We often hear from our travelers regarding their tours and the impact it had on them. Some of the letters are humorous, inspiring and also touching. I think you’ll enjoy Dianna’s letter below. A lifelong traveler, her two-week trip through Spain, Morocco & Portugal was her first escorted tour, and it was a life-changing experience. [...]

This morning we said “hasta la vista” (which has a similar farewell meaning as until we meet again or see you later) to Spain and headed north for Portugal.  As we drove through the countryside the landscape changed from bull farms and vineyards to forests of cork oak.  Luis told us the story of the [...]

Today we spent the morning sightseeing with Luis and our local guide.  We are really enjoying the different local guides that join us almost every day to provide insight and understanding to the places and monuments we are visiting. Our first stop was the Plaza de Espana – its an enormous, ornately decorated half circle [...]

Today we left Costa del Sol for Gibraltar. As we drove through the countryside of southern Spain Luis told us the story of Gibraltar. Gibraltar is an enormous rock sitting at the gateway to the Mediterranean. It’s location and geology made it a very strategic location in the times of kings and queens and also [...]

Today we had a day at leisure in Costa del Sol. Kirsten and I walked on the beach then had a local lunch of baby calamari and grilled sardines. We decided to take the optional tour to Mijas with a featured dinner. This “optional” tour is a requirement, when you visit Spain you must go [...]

Today we visited Tetouan, Morocco. To get to Morocco we took a ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar. Like many of the ancient cities we have visited, the old city of Tetouan is a walled city with whitewashed buildings and narrow winding streets. The difference here is that daily life has not changed as much [...]

Today we visited the Alhambra, a 14th century fortress/palace and UNESCO world heritage site. With a local guide we walked through palace gardens and ornately decorated throne rooms and halls. The history and heritage is incredible. The details are too much to even describe and at the risk of getting them wrong, I’m going to [...]

Today we began with a walk through the old city of Cordoba. Our local guide shared the history of Cordoba as we walked through the narrow streets in between whitewashed buildings built by the Romans, the Moors and early Christians. The architecture here is very unique. The city was ruled at different times by different [...]

After breakfast we headed south for the city of Toledo, a UNESCO world heritage city. The old city is a medieval fortress sitting on top of a large hill surrounded by a river on 3 sides. We spent the morning with a local guide walking through the narrow winding streets of this 13th century city. [...]

The included breakfast was impressive. It was a buffet of local pastries, meats and cheeses plus fruits, cereal and 5 different types of fresh juices. We started today with a drive through the city with a local guide explaining the history of Madrid. She talked about the history of the population, politics and architecture while [...]

Today we arrived in Madrid. This is our first trip overseas and quite honestly I was a little nervous yesterday as we finished up packing. Already our trip has been distinctly different than any previous vacation. Since all the transportation and accommodations are taken care of in advance, all we needed to do was read [...]

Hi! I’m Chris and I am getting ready to go on our 14-Day Spain, Morocco & Portugal tour that departs on April 28, 2011. While on tour I will be posting here daily about my travel experiences and will also include some photos too. You can either follow along by bookmarking this blog page on [...]

I’ll be in Orlando for AARP’s National Event – Orlando@50+ this coming Thursday, Friday & Saturday (September 30 – October 2) with Kim & Rhonda. If you come to the event be sure to stop by and say hi, we’d love to meet you. Event info: Orlando@50+ All of our 2011 tours are available and [...]

We took a boat from Lido to the island of Trunchetto to meet up with our coach, which had left early in the morning to take the ferry across. It was a great morning and we had some nice last views of Venice! Then we drove to Lake Como and we had the choice of [...]

On the day we left Florence to head to Venice, Karl arranged an optional visit to Pisa to see the leaning tower – the one major Italian icon that isn’t included on this tour. Almost everyone decided to go on it and we left early to drive to Pisa. The tower really does lean – [...]