Monumental Rock, Monsanto, Portugal

Perched high above a patchwork of olive groves and cork forests, a holy mountain juts 758 meters (2486 feet) from the surrounding plain. It’s a sacred playground overlooking neighboring villages where naughty gods once used huge granite boulders as their croquet pieces, and left them scattered, forgetting to clean up after themselves. Over the centuries…

Ogopogo Gets its Revenge

Remember when sea monsters were scary green dragon-like creatures that swallowed entire ships and saved the ravishing maiden for dessert? Times have changed. In this lake just about big enough to be a sea lives a legend that has morphed from its First Nation tale origins into a Disney-friendly smiling reptile that adorns everything from…

El Mirador de la Memoria

The bullet holes you see in the sculptures at El Torno are real and recent. It has been more than 70 years since the guns of the civil war officially fell silent and more than 30 since Spain’s brutal dictator died peacefully in his sleep. Even after so many years, tensions here lie close to the…

Whose Legs?

Fat Frog’s Legs For Sale It seems that there has been a seachange in finger food here recently. While frog’s legs have always been on the menu in this region, it’s generally something that was either common knowledge among locals or something that was tucked away in a lost corner of the menu. I’ve even…