This is our last travel blog as we pack up and get ready to head home. Our 3 weeks have been great and we have spent the last day reminiscing about all the wonderful places we've been.

After we left Lisbon, we stopped in an adorable town call OBIDOS (see pictures). This picturesque village sits within an old Roman Ruin wall that you can walk around. We shopped and enjoyed the views and after a few hours took off for COIMBRA.

This was our last stop in Portugal, once again, our time was too short so we met a guy, Marcos, who drove us around on his "Tuk Tuk" to show us all the sights and surrounding areas of Coimbra. This is Portugal's largest University. The town sits on a River. We split a fish (sea bass) lunch which was delicious. More last minute shopping, then on to Spain. We drove through lush green countrysides with numerous lakes, very scenic.

We arrived in Salamanca late. We did not care for the hotel as the staff was very disorganized and unfriendly. Overall we felt Salamanca was unfriendly - perhaps because it is a busy, bustling student town - not sure. But Madrid and Barcelona were so much friendlier and of course, we missed the warmth and friendliness of Portugal. We enjoyed dinner at a nearby cafe and came back to the hotel.

Salamanca is a beautiful town. Incredible cathedrals, the largest University in Spain (maybe even Europe??). Fortunately the prices here are very cheap because of all the students. (see photos under SALAMANCA misspelled oops as SSlamanca and I don't know how to correct it on my iphone). We finished the sights around 4pm had some great tapas then enjoyed the sun in the largest plaza in all of Europe (Plaza Mayor). Shopped, drank and didn't get back until VERY late (maybe 3am) after hitting a few of the local pubs.

Today is our last day. Everyone's a little sad to be leaving, although I must say I miss Maggie, Mom and the Dogs alot and can't wait to see them all. We left Salamanca with a hang over and drove to SEGOVIA - a beautiful town with an Alcazar (otherwise known as the sleeping beauty castle) and a beautiful cathedral (again). We had lunch then moved on to where we are right now, El Escorial. About 1 hour outside of Madrid in the mountains (see photos). We are staying in an adorable Posada, Hotel Don Jaime. We have the top floor of someone's house and there's a beautiful sun roof to look out of. We visited El Escorial museum and monestary this afternoon (original palace and capital before it was moved to Madrid.]

Now we are getting ready to head out to dinner, a place the owner here recommended in the little village. Then tomorrow we are up early and off to catch our flight. It'll be another 24 hours of traveling door to door.

Before we sign off - a few final thoughts. We all got along great and enjoyed all of the places we visited. We took a secret poll and we all voted Barcelona as our favorite place especially when you include Montserrat as a side visit for the day. Our #2 places all differed, however all of us liked each other's at the top of our list. My #2 was Lisbon - what a pleasant surprise that beautiful city was and when you throw in Sintra and Caiscais in the surrounding areas, it was fantastic. Rosemary's #2 place was Madrid - she loved the tapas place, the palace and Toledo as a day trip. Mary Kay's #2 place was the Algarve Coast in Portugal, especially where we stayed, Albufeira.

We wished we spent only 1 night in Granada (and could live without the caves, although they are a funny story now) and stay in town and instead spend a night in Ronda - one of the cutest towns we saw. We wished we spent another night in Lisbon. We wished we only stayed one night in Salamanca and instead spent a night in Segovia, which was so darn cute. We can't say if Ronda, Segovia, Sintra or Obidos was the cutest but they were all enchanting.

Our favorite hotel was Hotel Neri in Barelona - fantastic, probably our least favorite was the one in Salamanca (Silken hotels). I think we were all taken by surprise at how much we loved Portugal.

So we're signing off as we head out for our last dinner in Spain. ADIOS AMIGOS & VIVA ESPANA Y PORTUGAL!!!