The World Heritage hilltop city of Toledo, our last stay during our trip to Spain, was long a capital: for the Visigoths, who succeeded the Romans; for the Umayyad Muslims who overran Spain; for the…
In brief: We located paintings by El Greco across Toledo, from its principal churches to the El Greco Museum. Toledo still hosts many paintings by El Greco, the Cretan artist who lived the second half…
In brief: The native son of Zaragoza, Goya could capture the light of the spirit and the dark of human failings. The works viewable within the city show that range. The artist Francisco José de…
In brief: It’s easy to busy oneself with the two millennia of history in the central city, from Mary's pillar to the Moors' outpost. It’s also ideal for just relaxing. The central city of Zaragoza…
In brief: Perhaps Gehry’s Guggenheim Museum pushed Bilbao into a new era, but our visit showed a city with so many old and new attractions. Bilbao was not the city we expected. We thought we…
In brief: Was it worth a long trip to see just a copy of famous paintings from tens of thousands of years ago? The experience, we found, proved well worth it. No one believed him.…
In brief: The remote pair of monasteries at the World Heritage sites of Suso and Yuso draw pilgrims en route to Santiago and Spaniards honoring their language's roots. Amid all the religious sites – and…
In brief: Neither Compostela pilgrims nor tourists would want to miss this World Heritage monument, still soaring in detail yet artfully enhanced since the 13th century. In 1221, pilgrims journeyed through Burgos in northwestern Spain,…
In brief: The sacred and the secular have always lived side by side in Salamanca. This post wanders along the secular side (university, courtly, and commercial life). Our other post about this delightful city honored…
In brief: The sacred and the secular have always lived side by side in Salamanca. This post honors the first, the grand churches and monastic centers. Our other post wanders along the secular side (university,…