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A Bus Ride to Miraflores de la Sierra
A true account of my life in Miraflores de la Sierra
If you don’t have a car or don’t drive — there’s a direct bus from Madrid Plaza de Castilla that takes you on a beautiful road to Miraflores de la Sierra. I am a new to Madrid although I have lived in Barcelona. The travel system and tickets are different to Barcelona. I got a transport card that works for all busses, trains, metro and etc. However, I am yet to figure out how the top up system works.
I got on a bus but my transport card didn’t work. I had cash but the driver had no change. I thought I’ll sit and wait while all other passengers get on board so the driver has some change for me. It turned out he still didn’t have any change. A Spanish lady, who looks like she stepped out of the eighties, with a luggage a handbag and backpack wanted to squeeze next to me.
I didn’t object particularly when I had a great chance of not actually going on this bus. This lady spoke only Spanish. My Spanish is improving daily but not as fast as I could have a conversation about my problem. She handed 5 euros to the driver and paid for my ticket to Miraflores de la Sierra. I insisted to give her at least 4 euros back that’s how much change I had.
She didn’t take it. People are so nice in Spain! I’ve lived in the UK for over 15 years and no-one has shown me this…
