Porto City Map Except for port wine, I’d barely heard of Porto and it was not on my radar until Myrna Cohen, my travel agent, suggested that John and I fly home from Porto and drop the car off there. We’re very glad she did because Porto, as we would learn, is...
Iberian Odyssey Oct. 4 – 16, 2019: Spain – Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Malaga; Portugal – Faro, Lisbon, Porto
Iberian Odyssey 6: Lisbon – One of the Great Cities of the World
We drove from Faro to Lisbon, about 200 miles, much along the coast but more over very hilly terrain. Given that Portugal is about as big as Pennsylvania and has a population of 10.6 million, the ride took about six hours. It was worth every minute. I’d waited my...
Iberian Odyssey 5: Faro, Portugal: Sweet Seaside City That’s Easy to Fall in Love With
The drive from Malaga to Faro, Portugal, about 300 miles, was visually interesting and fun. I love driving along water features and this trip supplied plenty of opportunities. Faro, Portugal, has 64,000 people living in the city proper, and 118,000 metro-wide making...
Iberian Odyssey 4: Granada – Grand Jewel of Andalusia
Iberian Odyssey 4: Granada - Grand Jewel of Andalusia John and I boarded a Talgo Inter-City train at Atocha Station and cruised down to Granada in 3.5 hours, hitting speeds in excess of 170 mph. At first glance after emerging from the central station, Granada appeared...
Iberian Odyssey 3: Madrid – Spain’s Proud Capitol and World Class City
City map of Madrid Atocha Station is located in the heart of Madrid. We took the fast and comfortable Talgo Inter-City Train from autonomous Barcelona to the Spanish federal capital and disembarked at Atocha, Madrid’s main station....
Iberian Odyssey 2: Fabulous Barcelona, a City of Taste and Style
Barcelona’s population within its administrative boundaries is 1.7 million. The metro-wide population of the autonomous region of Catalonia ranges from 4.6 million to 5.5 million depending on which exurban population clusters are included. The nation of Spain...
Iberian Odyssey 1: Oct. 4 – 16, 2019 Tour of Spain – Barcelona, Madrid, Granada, Malaga. Portugal – Faro, Lisbon, and Porto
Introduction I had previously been to Spain fifty years ago and never to Portugal so it was time to revisit Iberia. During my 1969 visit with three friends to Spain, we enjoyed touring San Sebastian and Bilbao in the heavily Basque north, but disliked secret...