Standing in front of Toledo. Note that this is the last time I was ever seen wearing this shirt in a clean and acceptable manner.

shot of Toledo, a city difficult to attack due to the water "moat" as well as the stone walls.

Toledo is known for creating swords and armor.

Catedral Goticos in Toledo

Looking back out from the city.

Our tour manager, Dawn, speaking outside one of the few synagogues in Spain.

Wandering the narrow streets of Cordoba.

We found an open area in the midst of the streets.

Inside the Mosque of the Caliphs

Amar and Mahesh inside the Mosque.

The entrance gate to Cordoba

The Alcazar Palace, a garden tribute to Columbus' journey westward (Cordoba).

Standing in front of the reflecting pool..

King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella, giving their blessing to Columbus to begin conquering North America.

Yeah, it was a huge garden.

One Indian and three Canadians in front of El Picanton in Cordoba, the place to find the spiciest tapas anywhere in Spain. The owners of this place were awesome..it turns out the dudes were from Cuba, which explains why the food was so hot. This was the best lunch I had in Spain, even though I could barely breathe after eating the patatas ali oli.

Crossing the bridge, leaving Cordoba.

Alhambra Palace, former residence of the Moorish Kings. Notice the round archways characteristic of most Muslim architecture. This is yet another mosque that was converted to a cathedral when the Catholics took over.

Still in the palace, near the harem quarters, and the king's "relaxation room."

Yeah, overlooking the wonderful city of Granada..

Amar, with Alhambra palace with Granada in the background. This picture was taken at 7:30am, which explains the weird angle of the sun and the weird look on Amar's face.

Sandy, Mahesh, Teresa, same time, same place, same facial expressions as above

The frickin' Rock of Gibraltar. Gibraltar is one of those places where you visit for about 3 hours, and never come back ever again in your entire life because there is nothing there at all. The main source of income is naive tourists who come expecting something interesting, only to find that this colony of the United Kingdom is full of bitter locals and monkeys who are smarter than the tour guides. Notice the cloud overhanging the Rock. The weather in Spain is gorgeous, with nary a cloud in the sky, but once you enter this U.K. colony, the climate changes to mimic that of London.

Poor Marina here is being shat upon by the Barbary Ape. Look at that damned taxi driver, instigating the monkey to embarass the toursits. I think it is interesting that he himself resembles a monkey in many aspects, including driving the stinkin' taxi up and down the mountain. Notice the wild jungle look on his face.

Don't be fooled at their cuteness. They are trained killers. One of our tour group members did not return from Gibraltar. Bless his soul.

Ahh, back in good 'ol Spain. This guy seems to be one with the doves.

I have a feeling we are in Seville right now, but I can't remember. It must have been a long and rowdy night..

Sheryll, Mahesh, Chezah, Amar, Teresa, Toes, Sandra.

Palace in Spain had little monumentos for each city-state. Amy and I are sitting on the one created for Pamplona. Each of the murals recounts a story for that area of the country.

A bull ring in Seville. We narrowly missed the chance to attend a bullfight- if we had stayed an extra day we would have seen one in Madrid!

An aqueduct in Portugal.

Matt, June, Ed (?), and Tamara walking through the Portuguese market.

Leslie and I, standing near a thing somewhere.

A few more of us standing near a thing, somewhere else. I believe the figures carved in the rock represent scientists and seafaring adventurers searching for the truth. But what is truth? I guess that is why they are searching.

Sandy, Hesh, Teresa, Amar

This is officially the farthest Westernmost point in Europe. Amar was dumb enough to pay 900 Escobars to get a certificate which says "I was at the farthest Westernmost point in Europe." Except that it is printed in broken Portuguese.

Dirty Half-Dozen posing at the Cabo da Roca, Point West.
Hesh, Rose, Sandy, Teresa, Amar, and Terry the Australian Giant

Town of Cais Caishe. Notice the castle overlooking the village. We got to taste some mad quijada, which is a sweet Portuguese cheese pastry.

The huge cathedral in Fatima. Look at the people walking on their knees. They've been on a pilgrimmage actually, walking miles and miles on their knees. This is the same city in which we had our port wine tasting, and picked up many bottles to take through US Customs undeclared. Those poor Canadians have such harsh customs that they can only take 4 centilitres of wine back into the country.

We arrived on the same day as the pilgrimmage, so we got to see some of the processional.

The famous Casa de las Conchas in Salamanca. The house has a facade made entirely of Saint Jacob's shells. Architecture very representative of Isabellinian Renaissance style.

La Universidad de Salamanca was founded by King Alfonso IX in 1243. This facade is ornamented with many detailed figures, including the famous "frog on a skull." Rumor has it that if you can find the frog without any assistance, you will get married and your social life with slowly wither away

Here is a panadero doing his job outside the Universidad! It was so cool to see this horno de madera used to make the bread! It smelled really good, but unfortunately we couldn't wait around to taste it.

Royal Palace, Madrid. This is where the King and Queen could live if they wanted. But they are simple people so they decided to live in a shack on the side of a hill. They commute to the palace to sign official documents and act pretentious when the British royals come to visit.

Franco's gravesite. Can't talk too much about it lest I am assassinated.

Hotel Lobby, last day of tour

Packed up and ready to head back to polar bear country. Look at the scared look on Teresa's face: "I can't wear tank tops anymore!"

Two guys in front of a fountain inside Reina Sofia courtyard
Pastel on canvas.
$5500.

Outside the Reina Sofia. This museo de arte contains the works of Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali. Among other pieces, we saw La Guernica, which was just plain huge.