An excerpt:
"...You probably know that it was a Queen of Spain, Isabella, who made it possible for America to be discovered in 1492. It was an Italian sailor, Christopher Columbus, who first had the strange new idea that he could sail westward from Spain in order to reach the Far East. He came to Spain to tell people about his idea, and everybody he met thought he was crazy because they knew, or thought they knew, that the northern corner of Spain, jutting out into the Atlantic, was the very end of the world. Even the most daring sailors and fishermen wouldn't go very far from that shore for fear they would drop over the rim into nothingness.
But Queen Isabella didn't think Columbus was crazy. She took time to listen to him and decided she wanted to help him. She didn't have any money to buy ships for his expedition, so she ordered a little fishing village, Palos, to build three ships as a way of paying a fine they owed her. The fishermen of Palos knew how to build good, sturdy sailing vessels, and they soon had the three ships ready for Columbus and his brave sailors.
That is why, in August of 1492, the daring expedition started from this little Spanish village. What a sight! Three little ships, the Niña (Small Girl), the Pinta (Spotted), and the Santa Maria (named in honor of the Virgin Mary) cast off from the wharf of Palos. Flags fluttered in the breeze as the sails billowed out from the masts. All the villagers were lined up on the shore to pray and to cheer, and the bells in the church rang as Columbus and his crew sailed off "the rim" to the west in search of wealth and glory for Spain!..."
![Getting to know Spain [Illustrated Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/2940012766526_p0_v1_s90x140.jpg)
![Getting to know Spain [Illustrated Edition]](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.7.4)
![Getting to know Spain [Illustrated Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/2940012766526_p0_v1_s600x595.jpg)
