Highlights
Looking ahead in 2018 & 2019 Music | Archaeology | Gardens | Gastronomy & wine | History | Walking
Highlights Looking ahead in 2018 & 2019 The leading provider of cultural tours
Travel in comfort
This supplement focuses on six themes that we have particularly been developing over the past year.
Martin Randall Travel has the widest range of tours and events offered by any cultural travel organiser, as well as the largest number. We operate in over fifty countries.
Most of the hotels we use are 4- or 5-star, we only use full service airlines, and the restaurants we choose are among the best in the region. While our itineraries are full, they are not rushed.
We enrich lives
Additional tour staff
Our aim is to provide the circumstances which lead to a deeper understanding of a place or subject matter, and an enhanced appreciation of the culture of civilisations around the world.
Our tours are accompanied by a trained tour manager, sometimes a member of our full-time staff. In many parts of the world local guides feature with varying degrees of prominence.
The best lecturers
Care for our clients
Gardens.........................................16–18
Expert speakers are a key ingredient. Selected with great care, they not only have deep knowledge of their subject but also the ability to convey their learning to educated lay people.
We aim for faultless administration from your first encounter with us to the end of the holiday, and beyond. In three successive years, 2014, 2015 and 2016, we won the British Travel Award for Best Holiday Company for Customer Service.
Gastronomy & wine....................19–21
We aim for excellence
More newly-launched tours............. 28
Inspired itineraries Assiduous research and reconnaissance underlie our itineraries, which are imaginatively conceived, meticulously planned – and original. Due attention is given to practical as well as academic matters to ensure a smoothrunning experience.
Special arrangements All our events include ingredients which are not available to the general public such as out-of-hours opening or access to private properties. Some events consist entirely of these special experiences. Front cover: from ‘The Grammar of Ornament’ by Owen Jones, 1865. Left: Japanese woodblock. Right: ‘Rocaille’ cartouche, engraving c.1750.
Our clients have voted us Best Special Interest Holiday Company at the British Travel Awards for the last three years, yet we ‘have a habit of divine discontent with our performance’: complacency does not corrode our desire to strive ever to be the best.
“Without exception every tour I have undertaken can only be described as utterly brilliant and for this reason, am completely loath to try another company!”
In the pages that follow, we share a taste of what is new and still to come within these themes in 2018 and 2019, across tours, festivals, London Days and other events:
Contents Music................................................4–11 Archaeology..................................12–15
History...........................................22–24 Walking.........................................25–27 At the back: Booking form...............................29–30 Booking conditions & fitness.......... 31 How to book....................................... 32
For information about our full range of tours and events – covering art and architecture in addition to the themes covered here – please contact us for our 2018: 2nd edition brochure or visit www.martinrandall.com.
Read more at www.martinrandall.com/testimonials
Martin Randall Travel Ltd Voysey House Barley Mow Passage London W4 4GF United Kingdom
Martin Randall Australasia PO Box 1024 Indooroopilly QLD 4068 Australia
North America office 1155 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 USA
Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com
Tel 1300 55 95 95 New Zealand 0800 877 622 Fax +61 (0)7 3371 8288 anz@martinrandall.com.au
Tel 1 800 988 6168 usa@martinrandall.com
Directors: Martin Randall (CEO), Fiona Charrington (COO), Alexa Berger (CFO), Sir Vernon Ellis (Chairman), Ian Hutchinson, Neil Taylor, William Burton. Registered office: Voysey House, Barley Mow Passage, London W4 4GF. Registered Company no. 2314294 England. VAT no. 527758803.
This brochure was designed in-house by Jo Murray, and the text itself was written by members of staff and Martin Randall. It went to print on 24th February 2018.
