Spain
The Kingdom of Spain is located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula, next to Portugal and also include the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands plus two autonomous cities in North Africa next to Morocco. The King of Spain is King Juan Carlos who recently made headlines when he told Hugo Chavez to "shut up" at a summit in Chile last week after the Chilean President said Spain's ex-PM Jose Maria Aznar was a "fascist". Apparently, this outburst helped someone make 1.5m euros ($2m) from selling ringtone "Why don't you shut up?" which was so popular it was downloaded by an estimated 500,000 people.Let us forget about politics and focus on traveling to Spain. Why should one take the trouble to visit Spain? For one, Spain has an interesting history. Nearly all of the Iberian Peninsula, including Spain was conquered by mainly Berber Muslims in the 8th century as part of the expansion of the Umayyad Islamic Empire. Islamic influences are evident in Spain. Spain was conquered by Christians during the Reconquista ("Reconquest"), leading to the creation of the Christian Kingdom of Asturias. Spain is now largely a Christian country, but buildings shows influences of both the great religion.
Food lovers will love the Spanish cuisine which has a great variety of dishes incluenced by differences in geography, culture and climate which has led to a unique cuisine. Seafood is common because of availability of sea catches from the waters that surround the country, and reflects the country's deep Mediterranean roots.
Depending on which part of Spain you happened to be, you will enjoy the moderate Continental climate in the inland areas of the Peninsula where it largest city, Madrid, is located. Then there is the mild Mediterranean climate which is the climate of the region extending from the Andalusian plain along the southern and eastern coasts up to the Pyrenees, on the seaward side of the mountain ranges that run near the coast, in which the second largest city of Spain, Barcelona, is located. The third is the Oceanic climate in Galicia and the coastal strip by the Bay of Biscay, often referred to as Green Spain. You will not freeze to death in Spain.
Madrid, capital city of Spain
Madrid, being the capital city of Spain, is also its financial center plus its cultural and political center. The famous Plaza de Toros is the largest bullring of Spain and considered the world center of bullfighting.
Photo of Bullfight at Plaza de Toros, Madrid, is property of Ruth Lozano
Barcelona, capital city of Catalonia
Barcelona is the second largest city of Spain, after Madrid and is a very popular tourist destination. It is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and boasts of lovely beaches. Of its seven beaches, Sant Sebastià and Barceloneta beaches are the largest, oldest and the most frequented beaches in Barcelona.
Photo of Barcelona beach is property of Thomas
Barcelona has a Mediterranean climate, with mild, humid winters and warm, dry summers and thus ideal for those that want to escape the harsh winter of whatever region potential tourists comes from.
Photo of Mosaico Trabajos Hércules is property of Luis García
An old legend credit the founding of the city to Hercules 400 years before the building of Rome, so don't be surprised to see Mosaic like the one above depicting Hercules.
As for accommodation, I will go for advanced online booking at websites like Barcelona Hoteles after my bad experience of traveling around Europe when Internet was non-existent and arriving at a strange place and immediately having to hunt for suitable accommodation. Only problem is, the above website is in the Spanish language. I know a bit of German because of some knowledge of Dutch which has many similarities to the German language, so might be able to manage with Barcelona Hotels, but I think I would be most comfortable with the English version at Barcelona Hotels.
La Rambla, Barcelona
La Ramblam, a 1.2 kilometer-long tree-lined pedestrian mall and the hub of Barcelona, is also referred to as 'Les Rambles' (Catalan) and 'Las Ramblas' (Spanish) because it is actually a series of shorter streets. The mall is full of street theatre, cafés and market stalls. It is both popular with tourists as well as locals.
Photo of La Rambla is property of Son of Groucho
For accommodation in this scenic mall, surf over to Ramblas Hotels.
3 Comments:
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