VALLADOLID, Spain -- My second and third days in the Castilla y Leon region of Spain last week were the first times I’ve seen more than 10 images of Christ on the cross without feeling like God ...

Castile y Leon, Spain's little-known historic heartland. ... Castile takes its name from the 300 or so castles dotted around the region, testimony to its troubled history.

It’s the true Spain, caught between the mountains and the plain, and it makes no concessions to tourists. It’s also packed with history. León is actually a derivation of “legion ...