Bright Horizons 8
Itinerary

THREE GENERAL BOOKS FOR SPAIN

The New Spaniards, by John Hooper is a lucid, all-embracing account of Spain’s transformation—political, social, and cultural—within the context of its tortured past (Penguin, $16).

Gaudí, by Gijs Van Hensbergen, is an exemplary biography of Spain’s most singular architect—and an invaluable and well-illustrated look at an astonishing period in the cultural history of Catalonia (HarperCollins, $20).

The Michelin Green Guide to Spain is the most portable general reference and is especially sound on architectural history, with wonderful graphics ($22).
 

SAVONA/GENOA, ITALY

Michelin the Green Guide Italy — Our goal is to provide travelers with practical, accurate and cultural destination information to a city, region or country with emphasis on:

• Prioritizing your trip via Michelin’s star ratings for major sights
• Time-saving practical information with detailed itineraries, excursions and walking tours
• Navigating effectively thru the area, destination and sight using maps and floor plans throughout the guide.
• Enhancing knowledge of destination and sights with detailed historical and cultural information.
• Learning the best hotels, restaurants, shopping, entertainment and recreation sights to visit during trip.

Food Wine The Italian Riviera & Genoa (The Terroir Guides) — Most food guides for Italy suffer from the “too-much, too-little” syndrome. The territory is vast, yet for each city and village they rarely provide enough information. This guide focuses on a manageable territory—Liguria—and covers it in depth with an emphasis on understanding the local culture through its food. This is not an encyclopedic volume but a renowned food writer’s highly selective guide to Liguria’s authentic small eateries, culinary traditions, wine, wineries, food artisans, and gourmet shops. (The “big” restaurants are covered in a short and amusing sidebar that lists the places that everyone knows and can read about in any guide or on the Internet: a tip of the hat to the great toques, but many other suggestions are given so the reader can dine elsewhere. In Italy, the restaurants Michelin rewards with multiple stars have little to do with regional or local food.) Recommendations center on “where the locals eat.” There is a glossary of food items and unusual specialties, as well as a typical Ligurian menu, detailed indexes, many sidebars, and a map.

Genoa: History and Art in an Old Seaport — The book has chapters about history, landmarks, itineraries, then museums, churches, villas, palaces, cemetery, port, excursions. It is very enterprising in use of fascinating details from artworks to illustrate history and famous Genovese people.
 

MALAGA, SPAIN

Seville & Andalusia (Eyewitness Travel Guides) — Highlights include: Seville, Huelva, Sevilla, Cordoba, Jaen, Cadiz, Malaga, Granada, and Almeria.

Andalucia: A Cultural History — A garden at the foot of Europe and a crossroads between Spain, Africa and the New World, Andalucia has been a cultural customs house on the border of the Mediterranean and Atlantic civilizations for more than ten thousand years. This book traces its origins from the earliest hominid settlers in the Granada mountains 1.8 million years ago, through successive Phoenician, Greek, Roman and Muslim cultures, and the past five hundred years of modern Castilian rule, up to and including the present day of post-modern novelists in Cordoba and Sevilla, guerrilla urban archaeologists in Torremolinos and Marbella, and underground lo-fi bands in Granada and Malaga.
 

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO

Lonely Planet: Morocco — Four authors, 136 days of in-country research, 98 detailed maps, and six camel rides. Color arts and crafts chapter with shopping tips and an index of traveler workshops A former Moroccan tour guide heads up our team of expert authors in revealing the true Morocco Content updated daily—visit lonelyplanet.com for up-to-the-minute reviews, updates and traveler insights.

Casablanca — A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made.

Making of Casablanca, The: Bogart, Bergman, and World War II — The Making of Casablanca offers the ultimate insider’s look at the politics and personalities behind the most celebrated movie of all time—Casablanca. Updated and timed for the 60th anniversary (Thanksgiving Day, 1942) of this movie, this critically acclaimed book draws upon years of research, including access to Ingrid Bergman’s personal acting diaries and the vast Warner Brothers archives, as well as interviews with many of those close to the film, including the late Paul Henreid, Lauren Bacall, and scriptwriters Howard Koch and Julius Epstein. Richly detailed and full of surprises, The Making of Casablanca debunks many cherished myths about the casting, script, story, and stars, to reveal the realities of the highly pressured Hollywood studio system during World War II.

