PORTUGAL | Tuesday, 18 Jun 2013 | Views [424]
Affordable lodging with free parking is hard to find in Lisbon, especially during the Lisbon Festival. Finding Casa Shanti is never easy. We decided to stay at this 300 year-old farm in Mafra and commute to Sintra, Belem and Lisbon. ... Read more >
PORTUGAL | Sunday, 16 Jun 2013 | Views [810]
The three towns are as different as could be. They aren’t listed in the same guidebooks; they’re not even in the same part of the country. All they have in common is their cuteness.
Obidos is the quintessential tourist trap.... Read more >
PORTUGAL | Thursday, 13 Jun 2013 | Views [1355]
Miracles hardly happen any more. Two of the more recent ones, sightings of the Virgin, took place in Lourdes, France and here in Portugal at Fátima. More coincidence than miracle, we visited each exactly two years apart.
In 1858 ... Read more >
PORTUGAL | Wednesday, 12 Jun 2013 | Views [528]
Convents, monasteries, cathedrals, Cistercians, Dominicans. It’s almost like being back in England. But in Portugal, absent Henry VIII, many of the convents and monasteries haven’t been left in ruins. Take the Convent at ... Read more >
PORTUGAL | Tuesday, 11 Jun 2013 | Views [1310]
Alcobaça makes a great base to explore the World Heritage sites in central Portugal. It's within 50-or so kilometers of Tomar, Fatima, Nazare and Batalha. And the hotel Santa Maria is the perfect place to stay . . . for a night, or ... Read more >
PORTUGAL | Sunday, 9 Jun 2013 | Views [813]
School's out in Coimbra, Portugal's answer to Salamanca. The University, founded in 1290, is housed in the former royal palace from the days when Coimbra was the capital. The old university has expanded since then but today's 25,000 students ... Read more >
PORTUGAL | Friday, 7 Jun 2013 | Views [662]
Portugal has a history of exploration from Henry the Navigator to Vasco da Gama and Ferdinand Magellan, fearless men who defined what we know of our planet in the 15 th Century. Our satellite navigator, “Sir Clive,” seems to be intimidated ... Read more >
PORTUGAL | Wednesday, 5 Jun 2013 | Views [599]
Our hostess, Monica, said we were the first ever Americans to stay at Casa do Brasao – in fact, tonight we were the only occupants. Casa do Brasao is a 17 th Century home cum hotel in Tabuaço, complete with many of the original furnishings.... Read more >
PORTUGAL | Wednesday, 5 Jun 2013 | Photo Gallery
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SPAIN | Tuesday, 4 Jun 2013 | Views [762]
Salamanca hosts the largest university in Spain and Spain’s largest plaza. But it’s the little things that make the town interesting. Students believe it brings good luck if you can find the skull with the frog on it near the ... Read more >
SPAIN | Sunday, 2 Jun 2013 | Views [690]
"You can't judge a book by its cover." That applies to the alcazar at Segovia and the walled city of Avila.
Fairytale castle at Segovia
Segovia's Disney-esque castle perches on a cliff, but it is a 19th Century ... Read more >
SPAIN | Thursday, 30 May 2013 | Photo Gallery
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SPAIN | Thursday, 30 May 2013 | Views [602]
Perhaps the best part of the Guadalupe Monastery was the drive to it. It’s a pleasure to be on the twisting country roads climbing into the hills, and monasteries always seem to be in the hills. In this case a 13 th Century shepherd ... Read more >
SPAIN | Tuesday, 28 May 2013 | Views [794]
We wnet to a flamenco performance for tourists. Maybe not strictly tourists. There was a group from Germany with their flamenco instructor, 7 women and one guy who was breaking in his new high-heeled flamenco boots. None of the women ... Read more >
SPAIN | Tuesday, 28 May 2013 | Photo Gallery
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SPAIN | Monday, 27 May 2013 | Views [587]
Sevilla is a big city with a small historic area. Parking, if you can find it, is expensive so we booked a room at the Ibis chain outside of town. They're not our favorite hotels but have been good in a pinch. Free parking and a direct ... Read more >
SPAIN | Saturday, 25 May 2013 | Views [577]
Not even Rick Steves can list every place of interest in his guidebooks, especially for those with interests as eclectic as ours. We decided to take a break from culture and avoid the weekend crowds at the major attraction and stopped in ... Read more >
SPAIN | Friday, 24 May 2013 | Views [710]
We were taking the Rick Steves walking tour of Granada when Connie noticed "himself" standing on the cathedral steps. Rick Steves had been an afternoon “guest” in our living room on Sunday afternoons for more than a decade and we considered ... Read more >
SPAIN | Friday, 24 May 2013 | Views [844]
The year 1492 was a biggie for Granada. Ferdinand and Isabel gave Columbus a bag of jewels and sent him on his way and after five centuries of rule, the Moors were driven out of a united Spain. And they left behind the World Heritage site ... Read more >
SPAIN | Tuesday, 21 May 2013 | Views [1580]
Cordoba, once Roman and later Visigoth, came into its own in the 8 th Century when the Umayyad Muslims made it the capital of Al-Andalus, Islamic Spain. While the rest of Europe succumbed to the ignorance and superstition of the Dark Ages, Al-... Read more >
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