Best of Spain

The Alhambra, Granada:
The Alhambra (literally "the red") is a true expression of the once flourishing Moorish civilization and is the finest example of its architecture in Spain. The Alhambra is an ancient palace and fortress complex of the Moorish monarchs of Granada, in southern Spain It was the residence of the Muslim kings of Granada and their court, but is currently a museum exhibiting exquisite Islamic architecture.

Modernisme, Barcelona:
At the end of XIX century, Barcelona was quaked by anarchism together with catalan nationalism. The catalan modernism movement aimed to gather every artistic skill and wanted to get out of the steady and leisurely historicism like other european Art Nouveau movements. It starts from the 1880 wiyh the painter Ramon Casas and the theoriser Cirici Pellicer.

Some of Spain’s more famous Architects are: Gaudi, Domenech i Montaner, Jujol, Puig y Cadafalch. The sculptural forms of Barcelona's modernista architects - most famously Gaudí – define the city's exuberant architectural heritage. Barcelone gathers more than 150 modernist buildings including the Sagrada Familia.

A night on the tiles, Madrid:
The traditional way to end a night of bar hopping and clubbing in Spain is to have a chocolate con churros (thick hot chocolate with deep-fried hoops of batter). Just what you need after a night on the tiles!

The Mezquita, Córdoba:
The Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Córdoba, Spain that was at one time the second largest mosque in the world. The Moslem emir Abderrahman I ordered construction of the temple in the year 785 on the ruins of the old Visigoth church of St. Vincent.

Cordoba's Mosque has a mixture of different architectural styles, that have occurred over the past nine centuries. Today the Mezquita as it is known can be visited throughout the year for 6 Euro entrance fee. The approach is via the Patio de los Naranjos, a classic Islamic ablutions courtyard which preserves both its orange trees and fountains.

Wine:
Spain's formidable variety of quality wines remain little known outside the country. The wines of Spain can be divided into several regions, each one very different from the rest. Better known are the quality reds from Rioja and Ribera del Duero, reds and whites from Penedés, fine whites from Rueda, "sherries" from Jerez, and a fine sparkling wine known as cava. Spain produces about 11 varieties that range from the generous dry wines, through to the sparkling wines, the rose and the valuable gran reservas. There is a Spanish wine for every occasion and every type of meal.

Aqueduct, Segovia
The Aqueduct of Segovia is one of the most significant and best-preserved monuments left by the Romans on the Iberian Peninsula.The Roman aqueduct of Segovia, probably built c. A.D. 50, is remarkably well preserved. These feats elevates this construction as a masterpiece of engineering of which 20,400 stone blocks are not united by mortar nor concrete.

The Roman aqueduct bridge of Segovia is about 2950 feet long although the section where the arches are divided in two levels is about 900 feet. The workings of the Segovia Aqueduct extend for 14 kilometers under an urban complex that was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

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Spain Travel Guide

Spain is more than bullfights, flamenco dancers and crowded beaches. It's a spectacular and diverse country, the north resembling the rolling, green hills of Ireland and the south giving you a taste of Moroccan landscapes and architecture. Its tremendous history is reflected in its prehistoric cave paintings, Moorish palaces, crumbling castles, Roman ruins, Gothic and Renaissance cathedrals as well as some very distinctive modern architecture. The uniqueness of Spain lies in the separate kingdoms which made up the original Spanish nation. These regions remain diverse in their language, culture, cuisine and art. They include: Andalucía, Aragon, Asturias, Basque Country, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla La Mancha, Castilla León, Catalonia, Extremadura, Galicia, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarra and Valencia. Areas of interest are not limited to each region.
Where to go and what to see in Spain?
As I have traveled more extensively through Spain it has become only more difficult to answer this question.
I have always been impressed with the south of Spain (Andalusia), the Arab influence on architecture there are breath taking.
During our 2006 trip, I was very impressed with the Basque Region, amazing food, mountains, ocean beaches and hill top walled villages (like Laguardia) can be found within its borders.
The north and east of Spain has its own special appeal. The north, central and north east of Spain, in the areas of Castile and Aragon are where the "Catholic Monarchs", Isabel the 1st and Fernando the 2nd of Aragon, ruled and engaged in the "Reconquest of Spain".
The east of Spain holds the modernistic architecture of Barcelona, the ultra modern architecture of Valencia and the upcoming community of Zaragoza, not to mention numerous walled cities that retain much of their middle age character.

The links to the left, and the click able Spain map, will help you decide on where to go. The region links, Basque County, Castile, etc. are not that useful at the moment, I am most happy with the Andalusia region page.

Links for travel tips and other useful travel information are at the top of the page. I try to keep most commercial resource links to the right side of the web page. But, when I have personally experience a travel resource or acquire extensive information on a commercial resource, it may be included in the useful information links at the top of the page. I hope to get all the navigation links in this guide updating during 2007.

With the guides my primary intent is to answer the question; why visit this place? For traveler details like, opening times of attractions. I strongly recommend a good guide book on Spain (or use my recommended Spain Travel Agent to plan your trip).

My top recommendation for touring Spain is, do not be in a rush.

Spain is best experienced slowly and as much as possible, try to match your activity to the life rhythms of the natives. Take time to linger at an outside cafe and do a little people watching. Buy some wine, cheese, bread and fruit, have a picnic while watching the sunset; even better watch the sun set with a mountain and/or Mediterranean view. Spend multiple nights at hotels and limit your transportation time as much as possible.

While communities vary somewhat, usually lunch is served from 2 - 4:00 PM and for supper, restaurants open, at the earliest, at 8:30 PM. Many Spaniards will not even start supper until 10:00 PM. Look at What to Eat in Spain for some additional tips on dinning in Spain.

