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RUN WITH THE
BULLS IN PAMPLONA Hemingway made it famous. Thousands of others
have written about it. This tour takes us to the San Fermin Festival in Pamplona that runs July 7-14. I consider
this to be the most exciting festival in the world and I have seen most of the others including Carnival in Rio
and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. We will be staying in a castle. For the intrepid l will take you for a run with
the bulls.
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IN
PURSUIT OF DON QUIXOTE This is a tour for the literary buff to La Mancha
- "The Spot" - that forms the heart of Spain and is the land of Don Quixote. We will see the famous windmills
with which Spain's most memorable literary character tilted. We will visit Almagro, home of the oldest continually
operating theater in Europe. On to Valedpenas for a visit to one of Spain's largest wineries - imagine seeing
ten huge tanks each holding one million bottles of wine and yes, we will sample the product. We then stop in Toledo,
the former capital of Spain and a whole town declared a national historic site.
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LAND OF
THE CONQUISTADORES Is history your subject? We head west to
Extremadura, the harsh land from where came most of the famous Spanish explorers who opened the Americas to the world.
We first stop at the unforgetable Monastery of Guadalupe. Then to Trujillo, the home of Pizzaro (photo above) who
conquored the Inca Empire. Next to Merida the capital of the Ancient Roman province of Lusitania and the site of the
finest Roman ruins in Spain. En route back to Madrid we stop for an overnight at a castle in Oropesa that commands a
wide vista of this part of Spain.
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THE PILGRIMAGE
TO SANTIAGO One of the three great Christian pilgrimages was,
and is, the one to Santiago de Compostela where legend holds that St James the Apostle is buried. We retrace the route
taken by thousands of pilgrims in the Middle Ages from France through Pamplona, Burgos, and Leon to the Cathedral in
Santiago de Compostela. Along the way we will see the stained glass windows in the Cathedral of Leon that
are considerd by many to the be the finest collection in the world.
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MALLORCA
What more can I say, this beautiful island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea (the "Middle Sea") has
been a major tourist destination for over 2000 years. I have owned a home there for over 35 years and will show you all the
best the island has to offer. We will visit its capital Palma which boasts the largest yacht harbor in the world and the summer
home of the King of Spain. We will travel what has been called the most scenic road in Europe to the lighthouse at Formentor.
We will see the monastery at Valdemosa made famous by George Sand and Chopin. We will visit the remains of a 6000 year old
village. We will explore the Medieval streets of an ancient town. And more.
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PICOS DE EUROPA Not generally understood is that Spain is a country of mountains. As I always
say, one is always driving up or down. And the most spectacular mountains in Spain are the "Picos de Europa"
or "Peaks of Europe" that form the backbone of the north coast of Spain. I consider this area to have the
impressive scenary in all Spain. We will explore the mountains by 4x4 SUVs and see the magnificent coast where the mountains
fall to the sea. We will also make a stop in Bilbao to see its world famous Guggenheim Museum.
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