Spain is awesome. Let's start with that. Pretty much anywhere you go will be amazing, based on my experience. But for most Americans, a trip to Spain is to Barcelona or Madrid. Both cities are wonderful - check out my Madrid guide here and tune in later for some rad Barcelona content - but they…
One of the things I was excited for on my recent trip to Seville, a stunningly beautiful city in Andalusia in the south of Spain, was exploring its Jewish heritage. The city had a Jewish population dating from at least the sixth century, and walking tours of the old Jewish quarter are widely available. In…
Like so many other things in this beautiful southern Spanish city, it appears disjointed at first, three distinct parts, none seeming to match the others, but all coming together in an imperfect perfection that just makes sense. It is an experience that matches the spirit of Seville just as jazz does for New Orleans, capturing…
Portugal's capital has beckoned me for years. Called by the sea, the hills, the food, and the sounds of the language, it has been at or near the top of my travel wish list for as long as I've had one. Now, after spending a month living and exploring Lisbon, I am able to share…
Editor's note: I knew when I made a new friend in the British Museum, bonding over the Elgin Marbles and their story, that Kathryn just had to write for The Royal Tour one day. That day is today. Right now, she is taking a year to explore the world - inspired by me, so she…
When maritime history meets awesome architecture, the birthplace of a famous food, and cool museums, you know that is a place worth visiting. Belém is a neighborhood in western Lisbon along the Tagus, and combines all of these things. Home to some of the city's elite - and the country's president - Belém is a…
Porto is sometimes called Portugal's "second city," referring to it being second in both size and importance to the capital, Lisbon. But when it comes to exploration for a traveler, Porto is second to none. While it may not have the historic significance or cultural hubs of its larger cousin to the south, Porto is…
Aljube retains few of the characteristics of its brutal past as a political prison. There are heavy bars on some windows, and a few small (two meter long) cells remain as exhibits in the Portuguese Resistance Museum, but this now airy building in Lisbon's Alfama district defies the past. This is where political dissidents were…
Who says turning 39 means having to always be an adult? The question runs through my head as I unabashedly bang a large drum in the experience gallery here at the Musical Instrument Museum, an incredible modern institution in north Phoenix. I smile, my beating getting louder as I attempt to accompany the group of…
A few articles ago, we spoke at length about the world-changing Panama Canal. However, a mere three million years earlier, Panama played host to an event that changed the world even more: it was born. From volcanos beneath the seas, land rose up, first as islands, and then as an isthmus, joining what would come…