Spain is a bargain, especially if you choose to stay at any number of monasteries, convents and casas that offer hospitality to all, regardless of religious affiliation. These are working monasteries and convents in metropolitan cities and walled towns, whitewashed villages and quaint fishing ports. These monasteries that have withstood the conflicts of the ages and continue to offer hospitality at unbelievably low prices just as they have for centuries. Don’t confuse these unique places with paradors, one-time houses of worship that have been turned into pricey hotels with a smidgen of history left behind.

You’ll often hear people extolling the virtues of visiting France and Italy, number one and two travel destinations for Americans traveling to Europe, but those who seek something a little bit different should look west to Spain. Spain is an unusual combination of elements – a country of history and architecture combined with cities of great tempo and sophistication. If Moorish architecture with its grand golden domes and romantic gardens or ancient Jewish heritage represented in dozens of quaint medieval towns and villages appeals to your senses, visit Spain. It’s a country that has a significant place in European culture.

Immerse yourself in history and visit Spain’s Castilla-La Mancha region and stay at the Convento de la Purisima in the center of El Toboso. The convent is known as the “Little Escorial of La Mancha.” The impressive structure was built in Herreriano style with walls five feet thick. El Toboso is a small village of La Mancha, a town strongly connected to the story of Don Quixote and the windmills made famous by Miguel de Cervantes. Dulcinea, alias Dona Ana Martinez Zarco, the woman who inspired Cervantes, was born in the town. Her house has been restored to its original 16th century style and attracts many visitors each year. The town is also the locale for the Biblioteca Cervantina, a museum that shelters the masterpiece by Cervantes in eighty different languages.

The drive along the plains between El Toboso and Cuidad Real evokes Cervantes’ world of Don Quixote and Sancho. Campo de Criptana is a representative village of whitewashed dwellings sprawled on a hillside topped by windmills. Near Villarrubia de los Ojos, in the heart of what is known as wet La Mancha, is the National Park of Las Tablas de Daimiel. A vast region peppered with inland lagoons, the wetlands are covered with masiegas and reeds and provide wintering and resting places for thousands of migrating water birds. The Lagoons of Ruidera are also nearby. Comprised of fifteen linked waterways, the wetlands are separated from each other by natural barriers broken in places by spectacular waterfalls.

Cuidad Real, capital of the province, was founded in 1255. A frontier zone between Christianity and the Arab civilizations, the town’s past is reflected in the fortress-like Villa Real. Built by Alfonso X, it was walled and protected by one hundred and twenty towers.

Another lodging choice is the Monastery of Santa Ursula in the very heart of Toledo. Once the capital of Spain and one of the country’s architectonical treasures, Toledo is poised on a granite hill surrounded on three sides by a gorge of the Tagus River. Historically and culturally, Toledo is one of Spain’s most important cities. Of pre-Roman origins, its golden age began under Moorish rule, from 712-1085. Under the Moors and then the kings of Castile, Toledo was a center of Moorish, Spanish and Jewish cultures. The irregular pattern of its streets, alleys, iron-grilled windows and open courtyards reflects its Moorish heritage. At one time, Toledo’s Jewish Quarter was home to ten temples. Today only two remain. The Transito Synagogue was funded in the middle of the 14th century by a wealthy Toledan Jew who held the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer under Peter I of Castile. It is graced with a large collection of wonderful adornments and one of the most beautiful coffered ceilings in Toledo. Built in Mudejar style, it is now a Sephardic museum. Exhibits recount the arrival of Jews in Spain, their life under the Romans, Visigoths, Moors and medieval Christians, the start of the Inquisition and their expulsion from Spain in 1492.

The entire region surrounding the Monastery of Santa Ursula is a landscape of castles that attest to centuries of conflict that swept to and from across the land. San Servando Castle is within Toledo’s city limits and has been perfectly restored. Guadamar Castle was constructed at the end of the 14th century and its quarters provided lodging for many Castilian kings and for Emperor Charles I. The castle has countless windows with flattened arches; its interior is comprised of grand rooms where psalms and Latin prayers are preserved on friezes and moldings.

