TvlLeaders: My Journey from Madrid to Lisbon

My Journey from Madrid to Lisbon

I just took a fabulous trip with Insight Vacations to Spain and Portugal. We began our trip in Madrid, then on to Toledo, Cordoba, Granada, Seville and Lisbon. We had a tour director on the bus with us all the time, as well as local guides in each city we visited. The tour director and guides were a wealth of information and added so much to the trip. The coaches that they use only have 45 seats, so there is much more legroom and you are able to stand up and move past the person sitting next to you. Even if you have short legs, not having the seat in front of you so close to your face was really nice.

We visited the sites in each location which was included with the tour as were all breakfasts and most dinners. In Madrid we took a city tour to see the sites and visited the Prado Museum. The food was excellent – we tried many tapas and churros with chocolate dip. The Alhambra Palace in Toledo was very interesting sitting on one of the many hills of the city. In Cordoba, we visited The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba. This was fascinating to have a tour and see the church within the mosque. Seville showed us the buildings from the 1929 World Expo, a horse carriage ride to dinner, tapas emphasizing the local delicacies, and a flamenco show. In Lisbon, we visited Christ the King statue, the monastery and cloister, sampled Pasteis de Belem custard tarts and had fantastic food. We also attended a Fado, which are songs that women sang because their men did not return home from the sea. The Fado is now on a Unesco list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.