo bought, and hotels where th? servants' speak fluent English. And there are those who seek some city which rejoices in its insularity, making no appeal to tho fore.gner, preserving its native quality with superb indifference. ' There are few such cities of any size in Europe. It is the lament of the sophistica’ed traveller that litt'e lonely villages in Italy ma'’o famous by saints have become Anglicised; that as much English as French is spoken in Paris that if ycu dine in Prague a perceptive waiter decorates your table with a miniature Union Jack. . But of the groat modern cities of Europe there is one that retains its pride of birth, making no feverish effort to cantor’ the interest of foreigners. The citv is Barcelona., In the shoppin" streets which I have studied in Ba celrna there is no inti mntion that "EnglGh is spoken here.” The shoeblacks who surround you when you take your morning aperitif address you in Spanish. Your waiter knows little French and is puzzled if you speak your own language. Post offices are hidden. It may be days before you d’scover that to post a letter you must look for the little secret box inside " tobacconist’s shop. Yon are not pestered with beggars, and cabdrivers d" not approach you with er. offer to show you “the sights.”—Katherine Court, in ths "Daily Mail.”