Visit www.monasteriesofspain.com and see the other accommodations available to you.

La Real

Monti Sion

Salvador

Santa Cruz

Abut Eileen Barish

Eileen Barish is a multiple award-winning author and nationally known niche-travel expert. Eileen’s books have been reviewed by over 1500 publications. She is a contributing columnist to national magazines including GUEST INFORMANT, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC TRAVELER and NEWSWEEK and is a frequent guest on CNN and other networks. Eileen’s sage advice in her articles and books on unusual travel experiences has enriched the lives of hundred’s of thousands of her readers. Her current books on monastery lodging are available at all major bookstores or by calling 1.800.638.3637 and include:
Lodging In Italy’s Monasteries
Lodging In France’s Monasteries
Lodging In Britain’s Monasteries
Lodging In Spain’s Monasteries

Photo Credits and copyright – Eileen Barish

You can browse some 50 cities, and select only those attractions you really want to see (or plan to visit). With a single click on a “add to guide” button, you collect them in your personal guide for the respective city. You can add a hotel too (independent if you book it or not), restaurants, bars and nightclubs – whatever you want. I browsed and I saw a number of “theme” guides, created by other users who were interested to see only attractions for kids, for example, or who took an “eco” trip somewhere.

The cool factor resides in the social aspect, where you can create a community of ideas around your trips, ask for feedback, share your custom guides via Facebook, Twitter and the like. The value is implied by the way you can use the guides in a real life situation. Because you add only what you really want to see, when you print out your guide you’ll have something compact, instead of a leafy booklet. Most of the guides I saw can fin on two-three pages tops. Then, let’s say you print your custom guide on recycled paper: not only you get a free, personal, guide, but you also save money, save paper and help save trees as well. These are the reasons why Stay.com is bookmark-worthy: value and coolness, two-in-one.

In the future, according to press I read, Stay.com will add more features, (like allowing users to add their own attractions; an iPhone app; Facebook connect; more cities; more attractions; and etc.)so keep an eye on this site. You never know when you need a personalized guide. Maybe to plan a business meeting? Maybe a group trip? How would you use it?

Do I really need to say more?

When you think of Belgium, you think of chocolate, beer and waffles, right? But you can find lots of other specialties here.
The “Cuberdon” for instance is something unique for the region of Ghent. I don`t even think there is an English name for it. It`s a candy in the shape of a nose or a little hat, made out of sugar with inside a filling of a gooey, liquid syrup. Because it has a limited time of remaining fresh, it`s not exported and can only be bought in Belgium. I myself, love it, but some find it too sweet!

Source photo

Another specialty is “Speculaas”. though it can be bought all over Belgium and in other countries as well, the city of Hasselt is known for its variety of “Speculaas”. So what is it? Speculaas is a thin, very crunchy type of biscuit or cookie. It often has a figure or image stamped on the front side before baking. Usually made from white flour, brown sugar, butter and spices. With spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom,… It`s very nice with a cup of coffee.

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We all know French Fries, but in Belgium they`re called “Frieten” or fries. The Belgians believe the term “French” was introduced when British or American soldiers arrived in Belgium during World War I and when tasting Belgian fries, they supposedly called them “French”, as it was the official language of the Belgian Army at that time. Even though some claim the dish was invented in Spain and spread to the Spanish Netherlands, which became Belgium, it is a part of several national dishes, like “Mussels and Fries” or “Steak and Fries”.

Source photo

You can find lots of places to try fries, like in a restaurant or at a “Frituur”. This is a traditional shop to buy fries. You can find them often on main highways and town squares, serving quick service fast food or take away. You can find here besides the fries, other fried dishes like hamburgers, meatballs, … And they offer a wide selection of sauces like ketchup, mayonnaise… and many more! They come in a paper rolled cone or plastic tray. If you want to try the real Belgian fries, this is the way to eat them.

To come back to the chocolates. It was Jean Neuhaus (Belgian) who invented the pralines, world`s biggest chocolate selling point is Brussels Airport and Belgium produces 220 000 tons of chocolate per year, so it`s only natural you think of chocolate as the first thing to come to mind to associate with Belgium!

