Spain

Spain is a very lively country overall. On one hand in Germany people prefer being quiet in public places, Spain is the complete opposite of it. Once you are here you can feel the rush and excitement of the culture. I happened to just briefly visit Spain and had to comfort myself by visiting just Barcelona and Segovia. I knew I wasn't doing justice to my trip, but that is how it had to be considering train timings etc.

Barcelona is a very lively city with tons and tons of excitement around it. There are cafes, bars, cabarets all around the central part of the city which as far as I remember was called Catalunya. I just had 5 hours to see the city. The monuments like Sagrada Familia are very good and within the city. The metro network here is one of the best that I saw. Spain overall is very cheap as compared to France or Germany for that matter. A tourist map is available at small convenience stores along the streets of Barcelona. I traveled with Jhumka aka Balakumar on the trip to Spain and Portugal.

Segovia is a small suburb about 2 hours from Madrid. We had heard that there is not much in store for us in Madrid and so headed directly to Segovia from the Madrid station. Segovia is an ancient Roman town with a 1.5km Roman wall in the city. The town is on a hill and gives a very nice feel of the culture of the Romans there. The Dom is very nice and the ambiance around the town is also very silent. The vie from the top of the town i.e from inside the castle of Segovia is tremendous. A nice Panoramic photograph of the same can validate my feelings about the place. Other than the castle, Dom and the town walk Segovia doesn't hold much for attraction of the tourists.

After Segovia we returned to Madrid to catch our next night train to Lisboa the capital of Portugal!