Adventures – Page 14 – European Traveler

Learning the ‘Art of Travel’ on the Orient Express

A luxurious learning experience complete with a guide from London’s National Gallery

The Orient Express is launching a series of special vacation packages called “The Art of Travel,” including tours to Venice, Paris and within England. Travelers will learn about the lives of artists such as Canaletto, Bellini, Titian, Veronese, Monet, Rubens, Turner and Constable while seeing the places that inspired their work and visiting the places that house their work today, accompanied by an expert from London’s National Gallery.

All tours include at least one night at London’s Goring Hotel and begin at The National Gallery, where a specialist will give a guided introduction to selected masterpieces before the journey begins. Trips include:

THE VENICE OF CANALETTO: This seven-day tour will give travelers the opportunity to view Venice through Canaletto’s eyes. Travel from London aboard the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express through France, the snow-capped Alps and northern Italy. While in Venice, guests stay at the Hotel Cipriani and trace the footsteps of Canaletto, who is forever associated with magnificent Venetian views. Trips are limited to 20 people and depart on April 9, October 8 and October 22, 2011.

VENETIAN PAINTERS: This is a six-day tour that introduces the traveler to the great Venetian masters, from Giovanni Bellini and Titian to Veronese. Starting in London with a tour and dinner at the National Gallery, travelers will fly to Venice, where they will step back into the Italian Renaissance and explore great sights such as the Doge’s Palace, the Accademia and Ca’ Rezzonica with an expert from the National Gallery. The journey ends with a return to London on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express. The trip is limited to 20 people and departs on April 30, 2011.

IMPRESSIONS OF PARIS: Also offered will be a series of five-day tours focusing on French Impressionism, where travelers will trace Claude Monet’s long, dynamic life and will learn about the birth of a new artistic movement, when painters first began painting in the open air to capture the effects of light. From London, guests board the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express and can marvel that two of the restored carriages aboard the Art Deco train were already carrying passengers when Monet was producing his last masterpieces. Departures are April 9, May 7, June 25, July 27, August 24, September 24 and October 22, 2011.

BRITISH PULLMAN: These tours combine the thrill of a steam-hauled luxury train, complemented by gourmet dining — brunch on the outbound journey and a three-course supper on the return — with delightful scenery and include visits to Bath’s finest art collections.

Collectors and Collecting: This trip is timed to coincide with the reopening of the Holburne Museum in May 2011 following a major restoration. After a guided tour of the museum, there will be a tour of “Beckford’s Bath,” including the eccentric William Beckford’s house and the grounds leading up to Beckford’s Tower. The trip will depart on June 28, 2011.
Thomas Gainsborough: This journey focuses on landscape paintings by notable British and European artists including Rubens, Turner and Constable. Highlights include the new exhibition “Gainsborough’s Landscapes: Themes and Variation,” at the Holburne Museum and a walking tour of artists’ Bath. This tour will depart on October 11, 2011.

For more information on “The Art of Travel,” visit www.orient-express.com/nationalgallery.

Interlaken: A Winter Wonderland to Suit Every Taste

Photos courtesy Interlaken Tourism

Winter and spring in Interlaken has fun to offer at the foot of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains. While superb sledge runs attract snow enthusiasts to the mountains, the region between the lakes has a wealth of cultural highlights in store.

INTERLAKEN CLASSICS
The tradition-steeped concert series in the Interlaken Kursaal features the stars of tomorrow playing works by old masters. At Kleine Scheidegg, rock music greats share the stage with local music legends, and the many folklore clubs practice yodeling and alphorn sounds.

SLEDGING BY MOONLIGHT
In Saxeten, after an uphill walk to Alp Nessleren near Wilderswil, guests are rewarded for the effort with a 2 1/2-mile-long sledging session. Culinary well-being is guaranteed with a stop for mulled wine, followed by a tasty fondue in traditional rustic surroundings at the end of the sledge run.

