This is an itinerary I designed for a couple who wanted to get immersed in the heart of Spain while avoiding the usual tourist destinations. This was a little over two weeks, which I think is the minimum to do Spain justice. Even at that we only concentrated on perhaps one third of the country. Always bear in mind that there are 17 autonomous regions with their own distinct styles and sometimes languages. So it is essential to linger here and there, then come back again another day.
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My wife Ruth and I have visited virtually every nook and cranny of Spain over the last 45 years, and many times our friends ask me what our favorite part of Spain is. Sunny Andalucía, noble Toledo or Galicia with its hearty fishermen braving the turbulent Atlantic Ocean – which is my favorite? It would [...]
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We have a young houseguest, Ibon, who is a 16 year old student from the Basque Country. So this year the Fourth of July was an extra special day for us because of his visit. During his brief stay with us, he hopes to brush up on his English (he already speaks Basque, Spanish and [...]
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I have posted this itinerary in conjunction with my June 2011 Reflection posted on this blog and on www.latienda.com, which details this unique expression of piety and music in Cuenca — with the hope that you might be tempted to choose this wonderful experience in the future. Pictures of the Semana Santa processions can be [...]
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The roll of more than a hundred drummers disturbed the calm of the misty early hours of Good Friday. Ruth and I were standing in the Plaza Mayor of the hilltop city of Cuenca looking through the Roman arch and straining to see the heavy mahogany platform that inched its way up the narrow cobblestoned [...]
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Do you remember that classic radio commercial “Dr Pepper: So Misunderstood”? It brought a new generation of customers to enjoy one of the original soft drinks (it was even older than Coca Cola). Among marketing circles, the slogan is viewed as one on the most effective advertisements ever made to reintroduce a product. Most people [...]
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Salina San Vicente is the last remnant of a culture that stretches back three thousand years to a time when the Phoenicians plied the Mediterranean Sea, establishing settlements as far away as the Atlantic shores of Cádiz. Civilizations as old as Tartars, Phoenicians and later the Romans located small salt flats of about 60 acres [...]
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Last month I attended my grandchildren’s primary school for the Veteran’s Day exercise. Seated before me on the floor were a couple of hundred boys and girls happily chattering with one another, surrounded by us veterans: largely fathers and grandfathers who lined the gymnasium walls. On the stage, the fifth grade chorus presented a program [...]
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My family and I have traveled the byways of Spain over the years, and we take great pleasure in getting to know members of Spanish families whose livelihood is intimately linked with the earth. Whether they are churning milk from tended flocks, growing rice or peppers; pruning grape vines or olive trees, there is something [...]
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It is harvest time in the La Vera Valley, and as you read this, groups of farmers and their families are working with their neighbors to harvest ripe red peppers. They flourish along the banks of the Tiétar River as it winds its way through the mountains of Extremadura. These are not just any peppers: [...]
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