My Trip to Spain – Nathanial Abbott

A trip through the Canary Islands, Madrid, Costa Blanca, and Santiago de Compostela.

The Canary Islands

Here we are in the Canary Islands located some 1500 km off the Spanish mainland. There are seven islands, all of which have a different landscape from forests to high volcanoes to barren deserts.

We are in Gran Canaria. This is La Casa de Colón, which menas "House of Columbus“. Christopher Columbus stopped here on his journey to America.

The Small Continent

Here we are in Fuerteventura. This is the island with the oldest history.

The Old Land

Small Unknown Island

Hierro is the smallest of the Canary Islands and it is mostly deserted.

The Beautiful Island

La Palma is known as the green island.It has the world’s largest volcanic crater called La Caldera del Taburiente.

Island of Mountains

The capital of Gomera is San Sebastian. The island is characterized by high mountains and deep valleys. The people of Gomera used to communicate by using a whistling language.

Island of Eternal Springtime

Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands. Here we are at Cabildo Insular.

And here we are at the beach - Playa de las Teresitas.

Landing on the Moon

Lanzarote is the most different of the Canary Islands. It is mostly volcanic, covered with ashes and craters and makes you feel like you are walking on the moon!

Here is La Cueva de los Verdes which connects the volcano, Corona, to the sea.

And here we are taking a tour of Parque del Timanfaya, or the National Park. We rented CAMELS!

MadridAfter we left the Canary Islands, we headed to Madrid. Madrid is one of Europe’s largest cities. It was founded by the Moors in the 9th Century. Madrid has many monuments, museums and bullfighting rings!

Museum

Below is the Museo del Prado, which holds the most impressive art collection. There are special rooms for artists like Goya, Velazquez, El Greco, Zurbarán, Murillo and Tizian

Bull Ring

What an exciting experience! We saw a bullfight at Las Ventas.

Costa BlancaTime for some relaxing at the beach!

The White Beach

There were a lot of people at Costa Blanca. Can you find me?

Did you guess that this beach was called Costa Blanca because it has fine, white sand?

Santiago de Compostela

To end our trip, we visited one of the most beautiful cities in Spain, Santiago de Compostela. This city was the old world famous center of European pilgrimage. Many people still follow the medieval pilgrimage routes from France across northern Spain to visit the cathedral.

Gelmirez Palace

The Gelmirez Palace is face to face with the Cathedral and is noted for its architecture.

Colegio de Fonseca

Our very last stop was the Colegio de Fonseca – a 15th century monastary. There is the University library, and it conserves the famous 11th century manuscript Libro de Hojas.

We had a very good time in Spain and enjoyed learning about the interesting places to visit. There is so much more to do that maybe we will go back one day and spend more time in all the beautiful cities. Goodbye Spain!