**Big Adventures loves to feature real life travel stories from our friends. Following is an account from one of our BA Explorer's Club members and their experience in Northern Spain.
I am currently living and working overseas, and after weeks of below freezing temperatures and full days of teaching, I decided that it was time for a break. So a few friends and I sat down to plan out a 10 day vacation from life here. We honestly chose our destination by the price of the plane tickets. We knew that would be our biggest expense. So we booked our $200 flight to Spain, packed our clothes in carry-ons, and were ready. There wasn't much planning involved in our trip. We knew we were landing in Madrid, staying the night there, and then thinking about traveling to Northern Spain, to a place called Asturias.
We landed in Madrid around 10 o’clock and caught a taxi to the hostel that we were staying at. We were ready to start our adventure. Unfortunately, our cab driver did not speak English and we rode in circles for a good 30 minutes before we stopped mixing up our Arabic with the little bit of high school Spanish that we remembered. We downloaded a translating app, and decided that NOW we were ready for our adventure. The cab driver dropped us off at the Way Hostel (highly recommend this place if you are looking for a cheap place to stay in the city http://www.wayhostel.com), a couple of “Gracias’” were exchanged, and we were standing outside of the sketchiest looking building in Madrid. I say sketchy, because all of the windows were painted over in orange, and I could hear music coming from the inside. We all looked at each other, choosing who would sacrifice themselves to walk in first. I pulled up the handle to my suitcase and rolled in through the doors.
Right when I walked inside, I knew this was going to be the best adventure yet. People were in the common room having Flamenco dance lessons. Flamenco is a dance that originated in the southern parts of Spain sometime around 1774, and is still a very popular dance today. The dance includes several parts; singing, guitar playing, dance, clapping, and finger snapping. It is very similar to the dance I learned here in the Middle East, so you could say I was a natural to learning it. (Or not.) The Way Hostel was the furthest thing from sketchy! The atmosphere was fun and the people were wonderful. The Way Hostel host lots of social events every night, so you get the chance to meet backpackers and travelers from all over. Being in a popular tourist city, we were able to use a little bit of English to get around and get to know the others.
If you would like more information about adventures in Spain, contacts us at info@bigadventures.us.