Travel Tip: Always Remember to Take a Map

After months of not too subtle hinting, I'm happy to say that my Mum and her fiancé, Austin, finally came to visit me here in Spain.

They arrived in Madrid a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday evening. They flew in to Barajas Airport (home to the longest runway in Europe), which is located 15km north east of the city centre. Journey time to/from central Madrid takes 25-30 minutes depending on traffic. I made the 4½ hour journey in to meet them as I am of course, such a wonderful daughter. It was freezing that night, with a little snow but nothing to worry about. Our main problem was getting out of Madrid. Austin probably won't like me telling everyone but we had no map and had no idea which direction to go in.

Granted, after living in Salamanca almost 5 months I probably should have had some idea but no, I was completely useless! It was Saturday night, we were stuck in crawling traffic, downtown in Spain's thriving capital city. Our car was constantly surrounded by throngs of revellers, eager to begin the night of fun and fiestas. My Mum kept suggesting "just hop out there Lee and ask one of those bars how to get to Salamanca". Aside from the embarrassment that would surely cause, I still call myself a beginner when it comes to speaking Spanish and I wasn't looking forward to attempting to explain that we were lost in Madrid with no map and no idea of even which direction we were driving in! In the end it was a combination of Austin's finely tuned sense of direction and the texts and calls from my always-so-helpful Spanish friend, David, which eventually got us on the road to Salamanca!

The "Golden City" of Salamanca is about 3 hours northwest of Madrid. After a little well hidden stress and frustration, this is how we finally got there: We took exit zona norte 4, M30. We then joined the A6 marked A Coruña, stayed on this road until we changed to the 'Avila' road and then it was smooth sailing to Salamanca. If you ever need to get from Madrid to Salamanca, I hope these directions will help you. Taking a map with you may also be a good idea!

Upon arrival, it was that breathtaking sight of the cathedral lit up at night, from just outside the city, that made it all worthwhile.