We have reached the dark days in the northern hemisphere and I find my mood darkened by the news from the Middle East and the truths revealed about our own country by the political campaign.

Today Julianne and I fulfilled a longstanding desire - visiting Altamira and seeing representations of just about the earliest examples of art made in Europe.

Santiago de Compostella has captured my imagination since we visited Arles, France a few years ago.

We were uncertain, it was dark, nothing much around and the name of the restaurant did not inspire confidence. But dinner at the Curral dos Caprinos turned out to be great.

Pretty good grafitti stencils and posters for the International Day of Eliminating Violence Against Women (UN declaration for November 25).

Our first day in Lisbon, Portugal. We arrived yesterday in the dark after a glorious day in a marshy estuary in the Algarve, way south.

Portugal--a small country on the edge of the continent--was first in global exploration.

Seems there were anti-austerity protest marches sponsored by trade unions in the southern part of Europe today - Spain, Italy, Greece, and Portugal.

This morning we drove from Granada to Cordoba, our next destination in this trip. But it's less than three hours if you go direct, so why go direct?

We have been in Granada a week and we are sad to leave.

It turns out to be one of the delightful surprises of wandering around: rarely open but open as we passed by.

An amazing place, the Alhambra, a riot of decoration and visual astonishment. Designed to impress, the product of centuries of artisans beavering away in royal workshops.

This is a cork oak, harvested for (you guessed it) corks.

We had an afternoon for the Rock of Gibraltar, and in that short time we drove all the way around it, stopping for lunch on the eastern flank, pausing at the south end for photos, and riding a cable car to the top from the western flank.

Cadiz pushed all our Spain buttons: great food and wine, charming street scenes and gracious squares, modern port facilities, and history from Phoenician times. We loved it.

Bird migration at the Strait of Gibraltar. It is one of the remarkable natural phenomena in the world. It is something I have wanted to witness for so many years.

Do you ever wonder, what is the best place to live, when you can choose what you want? That is to say, when you can choose without considering your job?

Today was another of the surprises that delight when traveling in a wandering way. I am in Edinburgh on a cool but beautifully sunny day.