Page 45 - Back Roads of Iberia: Spanish Paradores & Portuguese Pousadas

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Home-Hosted Visits

Many of our adventures feature a visit with a local family, often as part of the A Day in the
7TQP experience. It is customary, though not necessary, to return your hosts’ generosity
with a small gift. If you do bring a gift, we recommend that you bring something the whole
family can enjoy, or something that represents your region, state, or hometown. Get creative
and keep it small—peach jelly from Georgia, maple sugar candy from New England, orange
blossom soap from California; something that can be used or used up is best. When choosing
a gift, be certain to consider the local culture as well. For example, we do not recommend
alcohol in Muslim countries because it is forbidden in Islam, and your hosts may be religious.
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you depart.

Electricity

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same shape.

Voltage
Electricity in Spain and Portugal is 230 volts. In the U.S. it is 110 volts. Most of the things a
traveler will want to plug in—battery chargers, MP3 players, tablets or computers—can run
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this before you plug it in. If you have something that needs 110 volts—like a shaver or a
hairdryer—you can bring a transformer to change the current. (But transformers tend to burn
out, so it might be better to leave whatever it is at home.)

Plugs

The shape of plugs will vary from country to country, and sometimes even within a country
depending on when that building was built. To plug something from the U.S. into a local
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only need two types of adapters for this trip, it may be easier to purchase an all-in-one,
universal adapter/converter combo. Versatile and lightweight, these can usually be found at
your local electronics goods or hardware stores. Sometimes you can buy them at large retailers
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sale at the airport when you arrive at your destination.

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