BARCELONA & MADRID OCTOBER 25 – NOVEMBER 2, 2017 TOUR LEADER: DR JENI RYDE

Overview Spain’s two largest cities are as diverse as they are rich in culture and history. In Barcelona, capital of Catalonia, we find a city that looks to the North of Europe for its cultural influences. Here, Spain’s own version of Art Nouveau, Catalan Modernism, took root and architects like Antoni Gaudí and Domènech i Montaner rose to international renown. Innovative artists like Picasso, Dalí and Mirό flourished in the forward-looking environment of this city, which has many artistic links to Paris. Today in Barcelona we can marvel at the original Roman walls, the narrow streets of the Medieval Quarter, or the exquisitely preserved Romanesque frescoes in the National Museum of Catalan Art. Catalonia is also famous for its cuisine and sparkling wine, or cava, which we sample on a day trip to Montserrat. A short high speed train ride away, Imperial Madrid is the traditional and conservative heart of the country. Here there is the opportunity to visit some of Europe’s finest traditional art collections: the Prado, with paintings by Goya, Velasquez, Hieronymus Bosch, Raphael and Caravaggio; the superb private collection of the Thyssen-Bornemisza with works by the Italian primitives and huge Impressionist and Expressionist galleries, and the Reina Sofia which showcases Picasso’s huge and emotive mural, Guernica. On day trips from Madrid we visit the vast royal monastery-palace of El Escorial, built by Phillip II at the height of Spain’s Golden Age in the 16th century. We have an afternoon in charming Segovia with its impressive Roman aqueduct and fantastical Alcázar palace. Another day sees us in historic Toledo, former capital of the Visigoths and subsequently known as the ‘city of three cultures’ because Christians, Arabs and Jews lived here in relative harmony for centuries. They left behind a wealth of palaces, churches, mosques and synagogues, rich with decoration in a mixture of styles. One of the highlights of the day is the painting by mannerist artist El Greco, the Burial of the Count of Orgaz, in the Santo Tomé church.

Your tour leader Dr Jeni Ryde is a former Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Sydney, where she completed her PhD focusing on the Renaissance, heritage tourism and museology. She has a wide-ranging knowledge of European history, art and architecture, and has travelled extensively through Spain.

Jeni speaks fluent Spanish and Italian and her enthusiasm for Spain is infectious: “Mix historical and cultural depth and breadth with geographical diversity, edgy art and architecture with the classical, and Spain never fails to fascinate me. It's the juxtaposition of old and new that attracts me the most. A myriad of sensations and experiences await the unsuspecting traveller in the land that Strabo, the perceptive Greek geographer, described as an ox hide lying in the sun to dry. “ Jeni has been running tours to Spain for Academy Travel for 3 years with exceptional reviews: “I saw marvellous things and learnt a huge amount-Jeni is a gifted teacher” and “Jeni provided superb and sensitive leadership” – Grand Tour of Spain April 2016 participants.

BARCELONA & MADRID

Tour dates: October 25 – November 2, 2017

Tour leader: Dr Jeni Ryde

Tour Price: $4,975 per person, twin share

Single Supplement: $1,250 for sole use of double room

Booking deposit: $500 per person

Recommended airline: Emirates

Maximum places: 20

Itinerary: Barcelona (4 nights), Madrid (4 nights)

Date published: November 4, 2016

Enquiries and bookings

For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Hannah Kleboe at Academy Travel on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email hannah@academytravel.com.au

Tour Highlights

MODERNISM IN BARCELONA Antoni Gaudí’s emblematic temple, the Sagrada Família, is now nearing completion and there is always a new corner and detail to explore. Domènech i Montaner’s less visited Hospital de San Pau is the largest Art Nouveau site in the world and provides a fascinating contrast as a civil building.

ROMANESQUE PAINTINGS The MNAC museum, or National Art Museum of Catalonia, houses a huge and unparalleled collection of Romanesque paintings from the 13th Century, rescued from churches in the Pyranees early in the 1920’s.

MONTSERRAT High in the massif overlooking Barcelona sits the extraordinary Benedictine monastery of Montserrat with its crenulated rocky backdrop.

ART IN MADRID Perhaps the most memorable image from the Madrid galleries is Picasso’s vast mural, Guernica, painted in 1937 as a reaction to the German bombing of the town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.

TOLEDO ‘City of three cultures’, Christianity, Judaism and Islam: Toledo housed three religions for centuries and the resulting mudéjar (Moorish influenced) architecture is a delight.

Detailed itinerary Included meals are shown with the symbols B, L and D.

