Sheila and I traveled to Madrid in July 2003, during one of the hottest summers in Europe. The temperature was already at 43ºC at 8:26 am! Despite the heat, we made the most of our time indoors, exploring the museums of the Golden Triangle of Art, including the Prado Museum, Reina Sofía Museum, and Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum. After three days in Madrid, we rented a car and embarked on a road trip, visiting some fabulous cities on the way to Barcelona, where we boarded the Golden Princess for a cruise to Venice. We've put together a pictorial essay documenting our journey, as well as our post-cruise visits to Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
During our 33-day trip, we were fortunate enough to visit nine UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which was a truly enriching experience.
I work up the morning of my birthday looking at the spectacular Toledo, City of the Three Cultures from our Parador balcony.
What a lovely place to spend my 60th birthday in Cuenca!
The queue to get into Sagrada Família was long. So we skipped the visit to the famous cathedral and came back 12 years later!
I could not resist visiting Lucca, the birthplace of my favourite opera composer, Giacomo Puccini.
