Barcelona oozes with character.  It is impossible to get bored on vacation.  Everwhere you look, there's something interesting.

This photo is a view out the restaurant windows on the top floor of an El Corte Ingles department store in Barcelona.  There's the Hotel Barcelona, a tree-lined street and an endless sea of rooftops.

Museu del Calçat - museum of shoes

Barcelona is known for fashion.  It should come as no surprise then, that there is a unique museum dedicated to shoes in Barcelona. 

The Museu del Calçat is a shoe museum where you can see historical fashions in footwear. 

The museum may be lacking in scale but it does have an interesting collection of shoes from the last 300 years and even shoes worn by historical figures. 

If you are in the area and think old shoes are cool, stop by the Museu del Calcat.  Don't worry, the place does not smell like feet.

Address: Plaça Sant Felip Neri, 5, Barcelona, Spain

Hours: Tuesday - Sunday, 11-2

I've passed by Don Miguel Hotel and Restaurant many, many times during visits to Ronda, Spain but have never had the good fortune to eat there.  The restuarant is at the edge of the cliff right next to Puente Nueva "The New Bridge."  If you spend a few days in Ronda, you'll likely cross the bridge several times going from the old town to the new.

I admit it, I've been one of those tourists that said "hey, there's a restaurant hanging over the side of the cliff."   If you go to Ronda, Spain, I'm sure you will too.  You can see the Don Miguel Hotel and Restaurant's outdoor dining areas on the edge of the gorge in the pictures.

Take a fried-dough churro and dip it in a cup melted chocolate:  churros con chocolate.

A dessert, a breakfast, a snack.  Churros con chocolate is versatile, delicious and a popular treat originating in Spain. I like having a meal of a few tapas and then finishing it off with churros con chocolate. 

If you've yet to try churros with chocolate, this is the one indulgence you absolutely must make when visiting Spain.

These pictures of churros con chocolate make me salivate as they should you.

Located in the Montjuic district of Barcelona, the Fundació Joan Miró contemporary art museum is a showcase of the works of Joan Miro and other contemporary artists.

Spain has 14 national parks spread across the mainland and even on the Balearic and Canary Islands.  Spain's 14 national parks offer visitors lots of back-to-nature travel opportunities.

Take a look at a picture of each of Spain's national parks to see the incredible variety.

Aiguestortes i Estany de Sant Maurici National Park, Catalonia

Sunday afternoon in Spain's warm Canary Islands is a time to go to market...Teguise Market in Lanzarote, that is.  Teguise Market is the big Sunday market in Lanzarote and a good way to take a break from the beach.  Shop for unique clothing, arts and crafts surrounded by Lanzarote's old town of la Villa de Teguise. Watch a few street performers too.  The market runs from 9am to 2pm. Get there early.  Spend the day and a few euros.  Afterwards, have a meal at one of the many restaurants outlying the market.

No matter how much I wish I was in Spain right now, I am stuck in the United States....thinking about good times and good authentic tapas and pealla.

Luckily for me and anyone located in the Northeast United States, the centrally located state of Connecticut is home to 6 Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurants.  Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant is a Spanish restaurant with a focus on tapas, a handful of entrees and a long list of expensive wine. 

The 6 locations are Greenwich, Stamford, Fairfield, South Norwalk, New Haven and West Hartford.

Before chosing one, I read several reviews.  Each location is different - different atmostphere, different menu, different chef, different waitstaff.  Some restaurants are smaller, some are bigger.  Some waitstaff can be new and unskilled, some can be excellent and polished. 

View AboutSpainTravel.com's latest travel photo gallery for Cadiz, Spain.  In it are photos from spending an afternoon in Cadiz, an old city on the coast of Spain.  The day involved walking around Cadiz and stopping at a few cafes.  There are a lot of pictures of monuments, the seaside and architecture - and plenty taken from inside a car driving through the streets of Cadiz, wishing I had more time to spend looking around.

Here are some highlights:

Looking for things to do near Las Ramblas, the famous pedestrian walkway in Barcelona?  Consider the Museu de Cera, a wax museum on a Las Ramblas sidestreet not far from the Christopher Columbus monument.

The Barcelona wax museum contains a hundreds of human-like wax figures representing historical and entertainment personalities.  Most of the characters only exist in our minds because we only see them in the movies or on the television.  The Museu de Cera brings the characters to life - and then makes time stand still.

Imagine seeing Star Wars characters in person.  The museum makes it possible.  The wax museum has realistic representations of famous Star Wars characters Chewbacca and R2-D2 alongside Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.