5085
ABTA No.Y6050
Music
In 2018 MRT continues on its mission to take you to the world’s best music venues and festivals, on and off the beaten track, to hear the established greats and the rising stars. We have secured tickets to Glyndebourne for the first time, where Dame Sarah Connolly takes the title role in Giulio Cesare, while at Garsington, prize-winning Louise Alder takes the lead in a new production of Die Zauberflöte. Soon to be released are details of our first trip to the Incontri in Terra di Siena festival at which Ian Bostridge is joined by chamber musicians from across Europe, performing in beautiful Tuscan settings. We have also expanded our repertoire to include a wider offering in Scandinavia, including Ballet in Copenhagen, Opera in Stockholm and chamber music in Kuhmo, Finland. For 2019 we plan to investigate a Schubertiade in Catalonia, the George Enescu Festival in Romania and early music in Utrecht. Register your interest now. Sophie Wright | Product Development Manager: Music
FEBRUARY 2018 26– 4 Naples: Art, Antiquities & Opera (me 765) Dr Luca Leoncini • full
MARCH 2018 6– 9 9–11 9–12 13 16–20 27–31 27– 1
Opera in Stockholm (me 773) Dr John Allison Music Retreat: The Mandelring Quartet (me 771) Richard Wigmore........................................ 9 Opera in Copenhagen (me 776) Dr John Allison • full London Day: Handel in London (le 779) Richard Wigmore...................................... 10 Opera in Vienna (me 784) Barry Millington • full Music & Ballet in Paris (me 799) Dr Michael Downes • full Barenboim in Berlin (me 800) Barry Millington
APRIL 2018 10–16 13–15
The Ring in Leipzig (me 812) Dr John Allison & Tom Abbott • full Music Retreat: The Chilingirian Quartet (me 811) Richard Wigmore........................................ 9
music
MAY 2018
4
18–24 21–24
Savouring Lombardy (me 867) Fred Plotkin • full MUSIC IN THE COTSWOLDS (me 876)..................................................... 11
31– 4 Ballet in Copenhagen (me 890) Jane Pritchard
Incontri in Terra di Siena Register your interest
AUGUST 2018 9–13 10–13 16–20 25– 1 25– 1 27– 2
Torre del Lago (me 979) Simon Rees Drottningholm & Confidencen (me 974) Professor John Irving................................... 8 Verona Opera (me 982) Dr Michael Douglas-Scott MUSIC IN FRANCONIA (me 990)...... 11 Walking in Franconia (me 989) Richard Wigmore • full The Schubertiade (me 999) Misha Donat Opera in Pesaro • Register your interest
SEPTEMBER 2018 24–28 THE DIVINE OFFICE (mf 180)........... 11
JUNE 2018
OCTOBER 2018
4– 6 Music Retreat: The Elias String Quartet (me 895) Richard Wigmore...................... 9 7–11 The Leipzig Bach Festival (me 901) Dr David Vickers • full 13–19 A FESTIVAL OF MUSIC IN PRAGUE (me 905)............................. 11 20–27 THE RHINE VALLEY MUSIC FESTIVAL (me 920).................. 11 20–27 Walking the Rhine Valley (me 919) Richard Wigmore 25– 2 The Ring In San Francisco (me 930) Barry Millington 27– 1 The Schubertiade with Mountain Walks (me 939) Richard Wigmore
28–31 Historic Musical Instruments (mf 292) Professor Robert Adelson
JULY 2018 10–14 10 13–18 13–20 17–21 19–28 19–23
Glyndebourne & Garsington (me 956) Amanda Holden.......................................... 5 London Choral Day (le 957)................. 10 Kuhmo Music Festival (me 954) Stephen Johnson.......................................... 7 Gstaad Menuhin Festival (me 959) Richard Wigmore Verona Opera (me 960) Dr Luca Leoncini • full The Ring in Munich (me 961) Barry Millington & Tom Abbott • full The Beaune Music Festival (me 962) Professor Richard Langham Smith............ 6
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NOVEMBER 2018 1– 6 MUSIC IN BOLOGNA (mf 301).......... 11
Music in 2019 Please contact us to register your interest AUSTRIA
THE DANUBE MUSIC FESTIVAL Mozart in Salzburg Salzburg Summer Opera in Vienna The Schubertiade Historic Organs in Austria CZECH REPUBLIC
The Prague Spring Festival Opera in Prague & Brno Prague Dvořák Festival DENMARK
Ballet in Copenhagen Opera in Copenhagen ENGLAND
Music Retreats: 2018/19 season Music in the Regions MUSIC IN DERBYSHIRE Buxton Opera Festival Country House Opera
MUSIC: IN 2018 & 2019 / NEWLY-LAUNCHED TOURS Illustration left: copper engraving c. 1770. Right: lithograph 1902.
Glyndebourne & Garsington Die Zauberflöte, Madama Butterfly and Giulio Cesare
FINLAND
Opera in Helsinki The Sibelius Festival Savonlinna Opera FRANCE
Music in Paris Opera in Nice & Monte Carlo The Beaune Music Festival GERMANY
Opera in Hamburg Music in Berlin The Ring in Leipzig Organs of Bach’s Time THE JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH JOURNEY Handel in Halle The Ring on the Rhine Opera in Munich & Bregenz Beethoven in Bonn ITALY
Verona Opera Incontri in Terra di Siena The Trasimeno Music Festival Opera in Macerata & Pesaro MUSIC IN SOUTHERN SICILY Historic Musical Instruments Verdi in Parma & Busseto MALTA
Valletta Baroque Festival NORWAY
The Bergen Festival Lofoten Festival ROMANIA
Enescu Music Festival RUSSIA
Ballet in St Petersburg SCOTLAND
East Neuk Festival Edinburgh Festival SPAIN
Opera in Spain Schubertiáda Vilabertrán SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA: A MUSICAL PEREGRINATION SWEDEN
Drottningholm & Confidencen SWITZERLAND
The Gstaad Menuhin Festival Lucerne Summer Festival USA
The Ring at The Met Opera in Santa Fé WALES
Welsh National Opera
10–14 July 2018 (me 956) 5 days • £2,940 (including tickets to 3 performances) Lecturer: Amanda Holden Three operas at two of England’s highest quality country-house opera festivals – Glyndebourne and Garsington. Die Zauberflöte (Mozart), Madama Butterfly (Puccini), and Giulio Cesare (Handel). Stays on the banks of the Thames in Marlow and in the centre of the charming East Sussex town of Lewes.