Wednesday October 25 Arrive and orientation

In the late afternoon, we undertake a walking tour of the centre of Barcelona from our hotel on the edge of the Barri Gotic, or Medieval Quarter. We see the ancient Roman walls, explore the labyrinth of streets behind the cathedral, walk down the Rambla, past the colourful Boquería market with exquisite local hams and cheeses and walk across the beautiful Plaça Reial. In the evening, we dine at Set de Gotic, a well-known restaurant in a historic Modernist building. Overnight Barcelona (D).

thursday October 26 montjuic hill

After a talk in our hotel, we transfer to the hill of Montjuïc where the MNAC museum (National Art Museum of Catalonia) is situated. The highlights here are the Romanesque paintings carefully removed from churches in the Pyranees in the 1920’s to save them from American collectors. The colours and detail are astonishing. After a coffee break on the steps of the museum overlooking the city, we walk to the Mirό Foundation for an exploration of the bizarre world of Joan Mirό, one of Catalonia’s famous sons, commonly referred to as a surrealist. Overnight Barcelona (B).

friday October 27 modernism

An introductory talk this morning prepares us for two contrasting works by two of Catalonia’s most famous Modernist architects, Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner. We commence with Gaudí’s emblematic Sagrada Família church with its fabulous façades and vast forest-like interior, now nearing completion after 130 years. In the afternoon, we take a guided tour of the Hospital de San Pau which was built between 1901-1930 and was a fully functioning hospital until 2009. The design was supposed to be beneficial to healing for the inhabitants. Overnight Barcelona (B).

saturday October 28 Montserrat

An excursion high into the mountains behind Barcelona takes us to the dramatic monastery of Montserrat. The monastery was started by the Benedictine monks in the 9th century and has been expanded frequently since. The rocky crenulations surrounding the site inspired Wagner to use this as the backdrop to his opera, Parsifal. We continue to the sparkling wine (cava) region of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia for lunch and a tasting. In the evening, a talk in the hotel prepares us for the art of Madrid tomorrow. Overnight Barcelona (B, L).

Images - top left clockwise: local hams hang in Barcelona's Boquería market; Goya’s La Maja Vestida, c.1803, in the Prado, Madrid; El Greco's View of Toledo portrays the city in which he lived and worked; restaurant Mesón de Cándido, where we enjoy lunch by the Aqueduct in Segovia; and Gaudi’s striking Sagrada Familia in Barcelona

sunday October 29 Madrid and the prado

A high-speed train transports us to Madrid in less than 3 hours. After a light lunch in our hotel, we walk the short distance to the celebrated Prado museum for a guided tour of the principal works. First opened to the public in 1819, its extensive collection includes masterpieces by artists such as Velázquez, Goya, El Greco and Caravaggio. Dinner tonight is in our hotel. Overnight Madrid (B, L, D)

monday October 30 art in madrid

Our focus today is on two more of Madrid’s great art galleries. The Reina Sofia is an outstanding museum of contemporary art whose permanent collection includes works by Juan Gris, Joan Mirό, Salvador Dalí and Pablo Picasso, including his powerful mural, Guernica, painted in response to atrocities committed during the Spanish Civil War. The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza is an exceptional private collection with over 800 works dating from the 13th century to the present day. Highlights are works by Raphael, Titian and the Impressionists. Overnight Madrid (B)

Tuesday October 31 toledo

The former capital of the Visigoths is set in a superb position above a bend in the river Tagus. The views from the edge of the city are spectacular. We undertake a walking tour of the historic centre, admiring the 13th century High Gothic cathedral, the Church of Santo Tomé, with its superb painting by El Greco, and the Synagogue of El Transito, the most important example of Spanish-Jewish art in existence. It was built in the 14th century, and is decorated with Mudéjar elements, beautiful geometric and floral motifs, and inscriptions in Arabic and Hebrew. Overnight Madrid (B)

Wednesday November 1 Royal power Our full day excursion takes us out of Madrid to the Royal Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial. Commissioned by Phillip II in the 16th century, this vast structure of over 4,000 rooms was both monastery and austere royal residence. We have lunch at a historic restaurant in Segovia, sampling the local delicacy, suckling pig, with views of the huge Roman aqueduct which dominates the town. After lunch we take a walk through the cobbled streets of the town and admire the cathedral and the extraordinary Alcázar palace, a beautiful turreted fantasy which reputedly inspired Walt Disney. Overnight Madrid (B, L)

Thursday November 2 Departure

Our tour concludes today. Keep in mind that airport transfers are included for all passengers booking their international flights through Academy Travel. (B)

