But maybe it isn't out of place. Many consider bullfighting to be the spirit of Spain. We attended some while in Madrid, and Judy even got movies of a bullfighter being gored. Ron went every time he got a chance! In fact, if the Springers had been stationed in Spain rather than in Germany, Ron probably would have become an afficianado. It's fascinating, and yes the bullfights DO begin exactly on time!

Not surprisingly, we spent most of our time during our tour of Spain in Madrid. This is one of the most fascinating and culturally rich cities in Europe. One of the main attractions is a fantastic art museum, El Prado. Of course Madrid is the bullfighting capital of the world! You haven't seen a bullfight until you've seen one in Madrid. In fact, young bullfighters can't be certified as full fledged practitioners of the art until they have fought in Madrid's bullring, Las Ventas.

Just down the road about 30 miles is Toledo. Here's a chance to pick up a sword made of world famous Toledo Steel, or tour their magnificent cathedral. On our way to Toledo, we found a little roadside restaurant where Ron Sr., Judy and Ron Jr. ate a magnificent lunch all for under $3.00 including a pitcher of sangrilla.

At the time we visited Spain there was an American air base at Zaragoza. Some friends of ours were stationed there, so we stopped and visited and toured the area for a couple of days.

We concluded our tour of Spain with a three day stay in Barcelona. We stayed in a tourist hotel occupied almost completely by Germans. We had a fantastic time on the beach, and even picked up a sunburn.

Due to Ron's TDY trips, he managed to visit several places which the rest of us didn't get a chance to see. One place was Seville.

Another place was the island of Menorca.

Under Spain's Constitutional Monarchy, there are an incredible number of political parties. To find out more about politics in Spain, click here.

Located high in the mountains between France and Spain is the postage-stamp size principality of Andorra. Since we were on our way from France to Spain, the stopover was a natural. It's a very nice place; we intended to stay one night - we ended up staying three. The mountain roads are very difficult, but it was worth it.

One of the high points of our tour in Europe was visting Austria.

As with most countries, when one thinks of the country, one automatically thinks of its capital, in this case Vienna or Wien as it is in German. The Viennese are among the friendliest yet the most sophisticated in Europe. They are justly proud of their State Opera House. It is the place around which all cultural life in Vienna is centered.

Fairly early in our tour of Europe we visited a recreation area maintained by the Armed Forces in Berchtesgaden Germany. Ron went to ski school. Judy would have liked to, but was pregnant with Marc at the time. She utilized here time very well however by touring Salzburg. There is a Folk Festival just as depicted in The Sound of Music.

The thing of which the residents of Salzburg are the most proud is that their city is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. One easy way to see a semi-realistic version of the life of Mozart is to see the movie Amadeus.

We couldn't leave Austria without at least mentioning a couple of other things of which the Austrians are justly proud: the first is their zoos, and the second is their beer.

For an overview of Austrian politics, click here.

Sadly, we only had time to spend one long weekend in The Netherlands. Hardly enough even to scratch the surface. Nevertheless, we have some nice memories from there.

Since our time was very limited, we spent most of our time in Amsterdam.

Two of the biggest attractions in Amsterdam are the Rijksmuseum, and the Anne Frank house.

One of the least traveled countries in Europe is Belgium. This is undeservedly so. We only had a long weekend here as well, but enjoyed every minute of it.

Brussels is the capital and largest city in Belgium. This is understandably where most tourists spend their time. It's worth it. And yes Brussels is where the Brussel Sprout originated.

For centuries, Belgium has been a center for the Arts. Of particular note are the Belgian painters

Belgium has probably more castles per square mile than any other country in Europe.

Among many handi-crafts and exports, none is better known than Belgian lace.

Belgian cooking is famed the world around. Here is a link to some Belgian recipes.

Arguably the best known Belgian of modern times is the world champion cyclist Eddy Merckx.

Ron Springer