Stop #26: Santiago de Compostela, Spain is the main attraction along the pilgrimage route of the Camino de Santiago, the camino francés, which crosses the Pyrenees from France and heads west across northern Spain. The city’s Cathedral is very impressive, although it was under construction/renovation when we visited. Santiago de Compostela has more than 4.5 […]
Stop 25: Lugo is Galicia’s oldest provincial capital most noted for its 1.5 mil) Roman wall with 71 towers. The walls are 33-49 feet high. The third century walls are protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cathedral in the background of the cover photo is a mixture of Romanesque, Gothic, baroque, and neoclassical […]
Stop 24: Oviedo is the capital city of Galicia. We didn’t spend a lot of time here. We built way too much into our interary to take full advantage of this city. But honestly, other cities in the area were drawing us in. And again, the highlights here are mostly churches. We were exhausted from […]
Stop #23: Santander sits on the Bay of Biscay, with lots of beaches. A relatively modern city, much of Santander’s old town was destroyed by fire in 1941. We drove through the city without time to stop and take in some of the pretty beaches. I must admit that it feels like a cruise ship […]
Stop 22: I understand that Bilbao changed quite a bit once Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim was built. And Norman Foster’s subway system only made the city that much more modern (and what a subway system it is!). What was once a major industrial city, Bilbao is the main city of the Basque Country within Spain. It […]
Stop #21: This portfolio is all dedicated to the Museo Guggenheim Bilbao. I’m not a big fan of modern art, but this crazy structure is something I can appreciate. A glass, steel, iron, and stone building in the site of Bilbao’s steel and shipping port. The titanium on the outside of the building reflects all […]
Stop #20: Just when you think you’ve seen enough churches to last you a lifetime, you stumble upon a town called Burgos, with one of the craziest churches you have ever seen. It was stunning! This small city has some of Spain’s most outstanding Medieval architecture. This is also the city of El Cid, the […]
Stop #19: In the middle of the plains, Segovia pops out the middle of nowhere with yellow orange stone buildings and Roman and medieval monuments. Segovia has a long history with Romans, Moors, and Christians all living here. Isabella the Catholic (married to Ferdinand of Aragón), was crowned queen of Castile here. Segovia’s castle (the […]
Stop #18: Ávila’s walls are still intact from the Middle Ages. Begun in 1090, shortly after the town was reclaimed from the Moors, the walls were completed in only nine years, but it took 1,900 men! The walls have nine gates and 88 round towers. We took the advice of several travel books and crossed […]
Stop #17: While I like Madrid, I prefer to be driving through all the beautiful smaller cities throughout Spain. I visited Madrid when I was in my 20s, and it looks much the same. The weather wasn’t the greatest on this visit, but luckily the Prado can keep one entertained for quite long time. We […]