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Overview

Introduction

The highlight of Trinidad is Port of Spain, the capital. It's a bustling city on the water's edge, offering ample opportunities to visit bazaars, markets, parks, heritage homes and various shrines, mosques and temples. Many cultures are represented, each with attractions relating to its heritage.

Woodford Square is one of the town's prettiest areas, where large flowering trees shade the walkways and lawns. Near the square is the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. Consecrated in 1823, it is known for its elaborately carved hammer-beam roof. Across the square is the Red House, the ornate home of the House of Representatives.

About eight blocks north of the square is the Queen's Park Savannah, considered the heart of the city. These 80 acres/32 hectares of open land are filled with shade trees, lily ponds and gardens. (The park is the center of activities during Carnival.)

On the western edge of the park you'll find the Magnificent Seven, an eclectic group of houses built at the turn of the 20th century. They include a Scottish castle and an Edwardian school. Also in the area is the National Museum, on Frederick Street. Fort St. Andres, located in the heart of the city, has been restored. Phone 868-623-5941.

The tree-lined boulevard called Independence Square is near the cruise-ship terminal. The grand, early-1800s Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception is its heart. To the left and right of the cathedral is Brian Lara Promenade, which has benches and shade trees.

Unlike most Caribbean cities, Port of Spain is big enough to have some interesting suburbs. St. James District, the East Indian section of town, is where the Hindu and Muslim festivals are held and where you'll find great silk-sari shops.

In Ellerslie Park, Goodwood Park and St. Clair, west of Queen's Park, you'll find the city's most elegant residences.

Overview

Introduction

Spain offers visitors a richness and complexity that may surprise. All the tempting postcard fantasy pictures are there in reality, side-by-side with other, less-expected ones.

You may come across fiesta dancers in a village square, a young man practicing flamenco guitar, a medieval Arab fortress or windmills so enormous Don Quixote could be forgiven for thinking they were giants.

But there's also the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, its mind-bending shapes like those of no other museum in the world, just as the exuberant architecture of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia in Barcelona makes it like no other church in the world.

You may see ultracool young Madrilenos togged out in urban chic, talking endlessly on their cell phones; international businesspeople hurrying to appointments; and tourists and golfers of many nations flocking to Spain's spectacular countryside and balmy beaches. There are super-fast trains, and there are villages where life goes at a pace that has changed little for centuries.

Spain today is an engaged member of the European Union that has transformed itself from a remote backwater to a modern nation, all within living memory. The contrasts, the colors and the vibrant spirit of the place will stay with you for a long time.

Geography

Spain is Europe's second-most mountainous country (only Switzerland has a higher terrain), and the climate varies dramatically according to altitude as well as latitude. In the province of Granada, it is possible to ski in the mountains and lounge on a beach, both in the same day.

True alpine conditions prevail in many of Spain's mountains, from the Pyrenees along the border with France to the Sierra Nevada above Granada in the south, and the central two-fifths of the country is primarily high plains crossed by mountain ranges and rivers. Besides the mainland peninsula, Spanish possessions include the Mediterranean Balearic Islands, the Canary Archipelago (in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa) and the Moroccan coastal enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla.

Mainland Spain can be divided into three climatic zones: the Oceanic in the north (the rainiest and greenest part along the Bay of Biscay and in Galicia); the Mediterranean Zone (sunny and semiarid); and central Spain (hot in summer, cold in winter, relatively dry).

Spain is also divided into distinctive, politically autonomous regions, each with its own culture and history, and several with their own languages (including Catalonia, Valencia, Galicia and the Basque region). Hot, arid Andalusia, to the south, is the home of flamenco, bullfighting and spectacular Moorish architecture.

History

Spain's history was shaped by many forces—the Celts, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Germanic tribes (Visigoths, Vandals) all had a strong hand in influencing the people of the Iberian Peninsula, of which Spain is a part. Perhaps the greatest artistic and intellectual ferment in Spain, though, was under the Islamic conquerors, the Moors (Arabs and Berbers), who ruled parts of the peninsula from 711 to 1492. This period of history in al-Andalus was characterized by a diffusion of culture among Jews, Christians and Muslims, and Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Periods of peace and cooperation were interspersed with spells of fierce fighting. Universities, unique architecture and an age of religious toleration were all fostered by many of the Islamic rulers, most notably those of the Caliphate of Cordoba in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. After a protracted struggle with Christian forces, the Moors were finally defeated in 1492. That same year, all Jews were expelled from Spain, and Columbus crossed the Atlantic under the Spanish flag to reveal the New World to Europe.

The next century saw the apogee of Spain's power and influence throughout the world: Theirs was the first worldwide empire. In addition to their adventures far afield, Spanish kings controlled all or parts of what are now Portugal, the Netherlands, Italy and France. By the early 1600s, most Muslims had been forced to convert or were expelled from the peninsula. Imperial ambitions brought on imperial excess, however, and adventurism finally sapped the strength of Spain. The country went into a decline that saw it lose nearly all of its colonial possessions by the late 1800s.

In the early part of the 20th century, Spain was in turmoil as its traditional culture and economy clashed with modern political and social forces. The breaking point was reached in 1936 with the first shots of the horrific Spanish Civil War. Fascist dictator Gen. Francisco Franco, with the help of Hitler and Mussolini, emerged victorious from the civil war and ruled until his death in 1975. He left Spain in the care of King Juan Carlos I, who helped transform Spain into a modern democracy.

With its new freedoms, the country enjoyed a cultural renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s, and joined the European Union in 1986. The country held the world's attention in 1992 as host of the Summer Olympics (in Barcelona) and Expo '92 (in Seville). It is fully integrated into the EU and uses the euro as its currency.

Snapshot

Spain's main attractions are historical sites, lively cities, some of the finest art in the world, castles, cathedrals, the Alhambra, shopping, the White Villages, traditional fiestas, cultural events, beaches, museums, caves, hiking, watersports and great food and wine.

Anyone who likes to travel will enjoy Spain. From its art museums and its tapas bars to its beaches, Spain's appeal is so broad that it's truly a country with something for everyone.

Potpourri

Menorca's port city of Mahon was the birthplace of mayonnaise.

At 2,133 ft/650 m, Madrid is the highest capital city in Europe. It became the capital in 1561 when Philip II moved his court from Toledo to be closer to his beloved palace, El Escorial.

Point Tarifa is the southernmost spot in Europe. It is considered the best spot in Europe for windsurfing and kitesurfing.

Morocco is only 8 mi/13 km from Spain's southern shore across the Strait of Gibraltar. There are ferries and excursions from Algeciras and Tarifa.

After Italy, Spain has the second-highest number of UNESCO World Heritage sites of any country in the world.

The Torre de Hercules in La Coruna on the Galician coast is claimed as the oldest lighthouse in the world, dating from 20 BC.

Christopher Columbus brought the first cocoa beans to Spain on his return from his last voyage to the Caribbean in 1502. The Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes drank a bitter chocolate drink with Aztecs in 1519. He added cane sugar and spices to make it more palatable. Back home, the Spanish served it piping hot and created the world's first hot chocolate.

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, published in 1615, is considered the world's first novel in the modern sense of the word.