Spain
Basics in Spain such as getting around, phone cards, eating times, pharmacies
Seville
Madrid
Getting around
In Seville, we mostly walked. Many of the tourist attractions and lodging are located in the middle of Seville, either in or near the old city. This part of the city is compact and easy to get around by walking.
When you are tired or want to go a little bit outside the city (e.g., Italica), the Seville bus works great. Presently, a single ticket costs euro 1.50 (though Italica being in the next zone outside the city, costs euro 1.65). If you buy/load a bus card, the tickets cost less (sometimes half the price) – we ended up not doing that because we didn’t ride the bus much. If you don’t get a bus card, you can buy a ticket on the bus (exact cash not needed – the bus driver gives change). There are actually several bus operators in Seville (so the buses often look a little different) but for the purposes of paying, they are all the same. I found that both Google maps and Moovit (it’s a free app for your phone) gave accurate info about buses to take and times.
Welcome in Spain
We were delighted to see something new in crosswalk signs: queer couples! Could this really be the intent of the signs? Yes. Madrid installed them in 2017 before hosting World Pride. Here are some photos showing the variety we found, in addition to the traditional single man and a single woman.
Eating times and opening hours
Throughout Spain, lunch is typically between 1-4 PM and dinner is between 8 PM-midnight. In terms of restaurants, this often means they will be open for lunch from 1-4 PM or so, then close between 4-7 PM. This is also true of many stores, particularly small, non-chain stores. See our pages on Food and Restaurants in Seville and in Madrid for more details.
Pharmacies
If you need a prescription filled (which we often do for our usual medications because they are cheaper outside of the US) you must have the physical paper prescription. Some pharmacies are open on Sunday.