Spain & Portugal loop (2012)

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Both of us having spent time in Iberia in the past, our objective on this itinerary was head for Portugal and our unexplored Spanish provinces of Castilla La Mancha, Valencia, Extremadura, Galicia and Castile & Leon.

We struck Valencia at the height of their annual festival, Las Fallas (The Fires), which sees giant papier mache effigies paraded on street corners before being ceremonially torched.

Highlight of the journey for me was the sprawling province of Extremadura, home to conquistadors and adventurers including Hernán Cortés (conquered the Aztec empire); Francisco Pizarro (Aztec); and Hernando de Soto, Nunez de Balboa and Sebastián Vizcaíno, who all led notable expeditions to what’s now the US.