Blog

14 Weird And Wonderful Places To See In Spain

Spain is one of my favorite places, somewhere I return to over and over again. I particularly love the Sagrada Familia and the beachside tapas of Barcelona, the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, the chilled vibe of Malaga, and the cultural heritage of Granada and Cordoba.

But Spain has a darker side.

Bloody religious statues and relics fill the Catholic churches, resonant with the history of the Inquisition and the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, who forced the Jews to convert, leave, or die. Their empire took the faith to Latin America in search of gold and converts … at any cost.

Much later, Spain suffered during the Spanish Civil War with torture, killings, and mob violence. The fight against fascism characterizes memorials around the country and still scars many of those left behind.

The deep religious and cultural history brings beauty in the strange and wonderful places that you can still visit and many writers find inspiration there. My ARKANE thriller, Gates of Hell, delves into sites related to Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism, while Dan Brown’s novel, Origin, has scenes in Madrid, Seville, Barcelona and Bilbao.

So which of Spain’s strange places should you visit?

Macabre Montreal with Mark Leslie

Unusual Places

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Montreal is more than just music festivals, street art and the St Laurence river. It also has a dark side.

Mark Leslie is a Canadian horror writer with a passion for haunted places and, today, we’re talking about his book, Macabre Montreal.

Show Notes

On the old world feel of Montreal and it’s history

The influence of the St. Lawrence river on Montreal’s feel

Interesting places to look for history in Montreal, including the cemeteries

Making connections to history through city ghost tours

Recommendations for good books based in Montreal

On the pleasure of walking through a new city

You can find Mark at www.MarkLeslie.ca and on Twitter @MarkLeslie

The Hidden Side Of Strange And Unusual Bath, England

Unusual Places

I’ve been living in Bath for several years now, and although on the surface, it seems like a genteel little place, there is a darker side to the city – if you know where to look.

Bath straddles the River Avon in Wiltshire in the South West of England. Made famous by Jane Austen costume dramas, the city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

But beneath the charming streets, Roman baths, and Georgian grandeur lies a weird city. A strange Bath, a place haunted by Druids with Masonic symbols hidden in plain sight. Ley lines crackle with mysterious power along the same streets used by tour buses, and under these streets lie curses to ancient gods.

15 Strange Underwater Places

Unusual Places

I first learned to scuba dive on the West Coast of Australia in 2000 and have spent a lot of time diving off the coast of New Zealand. The pictures below are from the Poor Knights Islands.

Living in England now means I don’t dive much – it’s just too cold around the coast here, but watching Blue Planet II recently gave me the itch to get back underwater!

Diving is a fantastic way to reach the world’s strange underwater places, some of which I’ve featured in my thrillers. You can read more or listen to my scuba diving adventures here.

For example, The Sunken Cities exhibition at the British Museum in 2016 laid bare the lost Egyptian cities of Thonis-Heraklion and inspired my short story The Dark Queen.

Here are 15 more sites around the world that harbour strange underwater places.

Myth And Reality. Beauty And Decay In Venice With J.F.Penn

Travel Memoir

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Today I’m talking about The Myth and Reality Of Travel, and focusing on Venice in particular, as well as giving you some tips and book recommendations if you are going to visit.

There is a problem inherent in travel, especially in a world of filtered Instagram photos, social media bubbles and glossy travel magazines.

There are some places in the world that are so famous it can be difficult to know whether they live up to the hype or not. There is the myth and then there is the reality, so how do you manage the two? How do you decide to go in the first place in case it doesn’t live up to the myth, and how do you deal with the reality if you have to face up to it?

In this episode, I’m talking about Venice, which is definitely one of those places. I’ve been to Venice three times under very different circumstances and today, I’ll share some of my thoughts on the myth versus the reality.

The myth of Venice

What does the word Venice evoke for you, regardless of whether you’ve been there or not?

Granada And Cordoba In Andalusia, Spain With Historical Thriller Author, David Penny

Unusual Places

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Email | TuneIn | RSS

Andalucia brings to mind balmy evenings with the scent of oranges in the air, the sounds of flamenco guitar, and the exotic architecture of the Moorish Alhambra.

In this podcast interview, I talk to David Penny, author of The Thomas Berrington Historical Mysteries, which are set in medieval Spain.

You can listen above or on iTunes or your favorite podcast app, read the notes and links below. Here are the highlights and full transcript below.

Show Notes

The inspiration for David’s detective novels set in Moorish Spain

Writing about an ancient place from modern time

Weaving religion into historical fiction

Finding an authentic flamenco experience in Spain
Recommendations for local food and drink

Getting used to local customs, like shop closure times

Adjusting to the slower pace of life in Spain

You can find David Penny at DavidPennyWriting.com and on Twitter @davidpenny_

The myth of Venice

Follow Jo Frances Penn