A (Virtual) Trip Through Spain

My wife, Anne, and I love travel, especially international travel. Our income being what it is, much of the travel we do is only in our dreams...

Today Anne handed me an article from the Lindenwood Legacy, their student publication, in which Andrew Tessmer describes his whirlwind trip with other students across the Iberian Peninsula and across the Mediterranean to Morocco. She asked me to plan an itinerary for us using his trip as a template.

The trip begins in Madrid. The capital of Spain since 1562, Madrid is located at the geographic center of the Iberian Peninsula. Because of its central location and high altitude, its climate is characterized by warm dry summers and cool winters. Madrid is a city of great monuments and cultural attractions, including a medieval center dating back to the Habsburg Empire and the Prado Museum, but Madrid is also a lively metropolis of nearly 3 million people, offering many pubs, cafes, discotheques and nightclubs open late into the night.

Next, the trip takes us to the Alcázar, a castle near Segovia. Originally a fortress, the Alcázar has also been a royal palace, the site of Philip II's wedding to his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, and more recently a military academy. In the upper part of the city, the oldest foundations have been identified as Roman. At the top of its look-out tower, visitors can see far across the entire peninsula.

From ancient residence to modern means of transportation, the trip now takes place via the Talgo, a high-speed train. At speeds up to 200 mph, the trip reaches the Costa del Sol on the Mediterranean. Our trip lingers in the town of Malaga, which has more to offer than just seaside and sunshine! It was founded by the Phoenicians, and was of great importance in the Moorish epoch, and so highly interesting historical remains are left in the town itself as well as in the surrounding province.

Next, the trip we imagine boards a high-speed ferry from Algeciras to Ceuta in North Africa via Acciona Trasmediterránea. The fast ferry takes approximately 40 minutes to make the crossing.

Ceuta is an enclave in mainland Morocco, administered by the Cádiz Province. It is one of two remaining fragments of long-established Spanish presence in North Africa.

Sounds like a fascinating, pleasant trip. Maybe one day we will make it in reality!