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| Day 20 |
Since tickets to Morocco are expensive and require a layover in Madrid, I added an extra week in Spain. Flying in a day early to get my bearings in Spain first, I spent the first half of the day with my hostel's free walking tour. The tour made me realize that 6 days in Madrid would be too long for me. Prior to leaving the States, I asked advice from a friend who used to live in Spain and she recommended southern Spain. I vaguely remembered her mentioning Sevilla or Granada. Travelers who stay at hostels love discussing travel plans. They enthusiastically chose Granada when I discussed my plans at lunch. Although no one had visited Granada, everyone had heard good things about it. After lunch, I used the hostel's free computers to research logistics on how to get there. Travel by bus took 5 hours and cost €18 while the train took 4 hours and cost €70. Saving an hour is not worth an extra €52/$72 so the bus was chosen. Following other travelers' advice, I selected and booked a random hostel on hostelworld. With prior vacations I have been trapped in certain cities because of pre-paid bus tickets and housing. This vacation's lack of prior planning allowed me more flexibility. Although making plans while on vacation was stressful, the impulsive visit to Granada would become the highlight of my vacation.
When have you changed vacation plans while on vacation, and how did it turn out?
somewhat...instead of staying in the hostel all of my nights, I befriended a group of retired travellers and their friend, a Japanese father and daughter on the day that I bused up to a hot springs. They told me their nephew lived in town and had a spare couch and enjoyed hosting people, so I got to see local stuff like the zoo (feed an elephant!), farmer's market and get my ears pierced because I met him. The Japanese woman was going to meet the nephew, they were hoping to set them up-and it worked!
ReplyDeleteThat's fantastic. I love that you get a permanent reminder of a wonderful trip (pierced ears).
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