Browsed by
Category: Getting to Spain

Planes, trains, cars and taxis

Planes, trains, cars and taxis

If you want to write a comment to this post or any other post, click on the word “comment” just below the title of the blog post. That should take you to the area where you can write. Looking forward to reading your comments! Willow

I am so amazed by the amount of planning and detail it takes to put a trip together! Starting out at 8:30 in the morning on Friday to get to the airport, to fly from Tucson to Dallas to  Madrid, shuttle over to the train station, then take two different trains to get to my first location Ponferrada, and then take a cab from the train station to the hotel. I arrived at 7pm local time Saturday night. For those of you who have done international traveling, maybe you’re used to it, but it’s been a while since I’ve gone anywhere outside of the US. Pretty freaking amazing!

My room in PonferradaI had made reservations through booking.com so I had a place to stay and I knew where I was going. It’s just shocking when were used to big rooms and lots of special items and to get into a room that’s 8 x 10 with a very strange light fixtures. I had to go ask the guy at the front desk the show me how to turn the lights on. Seems you put your key card in this light switch in order for the lights to go on. See the picture below.

 

So after getting settled in the room, I went out to explore. Close by was a beautiful plaza with an old church and the tthe castle right behind it. At the church a couple were getting married and they drove away in a horse drawn carriage. I sat outside at the café and ate my dinner drank some yummy wine from Spain  and watch the people go by. Kept trying to figure out which ones were the pilgrims and which ones were the toutposts. I think the pilgrims or Peregrinos as they’re called, are easy to spot because they are sunburned, mostly wearing flip-flops and some of them are limping!

Am I in Fairyland? The church in Ponferrado The castle at night! The castle in Ponferrado

Peace be with all of you and Buen Camino!

 

 

Day 1 = Leaving on a jet plane

Day 1 = Leaving on a jet plane

If you want to write a comment to this post or any other post, click on the word “comment” just below the title of the blog post. That should take you to the area where you can write. Looking forward to reading your comments! Willow

I can’t believe the time is actually here and I’m heading to the airport in a few hours!

Yesterday my gear looked like this…

Before Packing

Now it looks like this…

After Packing

I’m ready for my adventure… not sure whether the adventure is ready for me! I leave from Tucson Airport at 11 AM and fly to Dallas (DFW). From Dallas I catch a non-stop flight to Madrid, Spain. Flight time approximately 9 hours. I’ll arrive in Madrid at 9AM local time (midnight Tucson time!) and then 4 hours later I catch a train headed north to Ponferrada. I have to change trains in Leon so sleeping the whole way is out of the questions. Upon arrival in Ponferrada I catch a cab to my hotel where I can finally crash for the day/night or whatever time it is. I’ll let you know later how it went.