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| Salamanca, Spain...…...Where it all began! |
Beth has spent a little bit of time in Portugal with her mom and sister Debbie on one of their "old lady" adventures. It will be my first visit to mainland Portugal. We spent some time last year on Terceira, which is one of the islands that makes up the Azores, and Madeira Island. Both of which are a part of Portugal. We're looking forward to exploring a few places in this country of around ten million people.
Size wise, Portugal is one of smaller European countries (19th). It's bordered on the west and south by the Atlantic Ocean and on the north and east by Spain. It's a country that has been getting a lot of attention in recent years as it has continued to develop it's tourism industry, especially in the capital city of Lisbon and along it's 1,115 miles of coast line.
We'll be spending time in Porto. which is a coastal town in the northern part of the country. It's the second largest city in Portugal known not only for it's close proximity to nice beaches but also for it's narrow cobblestone streets, numerous bridges and architecture. Oh yeah, it's also known for it's port wine!
Porto
After Porto, we'll be taking a train to Estoril, which is located on the Portuguese Riviera. Then we will be heading over to Lisbon for a few days in what is the countries capital and largest city.
Estoril
Lisbon
From Lisbon we'll be taking an overnight train to Salamanca, Spain which I guess it's fair to say is where our passion for travel began. In 1979 a group of around 12 young people from Polk County, Florida ventured across the Atlantic Ocean to spend the summer in a study abroad program. Most of these ambitious young students were graduates of Mulberry High School. Beth and I happened to be two of these students. Other than a few short cruises to the Bahamas it was our first trip out of the country. We were already dating so we had been bitten by the "love bug" and I guess it's where we were bitten by the "travel bug"! Thirty seven years together now and over eighty countries visited, I guess we were bitten pretty hard.
We're looking forward to exploring the area around the University of Salamanca, which is where we made a feeble attempt to learn Spanish, as well as the Plaza Mayor which is where we spent most evenings. We'll be there a couple of months shy of forty years from the time of our first visit, I'm sure that just like us, it hasn't changed much!
Salamanca
We'll finish up this three week adventure in Madrid. We've passed through the Madrid airport a number of times through the years but it's been forty years since we've spent any time in the city. It's time to get year number four of this Traveling Idiots adventure underway.
Madrid
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| No, it's not James, but it is one of the funniest pictures I've seen in a while. I'll bet that will make the other team think twice before sliding into second base! |
