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Europe

Traveling to Three Medieval Spanish Towns by Train

On our two-week trip to Spain, four of us took high-speed trains to three outstanding destinations that are well worth your visit. We made a day trip to Segovia; the other two cities took us south into Moorish Andalucía––Córdoba for two nights and Seville for three nights. Each place rewarded

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Traveling to Villa de Leyva in Colombia: A Trip Back in Time

I stand at the northwest corner of cobblestoned Plaza Mayor, central square of magical Villa de Leyva, Colombia, population 17,000 inhabitants. Plaza Mayor measures a third of an acre. It’s empty, except for a small sixteenth century mudejar-style fountain in its center. Also, as if to elevate its noble purpose,

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Traveling to Portugal: Medieval Towns and Monasteries

At the end of the last Portugal episode, the Fiat and its two passengers left Porto in heavy rainfall as we headed south towards the country’s central region and some of its oldest cities, most with Roman connections and one dating to pre-historic Celtic period. Bad weather made driving the

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Traveling to Portugal: Douro Valley and Porto

I learned to drive with a manual transmission on a used 1960 Vauxhall and still enjoy a “stick shift” when driving in Europe. So it was, with our white Fiat hatchback rental. We packed our bags, loaded them in the trunk, and headed northeast out of Lisbon, towards the Douro

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Traveling to Portugal: Lisbon & Sintra

Before I travel to someplace new, I pour over guidebooks, read travelers’ reviews, absorb its history, anticipate new regional dishes, and learn a little of the local language. Somehow, I still wasn’t prepared for Portugal’s unhurried ambience, its genuine friendliness and cultural sophistication, its rich and handsome architectural history, and

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Turning Blue in Morocco’s Western Sahara

Posted to www.TravelMag.co.uk, March 2019 “Yee Haw!” It bursts from my mouth. Hamid plunges the Toyota four-wheel drive down the embankment and through a two-foot deep flash river that formed during the night. The bone-dry desert floor repelled torrential rains, forcing water into dry gullies gushing across the landscape. A

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