Every town, city, region and country has their own particular charm, feature and places of interest. These inspire and motivates their selection as a destination to be visited and discovered. As the saying goes; “different strokes for different folks.” That is what greatly influences the decision to visit a specific place.
Our recent trip named “Spain 2017”, originally considered only a few places with specific interests in each one. The scope of “Spain 2017” evolved as we continued to do research and prepare for the voyage. We would outline the manner to tour the city, then search for the most appropriate lodging and performed inquiries as to the best time of the year to visit them.
The main decision made was establishing the difference between what was to be viewed and what would be visited. These are two distinctively different concepts and an important consideration when creating the tour routes to be followed.
Places to be viewed are those that although important, we would be comfortable to appreciate their external appearance or aspects. These are in many instances, buildings, sculptures or monuments that would fall within the general area to be toured. For example in Madrid, the “Cibeles” Fountain, the “Oso y el Madroño” statue or the Gateway to Alcala (to mention a few) were places and things we went to see. This meant a pause, view, take pictures and continue along with the tour.
On the other hand, a visit means a full stop, examine, observe, study, enjoy and really get to know the place. To appreciate in more detail the structures, discover every corner, understand its history, to let it provoke all our senses and internalize its grandure. The Royal Palace, the Prado Museum, the “Plaza Mayor” and many others, were places we elected to visit given their historical importance in Spain.
In establishing the difference between viewing and visiting, we were able to structure our walking tours better and thus maximizing the objectives of this trip.