Shopping hours, with some variation, run from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, reopening around 5 PM to then close at 8 PM. Large department stores usually stay open over the lunch period. Most shops will be closed on Sunday.

I find it best to get to the tourist sites in the morning and leaving the shopping to the evening, my wife on the other hand thinks mornings are an excellent time to shop.

Sweden in Brief / A nation of travelers

On the whole, the Swedes are extremely well-traveled. Travel by charter tour packages took off in earnest during the 1950s, first to Mallorca and later the Canary Islands (Spain). Today travel has expanded to the point where it has become common among Swedish young people to make round-the-world trips and for Swedish middle-class families to travel as far as Thailand on their winter vacations. Heavy travel is an important explanation for the Swedish people's high degree of internationalization and good knowledge of English and other languages.

A significantly more recent phenomenon is that travel into and out of Sweden is well on its way toward reaching a balance. Foreign tourism in Sweden has increased dramatically in recent years. What can be called "nature tourism" still accounts for most such travel. Sweden's exceptional natural scenery and enormous tracts of untouched wilderness are a major attraction to the inhabitants of more densely populated parts of Europe and the world. People from around the globe travel to Lapland to experience the magnificent natural scenery and such exotic phenomena as the midnight sun, the aurora borealis (northern lights), Arctic chill and total silence. During the warmer half of the year, people mainly from other countries of Europe travel to all parts of Sweden to enjoy the luxury of peaceful solitude in a splendid natural setting.

However, the type of tourism in Sweden that has grown the fastest by far in recent years is big-city tourism. Stockholm has become a world attraction, luring tourists from all over the world with its unique mixture of natural beauty, cultural heritage and modern international urban culture, including its dynamic design, fashion, gastronomic, music, art and entertainment scenes. The country's second-largest city, Göteborg (Gothenburg), is a hub for maritime traffic on the North Sea and also has plenty to offer people in search of entertainment and cultural experiences. Since the opening of the Öresund Bridge, Sweden's third-largest city, Malmö, has joined the Danish capital of Copenhagen to form an exciting new cross-border metropolitan region.

Enjoy The Natural Beauty of Peru

PERU TRAVEL INFORMATION

Peru is located in the central part of the western coast of South America. It stretches across 1,285,215 square kilometers and has a population of some 23.5 million.

Peru's inhabitants are mostly of Andean stock in the highlands and mixed-blooded "mestizos" on the coast, blended in with a hefty influx of European blood, largely Spanish.

A country doted with a vast and varied geography, Peru features 28 types of climates and 84 of the 103 ecological zones existing on Earth.

Its territory is split into three natural regions running from north to south: the Coast narrow swathe of desert coastline, which is home to Lima and most of Peru's main cities; the Highlands, which feature breath-taking mountain landscapes and picturesque villages; and the exuberant Amazon jungle, teeming with a dizzying variety of animals and plantlife.
Lima , the Peruvian capital, was founded on January 18, 1535, by Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro. Dubbed the "City of Kings", Lima is today a vast metropolis which blends the splendor of its colonial past with the modern era.

Nestling on the banks of the Rimac River and on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, Lima is the seat of government and the country's most important institutions.

The 1993 Census showed Lima was home to approximately 7 million people, making it by far the country's largest city, bustling with more business and industrial activity than anywhere else in Peru.

Lima , a metropolis steeped in vice-regal airs, is the perfect starting point for travelers keen to get to know Peru, a country filled with myths and traditions that are as old as time, a nation doted with spectacular landscapes and imposing archaeological remains, which proof the grandeur of Peru's first inhabitants, the authentic architects of the pre-Hispanic cultures and the Andean civilization.ADVENTURE TRAVEL
IN PERU
Adventures, risks and emotions for paths scrabbled up heights. Walking, pedalling, riding, maybe ascending a mountain covered with perpetual snow or facing the rapids of a torrent river that runs between vertical walls.

Challenge, anger and honor... and the adrenaline overflows when flying over deep depressions, climbing rocks chiselled out by the beating of the wind or dominating the waves of a cagey sea that pretends to be still.

For its geography of unlikely mountain ranges, rivers of diabolical torrents, deserts of infinite appearance and suffocating forests, the Andean countries are ideal for the practice of those sports that they take man to the limit of his possibilities and allow him "to challenge" nature, in adventures that bury - although for a moment - the maddening tension of the cities.

The magic of the Andean world, is not only in the shades of its millennial culture, in the fabulous constructions of the prehispanic architects, in the incomparable beauty of its picturesque landscapes; but rather it also seduces with the charm of its coasts, magnificent for surfing and diving, its chains of mountains that tempt climbers form the whole planet and its belligerent torrents of water that don't tire of mistreating canoes and kayacs.
It was in the decade of the 80s when adventure sports began to be developed with more intensity in these lands. It was an authentic awakening , a discovery that the old paths were potential paths for the lovers of trekking and cycling to ascend to the summit of a mountain - sacred and protective guardians according to the inhabitants' beliefs of the Andes - it was excitingly an unequalable experience and that the abysses of the mountain range, could be crossed by fragile paragliders.

The cultores of trekking, rock climbing, diving, canoeing, kayak, off road, mountain bicycle, cavalcade, fishing, surfing, paragliding, hang-gliding, mountaineering and other adventure sports, would be able to breathe the winds of adrenaline in Peru, the mythical earth of the children of the Sun.

Be it on the coasts of the Pacific, in the mountain rumpled like paper about to be thrown in the trash or in the green labyrinth of the forest, there will always be an opportunity to practice a sport activity that will take one to the limit of emotion and frontier of risk. Prepare yourself to be part of this fantastic adventure and check the challenges, that are also part of the attractiveness of the Andean region.