Late September and early October are ideal months to visit Madrid.  But leave the world famous Prado Museum for later.  Instead, journey to picturesque hinterlands to wine and dine among the vines.

It is grape harvest time in Spain, a time when vineyards outside Madrid become a wine lover’s destination.  Unlike the iconic Rioja wine region in northern Spain, these vineyards are a “diamond in the rough” on Madrid’s outskirts. 

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, as I recently explained to my American students, is celebrated in Andalusia through religious processions (called pasos) that wind their way day and night through the streets of cities and towns. As with so many Spanish traditions, such as bullfighting, it’s almost impossible to convey an accurate picture of Semana Santa celebrations to anyone who has never attended one. They must be experienced rather than understood at an intellectual level.

Sevillanos love tradition. Most are dedicated to keeping their beloved city as it always has been. Nevertheless, despite the tenacity of Sevillanos in retaining their traditions, even Sevilla, like all cultures and the places that embody them, is changing. In one of those amazing contradictions that I continually discover here, it is in the celebration of two very traditional holidays that this change is most apparent: Christmas and Three Kings’ Day.

I live in the Triana neighborhood of Seville. Triana, legendary (and some would say, mythological) home of bullfighters and gypsies. There's a certain romance here, I like to think, that you won't find in other districts. It's a nice neighborhood, made even nicer by the fact that we now have (yet) another virgin.