Not being a
Spanish speaker (my problem), trying to book our train tickets with RENFE from Madrid to Sarria was a learning experience. RENFE's web site was hard to navigate, even with
their English version. But with the help of a Portuguese friend I figured it
out. I then learned about a booking agency called Loco2 ( https://loco2.com/ ) whose
English web site was very straight forward.
Next, the issue of actually booking our tickets to travel on May 7, 2015. Even at 60 days out, RENFE had not posted a schedule for our travel date. I contacted the people at Loco 2 who told me that they have seen RENFE post schedule as late as 2 weeks prior departure dates. The good folks at Loco2 assured me that they would contact me as soon as the schedule was posted for my travel date. Which they did!! So Muchas Gracias Loco2. RENFE finally posted the schedule for our May 7 travel date on April 17, 2015.
Working with Loco2 and RENFE reminded me that “When in Rome, do as the Romans". Or, Don't expect things to operate like they do in your home country. Expect them to operate like they do in the country you are visiting.
