Spain > Portugal — Viajes de los Gatos

The first country I wanted to see beyond Turkey was Italy. I dreamed about going there and tried to convince my world-traveler grandmother to take me on one of her trips. When I was getting ready to graduate from middle school, she suggested we visit Italy together but take a bus tour so we can see as many sites as possible. It really was the perfect way to see my number one destination.

Many years later, several work trips took me further west on that coast, from Monaco in Cote d'Azur to Barcelona and Marbella. I was impressed but not as much as what I had seen in Italy.

I had no idea what I was missing until this year when Daniel and I decided to visit the western section of the Meditteranean Sea all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. We started in Barcelona - one of my favorite cities.

Gaudi is a genius. Most of these photos are from Parc Guell in the middle of the city. Love the place - I can go back over and over again...

Another cute little town on our way was Seville. We managed to drive our tiny rental through even tinier streets, reaching a boutique hotel in the middle of the oldest part of town. It was a great decision:

We didn't stay in Seville for long, because we were super curious about Cadiz and Gibraltar. We drove down the coast to see what these two were about. Super cool...