Monthly Archives: November 2011

Last breakfast with the wonderful gang we traveled with.  Sat at table with couple from Vancouver who are on their way from here to Barcelona to catch a cruise ship which will take them down the Med, past Gibraltar, and … Continue reading →

Nothing with group until afternoon, so after breakfast we hoofed up to the Metro station in cool, clear weather for easy, one change trip to old city center.  Scoped out Madrid Opera House, then went looking for the Convent de … Continue reading →

Pushing north now after a huge hotel breakfast, first stop, Cordoba, which, historically and visually, is one of the most interesting places we’ve ever visited.  It is very old; pre-historic remains have been discovered there; and the Romans, Visigoths, and … Continue reading →

We took off on our own this morning for a walking exploration of old Seville.  Luis had warned us that all maps of Seville are notoriously incomplete; that there are hundreds of streets that do not appear on any map, … Continue reading →

Following the seat rotation system, we had the front seat, right behind our driver Sergio, and just across the aisle from Luis, for the whole day from Lisbon to Seville.  Great views of the countryside, with Sergio taking us off … Continue reading →

Excursion day with local Lisbon guide, Marina.  Luis took the day off.  We began down on the waterfront, the banks of the river Tagus, where it empties into the Atlantic.  The “April 25th Bridge” crosses the river near the mouth, … Continue reading →

Before we hit the road again, a little word about breakfast.  As we mentioned earlier, this jaunt very quickly became as much about food as beautiful sights.  Several dinners were included in the package, but every day there was a … Continue reading →

The Brits were a few minutes late getting on the bus but Luis declined to make them sing and we came to love them down the road for their uniqueness and extraordinary goodness anyway.  Luis introduced us to Sergio, our … Continue reading →

We had information from the tour booklet that a certain bus would take us from the airport to very near our hotel, the Hotel Abba, in the Madrid city center.  With only a little translation difficulty we located the stop … Continue reading →