Category: Tourism

Basque Country / Tourism

Learning the art of pintxos in San Sebastián

Back from visiting family in the U.S. and with a month until Dreamer started teaching again, we rented a car and headed to Basque Country in northern Spain. A quick stop for lunch was in order at a hotel/restaurant in Burgos specializing in this sort of thing. The menú del dia is a phenomenon here: started by Franco as a way to ensure workers could get a good lunch at a reasonable price, the tradition has hung on post-dictatorship in such strong fashion that nearly every place that’s open for lunch here offers it, even though technically they don’t have to

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Madrid / Tourism

Segovia: Princess castle, aqueduct, and baby pig

Madrid is well-positioned for interesting day trips: just hop on a train and an hour or so later you can immerse yourself in history. In early August, we headed to Segovia, north of the capital in the province of Castile and León, where some of the history dates back to Roman times. The city is famous for its well-preserved aqueduct, which dominates the center. The aqueduct is a part of normal everyday life for Segovianos, with some roads even passing through it. The city’s mascot – meant to echo this famous aqueduct – was just a bit creepy, though… Speaking of

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Holidays / Tourism

Partying until dawn in Aranjuez

One of the best parts of living in Spain is getting to know Spanish people, and last July – shortly after our move – our Madrid family invited us to the wedding of Doer’s host sister, Ruth, and her marido-to-be, Julian (Juli). Host sister, you say? Well, Doer first met Ruth and her family in the year 2000 on his first trip to Spain, a high school Spanish class trip where they hosted this young American boy. And they have stayed in touch ever since. So we hopped on a train to the Aranjuez, a city in the southern part of

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Castellón / Tourism

Morella: Acting like adolescents at ancient fortress

We rounded out the last weekend in June with a visit to Morella, an ancient fortress city in the mountains of the Castellón province of the Valencian Community. The walled city’s strategic location means it was fought over in many different wars. Today, its main attractions include an old monastery, an aqueduct, and a castle. It was a bit of a climb to the top… Said climb made Dreamer just a little bit sweaty. But it was all worth it for the views. And there were some amazing views once we reached the castle, for sure. The highlight of the

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Tourism

Tarragona: ancient Roman city

Mom’s visit after school let out at the end of May provided a great excuse to visit another area on our bucket list: Tarragona, a Catalan port city on the Costa Daurada (Golden Coast) of the Mediterranean, south of Barcelona and north of Valencia. The city, known as Tarraco during the Roman Empire, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its wealth of Roman ruins. The region of Catalonia is just a short coastal train journey from where we were living in the Valencian Community. But, of course, our train was a few minutes late again… Dreamer is

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Other Countries / Tourism

Snacking our way through Venice

Quick! Name your top European destinations – the famous places you’ve heard of. Odds are Venice is somewhere on that list. Though we’d both been to Italy before (and that hotel in Las Vegas, of course), this was new ground for both of us. Dreamer had the amazing idea to go before the summer crowds and the stench of the canals became too much to bear, and what a smart woman she is! A three-day weekend was the perfect amount of time there, and mid May a great time to visit. What one must keep in mind first and foremost is

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