Isabelle is a passionate traveler who built her own website, Isabelle’s Travel Guide, that’s filled with personal experiences, travel tips and information to help others create their own memorable vacation. There’s nothing more Isabelle loves than traveling the world, experiencing new adventures and discovering new destinations. With her website, Isabelle hopes to be an inspiration and help others in their ventures to explore the world. You can also follow her on Twitter @IsabellesTravel.

Unfortunately the English version of the official website is at least poor in content. But this is perhaps the only downside of the museum – which should benefit for several hours (preferably an entire day) of your attention. There are lots – and I mean LOTS – of attractive exhibits, among which we can name – without any claim for exhaustiveness! – an Enigma machine, an entire television studio (actually two of them – the former Schoenbrunn Palace TV studio and an older setup from ORF, the Austrian National Television), an impressive display of personal computers, video and audio home devices (which reminded me of the old days of the 1980’s when I was looking into mom’s Neckermann and Otto catalogs and admiring the stereo desk sets with cassette recorder, radio and pickup…), an actual telecom satellite, a huge collection of cars starting from the early models up to the 1950’s (including a steam-powered car as well as the first all-electric car, manufactured by Ferdinand Porsche), sectioned aircraft engines, sectioned high voltage (110 kV) transformers etcetera.

Worth mentioning is the attention the museum pays to the young public. Most sections are truly interactive, and for those that cannot be deployed in an interactive setup there are plenty of audio, video and animations provided to explain the children the principles and the functioning of the ubiquitous technologies that surround us. Be it pacemakers, hearing aids, engines, energy producing and distribution up to and including basic physics phenomenon and processes, almost everything is accompanied by some device you can act upon and/or play with in order to feel the “thing”. On the ground floor, for example, there are devices such as a demonstrative device for the Coriolis force and a ionization chamber (this one donated by the physics lab from a university, unfortunately I don’t remember which one). There are experiments from mechanics, optic, electricity – fortunately the radioactivity is not included in a live manner for safety reasons.

I strongly suggest that you physically train and prepare yourself for really long walks if you plan to go there, and I advise you to reserve an entire day in order to be able to admire all exhibits and, as well, attend the various shows such as the electrifying “high Voltage” show that takes place twice a day. Another good idea would be to understand German, since not all – but fortunately most – of the videos and animations are only in German. However, I hope they’ll extend the English “library” because it would greatly benefit the museum. I, for one, hope to be able to return there one day even if for attending the “High Voltage Show” which we missed in our first visit due to poor timing…

I look forward to all that is new, to enjoy each sight I see, each monument, museum etc. that I visit. That is why for me usually a vacation is a trip that involves walking and visiting, not necessarily simply going somewhere to just stay there.

I usually like to write down some personal impression, something to capture the way I felt somewhere in order for an ulterior post to have that feeling included. But I write that in a note on my computer or on a paper notebook, not online. Maybe even in a draft on my blog (although quite rarely).

When I travel I like to also take a break from the Internet. My trips are usually at least a week long.

I usually share my experiences when I get back on blog posts dedicated to all the important points of interest for my readers.

I must though admit that when I’m booking a room somewhere it has to have an internet connection included. As I already mentioned, I do take a computer in vacation (I have to download the photos or movise my husband and I are making every day); I want to know that I can connect if I want to – to check my email and see if there is any emergency or stuff like that, but until now I didn’t felt the need to offer a daily report on my vacation status.

But that’s just me and my experience until now. I’m not saying it’s the perfect solution or that is wrong to keep everyone up to date with what you are doing in your vacation.

What do you choose when you travel? Do you stay connected or not? Why?

I also recommend you Curiosities I found out at Schloss Schoenbrunn, Vienna, Austria

How can there be a “happy” epithet near “cemetery”. Is there something merry about a burial place?

In 1934 Stan Ioan Patras wrote a short epitaph on a cross. Since then every person that dies in Sapanta and is buried in this cemetery has a cross with a short poem. Another important thing is to mention that the crosses have a special blue paint. The tradition of writing poems on the crosses was passed from father to son – and is still up today.

