The Farthest Away From Home I've Ever Been

The final weeks in Spain were spent travelling through Andalucía, and after the intensity of Morocco arriving in Tarifa was relieving. We spent a couple of nights in Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Europe. The archaeology museum there looked at the Phoenicians that settled there over 3000 years ago. Ronda turned out to be one of the most beautiful cities we visited. We arrived towards the end of their Ronda Romántica festival, which saw the streets packed every night with many of the locals participating in nightly parades celebrating some part of Ronda’s history. However the most incredible part of Ronda was the scenery... In Córdoba we went to the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba, a beautiful grand mosque which was converted into a cathedral after the reconquista. On the first day in Grenada we went to the Catedral de Granada and adjoining Capilla Real de Grenada (the resting place of Isabella and Ferdinand). And before leaving we al...

Tangier was our first destination in Morocco. We stayed inside the medina, and it took a while to become accustomed to the hustle and bustle within the winding alleyways, and there are also a lot of scams to be wary of. The daily calls to prayer were another new experience. The American Litigation museum and Kasbah museum were both interesting to visit, and gave an insight into Moroccan history. Casablanca was the next destination. We took a guided tour of the Hassan II Mosque, the largest in Morocco and one of the largest in the world. The interior was stunning, and learning about its construction only made it more impressive. In Marrakech we stayed in the medina again, but compared to Tangier the medina was much more tolerable. We checked out the Bahia palace, which had beautiful cortyards and gardens. The coolest thing we did while in Morocco was a day trip from Marrakech over the Atlas Mountains to a trading city on the edge of the Sahara called Ait Ben Had...

After Portugal we spent a couple of weeks back in Spain. We spent a couple days in Huelva, and visited the Museo de Huelva which had a cool collection of archeology and art. Seville was amazing. A beautiful city with lots of gardens and incredible sites to visit. On the first day we went to the enormous Catedral de Sevilla, the largest Cathedral in the world. The following days we checked out the Museo de Balles Artes, a fine arts museum with a focus on painters from Seville, and the Fundación Focus Abengoa, a museum built inside of a 16th century hospital/mansion. The Plaza de España was awesome. Surrounded by a moat like goldfish pond with government offices and museums, and behind it the Parque de Maria Luisa. Finally in Seville was Real Alcázar de Sevilla. The buildings have been renovated and added to for over a thousand years, and numerous cultures and architectural styles have left their marks. It has also been used as a film set for parts of Dorne in Game of ...

On the first day in Lisbon we went to a lookout called Belvedere of Our Lady of the Hill, and from there we could see an old ruin on a hill so we wandered over to it. The ruin was called the Castelo de S. Jorge, and had it all the cool things you could hope to find in a castle/forte. The next day we went out to see the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, a monument to the age of discovery. Nearby is the Jerónimos Monastery, which houses the Archeology Museum and Maritime Museum. The Archeology Museum had two major exhibitions, the first was on the early civilisations that lived in the region, and had objects that could be touched and picked up which was exciting. The second exhibit was Ancient Egypt, complete with mummy’s and sarcophagus. The Maritime Museum had hundreds of scale models of ships of numerous purposes, from early Caravels and fishing ships to modern battleships. They also had a collection of retired boats and sea planes. Other places we visited during the we...

Into Portugal! We spent a few days in Porto, getting to grips with the Portuguese atmosphere, and checking out various museums, cafes/restaurants and parks/plazas. Central Porto is incredibly beautiful and scenic. On the first day we climbed up an old church spite called Torre dos Clérigos, which looked down onto the surrounding city, with the Atlantic Ocean off in the distance. We checked out the Portuguese Centre of Photography, which is a gallery and museum set in an old prison, and close by is a famous book store called Livraria Lello, and claims to be a source of inspiration for J. K. Rowling when writing Harry Potter. The Soares dos Reis National Museum featured classical paintings and sculptures by Portuguese artists, with a nice courtyard in the centre of the building. After spending the first part of the day there we went to the nearby Garden of the Crystal Palace, and checked out the Museo Romantico, a house museum formerly lived in by Carlos Alberto of Savoy, ...