2 Isn't 14 but 3 1/2 Can Be 2 1/2!

Okay, every vacation has at least one - that day when, despite all the planning, it goes to hell in a hand basket!  You know, "THE GLITCH"!  For us, that was Thanksgiving Sunday. That isn't to say, however, that I don't have a lot to be grateful for.  It is just that on this day, there wasn't much.

When we planned this vacation, we wanted to end the Portuguese part in the south and start the Spanish part in Seville. That seemed reasonable as Faro on the Algarve and Seville are only just over 200 km apart. We'd take a train, we thought. European trains go everywhere. Well, as it turned out, not between Faro and Seville!  In hindsight (and isn't that always 20/20!), I should not have stubbornly rejected Nawal's suggestion to simply fly.  I found a bus service which went three times a day and for only €22.  So, we booked a 2 o'clock bus, reserved our seats, and were set. One more detail of the trip sorted.  However . . . . . 

Sunday, we dropped the car at Faro airport, took a taxi to the Faro bus station, and began our 2 hour wait for our afternoon bus. Now, let me say at best the Faro bus station is a bit dodgy - no services, graffiti in places, not the most sanitary washrooms; you get the idea.  The wait was going to be no fun! When I decided to ask which bay the bus left from and showed the gal at the Info/Ticket booth, she started wagging her finger at me and saying "Non, non, non.  Bus already gone. Bus go at 2 in morning!"  ARGH!  Of course, I had forgotten that European schedules work on a 24 hour clock. 14:00 is 2 p.m. and 2 is 2 a.m.!  When I broke the news to Nawal, I detected a slight "tsk, tsk" (okay, in truth, it was an f-bomb) knowing full well her thoughts were on that plane we didn't consider. It didn't help that the next bus wasn't leaving until 4 pm - or 16:00 to be precise.  That meant our wait had just turned into 4 hours and we now wouldn't arrive in Seville until 19:30!

The 'View" from our seat where we were waiting.

To her complete credit, Nawal set off to see if there was anything around the station which would be a better option for our 4 hour wait. She found a charming bistro nearby with a friendly waiter and, as it turned out, good food. So, we spent over 2 hours there enjoying fresh pasta, some rose wine and a dessert before heading back to the dreary station. 

The good news was that our 16:00 bus left on time and we arrived at Seville as promised at 19:30. The even better news was that the presumably 3 1/2 hour journey was just 2 1/2 hours because there's a one hour time difference between the two countries. And further, our boutique hotel here in Seville is charming. As Nawal said to me over lunch, "It's simple. When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade!"

Crossing the Bridge into Spain where we lost an hour