{"id":11670,"date":"2023-05-08T09:00:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T16:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=11670"},"modified":"2023-05-08T08:34:16","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T15:34:16","slug":"spain-portugal-and-topless-bars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=11670","title":{"rendered":"Spain, Portugal and Topless Bars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>by Bob Sparrow<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_11689\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?attachment_id=11689\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11689\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11689\" class=\"wp-image-11689 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Map-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Map-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Map-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Map-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Map-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Map-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11689\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spain &amp; Portugal<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In my next missive, I\u2019ll be coming to you from somewhere in Spain or Portugal and as I\u2019ve prepared for this six-couple, 16-day trip, I have, of course, researched the major cities we will be visiting &#8211; <strong>Madrid, Malaga, Ronda (Help me!!), Seville, Lisbon, Cascais, Sintra<\/strong> and <strong>Fatima<\/strong>.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be hearing highlights from each of these burgs as we visit them.\u00a0 But what has really kept me busy these last few weeks is learning the amazing history of the<strong> \u2018Iberian Peninsula\u2019<\/strong>. \u00a0To wit:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Spain was once THE <strong>most powerful country in the world<\/strong>; it had spread its influence to North, Central and South America as well as taking over the <strong>Philippines<\/strong> for over 300 years. It has left a whole lot of people, all over the world, speaking Spanish.\u00a0 While this phrase is more commonly attributed to the English, the Spanish Empire was the first where <strong>the sun never set<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The modern world\u2019s first novel, <strong><em>Don Quixote<\/em><\/strong>, was written by Spanish author, <strong>Miguel de Cervantes<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Moors<\/strong> (Muslims), from northern Africa, invaded what is now Spain and Portugal and ruled the area for 800 years, from the early 8th century to the late 15th century, when they were ultimately defeated by Christian invaders.<\/li>\n<li>Spain has over <strong>600 \u2018Blue Flag\u2019 beaches<\/strong> (meets environmental standards), more than another other country in the\n<div id=\"attachment_11685\" style=\"width: 285px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?attachment_id=11685\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11685\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11685\" class=\"wp-image-11685 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Franco2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11685\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Friendly &amp; Fuzzy Franco<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Northern Hemisphere.<\/li>\n<li>Although they met only days before their \u2018arranged\u2019 marriage in 1467, the wedding of <strong>Ferdinand of Aragon<\/strong>, who was 19, and <strong>Isabella of Castile<\/strong>, who was 18, unified Spain as they ruled for the next <strong>30 years<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Spanish Inquisition<\/strong>\u00a0was\u00a0intended primarily to identify heretics among those who converted from Judaism and Islam to Catholicism.\u00a0According to modern estimates, around 150,000 people were prosecuted for various offences during its three-century duration<\/li>\n<li>Spain has <strong>more bars<\/strong> than any other European country. However, I\u2019m sure you can appreciate my disappointment when I finally realized they were talking about <strong>\u2018tapas bars\u2019<\/strong>, not topless bars!<\/li>\n<li>The famous or infamous, <strong>Generalissimo Franco<\/strong>, was a dictator of Spain from 1938 \u2013 1973. Yes, Spain was under a dictatorship in the \u201870s!!\u00a0 During World War II, Spain remained neutral, but supported Hitler, because he supported Franco during the <strong>Spanish Civil War<\/strong>.\u00a0 Franco\u2019s use of forced labor, concentration camps, executions and wartime killings created a death toll in the range of 420,000!\n<p><div id=\"attachment_11690\" style=\"width: 286px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?attachment_id=11690\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11690\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11690\" class=\"wp-image-11690 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/topless.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"276\" height=\"183\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11690\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&#8220;It&#8217;s a tapas bar, NOT a topless bar, you idiot!&#8221;<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\">\n<ul>\n<li>Portugal was the first country to practice \u2018colonialism\u2019; from the 15<sup>th<\/sup> century on for the next 600 years, they started creating colonies in <strong>Africa, South America, North America, Oceania,<\/strong> and <strong>South Asia<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Portuguese explorer, <strong>Ferdinand Magellan<\/strong> was the first to find a route to East Asia through the Americas in 1519.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Vasco da Gama<\/strong>, another Portuguese explorer, was the first European to reach India by sea, thus linking Europe to Asia.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fatima<\/strong> is the Portugal city where, as the story goes, three shepherds allegedly spotted the <strong>Virgin Mary<\/strong> in their fields in <strong>1917<\/strong>. Since then, the number of pilgrims to Fatima run from about<strong> six to eight million<\/strong> every year.<\/li>\n<li>Porto, Portugal houses the world\u2019s most stunningly beautiful <strong>MacDonald\u2019s<\/strong> restaurant\u00a0 complete\u00a0 with\u00a0 an\u00a0 elegant\u00a0 chandelier.\n<p><div id=\"attachment_11674\" style=\"width: 285px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?attachment_id=11674\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11674\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11674\" class=\"wp-image-11674 \" src=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/McDonalds-Porto.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"206\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-11674\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Portugal McDonald&#8217;s<\/p><\/div><\/li>\n<li>There is at least one of our travel companions who wants to take a serious look at <strong>Portugal real estate<\/strong> \u2013 its climate is very similar to Southern California, it has great people, great beaches and great food \u2013 lots of ex-Pats there! So, if I\u2019m not back by June 1<sup>st<\/sup>, you\u2019ll know where to look for me.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>OK, it\u2019s difficult to try and summarize the historical highlights of these two ancient and amazing countries in a 600-word blog, so just plan to come along with us and see for yourself, without the hassle of delayed flights, luggage being lost or trying to figure out what not to wear to a topless bar.<\/p>\n<p><u>\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Bob Sparrow In my next missive, I\u2019ll be coming to you from somewhere in Spain or Portugal and as I\u2019ve prepared for this six-couple, 16-day trip, I have, of course, researched the major cities we will be visiting &#8211; &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/?p=11670\">read more<span class=\"meta-nav\"><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11690,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[813],"tags":[4099,4104,4102,4100,4098,4096,4094,4103,4097,4093,4095,4092,4101,4105,4106],"class_list":["post-11670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel","tag-don-quixote","tag-fatima","tag-ferdinand-isabella","tag-generalissimo-franco","tag-iberian-peninsula","tag-lisbon","tag-madrid","tag-magellan","tag-malaga","tag-portugal","tag-seville","tag-spain","tag-spanish-inquisition","tag-tapas-bars","tag-virgin-mary"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/topless.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p31aN0-32e","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11670"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11692,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11670\/revisions\/11692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}