Top 10 Spanish Experiences
By Rhiannon Williamson, Thu Dec 8th

Guidebooks often provide the visitor with a list of sights tosee and places to visit when venturing overseas to a brand newcountry, but this list of top 10 experiences to have in Spainprovides the visitor or new expatriate living in Spain with someslightly more unusual alternatives!

If you consider yourself a more adventurous tourist or you’rejust bored of the same old same old spouted by tired touristguides read on for an exciting Spanish itinerary.

1) The Seville Fair – we all know that the Spanish areparty people and they party well, but if you’d like toexperience the biggest, liveliest and most exciting party of allconsider visiting the Seville fair which is seven days of pure,unadulterated fun!

2) Surfing and Snowboarding – from riding the Biscayswell at Guernika in the Billabong Pro to snowboarding in theSierra Nevada – whatever form of extreme sport you’re into Spainhas the unique natural landscape to satisfy you!

3) Breathtaking Views – from standing atop the piste withviews of Granada to driving the N340 highway with the coast ofMorocco so close you can almost reach out and touch it - Spainnot only has the most breathtaking natural scenery, it affordsyou a wealth of unique views to die for.

4) Drink Sherry & Drink Rioja – drink sherry in Jerez,drink Rioja in La Rioja – say no more!

5) Clubbing in Ibiza – take a week and visit one of theseven main clubs in Ibiza each night of the week and be preparedto party until the sun rises and your feet can dance no more! Ithas to be done!

6) Bull Fighting and Bull Running – bull fighting may beritualised killing and many people’s idea of extreme cruelty,but to others the experience of a corrida is to take abreathtaking and dramatic glimpse into the Spanish psyche. ThePamplona Bull Run on the other hand is possibly the very lastthing you’ll get to do in Spain! We’d advise anyone crazy enoughto charge ahead of a mad bull down the narrow cobbled streets ofPamplona to get their life insurance in order before they setoff – alternatively, join the crowds of spectators and simplywitness this (possibly?) once in a lifetime thrill!

7) The Alhambra At Sunset – the Alhambra, the mostincredible and enduring legacy of Moorish Spain is worth ahundred visits…but if you want to experience the true majestyand understand why the Alhambra was the physical manifestationof the Moorish

concept of paradise, climb up to St. NicholasSquare at sunset and see how the ancient wonder glows goldenagainst the stunning snow-capped backdrop of the peaks of theSierra Nevada - and be prepared to feel seriously moved if not awee bit emotional!

8) Art & Culture – The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is awork of art in itself and worth visiting even if you’re notinterested in the wealth of art and artefacts contained therein.The museum is an incredibly daring structure built fromtitanium, glass and stone, and it beats at the heart of thiscity of contrasts. Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum is tame inarchitectural comparison but it houses one of Picasso’s greatestworks, in fact, possibly one of the greatest works of 20thCentury namely Guernica…if you want art and culture, Spain hasit in heaps and every city, town or region you visit will offeryou a whole host of opportunity to experience the Spanishcultural riches.

9) World Heritage Sites - The UNESCO World HeritageCommittee is dedicated to ensuring future generations inheritthe treasures of the past by working to protect both culturaland natural sites of significance worldwide. Spain has over 35sites that have been flagged as world heritage sites – wechallenge you to visit them all!

10) Tomato Fighting – not fighting tomatoes (that wouldbe silly), but fighting with tomatoes in Valencia in August.Yes, one of the strangest of all Spanish festivals and carnivalsis La Tomatina where upwards of 30,000 semi-naked people gatherto throw tomatoes at each other before getting washed down bythe hoses of the local fire brigade…it is truly an experienceworth…well…experiencing really! If only to say ‘been there, donethat.’

Spain is different! It is a country which effortlessly andseamlessly combines a plethora of fiestas, indefatigablenightlife, stunning and diverse natural scenery, supposedlyimpossible to achieve levels of synergy between ancient andmodern architecture and artistic culture, fun and fascination,beautiful people, incredible cuisine, sun, sea, sand and sangria- to create a variety and spice of life you will neverexperience outside of Spain.

About the author:Rhiannon Williamson is the publisher of http://www.shelteroffshore.com/ the online resource for investment property abroad,offshore investing and living overseas. Click the following linkfor Spanishproperty and moving to Spain articles, guides and resources.