Every family has their own travel games, those humorous little moments that can smooth over the inevitable boring parts of a long journey. Some work better on the road, others on foot (nobody jokes around on a plane). Ours seem to get more convoluted the further and longer we go – what so often starts as an innocent game of “yellow car”, can quickly descend into a cage fight of unverified sightings, accusations of colour-blindness and references to the Pantone colour chart.
One of our other favourites is the classic “Etes-vous un local?” (Are you a local?), in which the winner is the person who can successfully enter a foreign establishment, interact with the local proprietor as required – for example order food or procure other services – and depart without having his or her cover blown. All under the pretence of being local to the particular non-English speaking country of course.
Sadly, this game has become far too easy, particularly in Europe. Just light a cigarette, grunt and gesticulate, and generally act like you own the place. Walk out with a baguette, bottle of aqua, or 12″ kransky with the lot, leaving all present none the wiser, and the prize is yours – a 12″ kransky with the lot!
Alcohol has been known to increase a player’s confidence, further eroding the traditional barriers of self consciousness and lack of spatial awareness.
Speaking of alcohol (shown below), a variation off this game was recently devised whilst sipping a Spanish beer served in a large vase (vase not pictured).
In this daring new strand of the “local” game, the player must enter a business of their choice and clearly assume the role of a citizen of a third party country.
The setting was La Rambla, in Barcelona, Spain. Faced with a long queue in a phone accessory outlet, and holding my intended purchase above my ahead (a new iPhone protective cover), I barged my way through to the counter, demanded to know the price, and slapped down the correct remittance, bolting before any of the shop assistants (a true oxymoron in Europe) could object. Transaction completar!
OK, so I cracked this game on the first attempt, but lets make it interesting and see if any of you can guess which nationality I impersonated?
Winner gets a 12″ kransky with the lot.