Two of my lady friends and I took a Globus 9-day Spain and Portugal tour last December.  I knew soccer is its national sport and there are some world famous soccer stars from Spain.  My recent watch of the TV series The Spanish Princess (Catherine of Aragon) made me realizes Spain was powerful around the 15^th century.  Now after the tour when I think of Spain, I think of café where you can always find amazingly good coffee and pastry; I think of Monserrat the Monastery built on the mountain at 4000 feet above sea level is so mystical and so out of the ordinary; I think of Toledo a well preserved 13^th century medieval city where Jewish, Islamic and Christian cultures co-existed; I think of Flamenco dance so passionate and so exciting; I think of Don Quixote’sMan of La Mancha such an impactful story about adventure and dream.

Barcelona, I love the charming streets and shops, wonderful café everywhere, glitz plazas and of course the memorable Gaudi’s masterpiece SAGRADA FAMILIA BASILICA.

Seville, when we were there it rained heavily so we didn’t see much at all.

Madrid, Spain’s capital since 1561, I like the rustic Catalonian and Aragonian landscapes.

Cordoba, I like a Roman bridge and a magnificent 8^th century Mosque there.

Our last stop was Portugal.  It was a short 1.5 day at Lisbon.  I like the harbor, Mad Mary’s Palace and the picturesque southern-most point of Europe.  If you like me who am crazy about palace, you will definitely love Mad Mary’s Palace.  I took a lot of pictures there, I can write a blog on it alone.

With rich history and vast land, Spain has so much to explore.  We only saw a very small portion of Spain.

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