YODELING
Swiss folklore clubs promote traditions yodeling and alphorn playing first hand. Yodeling choirs offer a unique blend of beautiful harmony and players create a powerful sound from a long wooden pipe, which echos through the valleys.

53RD INTERLAKEN CLASSICS
You can meet tomorrow’s classic stars at the 53rd Interlaken Classics Festival from March 24 – April 8. The festival has grown into a summit meeting for younger and already internationally-acclaimed musicians. The consistent staging of this podium for young artists is based on close cooperation with Europe’s best youth orchestras, namely the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and the European Union Youth Orchestra.

SnowpenAir Concert on April 6 is the highest-altitude open-air concert. This breathtaking setting on snow at 1 1/4 miles above sea level attracts thousands of concert visitors who will enjoy top acts such as Roxette and OneRepublic, the founding father of Swiss dialect rock Hanery Amman and promising young talent MC Juli.

Schilthorn Summit near Interlaken, Switzerland offers panoramic views.

For more info, go to Interlaken Tourism

Christmas Activities in London’s Royal Parks

By Don Heimburger

This holiday season, Royal Parks in London are celebrating with special events in places including Richmond Park, Greenwich Park, Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park.

Diana's Walk

Visitors to the parks can partake in the festivities by choosing their own real Christmas tree, wander through four of the Royal Parks following the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk, visit the deer enclosure in Greenwich Park, or take a timeless winter horse carriage ride.

While in London, take in the Winter Wonderland Hyde Park, where you can hear live music, go ice skating and visit the Angels Christmas and Yuletide Markets.

Cathedrals in Germany: Masterpieces Inside and Out

View of the Aachen Cathedral from Katschhof Square

Photos courtesy German National Tourist Office

Cathedrals, monasteries, walled fortresses and abbeys are a distinct part of Germany’s culture and landscape. Every town, city and countryside has a beautiful church or abbey, including many masterpieces.

Aachen’s cathedral, the Church of St. Mary, was founded as Charlemagne’s chapel and is where 30 kings were crowned. The immensely beautiful Romanesque cathedral of Speyer, only one hour south of Frankfurt, became the burial place for the Salian emperors, and its size is on par with the Cologne Cathedral. The Cologne Cathedral is Germany’s most visited tourism site and was at one time the biggest building in the world. Its high Gothic style is pronounced and the Dom is home to sacred relics and precious artwork. In Hildesheim, 45 minutes outside of Hannover, St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Michael’s Church are outstanding examples of Romanesque architecture.

AACHEN CATHEDRAL
The Church of St. Mary, originally built as the chapel of Charlemagne’s imperial palace in Aachen in 786 AD, was part of the emperor’s dream of creating a “new Rome.” With this building he laid the foundations of one of the most important architectural monuments in Europe. The cathedral’s appearance reflects more than 1,000 years of history. Charlemagne’s palatine chapel forms the core of the cathedral. The single-nave chancel was consecrated on the 600th anniversary of his death and the bold architecture of the “glass house” is as impressive today as it was then.

During the 600 years from 936 to 1531, 30 German kings were crowned in Aachen Cathedral. Today, the cathedral has lost nothing of the splendor of centuries past. The first ensemble of historical and architectural importance in Germany to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1978, this is a building of outstanding significance.

SPEYER CATHEDRAL
The magnificent Romanesque imperial cathedral in Speyer is the town’s best-known and most prominent landmark. Built by emperors, the cathedral was a symbol of their power and served as their final resting place. Construction began around 1030 under the Salian Emperor Conrad II and the church was consecrated in 1061. Speyer’s imperial cathedral, laid out in the form of a Latin cross, is one of Germany’s largest and most important Romanesque buildings. The Salian emperors chose it to be their burial site.

Its huge triple-naved vaulted basilica is the central element of a design that greatly influenced Romanesque architecture in the 11th and 12th centuries. The hallmarks of the cathedral are the balanced distribution of its dimensions to the east and the west and the symmetrical layout of the structure, consisting of a nave and transept with four towers on the corners.