Morocco: From Empire to Independence — From the Strait of Gibralter to the snowy peaks of the Atlas Mountains and the windswept Sahara, this book captures a history as diverse and dramatic as Morocco’s legendary landscapes and cities. Beginning with Morocco’s incorporation into the Roman Empire, this is the tale of powerful empires, fearsome pirates, a bloody struggle against colonialism and an equally hard-won independence. It charts Morocco’s uneasy passage to the 21st century, and reflects on the nation of citizens that is finally emerging from this diverse population of Arabs, Berbers and Africans. The story of a country at the crossroads of two continents, this history of Morocco provides a glimpse of an imperial world of which only the architectural treasures remain, and a profound insight into the economic, political and cultural influences that will shape the country’s future.

Knopf Guide: Morocco — Standing at the gateway of the Mediterranean, Morocco can easily lay claim to being one of the most beautiful places in the world. Greatly influenced by the Porteguese, French and Spanish, all the while maintaining its own indelible mystique, Morocco is a country of walled cities, snowcapped mountains, royal palaces, spicy cuisine and chaotic, labyrinthine souks. It is romantic, exotic and at once sophisticated and primitive. Begin your travels across the country—filled with untold treasures and possibilities as magical as its night-blooming jasmine—with a journey to the Portuguese citadel of El Jadida and then move on to the stunning cities of Fez, Tangier and Marrakesh. Become knowledgeable in the local culinary specialties such as ras el hanout or “head of the house”, a blend of cloves, roses, and cinnamon mixed by well-practiced grocers. Filled with information on Morocco’s rich artistic heritage from the many foreign artists who were inspired by its landscape and people (Henri Matisse, Eugene Delacroix and Paul Bowles among them) to the indigenous production of rugs, jewelry, and zellige (elaborate tile patterns) that has gone on for centuries.
 

CADIZ, SPAIN

Lonely Planet: Spain — Here is an imagination-fueling guide on how to experience the best Spain has to offer. With lively features on Spanish history; coverage of Spanish Catalan, Basque, and Galician languages; more than 145 maps, including metro maps for Madrid and Barcelona; details on outdoor activities, including national parks; chapters on Madrid and Barcelona; plus hundreds of options for food and accommodations no matter what your budget, you’ll be hard-pressed to limit your stay.

The Romans in Spain (A History of Spain) — This book traces the complex process by which an area, seen initially as a war-zone, was gradually transformed by the actions of the Romans and the reactions of the indigenous inhabitants into an integral part of the Roman world.
 

LISBON, PORTUGAL

Lisbon (Eyewitness Travel Guides) — Includes sections on: Alfama, Baixa, Bairro Alto, Estrela, Belém, the Lisbon Coast, and several other sites further afield.

The Last Day: Wrath, Ruin, and Reason in the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 — The Lisbon earthquake of 1755 exerted a great cultural, religious, and political impact, argues Shrady in this revelatory volume. On November 1 (both a Sunday and All Saints’ Day) at 9:30am, a titanic earthquake shattered the quiet, turning the pious city’s packed houses of worship into crypts as their walls collapsed. Five days of firestorms consumed the buildings left standing and a tsunami drowned the benighted survivors who escaped toward the ocean. As Shrady deftly details, Europe was stunned by the merciless destruction of one of the continent’s most opulent cities. Leading intellectual and philosophical figures—Voltaire, Rousseau, Pope, Goethe and Kant, among others—became fascinated by the question of divine intervention in human affairs. Lisbon, still home to the Inquisition, had been immolated: was this evidence of God’s wrath or of God’s nonexistence? The latter interpretation soon found its way into Voltaire’s cynical, secularist Enlightenment masterpiece, Candide. Within the decade, scholars had created the new discipline of seismology, and governments were taking their first faltering steps toward urban planning and disaster control. Shrady’s account will find the same ready audience that delight not only in tales of catastrophe but in smart, stylishly written history.

The Night in Lisbon by Erich Maria Remarque — With the world slowly sliding into war, it is crucial that enemies of the Reich flee Europe at once. But so many routes are closed, and so much money is needed. Then one night in Lisbon, as a poor refugee gazes hungrily at the boat enroute to America, a man approaches him with two tickets and a story to tell. It is a harrowing tale of bravery and butchery, daring and death, where the price of love is beyond measure, and the legacy of evil is infinite. And as the young man listens spellbound to the desperate teller, in a matter of hours, the two form a unique and unshakable bond—one that will last all their lives ...
 

VALENCIA, SPAIN

Lonely Planet Best of Valencia — Sizzling on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, Valencia is a heady contrast of old and new. Baroque buildings nestle up to contemporary architectural triumphs, while elaborate religious processions are followed by exuberant street parties. In the heart of the old town or relaxing on the beach, Best of Valencia puts the whole city in your pocket.

