Travel
Inspiration: Courtyard of the Parador Granada
My two-night stay in July 2017 at the Parador of Granada was one of my best family vacations. It is one of the best known and most popular of the paradors. A 14th-century Moorish palace later converted to a Franciscan convent, the style of the architecture, decor, lighting, and art reflect the two heritages. One of my…
Read MoreThe Ritz Hotel in Madrid Reopens After Three-Year Renovation
Opened in 1910, during the Belle Époque era, the original building of the Ritz hotel in Madrid was designed and built under the supervision of hotelier César Ritz. Now part of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid recently reopened in April after a three-year historical restoration headed by Spanish architect Rafael de La-Hoz who retained…
Read MoreOviedo’s La Palmera del Indiano Restaurant Evokes the Tropics
Asturias-based photographer Érika Anes shot these images of La Palmera del Indiano restaurant on the terrace of Barceló Oviedo Cervantes hotel exclusively for Spain for Design. Situated in the heart of Spain’s elegant northern city of Oviedo, the five-star accommodation, part of the Spanish hotel group Barceló, opened in 2007 in a refurbished early-twentieth-century Indianos townhome. Indianos is a distinctive vernacular architectural style of residences…
Read MoreAsturias for Architecture
Asturias has no shortage of architecturally significant buildings and monuments, including the most complete collection of late medieval architecture in Western Europe. Dating from the ninth and early tenth centuries, they are unparalleled for their quality and preservation in their original state. Asturias is known for pre-Romanesque architecture, six of which have UNESCO World Heritage status, one…
Read MoreAsturias: Memories of a Natural Paradise
“Asturias, paraíso natural” (“Asturias, Natural Paradise”) is the official slogan of Turismo Asturias, the tourism office of the Principality of Asturias. Parts of this northern region of Spain are on the Northern Route of the Way of Saint James, popularly known as the Camino de Santiago. It has a breathtaking landscape, where the mountain and sea…
Read MoreBook Nook: Ibiza Bohemia
Ibiza Bohemia Maya Boyd (Text), Renu Kashyap (Producer), Published by Assouline (June 2017) Every once in a while, one comes across a coffee table book so engaging that it not only feeds us with knowledge and induces us to linger at the images, but it also encourages us to immerse ourselves in a place. Ibiza:…
Read MoreJournal: A Month in Spain
This is the final installment of my four-part series about my month in Spain in the summer of 2019. August 6-9, 2019 August 6, 2019 My month in Spain is coming to an end. We returned to Madrid from Cala de Finestrat yesterday afternoon and are at the ibis Madrid Centro las Ventas Hotel, where…
Read MoreJournal: A Month In Spain
July 28-August 5 July 28, 2019 Benidorm About a ten-minute drive from my father-in-law’s home in Cala de Finestrat, Benidorm is a town that is well-known in Spain and in certain circles abroad. Loved by some and loathed by others, it is notorious for mass tourism, cheap eateries, tower blocks clouding the skyline and drunken…
Read MoreJournal: A Month in Spain
This is the second instalment of my journal about my vacation last summer. July 21-July 28, 2019 July 22 Today is the first day of my son’s week long sailing camp at the Nautical Club of El Campello. El Campello is about a twenty-five minute drive from my father-in-law’s home in Finestrat. My husband and…
Read MoreBook Nook: Three Essential Travel Guidebooks About Spain
Although many travelers search for the most current information about their destinations on the web, I believe that travel guidebooks still have their place as valuable resources. They save hours of research by providing readers with a one-stop overview of information about side trips, tips on saving money, accommodation and excursions that the reader may…
Read MoreWhat to do on your next trip to Spain
Wondering what to do on your next trip to Spain? The following is a list of places and activities that my family has enjoyed over the years. Our Travels in Spain When I travel with my family to Spain, we normally spend a month and divide our time between Madrid, Finestrat and, occasionally, Sevilla, in…
Read MoreJournal: A Month in Spain
I left Spain in 2007, after my second residence there. I have regularly returned for a month with my family for summer vacations. Over the next few posts, I will roll out the highlights from last summer. July 13-20, 2019 July 13 We arrived in Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport from Stockholm, a lovely, elegant city…
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