Last summer, my students and I read The Hobbit together. It had been 30 years since I’d read it. I have to admit, I reveled in the classic story, long buried in my brain under years of reading. As you know, it is a classic tale of a quest; a long, life-changing journey. The travelers have to battle (and avoid) various creatures, traverse extraordinarily vast plains, wend their way through mountain paths, and pursue their quest across Middle Earth.

Every Harry Potter fan has dreamt of walking the halls of Hogwarts, or performing complex spells that will turn any enemy into a bat or mouse. But we’ve begun to grow up. Our minds have moved on to reality, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has been tucked away on to a dusty shelf of our subconscious.

We all love literary travel (of course. As evidenced by us being regular readers and avid consumers of literature of all types. But I digress). It’s an interesting way to learn about the world, much different than what you’ll get from guidebooks.

When we boarded a train in Madrid for a day trip to Alcalá de Henares, I began thinking of the legendary figure Don Quixote lashing out at Castilla-La Mancha’s giant windmills with his faithful squire Sancho Panza in tow.