Daniele Somenzi's Spain

Spain

There are 3 times I have set foot in this country, where the language is similar to ours and which conquered a quarter of the world.

The first: when, with the group I was accompanying, on an Iberia flight from Rome and onwards to Miami with a DC 10, we stopped for 4 hours at Madrid airport. For uncle Nando it was the first time he set foot on a plane and even outside Italy.

The second time, I landed in Barcelona with an Alitalia MD 80, a hire car and then, in the chaotic city traffic, I had to be very careful not to have an accident, never.

The trouble is that I want to go and see that big building on the side of the mountain but I can't find the right road, so I turn back, and then I must say that when it comes to road signs, there really aren't any.

I even parked for 10 minutes to cool down after the 20 km done up and down in the city. Until in the end I left the city driving towards inland Spain; the motorway is beautiful, at last you travel well, I stop at a petrol station, with lovely sunshine, now we're talking, it almost feels like being in Italy.

The third time, the Costa Fortuna cruise ship let me visit Málaga, Barcelona, Cádiz and a little piece of England surrounded by Spain: Gibraltar.

Here we go ashore and visit within the city, the exact opposite of my passion — I love nature, not concrete — but a cruise doesn't only offer the destinations.

Bye