SPAIN several travels

I have visited this beautiful country several times over the last 40 years. The first time on a group trip with Avventure nel Mondo, a Spartan Roman travel agency that uses public transport, small hotels and restaurants to have more direct contact with the country visited. But that time, after landing in Madrid by plane, we took two rental cars, they were enough because we were a small group and the group leader was a somewhat brusque but good Roman and he had returned above all to take good photographs of the Alcazar castle of Segovia. In fact, more than Madrid, I was struck by three nearby historic locations: el Escorial, an enormous 16th century monastery where many Spanish kings are buried, including Emperor Charles V. Then Segovia with its Alcazar castle on a hill, it looks like a fairy castle with its typical bell towers, it was built during the Arab occupation, seat of monarchs, military academy and prison. The historic city north of Madrid is also home to an ancient aqueduct with 160 arches, a Plaza Mayor and a beautiful cathedral. We visited Madrid briefly which didn't make much of an impression on me. I remember the beautiful large Plaza Mayor, the rather ugly royal palace and the Gran Via which was the most important street in the centre. We couldn't visit the El Prado Museum because it was closed and it was definitely a shame. Coming down from Madrid we went to Toledo, the ancient historic capital city of the Castile-la Mancha province, famous for its Arab, Christian and Jewish monuments and for its steel blades. You immediately notice the Alcazar, an imposing fortress at the top of the hill that dominates the city and inside you can admire the beautiful cathedral and Zocodover square with a splendid period building. Then we headed towards Portugal passing through the Extremadura region which is famous for its cork trees. We arrived in Lisbon which we visited, then the south of Portallo, the very beautiful Algarve with its white towns and beautiful sandy beaches. At that time it was not yet invaded by concrete. In the end we returned to Spain to visit the main cities of beautiful Andalusia, not all of them, only Cordoba on the Guadalquivir and its Mosquita, a former Arab mosque which later became a Catholic church, Granada with its splendid Alambra, the Arab residence with its Patio of the Lions, its fountains and the beautiful panoramic view of the city and finally Seville with the beautiful Plaza of Spain and the Cathedral of Seville and the famous Giralda tower where the Arabs could climb in chariots. We were in the Easter period and we witnessed a procession right near the cathedral, I remember that some faithful were carrying heavy statues of the Madonna on their shoulders and walking barefoot. We went to a typical place to watch a flamenco show and of course we ate paella and drank sangria. In the 90s, however, I visited the Canary Islands several times, the first time Tenerife which I really liked with its volcano El Pico del Teide which is the highest mountain in Spain, and the beautiful cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Puerto de la Cruz with its swimming pools facing the sea which are not very accessible. I stayed in a large 4-star hotel with a huge swimming pool and close to the sea in the southern area and most frequented by tourists, Playa del las Americas which is barren but guarantees good weather while the north is rather rainy. The second visit was to Gran Canaria and I went there in February to attend its famous carnival made up mainly of masked people wearing enormous costumes with feathers and lots of colorful patterns. I rented an apartment in partnership with a physics professor from Lombardy who I had met at the airport and who turned out to be a total madman. He slept during the day and walked around at night bringing home stranger characters that wouldn't let me sleep. However, here too, as in Tenerife, I rented a car for little money and toured the whole island, at the top I even found snow and a less green landscape also made up of gullies. The most popular area is Playa de los Ingles which can be reached by crossing a vast sandy area of ​​dunes where I saw gay orgies! The third island was the beautiful and particular Lanzarote, all black and volcanic with caves, of which in one I attended a classical music concert with the orchestra positioned on a boat floating on the canal. I visited a cactus garden, saw the dwarf vine plants protected by low walls to avoid strong winds and stayed in the main resort with a decent beach, Playa del Carmen. Here too I rented a car and toured the island, discovering a panoramic point from which I could see a small lake below with green waters and in the distance the island of La Graciosa, barren and inhabited by a few fishermen. I also visited the beautiful Balearic Islands which have splendid sea and beaches with some of the most beautiful blue colors in the Mediterranean. The first trip was to Mallorca of which I remember above all the beautiful capital of Palma de Mallorca with a beautiful marina, the beautiful La Seu cathedral overlooking the sea, the royal palace of Almudaina, the castle of Bellverl, the famous Drach cave and then I went around the bars and cellars with the Saturday night nightlife in the company of a nice girl I met in a bar. Mallorca has gigantic hotel buildings frequented mainly by Germans. There are various coves and beaches including Alcudia and Formentor and two beautiful villages Valdemossa and Soller. Then it was the turn of Menorca in the company of my daughter and her mother. We stayed in a skyscraper hotel a stone's throw from the beach. Menorca is the quietest island suitable for family holidays. The capital is Mahon which stands on a cliff and has a characteristic port. The beauty of Menorca is due to its coves and beaches with very blue water, sometimes you have to walk a long way to reach them via paths. Then it was the turn