We began our first day in Barcelona, the capital of the Catalan region, with a driving tour of several sights, including the grounds of the olympics, the water front, and several monuments. Stopping first for some views over the city, which is densely compacted between the sea and the mountains, we also spent some time at the water front before traveling to Gaudi’s famous La Sagrada Familia where we were able to completely walk around the amazing basilica w...

We traveled east from Granada, driving across the much varied terrain and agriculture of Andalusia, from desert to mountains, from open range land to groves of olives, almonds, and oranges. Eventually, we reached the eastern coast of Spain along the Mediterranean at the small city of Alicante where we spent an afternoon an evening along the coast. The following morning, we headed north along the coast to Valencia (home of Valencia Oranges) where first ...

Saturday we had an early departure to visit the Alhambra, a fortress/palace built overlooking the modern city of Granada. When Boabdil, the last king of Moorish Granada, was exiled to North Africa in 1492, he took the bones of his ancestors with him. But he left behind their fortress-palace, the Alhambra, and a legacy of nearly eight centuries of Islamic culture. Fernando and Isabel may have won the war and completed the reconquest of al-Andalus, but ...

Heading east, we moved from Portugal back into the Andalusian section of Spain, arriving in Seville late afternoon. With limited free time before a scheduled dinner, we visited El Corte Ingles department store across the street from our hotel. These are unique stores to our American experience: think large, fancy, multi-floor Dillards with a Barnes & Noble and a Sprouts in the basement. With the help of several clerks’ broken English, Kevin’s very broken...

We arrived in Lisbon on Sunday afternoon to find Liberty Avenue—a wide, tree-filled avenue extending along several historical squares and to the river front— populated with the pop-up shops and music of a street festival. We walked the length of the avenue, winding as well onto several smaller side streets, to the riverfront square. Life in the Iberian Peninsula starts late in the evening (some restaurants do not open for dinner until 9:00), so the...