Today we went to a café near the university to talk to a recent graduate. He is currently an architect. He had three years of high school, three years of university +2 more to get a masters. He then spent time apprenticing in his field until he can pass the exams to be a full-fledged… Read More Last day in Porto and last day of the tour.

In the morning, we took a public bus to where the Douro River meets the Atlantic Ocean. Even though it was a public bus, it was a double-decker, so we had really nice views on the way to the ocean. I was able to grab the front row seat on the top deck. Once there,… Read More Our first day in Porto

Sunrise from our hotel in Lamego in the Douro Valley. We got on our bus at 9 o’clock in the morning for the two hour ride to Porto. Once in Porto, we met with our local guide who was a delightful woman who spoke incredible English. I wouldn’t actually call Porto a beautiful city, but… Read More On to Porto,the last stop on this tour.

We got up early today to do two major activities, one was a boat ride on the Douro River and the other was visiting a vineyard. Here are the pictures from the boat ride. Some beautiful tile work at the railroad station depicting the Douro Valley. I next stop was a vineyard. There are over… Read More Our Day in the Douro Valley

Our destination for the day is Lamego, Portugal, in the Douro Valley. Our first stop in route to Portugal was Ponte de Lima where we were supposed to walk part of the Portuguese El Camino. Unfortunately, it was raining so we shortened our walk. We did get to cross a very old bridge. Ponte de… Read More On to Portugal

On the way to Santiago de Compostela, I came down with a bad cold and spent our first day here in bed. Luckily, I was well enough to join the group on the second day. Our first stop Happiness Hill, known as Monte do Gozo, has a history tied to the Camino de Santiago since the Middle… Read More Sandiago de Compostela

Our first stop was in the town of Astorga which is the site of a battle between Spanish troops and Napoleon. It also has a cathedral and the bishop’s house was designed by Gaudi. The bishop’s house. The cathedral Our second stop was at Santa Columba de Somoza, a small village nestled in the historic… Read More Overland to Santiago de Compostela

Leon was originally founded as a Roman military base and has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site for it place in history as the first established location of a European Parliament. Our day in Leon was spent visiting a rural farm. The owner was quite passionate about her work and her animals. She owned… Read More Leon

Today we leave Basque Country as we head west across the north of Spain. We made one more stop in Basque Country at Ubidea where we visited an archeological laboratory. In my last post, I talked about Charlemagne’s lost battle. He lost many soldiers who were buried in a common site. That site over the… Read More Pamplona to Leon