Download or read book A Little Journey to Spain and Portugal (Classic Reprint) written by Marian M. George and published by . This book was released on 2015-06-29 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from A Little Journey to Spain and Portugal Across the Pyrenees from France lies the most romantic country of Europe. Spain is a land of music and dance; of gypsies and beggars; of beautiful darkeyed women and grave, proud men; of ruined castles and deserted palaces; and of ancient walled towns and cities dying or dead. We are warned that we shall meet with many discomforts in our tour of Spain. The questions are asked Will Americans be kindly received since the late war? Will not the Spaniards show bitterness over their loss of Cuba, Porto Rica, and the Philippines? The Spaniards are far too courteous to show hostility to any guest. Besides, they feel better off without their island colonies. Cuba and the Philippines had for years been draining Spain of men and money to keep down rebellions and giving little in return. Peace has brought Spain a chance to build up her broken fortunes, pay her debts, and develop her resources, for, although the country has mines rich with minerals, a fertile soil, a fine climate, and fifteen hundred miles of seaboard, it is poor, in debt, and one hundred years behind the rest of Europe in its industries. This backward state is due to bad government, mistakes made in the far past, and the ignorance and superstition of the people, who like to idle and sleep when they should be at work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.