Traveling Rockhopper

Where are the most beautiful windmills?
Of course, in Spain. 😉
Excuse me, but as a big fan of Don Quixote, I have to write it. 😀

Toledo is a lovely historic city in Castilla La Mancha. Definitely, my favorite city in Spain. 🙂 Just, could be slightly less touristic in summer… 😉

Spain has plenty of great places.
My favorite is Toledo with its vicinity.
Toledo town is great for tourists, but together with nearby gems, it’s just my number 1. 🙂

To continue with Madrid, my two favorite places are:
-El Retiro Park (with Crystal Palace)
-Plaza de Espana (with Don Quixote)

What’s your favorite place in Madrid?

In Madrid, as usually in capitals, you can find lots of attractions.
To be honest, it’s not my favorite city in Spain, but even there I found a few nice places (tomorrow I will show you one of them). Anyway, what I can recommend in Madrid, visit museums! There are many great museums in Madrid, definitely worth visiting even in a sunny day!

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain.
It’s kind of obvious, however, I’m not so surprised hearing that someone thinks that Barcelona is the capital of Spain. At the end, Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia and very famous tourist destination.

Everyone knows at least one famous Spanish artist; e.g., Picasso, Goya, Dali, El Greco, etc.
There are quite many of them!

If you like “Don Quixote”, you have to go Spain!
If you don’t like this novel (or just don’t care), still keep it in mind while visiting Spain. There are some wonderful sites connected with Don Quixote!

Do you know “Don Quixote” – the famous novel of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes?

At some point, I liked it a lot. It’s not exactly the case, but for me it was like a synonym of “follow your dreams and be happy”. 🙂

p.s. Don Quixote will appear in a few of my posts in December; at this moment, let’s keep it short. 😉

Siesta (an afternoon nap) is not only a Spanish thing, it exists in many countries.
Do you like an idea of siesta, or do you practice it?

I used to think, it’s kind of waste of time, but maybe with age I’m changing my mind. 😉

Agriculture is a huge business in Spain.
When you’re in Spain, you can easily get fresh, delicious fruits and vegetables.
But Spanish fruits and vegetables that are in shops in other (colder) European countries are not considered as the good quality products. Definitely, something should be changed in this approach…

There are many dry areas in Spain. When you visit e.g., Madrid in summer, you’ll see lots of warnings to not waste water.
Other important thing, when it’s hot and dry, it’s also easy to start a fire…

Spain in general is known as a warm, sunny country. For sure, it’s warmer than many European countries. But even in Spain you can find colder areas, even with snow (e.g., Pyrenees).

Today, something for people who, like me, don’t speak Spanish. 😉
When you go to Span or Argentina and you try to ask for directions, it’s good to learn a few rules from Spanish pronunciation; e.g., Spanish “J” is pronounced like “H”. Check some basics before traveling, it may be very useful. 🙂

Spanish is the official language in Spain, but not the only language spoken in the Kingdom of Spain.

Can you speak Spanish?
If yes, you can easily visit South and Central America; well, Portuguese is more useful in Brazil, however it’s still more convenient there to know Spanish than English.

What comes to your mind when you think about Spain?
Tapas, sangria or wine, flamenco, football, corrida or maybe famous Spanish actors, singers or football players? Well, there is much more! What would be your first choice?

Welcome in December!
This month on my blog is going to be about Spain.
It’s a large country and actually very diverse!
I’ll show you some of the places I’ve visited (not always the main tourist attractions).
Hopefully, you’ll like my choices. 🙂

p.s. This time, I’ll not show you any of Spanish islands.

Today, I’m showing you the last picture from the Philippines.
How did you like my travel impressions in November?

The Philippines are beautiful and diverse island country.
You’ll find there many lovely places.
I fell in love with Bohol Island with its Chocolate Hills (and it’s not only because of the “sweet” name 😉 ). So if you go to the Philippines, visit Bohol!

Have you been to the Philippines? What’s your favorite place there?

To get to the rim of Taal Volcano, you can hike or take a horse. When I saw small horses on the island, I didn’t feel like riding them; I decided to hike and it was a good choice. The hike is not difficult, just be aware of heat (take enough water) and a characteristic smell (it’s an active volcano).

Before starting a hike, you’ll have to cross the lake using this interesting canoe (see picture).
Lot’s of fun. 😉

If you have one free day in Manila, visit the site with Taal volcano (volcanoes and lakes).
Taal Volcano is the smallest active volcano in the world (311 meters tall), located about 50 km from Manila.