Valencia Land of Wine — Joan introduces you to new wineries, styles of wines, old histories, and imbues it all with his expert knowledge culled from a lifetime among the wines of Valencia. The author, Joan C. Martín, is a prize-winning wine writer and winemaker. This collection consists of articles, here translated into English, that originally appeared in Spain’s “El País” newspaper, and is the best introduction available not only to the wines of the Comunidad Valenciana, but also to the people who make them and the landscape in which they are made.

St. Laurence and the Holy Grail — Many scholars are convinced that The Holy Chalice of Valencia is the Holy Grail, celebrated in medieval legneds as it was venerated by monks in the secluded Monastery of San Juan de la Peña, built into a rocky outcropping of the Spanish Pyrenees. The tradition of Aragón has always insisted that the flaming agate cup of the Holy Chalice was sent to Spain by St. Laurence, the glorious Spaniard martyred on a gridiron during the Valerian persecution in Rome in 258 AD. Now there is new evidence: A sixth-century manuscript written in Latin by St. Donato, an Augustinian monk who founded a monastery in the area of Valencia, provides never-before-published details about Laurence, born in Valencia but destined for Italy, where he became treasurer and deacon of the Catholic Church under Pope Sixtus II. It explicitly mentions the details surrounding the transfer of the Holy Cup of the Last Supper to Spain. Janice Bennett acquaints the reader with the enthralling story of the Holy Chalice, the renowned relic that embarked from the Last Supper on an amazing pilgrimage that providentially ended in the Cathedral of Valencia, a miraculous odyssey that has been characterized by dnager, greed, martyrdom, and fire from the very beginning.
 

BARCELONA, SPAIN

Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudi, Miro, Dalí — During the years after the September Revolution of 1868, Barcelona experienced tremendous industrial growth and emerged as the most politically and culturally progressive city in Spain. Barcelona and Modernity examines this remarkable seventy-one-year period, when Barcelona also reigned as one of the most dynamic centers of modernist art and architecture in Europe. Focusing on the Catalan Renaixença, Modernisme, Noucentisme, avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, and artistic reactions to the Spanish Civil War, essays by an extraordinary international team of scholars offer new insights into the work of such Catalan artists as Antoni Gaudí, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí, among others, by setting them in context with the art of their teachers, colleagues, and rivals. With approximately 350 works in a variety of media—painting, sculpture, photography, furniture, decorative arts, and architectural design—this intriguing book also explores how Catalan artists derived inspiration from local traditions while contributing their own innovations to international modernism. Broader in scope than any previous treatment of the subject, this book is sure to alter popular perceptions of Catalonia and become a fundamental text for years to come.

Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain — Tapas are to Spain as pasta is to Italy — a fundamental culinary form of unending variety. And with Tapas, Casas (The Foods and Wines of Spain) continues to do for Spanish cooking what Marcella Hazan has done for Italian. Tapas are appetizers of every descriptionfinger food and salads, marinades and pates, tarts and toasts, beans, sauced dishes, even some soups. The author provides recipes for a tempting selection of dishes that conveys Spain’s love for all types of seafood and sausage, potatoes and peppers, saffron, garlic, paprika, and green sauce. Since tapas are, by definition, little dishes, quite a few recipes require a disproportionate amount of work per ounce, and one should get used to lists calling for a cup of strong chicken broth or two tablespoons of peas. Suggestions for tapas menus are listed, as are leading tapas bars in Spain.

The Cuisines of Spain: Exploring Regional Home Cooking — Born and raised in Spain’s Basque Country, Teresa Barrenechea (The Basque Table), has been very purposeful with her title, choosing the plural, cuisines, to speak of Spain in her most recent book, The Cuisines of Spain. There is no one Spanish food, plain and simple. And what the author wants to convey is a sense of place for the many delicious dishes she presents (there are over 250 recipes). The author’s first two chapters describe in great detail the history and geography of Spain’s regions which she groups by shared climate and natural resources. She calls this “following bean stews rather than political boundaries.” Woven into this tapestry are traces of the Phoenicians, ancient Greeks, Romans, Celts, Visigoths and Vandals (who left behind livestock farming practices), Moorish and Jewish culture, and, of course, the New World impacts of foods returning with Columbus—tomatoes, potatoes, corn, peppers. She gets granular—which pigs, grown where and eating what, contribute to the great hams of Spain.