{"id":207,"date":"2016-05-26T12:01:58","date_gmt":"2016-05-26T19:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jwmarshall.com\/?page_id=207"},"modified":"2018-03-29T21:21:37","modified_gmt":"2018-03-30T04:21:37","slug":"spain-2016-page-1getting-there","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.jwmarshall.com\/?page_id=207","title":{"rendered":"2016\/05 Spain Day 1,2 – Getting there and the following days"},"content":{"rendered":"

160519 and 20 to Ourense<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Ready<\/a>

Ready to go to Spain<\/p><\/div>\n

We are off to Spain!\u00a0<\/strong> The total journey was almost a full day.\u00a0 The flight to London was 11 hours.\u00a0 Then we had a 2 hour layover before the 3 more hours to Madrid, and finally 7 more hours before arriving in Ourense, our starting point on the Camino.<\/p>\n

We made the train from Madrid to Ourense with just 4 minutes to spare due to our plane arriving in Madrid an hour late.\u00a0 Many thanks to our taxi driver for the wild ride through Madrid.<\/p>\n

We had rented a flat in Ourense and our hosts met us at the station. \u00a0The flat was better than expected with a gracious and attentive family hosting us.\u00a0 Much nicer than hotel rooms with a kitchen, sitting area and balcony<\/p>\n

In all, the total trip was 23 hours.\u00a0 There wasn’t any real alternative.<\/p>\n

We had grabbed a few hours of fitful sleep on the flights and train ride.\u00a0 So were rested enough to head into old-town to a tapas bar recommended by our hostess.\u00a0 We had a light meal, a glass of wine (or two), then returned to the flat where we promptly went to sleep for 10 hours.<\/p>\n

Renting a flat instead of hotel rooms worked out really well. \u00a0The cost was less than hotel rooms, and we each had our own bedroom and bath.\u00a0 We were on the sixth floor (with a great view, and a lift = no stairs).\u00a0 Our\u00a0 hostess had stocked the flat with bottles of water, some fruit, ground coffee and a coffee maker.<\/p>\n

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\"View<\/a>

View from the Balcony<\/p><\/div>\n

The next morning neither of us were in a hurry to get moving, and since this was a rest day from the long flight we just slept in and ran errands –<\/p>\n