Biggest Mistake in Spain.
The last thing I'm going to say about our trip to Spain is that we made one big mistake - or maybe I should say HUGE mistake!
Military bases all over the world (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines) have an ITT (information, tickets, and tours) office that provides discount coupons to local attractions and tourist information such as maps and brochures. We have used our local ITT at nearly every place we have been stationed.
While we were at the terminal in Dover I picked up an info sheet on Rota. It included hours for the chow hall, phone numbers for every facility on the base, and a cute little map. Listed right there on the sheet was ITT information. We arrived around 1pm on a Saturday - the office was probably open but if not it would have been open on Monday. However, for some reason it never crossed our mind to stop off at the ITT office upon our arrival in Rota.
Instead of making our way to the 'ol ITT we ventured off with our map of Spain. It wasn't a map of southern Spain, or the Costa de Luz, or even better would have been Cadiz province. Nope a map of the entire country of Spain. So Matt navigated by it pretty well. Our plan was to hit the local tourist information office as soon as we got into each new city. That plan never worked though. Either we couldn't find the office - because we didn't have a city map - or we saw it but couldn't find parking anywhere nearby. So, we pressed on, used our guidebooks and the maps that they contained and had a great vacation with only a few minor "lost" incidences.
As we were getting ready to leave. Matt ran into one of the families that had come over to Rota on the same flight as us. They were comparing notes about the week in Spain and the gentleman told Matt that he stopped by the ITT when they first got in. Not only did they have a lot of great information and maps and such but they rented GPS systems set up for Spain for a mere $5 a day. This is the part of the story that made me throw up in my mouth a little. What? $25 for 5 days. Oh that would have been a really great investment.
Next trip: step one get off plane. step two find ITT office. step three GO INSIDE and take advantage of the English speaking person there just waiting for the opportunity to help us out!
Military bases all over the world (Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines) have an ITT (information, tickets, and tours) office that provides discount coupons to local attractions and tourist information such as maps and brochures. We have used our local ITT at nearly every place we have been stationed.
While we were at the terminal in Dover I picked up an info sheet on Rota. It included hours for the chow hall, phone numbers for every facility on the base, and a cute little map. Listed right there on the sheet was ITT information. We arrived around 1pm on a Saturday - the office was probably open but if not it would have been open on Monday. However, for some reason it never crossed our mind to stop off at the ITT office upon our arrival in Rota.
Instead of making our way to the 'ol ITT we ventured off with our map of Spain. It wasn't a map of southern Spain, or the Costa de Luz, or even better would have been Cadiz province. Nope a map of the entire country of Spain. So Matt navigated by it pretty well. Our plan was to hit the local tourist information office as soon as we got into each new city. That plan never worked though. Either we couldn't find the office - because we didn't have a city map - or we saw it but couldn't find parking anywhere nearby. So, we pressed on, used our guidebooks and the maps that they contained and had a great vacation with only a few minor "lost" incidences.
As we were getting ready to leave. Matt ran into one of the families that had come over to Rota on the same flight as us. They were comparing notes about the week in Spain and the gentleman told Matt that he stopped by the ITT when they first got in. Not only did they have a lot of great information and maps and such but they rented GPS systems set up for Spain for a mere $5 a day. This is the part of the story that made me throw up in my mouth a little. What? $25 for 5 days. Oh that would have been a really great investment.
Next trip: step one get off plane. step two find ITT office. step three GO INSIDE and take advantage of the English speaking person there just waiting for the opportunity to help us out!
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