As we mentioned in our first blog about Seville, we were fortunate to watch a professional ham-cutting contest. We had tasted this amazing ham during our previous travels in Spain and we always wondered how and where it was produced, since its flavor is so completely different from any other we had ever eaten. Here’s […]

Heading east, we could not miss the magical city of Seville (Sevilla in Spanish). It had a feeling of a walk-around town, though one could easily get lost in the meandering pedestrian alleys and narrow side streets. We did a few times. The Jewish quarter was designed as a maze for protection of its residents […]

After a very busy time in Portugal, we needed to stop for a couple of days and catch up on some everyday chores. Not really to our surprise, all of the little things that need to be done at home still need to be done on the road and quite often they take a little […]

In the afternoon we did have a chance to visit the cellars of the Cockburn’s winery, one of the many producers of the famous Port Wines that this country is famous for. After an interesting tour we were allowed to taste a few. We now have a better idea of where this unique wine comes […]

Arriving in Porto, we followed the narrow backstreets that our trusted Garmin GPS seems to prefer and found our way to a dusty dirt bag of a campground in an eucalyptus grove. Its sole redeeming point was its proximity to a bus stop that would take us into the center of the city. Apparently training […]

Finally, we were in Portugal and ready to experience a new culture. Our Spanish was allowing us to get by. Since one of the famous things in Portugal is Port wine, which comes from the Douro Valley and takes its name from the Douro River, it was recommended that we follow the scenic secondary road […]

Still following windy secondary roads over the mountains and passing through small villages, we finally came to the Portuguese border. The old Customs House was abandoned so we stopped for a picture and continued on to Bragança. Again it seems strange to cross these international borders without even slowing down. Gary keeps waiting and hoping […]

After surviving Pájaro Pass, we continued southwest to the Medieval town of Puebla de Santabria near the northeastern Portuguese border. Well known as one of the oldest settlements in the province of Zamora, its roots have been documented around 509 where it appears in a record from the Council of Lugo. In case you haven’t […]

Leaving the beautiful Playa Merón, we headed south, following our GPS and several maps of Spain. The route we chose looked like a perfectly good secondary road. It was a hot day and we soon found ourselves climbing up 13% and 15% grades in 3rd or even 2nd gear to get around hairpin corners, with […]

As some of you may recall, when we were camped at Playa Merón, we mentioned the wonderful market in Santander. It might be one of the largest and most fascinating in Spain. The whole lower section is devoted to seafood, everything from fresh squid, barnacles, and whole bunches of strange critters we know would be […]