World Travel Guide Online

5: Spain & Portugal

Gaudi Lizard at Parc Guell.

There is no better place to start in Spain then the magical city of Barcelona. We were fortunate to arrive during “La Merced”, the festival in honor of the Patron Saint of Barcelona. There were parades in the streets, live music and fireworks at night. Talk about a country that really comes to life after dark! What a lively bunch. Old and young alike were out walking the streets and dancing all night! Eating dinner after 8:00 PM allows for long days and sleepless nights.

Las Ramblas is the place to start any tour of this city, as it is the main walking street with vendors selling everything from food to caged birds. There are street performers of all kinds too. Of course, the city is known for its famous architect Gaudi, who designed a good many of the buildings and houses and the magnificent cathedral, La Sagrada Familia. This cathedral was started in 1882 and is still only half complete. It looks like a gigantic sandcastle and is a true work of art! Parc Guell, another of Gaudi’s works, is a wonderful park that is one of a kind. With colorful mosaic tile, it boasts the world’s largest bench with a great view of the entire park.

After spending several days in Barcelona, we headed northwest to the beautiful Basque coast of Spain. San Sebastian, a city rich in culture and history, was a perfect place to stop and enjoy ourselves. San Sebastian is known for its gastronomic delights – the traditional Pintxos (pronounced pinch-os) and Txakoli.

There are streets lined with bars and restaurants, and the thing to do is to go from place to place tasting the Pintxos, or Tapas, set out on each bar. They charge per piece and it is fun to see all the different kinds they have as each bar competes against each other. There is everything from smoked salmon on toast points to mushroom and ham-stuffed pastry shells. “Txakoli” is the local white wine, that is perfectly light and goes well with the whole tasting experience. The beach in San Sebastian is the shape of a scallop shell. There is a dolphin named Paquito who has taken up residence there and is often seen welcoming the boats into the bay.

Don Quixote where are you?

From Bilbao’s stylish Guggenheim Museum to the cute 12th century city of Santillana del Mar, Spain offers pleasant coastal scenery along the north. We drove through the lush mountains of Picos de Europa where there are many hiking trails along deep gorges, green valleys and rocky rivers. Leon has one of the most beautiful cathedrals we have seen with one square mile of stained glass windows (128 total). Santiago de Compostella, a city that still attracts many pilgrims today, was packed with faithful followers. St. James is thought to be buried in the cathedral. We found excellent camping in Sanxenxo along the water where we watched a wonderful sunset. Pontevedra was a wonderful city to see as well.

We crossed over into Portugal and loved it right away, with its white houses with red tiled roofs. Everything was very clean. Viano do Costelo was certainly hospitable, sitting on the Rio Lima and the coast. The codfish baked with olive oil, potatoes and onions was a local specialty that we did not miss out on.

Porto is fantastic. We dropped off our cute “disco” Twingo here, after driving her 3,000 miles from France. We were going to miss the luxury of having our own transportation. The river front in Porto is amazing with the port wine companies and their boats everywhere. The Palacio da Bolsa, which is the old stock exchange, is incredible, not only because it took 68 years to build, but is also a UNESCO World Heritage Sight. Coimbra, home of one of the oldest universities in Europe built in 1290, is a must-see!

Since we were literally “back on the road” after five weeks of driving, we quickly discovered that buses were the cheapest and safest way to travel in Portugal and Spain. The one time we took the train in Spain it was ridiculously bumpy – we felt like we were on an amusement park ride. We would stick to the bus after that experience!

We took a bus to Salamanca, where the most beautiful plaza in Spain, Plaza Mayor, awaits you. Salamanca is a university city, and the young crowd makes the city quite entertaining. The city was decorated with individually designed Toros made of paper mache. Neat!

To Avila next, with one of the best preserved medieval defense perimeters in the world. Segovia has a Roman Aquaduct �-kilometer long with 163 arches on two levels and not one drop of mortar used in its construction – an architectural masterpiece!

We arrived in Madrid to meet some of our good friends from Atlanta. What a great city! The Palace with its 2,800 rooms, the Plaza Mayor, Plaza Santa Ana, the Royal Gardens and the Hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida are only some of the “best of the city” to see. After four days in Madrid, we headed south to Cuenca, the city made famous with its “hanging houses” over a cliff. Next, we visited Toledo situated high atop a hill. There is a fancy new escalator that takes you all the way up to the old town. If you are into miniature war figures, the Alcazar has a museum filled with thousands of these little guys.

Our search for windmills, castles, and Don Quixote began when we left for Consuegra in the region of Castilla – La Mancha. Although the small town is not equipped for tourists, it is a fun stop on your way somewhere else.

Toro in the Plaza Mayor.

Ahh, Andalucia was calling our names. Cordoba, our first stop in this sunny region in the south, was breathtaking. The Mezquita, the famous Mosque turned Cathedral, with its red and white striped arches was an elaborately decorated sight. Granada was next, where the Flamenco dance originated in the Sacramonte area amongst the gypsies. There is a super view of the Alhambra from the streets of Sacramonte. The Alhambra deserves nothing less than a full day visit. There is so much to see!

Marbella’s sunny shores, golf courses, and beaches were filled with tourists from all over northern Europe. The water is so clear, and far off in the distance, you can catch a glimpse of Africa. Ronda, a tiny stone washed village, is considered the mecca of bullfighting. The Puerto Nuevo, the new bridge, is a mighty crossing built between a gorge.

Tarifa, the windsurfing capital of Europe, greets you with harsh winds but makes for a beautiful, empty beach with nothing but white sands and blue waters. The storks greeted us again in the southern most tip of continental Europe and Spain. They were ready to migrate further south with us and we would soon make the crossing together to Morocco.