World's Best Places to Visit

Have you ever arrived in a city armed with zero information about it at all? Sometimes it happens to me, or I’ll bring a travel guidebook to flip on the flight. My friend Mich and I arrived in Madrid on a winter December one year, knowing absolutely nothing about this Spanish city at all. Our Europe trip had been pretty much an impromptu decision – we booked the trip two weeks before flying off and both of us had been too caught up with work each to prepare for Madrid – the last leg of our four-city trip. We had no idea where we were, how to get around Madrid, which attractions to head to. When we reached our apartment, the apartment-owner – warm, sweet Antonio, having orientated us around the apartment, asked if we knew where to go. Both of us shook our heads sheepishly. Antonio promptly whipped out a map from his bag and shared with us the attractions to visit, the places to eat. He literally planned an itinerary for us there and then! The best part was, we were staying righ...