COLOGNE CATHEDRAL
Building first began in 1248 on what eventually became one of the finest ecclesiastical edifices in the world, and the epitome of high-Gothic cathedral architecture in its purest possible form. The scale of Cologne Cathedral is evident from its two mighty towers. Completed in 1880, they dominate both the city and the surrounding region. At the time of its completion in the 19th century, the cathedral was the biggest building in the world.

The design of the west side was truly groundbreaking. It has the largest exterior surface of any church in the world, said to be around 23,000 square feet, and is flanked by two huge towers, each rising to a height of 515 feet. The cathedral houses a wealth of important art treasures, including colorful stained glass windows that bathe the church interior in a mysterious light; the Ottonian Gero Cross (around 980 AD), the oldest large-scale sculpture in the western world; the shrine housing the relics of the Three Kings (1190-1225), an outstanding example of Rhenish goldwork; the altar of the patron saints of Cologne by Stefan Lochner (around 1450), a masterpiece of the Cologne school.

ST. MARY’S CATHEDRAL AND ST. MICHAEL’S CHURCH IN HILDESHEIM
St. Mary’s Cathedral and St. Michael’s Church are outstanding examples of early-Romanesque architecture. Both World Heritage churches exemplify the skill of Bishop Bernward (993 to 1022) and contain exceptional artworks.

The main attraction in St. Michael’s Church is the painted 13th century wooden ceiling depicting the Tree of Jesse. Germany’s only flat church ceiling, it is a fascinating example of monumental Romanesque painting. The spectacular cathedral treasure, Column of Christ and Bernward doors are characteristic of the Bernwardian period. The cathedral is being renovated for the anniversary of the diocese in 2015 and is closed until August 2014. Many of its treasures, including the huge bronze castings, can instead be seen at different places around Hildesheim until 2014.

The Column of Christ featuring scenes from the Old and New Testaments is on loan to St. Michael’s Church. The pair of two 16-ft. Bernward doors were cast in one piece—an achievement never mastered before—and are currently displayed at the Roemer and Pelizaeus Museum in Hildesheim.

For more info, go to www.friederisiko.de

England’s Lake District Inspires Painters and Poets

Wastwater Lake in Lake District National Park.

Photos courtesy Visit Great Britain and Lake District National Parks

Sprawling 885 square miles across Cumbria in North West England, the Lake District National Park is England’s largest National Park. With 16 sparkling lakes, England’s five tallest mountains, six national nature reserves and over 400 towns and villages, it’s no wonder the Lake District is a popular attraction.

Natural beauty isn’t the only thing going on in the Lake District. Activities range from child-friendly adventure parks to high-adrenaline assault courses. Don’t miss Lake Windermere—the largest of the lakes—where you can try everything from open water swimming to sailing, canoeing, kayaking and windsurfing.

The arts and culture scene started by the likes of William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter is still thriving today, with a year-round calendar of literary, arts and heritage events and countless museums, galleries and performance venues to visit. With so much to see and do, your only problem will be deciding what to do first.

All that exploring is bound to work up an appetite. And you’re in luck, because the Lake District is one of Britain’s food and drink hotspots. Whether you fancy a refreshing brew at a traditional tearoom, a pint of real ale at a pub with a roaring fire or a elaborate meal at a Michelin-starred restaurant, you’ll find something to suit every taste in the Lake District.

Top five things to see and do:
1. Take the kids to meet Peter Rabbit and friends at the World of Beatrix Potter.
2. Watch one of the productions at the Theater by the Lake in Keswick.
3. Explore the nearby cosmopolitan city of Carlisle and the historic town of Kendal.
4. Visit one of Cumbria’s 24 microbreweries—you’ll find many of these at the back of local pubs.
5. Tour the poet William Wordsworth’s house, Dove Cottage, surrounded by the countryside that inspired him.

For more info, go to Lake District National Park or Visit Britain