Few years back we were relatively close to this area and we decided to see if the Merry Cemetery at Sapanta is indeed a happy one. And what’s so merry about it – so to speak.

The idea of those poems was that they would say a few words about the person’s  and also about his/her life. Each cross has also naive paintings. The point was to sweeten the loss of someone dear.

We got there round noon. We arrived at the same time with a group of tourists from Italy. I have to mention at this point that this cemetery is a famous one, visited by people all over the world.

We entered the cemetery and, of course, saw at first hand the crosses. We starting walking walking and reading the stories on the crosses. Yeah, there were some fun ones – like:

Under this heavy cross
Lies my poor mother in-law
3 days if she lived
I was here and she read
You who come by
Try not to wake her up
For if she comes home
I would behave in such a way
That she would not return here
Stay here dear mother in-law

(in Romanian:
Sub aceasta cruce grea
Zace biata soacra-mea
Trei zile de mai traia
Zaceam eu si cetea ea
Voi care treceti pa aici
Incercati sa n-o treziti
Ca acasa daca vine
Iarai cu gura pa mine
Da asa eu m-oi purta
Ca-napoi n-a inturna
Stai aicea draga soacra-mea)

Well… I’m not a poem writer – in Romanian there is a rhyme too

Another story was the one of a man and his wife. The man died first – and the idea was that he was a man who cheated his wife and the people think that he will have many women in the after life too. Not so funny – I mean imagine how the wife must have felt seeing that! And now… she was buried next to him (I don’t remember everything about her, the idea was that she was a good wife and mother).

But this may sound fun – from the outside. Some of the stories are simple – about good wives, hardworking man etc. However how can an epitaph on a dead several months or years baby be fun? Or about a man shot or killed in an accident far away from home? You read the story and you may even share a tear.

Conclusion?

The Merry Cemetery is a place with an interesting idea. It offers interesting stories and also a different view over death. It is unique – so it is a must visit if you are in Romania – Maramures. It is not all happy – there are sad stories too – but the purpose (making it easier for the survivors to cope with the loss of a dear one) is accomplished. And yes, there are different souvenirs you may buy – from local people.

Photo source (here you’ll find a vast collection of images from Sapanta)

This is a great area, loved by locals but also by tourists from all over the world. It’s a place where it is recommended to travel by car (or bus, in organized trips) for there is no public transport, like train or regular bus lines – and there’s no nearby airport either.

The sceneries are simply amazing, just as other objectives in the area are. And there are many places to visit!

We left on Friday, June 25th. It was sunny at first. We chose to travel once again through our amazing road called the Transfagarasan. But at the altitude of 1700 m it started to be foggy and rainy. At the top of the Transfagarasan there was such a fog that you could not see 5 m in front of you! But there was still A LOT of snow – of course I threw some snowballs at my husband Ave as well as at our dog, Maxie (yes, we took her with us in this vacation).

In the afternoon we reached our destination – a touristic village called Albac. In the days that followed we traveled a lot – over 1500 km – and we saw a famous and old fortification, Alba Carolina, in the city of Alba Iulia – a city established by the Romans in the second century A.D. under the name of Apulum.  We have as well visited the oldest glacier in the world at Scarisoara; we’ve visited the Bear’s Cave; we saw the Gold Mining Museum and traveled through mines, dating from Roman Empire and even before that (first century A.D). We also visited a memorial house of a famous local important historical figure – Avram Iancu; we saw a couple of wonderful waterfalls and a hill of fossilized sea snails. We’ve also visited a recently opened saline at Turda, which left us quite impressed.

We enjoyed each moment of fresh mountain air, sound of river flowing next to the pension we stayed at and all the views. And we enjoyed all the people we met.

There are many important touristic objectives and many places worth having a look at (they are already known by tourists, for we’ve seen many Germans, Hungarians and others in our travels).

As I mentioned in the title this is a short story and will be followed by dedicated posts on each places we went to.