Music finds you before the sights do. A string instrument tunes up in a courtyard, a radio drifts from a passing taxi and you follow the sound down a lane. Beyond the cities the land opens into mountain valleys and green slopes by the water, and each region keeps its own songs.

The climate is mostly dry, with cold winters in the northwest, hot summers in the south and a humid green north. Spring and autumn are the gentlest seasons for wandering. A Local Friend sits down with you at a family table you would not have found alone, and the evening fills with talk and one more song.