of IBIZA, the fabulous island of discos, one evening I went to the most famous Pacha, I spent 25 euros for entry and drinks, a high sum for the time but around midnight the DJ arrived from London made us dance like possessed people. Ibiza Town is very pretty, with its white houses, it feels like being in Greece. There are many restaurants and boutiques because the hippies who arrived here in the 70s and who are still here even though they have aged have created a local fashion of very original clothes. There are inland villages where you go for the craft market and you see these hippies selling everything from necklaces to clothes to leather objects. Another location is San Antoni which was quite close to my hotel block. One evening I went and saw a group of young English people queuing up, I followed them and found myself inside a nightclub where they were celebrating a friend of theirs. I crashed and attended the party, I was even a protagonist, but I will tell this episode in another post. Of course Ibiza also has its delightful coves and beaches and then the larger one of Playa d'en Bossa with the most famous nightclubs next to it now the beach clubs Ushuaia, SWAG and HI but at the time of my visit there were others, one started in the morning , another was famous for dancing in the soap foam that fell from above, they are located ten minutes from the city of Ibiza and unfortunately close to the airport, so every twenty minutes you are disturbed by a plane taking off or landing . A beach that I usually frequented was that of Salinas, close to the salt pans, with beautiful white sand and beautiful blue waters, behind which there are dunes and bushes where everything could happen! One day I took a boat trip to Formentera and rented a bicycle, arriving at the lighthouse and then stopping to swim near the salt pans, there are lagoons of sand and water with wonderful colours. Of course Formentera is also famous for parties, beach clubs and discos but I didn't have the opportunity to experience them. I made two more trips to Spain, both to Barcelona, ​​I went back a second time because I liked the first one and then I went to Sitge which is a pretty good seaside town but I discovered that it was almost entirely dedicated to gays. Barcelona is one of my favorite European cities. First of all it is beautiful as a city and then it has a party atmosphere that few cities have. I stayed in a small hotel on a side street of the Ramblas (famous central pedestrian avenue with many shops, bars and also beautiful buildings). The problem was that I couldn't sleep because there was noise in the street all night even though it was a side street. I visited the main attractions of Barcelona including the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral which was still under construction and was recently finished. Work of the famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudì who left other famous works such as the beautiful Park Guell, Casa Batlò, Casa Milà. Its peculiarity is the use of different materials, including rough ones, and the colorful colours. The Batlò house disputes the Apple of Discord with two other nearby houses as the three rich owners each hired a great architect to have the most beautiful and richest house. Finally, another treasure of Barcelona is the Gothic Quarter, the most impressive medieval district in Europe with narrow streets that host bars, restaurants and cafes which are very popular in the evening as well as the La Seu cathedral, the Placa Reaial which borders the Ramblas and is a meeting point and to the Picasso museum and Placa del Rei with the royal palace. At the end of the Ramblas there is the Port Vell with the monument to Christopher Columbus, the Rambla del Mar with Maremagnum, a famous shopping center which also hosts nightclubs and the Barcelona aquarium. I hope I remembered everything. On the occasion of the trip with my ex-partner to Portugal and Andalusia, we went to visit other cities that I had not yet known. In particular Jerz de la Frontera of which I remember the Tio Pepe cherry factory which we visited for tastings. In those parts we visited or rather slept only in Algeciras, a large container port that trades a lot with neighboring Morocco and is inhabited by many Arabs. Then we went to see Gibraltar which is English territory but is geographically located in Spain. There is the airport before the entrance with the pole like the one for trains, the lower part is a normal city with lots of shops, then further up the mountain with the monkeys that we didn't go to see. Cadiz of which I remember the Genoves green park with fountains, flowerbeds, exotic plants, cypress paths and even a waterfall. Tarifa with its huge, very windy beach where surfers come from all over Europe and others who take the boat hoping to encounter a whale. My ex-partner went there, spent a lot of money, saw nothing, got seasick and came back all wet, while I enjoyed the beautiful beach of Tarifa. Malaga, another of the major cities of Andalusia, truly unique and interesting not only for the Picasso Museum but also for the Gibralfaro castle and the Alcazaba, with imposing walls on the hill overlooking the city center, the Roman theater and the cathedral. We appreciated the wines in a cellar with many barrels behind the counter with the name and year of the wines on offer. From Malaga we made two interesting excursions, one to the nearby town of Torremolinos, a destination for seaside holidays as it has a beautiful beach but unfortunately it is besieged by too many buildings with endless hotels and tourist facilities and we were out of season. The other most interesting was the city of Ronda in the interior. The city founded by the Arabs, not far from Marbella (a well-known seaside tourist resort) which we skipped, is divided in two by a deep canyon which is crossed by a high bridge. There are lots of small private museums and it has an impressive bullring.