A busy Sunday in La Plaza Grande in Zafra
Lesson learned this past weekend: The buses between small cities are terrible.
Another lesson: Don’t stress so much. It’s Spain.
This could be my entire post because that’s really how adamant I feel about that statement. The buses between small cities, in one word, suck. I wouldn’t resign myself to such a word if I wasn’t extremely frustrated this past weekend with the bus system to and from Zafra, which is about 40 minutes away from where I live.
Got up at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning to catch what I thought was the only bus to Zafra. There was a Auxilares meetup there, and I can’t pass up a fiesta. Waited around for the 8 a.m. bus to appear, but it did not materialize. I ended up getting a ride with a friend’s roommate, but before I left, called the bus station to find when the bus back to Jerez was on Sunday: 11 p.m. Vale.
Alas, after a super fun Saturday night with some Americans in Zafra, I get to the bus station on Sunday. No bus home! Not until 3 p.m. Monday afternoon. Annoying to say the least, and it left me with a feeling of panic and frustration. The worst part was realizing that I have very few people to call upon for a ride. Zafra is 40 minutes away from Jerez and feeling stranded is not pleasant. After some calls and a few trips to the bus station, I was finally able to get a friend to give me a ride.
Then, I tried to let go of that panicky feeling and enjoy some of the sights in my time left, which included having a wine at the Parador hotel inside the 15th century castle. In addition, Zafra has pretty parks, buildings and plazas. The shops weren’t open on Sunday due to the whole Spain thing, but alas, I ate some good food, spent time with new friends and eventually got home. Here are some images of the weekend:
Really, there probably isn’t anything better than having a glass of wine from Extremadura inside a castle. No complains about that.
Next time, I will just take a bus to Badajoz or Sevilla and from there, go to another city. There are far more buses going North and South than East and West. Lesson learned. Also, don’t stress, so much. I have a perpetual problem with inviting worry into my life. However, I really should not have worried as much as I did. I was with friends, in Spain, and if I couldn’t make it to work due to a small miscalculation with the buses, well, it’s no big deal. It’s good to be home but, if I have to spend some extra time in another Spanish town, well, está bien.