Though first time travelers to Spain might not get to Extremadura (which in English means "extreme" and "difficult."), a few days visit might be worth the trip. A few hours west of Madrid will put you in the province of Badajoz. This is the part of Spain that borders Portugal, and depending on the...

I was living in Granada in 1993 and had a dream one afternoon. In the dream I was a backpacker having tripped off the platform into the station. A punker wearing a Ramones tee shirt handed me a hash joint and said, “Puta madre, tío. Granda es la bomba.” I wandered directly to the caves of...

Just returned from spending five weeks in southern Spain, guiding clients to Sevilla, Granada, Córdoba and the Alpujarras (southern ridge of the Sierra Nevada). We sat in Paco and Pepe's bar in Capileira, drinking beer and eating plates of manchego and smoking cigarettes (I don't smoke). The guy at...