To Valencia We spent a good part of Christmas Day on the train traveling from Figueres to Valencia. We had not planned on visiting Valencia, however we changed our plans because of bad weather; i.e. snow, lots of snow in Madrid and flooding in Seville. The weather forecast was for sunshine along the Mediterranean coast and thus our plans changed. We arrived mid-afternoon, walked down the street and found a nice hotel ... it called itself both a hotel and a hostel. It turned out to be the nicest hotel we stayed in in Spain. The hotel employees were very friendly and helpful, the amenities such as a lovely bathroom, good breakfast, etc. were all top notch. Also it was near the train station. I thought it was pretty neat eating Valencia oranges at breakfast ... read more

We were simply amazed Girona didn't live up to our expectations, it was far above our expectations, it left our expectations in the dust! In the words of the modern phrase, "It blew us away." Shock and awe Perhaps shock is too strong a word, but we walked around the ancient streets in awe of what we saw. One section of town looks as if it has not changed in 500 years. Narrow streets, narrower alleyways, stone streets and buildings greeted us. Add a city wall, yes a city wall, where we walked and walked and walked. This is the third city wall we have been able to walk on in our travels. The first was in Xi'an, China, the second was Rothenberg in Germany and now Girona in Spain. We have seen portions of city ... read more

Figueres is the birth place of Salvador Dali. Figueres, Spain is very close to the French-Spanish boarder. Its primary claim to fame is it is the birth place of the artist, Salvador Dali. If you know anything about Dali, you know that he was ... well different. He must have been a 'pistol' (American expression meaning a kid who is a lot of trouble to control. Who does the unexpected at all times.) when he was a kid in elementary and high school for he certainly was a very unusual person as an adult. The Dali Museum is located in a building that replaced the building of the former Municipal Theatre. The Theatre was built in the 19th century and was destroyed at the end of the Spanish Civil War. Here Dali had a new surrealistic ... read more

It is BIG The Milan train station is big ... it is still a wind tunnel as, like Zurich, there are no doors to close out the cold air, but it is big. In the main terminal there are at least three or four floors. Most house shops and restaurants. In fact, one of the restaurants and a book store were the two places where we retreated to find warmth. Also, a note for future travelers, the rest room (WC) in the restaurant is FREE whereas the ones in public areas cost and to my mind are expensive. While eating a snack in the restaurant a young Italian soldier came in and took a seat. Because of his uniform I believe he may be a student in one of their military schools. I looked at ... read more

We decide to find warmer climes In early December with Prague being continually covered by new snow and the temperature dropping to very cold levels, we sat talking one evening about the upcoming Christmas holidays. The seminary was going to be closed for several weeks and we could do whatever we wanted to do. I knew that Spain was a destination on Nancy's 'bucket' list. In fact, she was at that time reading Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving. "Why don't we visit Spain?," I asked. "It will be warmer in Spain than Prague." She readily agreed. "If we go, I want to visit Granada and the Alhambra." We like to travel by train and decided that instead of flying we would go by train if I could find good connections. It took some ... read more