welche sprache sie sprechen?

i took advantage of walks around the old town of palma, as well as strolls along the sea. beautiful afternoons. this is along the route to mallorca's stunning cathedral. when i arrived the gates were closed and locked. we all know what it means when we see locks on the gates, but we don't want to believe that our destined place is... closed. we try and have a peek around a corner to see if there is another entrance. we pull on the gates to see if they are actually locked... in hope...

i've a fondness for older alchoholic men. not to romantisize alchoholism at all. it is just that my grandfather, who has passed on many years ago was an alchoholic. and i think that i learned that though his situation was unfortunate, he was a really good man. so when i see someone who is drunk i'm not so afraid, though i know it depends on the person how they will act.

well the point of mentioning this is that sitting right in front of the locked cathedral was a drunk man and his friend. as we 'tourist' stood in dissapointment at the locked gates, this man bagan speaking to us in catalan, the language of mallorca. as he saw we could not understand, he switched to spanish. though i could understand, by facial expressions it was clear to him that not all understood. and then he switched to german and then to english, to relay the information that although the cathedral is closed now. don't worry, if you can come back at six this evening it will be open. to this bit of information there were sighs of relief and thank yous. and our informative friend returned to giggles with his companion on the cathedral steps...