The Grand Tour: Part 10 — Fires at Night

A Coruña, Spain — The Bonfires of San Xoån (or Hogueras de San Juan in Spanish) is a big deal — a really big deal. Held every year on the night of June 23, it is one of the biggest festivals of the year. It coincides with the summer solstice, another example of a pagan festival …

The Grand Tour: Part 9 — Stamp Your Feet

SEVILLE, Spain — While in Seville we ventured out for some Spanish theater. We know going in that we would not understand everything — or even anything — but we wanted to give it a shot. Fortunately, the first show we saw did not need translating. It was a performance that fused classical flamenco, modern dance and …

The Grand Tour: Part 8 — The Pilgrim’s Progress

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Galicia — El Camino de Santiago is probably the most famous European pilgrimage. People travel from all points across Europe — indeed, from across the world — to the cathedral in Santiago, Spain, to see the tomb of St. James. Thousands take on the task of walking the real camino from St. …

The Grand Tour — Part 7: The End of the World

FISTERRA, Galicia — Back in the late 1970s, I remember Elvis Costello's first album, "My Aim is True," which I bought as soon as it came out. One of my favorite tracks was "Waiting for the End of the World," which is a perennial whistling favorite. I don't have to wait any longer, as I …

The Grand Tour: Part 6 — The legend of Pedra da Serpe

CORME-Porto, Spain — The Pedra da Serpe, or Serpent Rock, is located on the outskirts of Corme, on the road to Gondomil. It should be noted that the towns on Galicia's Costa da Morte are closely bunched, often with barely enough time to get the car into fifth gear before having to slow down for …

The Grand Tour: Part 5 — Styles of Seville

SEVILLE, Spain — "You are so lucky with the weather." We must have heard that a 100 times during our time in Seville. We had been warned that temperatures would be in the 90s at this time of the year, and as Seville is a "walking town," we were warned. As it turned out, an …

The Grand Tour: Part 4 — The natives Are Friendly

One of our favorite places to hang out when we are not on the road is Charlot. The cafe's food is good, the ambience is good and, most importantly, they have WiFi. Another selling point is Sabela Corral Álvarez. Who? Sabela is our waitress almost every day. She always has an encouraging word when I …

The Grand Tour: Part 3 — Stick shift? Um, OK.

CORME-PORTO, Spain — Driving a manual car for the first time in 20 years is interesting. We rented a nice little Peugot that we picked up at the airport in A Coruña from a girl who spoke no English, so our tutorial consisted of thrusting a piece of paper our way with the parking spot where …

The Grand Tour: Part 2 — The Coast of Death

CORME-PORTO, Spain — The Costa da Morte is located on the tip of the Northwest part of Spain, in the region of Galicia. It is known as Fisterra (Galician, Finisterra in Spanish), meaning land's end, or the end of the world. It has a rugged coastline with rocks guarding the various bays and inlets. Corme-Porto …

The Grand Tour: Part 1 — llegamos a Galicia

CORME-PORTO, Spain — The bad thing about being in Europe is not having ready access to Internet. Sure, that's not exactly a problem, and if that is the toughest part of this trip, I will live with it. It does mean that my blog posting will be sporadic, but let's be honest, if I am …