Travelrific® Travel Journal
Picture postcards in prose.™ Check out the blogroll on the front page for official merchandise and other resources!Archive for spain
The Castles of Lloret de Mar
By Linda Tancs
The popular tourist destination Lloret de Mar lies on the most southerly part of Costa Brava (wild coast), a coastal region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain that stretches to the French border. It dates back to the Middle Ages, but only one of its castles does. The medieval hilltop Castell de Sant Joan offers stunning views from the castle keep, the only part of the structure remaining, but the climb is steep. You can walk there from Fenals Beach. The other “castle,” Castell d’en Plaja, was built in 1935 for an industrial magnate and is not open to tourists. The grandiose fortress features in virtually every postcard from the area, though. You can gawk at it from the sandy beach of Sa Caleta.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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Land of Cheeses
By Linda Tancs
Reputedly there are 100,000 cows in Asturias, Spain. They produce around 50 varieties of cheese, leading some to call the region the “land of cheeses.” Everyone has their preference, but most would probably agree that the star of the show is Cabrales, the region’s blue cheese. Four possess a Designation of Origin (a distinctive sign intended to protect a product originating in a specific geographical area): Cabrales, Gamonéu, Casín and Afuega’l pitu. And Beyos boasts a Protected Geographical Indication. You can visit cheese caves or, for a more immersive experience, dive into the cheese route, a gastronomical adventure spanning from Cangas de Onís to Tielve. Along the way is Arenas, where the Cabrales cheese competition is held on the last Sunday in August.
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Falling for Ronda
By Linda Tancs
Ronda is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. Its vistas are legendary thanks to its perch atop a gorge that separates the old town and new town. That kind of dramatic underpinning provides a good enough reason for a creative type to fall in love with the place, which is what American writer Ernest Hemingway and director Orson Welles did. They’re both honored with busts at Paseo de Blas Infante, a short promenade in a small park located behind Ronda’s famous bullring. It leads to Mirador de Ronda, a viewing point offering breathtaking views of the gorge, mountains and Puente Nuevo, the bridge spanning the gorge.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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The Caves of Drach
By Linda Tancs
One of the top tourist attractions in Mallorca (Majorca), Spain, the Drach Caves combine Mother Nature’s showmanship with that of man. As a natural attraction, the cave tour spans nearly a 1-mile route through tunnels adorned with thousands of stalactites and stalagmites up to a depth of 82 feet. The caves conceal Lake Martel, one of the biggest underground lakes in the world. Couple that with a little bit of musical showmanship, a concert on Lake Martel that has been performed since 1935, consisting of four pieces of classical music played by a quartet of musicians. The concert, lasting about 10 minutes, is included in the one-hour cave tour. The caves are located in Porto Cristo, a picturesque fishing village offering an abundance of fishing charters and tours.
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Billed as the Great North American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse will cross North America on April 8, 2024, passing over Mexico, the United States and Canada. The path of the eclipse begins in Mexico, entering the United States in Texas, and traveling through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The eclipse will enter Canada in Southern Ontario, and continue through Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton. This will be the last time any solar eclipse will be visible within the United States until 2045.
Be prepared! So long as supplies last, you can purchase eclipse glasses and other accessories, like a phone app and photo filter, from American Paper Optics, a NASA-approved manufacturer. The link in the preceding sentence is an affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and purchase merchandise from the page, then I may receive a small commission.
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Spain’s Game of Thrones
By Linda Tancs
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Alcázar of Seville is a royal palace in Seville, Spain. Hardly a relic, the upper chambers of the 12th-century palace are still used by the Spanish royal family as their official residence in Seville. Originally a Muslim fortress, it abounds with exotic Moorish architecture, as well as Gothic, Mudéjar, Renaissance and Baroque styles that have been added over the centuries. It’s prized for its tiles, especially those adorning Ambassadors’ Hall, the throne room of the original palace. The hall is one of the locations used to film the series, Game of Thrones. Other features used in filming were garden locales like Mercury’s Pond (a large pool decorated by frescoes and stonework punctuated with a bronze statue of Mercury) and the Carlos V Pavilion bounded by orange trees.
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Spain’s Fairy-Tale Castle
By Linda Tancs
Touted as one of Spain’s greatest castles, Alcázar de Segovia invites imitation. In fact, some say that it inspired two iconic Disney castles. That’s high praise for a structure that grew from a small Moorish fortress. Historically a favored retreat for Spanish kings, it later became a prison, an artillery college and even a filming location for Orson Welles’s Chimes at Midnight and the Arthurian musical Camelot. Now a museum, it serves as the emblem for the Old Town of Segovia, a UNESCO site. You’ll get great views of this ancient Roman city from the castle tower. About an hour north of Madrid, it’s an easy day trip from the capital.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Spain’s Wild Coast
By Linda Tancs
Spain’s wild side is Costa Brava (wild coast), a coastal region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain that stretches to the French border. It claims surrealist artist Salvador Dalí as a native son, having lived his life in Figueres. One of the most striking buildings there is the Dalí Theatre-Museum, which houses the largest and most diverse single collection of the surrealist’s works. It also houses the master himself; he’s buried in a crypt under the stage.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Catalonia’s Natural Park
By Linda Tancs
The Ebro Delta is the delta region of the Ebro River, the longest in Spain. It’s Catalonia’s largest wetland, a large part of which is designated a natural park to protect the area’s flora and fauna. Over 300 species of birds live there, making it a hotspot for birdwatchers seeking gulls, terns, reed warblers, flamingos and more. In particular, the park boasts the largest colony of Audouin’s gull. The region is also the rice growing capital of Catalonia, with over 54,000 acres reserved for this crop. Get there by train on the Barcelona-Valencia line.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Spain’s Red River
By Linda Tancs
There’s nothing particularly unusual about Spain’s Red River (Río Tinto) until you reach the town of Niebla, where the reason for its name becomes strikingly apparent. That’s where you’ll see an orange and red hue that gives the river an otherworldly appearance. But there’s nothing supernatural about the reason. For 5,000 years, copper, gold, silver and other minerals had been mined along the river, with dissolving iron giving it a reddish hue. In fact, the river is often considered the birthplace of both the Copper Age and Bronze Age, a site mined by the ancient Iberians and others for copper, gold and silver. The Rio Tinto Mining Museum in Huelva explores the history of mining in the area from prehistoric times to the present.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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Tilting at Windmills in Spain
By Linda Tancs
The expression “tilting at windmills” means to attack imaginary enemies. It originated from the novel “Don Quixote” by Miguel de Cervantes, wherein Quixote mistakes windmill towers for giants and picks a fight with them. The iconic windmills of Consuegra in central Spain are attributed as the towers in question. Originally built to grind grain, the line of 12 Dutch-like towers is a tantalizing backdrop for the nearby medieval castle. Both the mills and the castle are a cultural historic site.
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To limit the spread of COVID-19, attractions may be closed or have partial closures. Please keep those affected by the virus in your thoughts and be sure to follow the safety practices advocated by the Centers for Disease Control. Stay safe, and be well.
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