Unsure about how to proceed, and knowing that walking up and down Lisbon’s steep streets would prove a bit too arduous for our aging legs, we asked the employees behind the Lisboa Carmo Hotel desk for advice. And they suggested taking a Tuk-tuk tour.
On the morning of Nov. 1, 1755, a major earthquake hit the Iberian Peninsula and nearly leveled Portugal's capital city, Lisbon. Rising from that disaster, today's Lisbon is one of Europe's more scenic capital centers.
Last week some out-of-town guests from the East Coast came to visit. Since they wanted to get a feel for this part of the Pacific Northwest, we took to the road.
I don’t possess that much of a poetic soul that I felt anything like Stendhal's “palpitations of the heart” while journeying through Sevilla's ancient royal palace, the Real Alcazar. But I did feel overwhelmed by the maze of buildings, stairwells, intricately crafted walls and balconies, not to mention the attendant gardens.
From the seats of our double-decker bus, we were able to tour both sides of Sevilla's Guadalquivir River, famous for being Spain’s only navigable river and where Magellan started his 1519 trip around the world.
The Nerja Cave, which sits on Spain's Costa del Sol, features a 45-minute walk along stone pathways and wooden stairs that brings visitors up close and personal with any number of majestic rock formations.
When abroad, my wife Mary Pat Treuthart and I travel mostly by train. But Mary Pat would much prefer that I drive. And I did so recently as we continued our trip through southern Spain.
Enjoy the ongoing adventures of Leslie Kelly and John Nelson as they experience all the cool things the West has to offer, from wineries to restaurants. In the process they’ll try out different vehicles and give you fun tips to plan your own cool travel journeys. Just for fun, there's additional travel info from Dan Webster.