THE HOSPITAL DE LA SANTA CREU I SANT PAU

Catalonia’s most famous Modernista, or Art Nouveau, architect, Antoni Gaudí is a familiar name to many and images of his Sagrada Família temple in Barcelona, appear on nearly all city scapes and promotional material for the city. Less known are his contemporaries: Josep Puig i Cadalfach who designed striking houses in the Eixample district, such as the Casa Amatller and the Casa de les Punxes (House of Points), and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, most famous for his divinely ornate Palau de la Música Catalana (or Palace of Catalan Music), but who also designed the hospital site of San Pau, which forms the largest Art Nouveau site in the world. The hospital’s full name means the Hospital of the Holy Cross and St Paul and before it moved to its current site in the early twentieth century, it was a Medieval hospital, or collection of charitable hospitals, that had operated on the same site in the Gothic Quarter since 1401. At the end of the 19th century, Barcelona undertook major expansions, creating the Eixample area (meaning ‘extension’) outside the traditional walls of the cluttered Barri Gotic, or Medieval Quarter. The Eixample area is characterised by wide gridiron streets and was drafted to have parks and open spaces at the end of each block to create a healthy living environment. A wealthy Catalan banker left money to the city for the new

hospital in 1896 and he had made it clear that the new site should encompass the progressiveness of the Eixample, and have the latest in technology, design and medicine, to take Barcelona into the new century. A competition was announced for the design of the site but none of the three finalists were commissioned. Domènech i Montaner’s design was different: he took inspiration from the hospitals of the North of Europe and embraced the latest thinking on sanitation and hygiene with wide corridors, natural light-filled dormitories, good ventilation and gardens for the patients to stroll around to speed their recovery. Construction began in 1902 and lasted until 1930. The success of his project is evident when we consider that despite the pressures of modern expansion, it lasted as a working hospital until 2009. The hospital contains many Catalan Modernista themes It was built in the form of a cross and symbolized both the original name of the hospital and the allegorical values of the Middle Ages, so important to Catalonia. It also made extensive use of the curve rather than straight lines, organic and botanical shapes and motifs. The overall feeling is human and dynamic, colourful and often over the top. What a difference it must have made from the dark and crowded corridors of the former hospital!

Tour Price The tour price is $4,975 per person, twin share (land content only). The supplement for a single room is $1,250 per person. A non-refundable deposit of $500 per person is required to secure a place on the tour.

Tour Inclusions

Included in the tour price

All accommodation in carefully selected hotels All breakfasts and selected lunches/dinners in hotels

and local restaurants as noted in the itinerary All ground transport via private coach or train All entrance fees to sites mentioned on the itinerary Background talks and extensive tour notes Tips for local guides and drivers and at included meals

Not included

International air fares, taxes and surcharges (see below) Travel insurance Meals not mentioned in itinerary Expenses of a personal nature

Hotels Barcelona, H10 Urquinaona Plaza Hotel (4 nights)

A stylish adaptation of an original 19th-century building www.h10hotels.com/en

Madrid, Iberostar Las Letras (4 nights)

Las Letras is a fully renovated former palacio www.hoteldelasletras.com

Air travel OPTIONS The tour price quoted is for land content only. Emirates fly daily into Barcelona and home from Madrid. Please contact us for further information on airfare quotes. Transfers between airport and hotel are included for all passengers booking their flights through Academy Travel.

Enquiries & bookings For further information and to secure a place on this tour please contact Hannah Kleboe on 9235 0023 or 1800 639 699 (outside Sydney) or email hannah@academytravel.com.au

Weather on Tour October is a great time to visit Spain as the temperatures have cooled after their long summer. Madrid is a high city and will get cold at night, whereas Barcelona has a coastal climate similar to Sydney.

Fitness Requirements of THIS tour

Grade Two

It is important both for you and for your fellow travellers that you are fit enough to be able to enjoy all the activities on this tour. To give you an indication of the level of physical fitness required to participate on our tours, we have given them a star grading. Academy Travel’s tours tend to feature extended walking tours and site visits, which require greater fitness than coach touring. We ask you to carefully consider your ability to meet the physical demands of the tour. Participation criteria for this tour This Grade Two tour is designed for people who lead active lives and can comfortably participate in up to five hours of physical activity per day on most days, including longer walking tours, challenging archaeological sites, climbing stairs, embarking and disembarking trains and/or boats, and a more demanding tour schedule with one night stops or several internal flights. You should be able to: keep up with the group at all times walk for 4-5 kilometres at a moderate pace with only

short breaks stand for a reasonable length of time in galleries and

museums tolerate uncomfortable climatic conditions such as cold,

humidity and heat walk up and down slopes negotiate steps and slopes on archaeological sites,

which are often uneven and unstable get on and off a large coach with steep stairs, train or

boat unassisted, possibly with luggage move your luggage a short distance if required A note for older travellers If you are more than 80 years old, or have restricted mobility, it is highly likely that you will find this itinerary challenging. You will have to miss several activities and will not get the full value of the tour. Your booking will not be accepted until after you have contacted Academy Travel to discuss your situation and the exact physical requirements of this tour. While we will do our best to reasonably accommodate the physical needs of all group members, we reserve the right to refuse bookings if we feel that the requirements of the tour are too demanding for you and/or if local conditions mean we cannot reasonably accommodate your condition.

Connect this tour with: Northern Spain and Portugal

October 6-25, 2017 – with Dr Jeni Ryde ADFAS Morocco and Southern Spain

October 9-25, 2017 – with Sue Rollin