Spanish Food Words with Arabic Origins
When the Moors arrived in Spain in 711 C.E. they brought with them advanced agricultural methods in addition to introducing many new crops including sugar cane, rice, ginger and saffron […]
Category Archives: Spain
San Miguel Market, Madrid’s ‘Gastronomic Temple’
According to esmadrid.com “the Mercado de San Miguel is the city’s gastronomic temple, the contemporary essence of all the corners of Spanish cuisine.” Opened in May 1916 as a food market, this centenary […]
Toledo es El Greco, El Greco es Toledo
The first time I arrived in Toledo, the bus dropped us at the road below the city and we began a long magical trudge upwards through the winding medieval streets […]
Castillo de Curiel in Spain, Spending the Night in a Renovated Medieval Castle
October 15, 2014. It never stopped raining that day so we headed straight for our destination that night, the Castillo de Curiel, a renovated medieval castle that had been converted […]
Clunia, an Extensive Roman Ruin in Spain
October 15, 2014, morning. CLUNIA, A ROMAN RUIN We started our soggy day by heading to Clunia, a Roman ruin that had existed as a town for several hundred years […]
Valvanera, an 11th Century Monastery in La Rioja, Spain (& the Journey There)
October 14, 2014. On our drive through the province of La Rioja in Spain we spotted this unusual rock formation in the village of Anguiano. We were on our way from […]
Mansilla de la Sierra, a Drowned Village in La Rioja, Spain (plus Lunch)
I love taking backroads – somehow I find them more interesting than the ‘big’ sights of an area. On the way to Mansilla de la Sierra we were frequently stopped […]
Nájera with Its 11th Century Monastery in La Rioja, Spain
The Monasterio de Santa María la Real is an extremely photogenic monastery in the town of Nájera, Spain. Built in the 11 century, its slightly bland exterior belies the many […]
Necropolis de Revenga near Quintanar de la Sierra, Spain
Imagine discovering an early Christian settlement with hundreds of empty tombs carved into the rocks! The necropolis was called Cuyocabras in our book (Backroads of Spain) but we got quite […]
Off the Beaten Path
In this day of the internet and bucket lists is there any place left in the world that can be described as ‘Off the Beaten Path’? Certainly back in the […]
