Spain is really amazingly lovely. I say this for the benefit of those of you who, like me, tend to think of the Iberian Peninsula as full of drunken British holidaymakers and hotels that aren't quite finished.
But, as many of you already know, this accounts for only a narrow coastal strip of resorts. Elsewhere, it's a country of extraordinary landscapes, intriguing cities, plentiful antiquity, and a sensible lifestyle that involves sleeping for quite a lot of the afternoon.
I spent nine days there in August with my wife. We were teaching at Cascadas, a Christian establishment in the mountains near Madrid that deserves an article of its own. We were leading a week on the arts and media, but managed to fit in a memorable holiday between seminars, mealtimes and siestas.