Itinerary Day 1: Marlow. Leave the hotel at 2.00pm for Cookham, life-long home of painter Stanley Spencer (1891–1959); there is a gallery of his work and a fine parish church. First of two nights in Marlow. Day 2: Marlow, Garsington. Cliveden’s magnificent formal gardens and woods beside the Thames have been admired for centuries. Visit the River and Rowing Museum at Henley-on-Thames with its extensive collection relating to river history. After a talk at the hotel leave in the afternoon for Garsington Opera: Die Zauberflöte (Mozart) begins at 6.00pm. Christian Curnyn, Conductor; Netia Jones, Director. Louise Alder (Pamina), Benjamin Hulett (Tamino), Jonathan McGovern (Papageno), James Creswell (Sarastro), Íride Martínez (Queen of the Night), Katherine Crompton (First Lady), Marta FontanalsSimmons (Second Lady), Katie Stevenson (Third Lady), Adrian Thompson (Monostatos). Dinner is served during the long interval. Day 3: Lewes, Glyndebourne. By coach from Marlow to Lewes. Our hotel is in the centre of town; arrive in time to settle in, attend a talk and leave for the 3½ mile drive to Glyndebourne. Madama Butterfly (Puccini) begins at 5.10pm, and dinner is served in the interval. Omer Meir Wellber, Conductor; Annilese Miskimmon, Director. London Philharmonic Orchestra and The Glyndebourne Chorus. Olga Busuioc (Cio-Cio-San), Elizabeth DeShong (Suzuki), Joshua Guerrero (Lieutenant B F Pinkerton), Michael Sumuel (Sharpless), Carlo Bosi / François Piolino (Goro). First of two nights in Lewes. Day 4: Lewes, Glyndebourne. In the morning there is a guided walk of Lewes. In the afternoon, attend a talk and drive to Glyndebourne. Giulio Cesare (Handel) begins at 4.05pm. There are two intervals and dinner is served in the second, long interval. Martin Randall Travel has arranged a drinks reception before the performance. William Christie / Jonathan Cohen, Conductor; David McVicar,
Director. Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Glyndebourne Chorus. Sarah Connolly (Giulio Cesare), Joélle Harvey (Cleopatra), Christophe Dumaux (Tolomeo), Patricia Bardon (Cornelia), Anna Stéphany (Sesto), John Moore (Achilla), Kangmin Justin Kim (Nireno). Day 5. Leave when you wish. Taxis to Lewes railway station are provided.
Lecturer Amanda Holden. Musician and writer. She has written over 60 translations for the musical stage. Translations recently heard at ENO include Partenope, Don Giovanni and La Bohème; her Castor & Pollux by Rameau received an Oliver nomination. Amanda is founding editor of the Penguin Opera Guides.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,940. Single occupancy: £3,160. Included: 3 opera tickets costing £685; private air-conditioned coach; hotel accommodation; breakfasts, 4 dinners (including one picnic) with wine; tips for restaurant staff and drivers; the services of the lecturer and tour manager. Accommodation. The Compleat Angler, Marlow (macdonaldhotels.co.uk): very comfortable hotel, beside the Thames with excellent views (4-star). Pelham House Hotel, Lewes (pelhamhouse.com): an old court house, now a characterful 4-star hotel. How strenuous? The tour would be a struggle for anyone whose walking is impaired; we walk from the coach park to the opera house. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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music
Ryedale Music Festival Art & Music in the North-West THE THOMAS TALLIS TRAIL
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MUSIC: NEWLY-LAUNCHED TOURS
The Beaune Music Festival Music, history and wine in Burgundy
also features Handel: a recital by the highlyacclaimed Canadian soprano Vivica Genaux, winner of the prestigious annual Handel prize awarded by Halle, the city of his birth. Renowned both for her virtuosity in Handel’s passage-work as well as for her expressivity in the celebrated operatic arias which will form the core of her recital, she is accompanied by one of France’s most admired Baroque orchestras, Les Musiciens du Louvre. Her concert, in the basilica, will feature such sumptuous numbers as Cara sposa from Rinaldo, and the exciting Dopo notte from Ariodante, its wide range demanding both an alto and a soprano voice and defying normal voice classifications. Between these we have The Marriage of Figaro directed by Rene Jacobs, a seasoned Mozartian who has cast two of his favourite and faithful principals in the leading roles: the Canadian bass-baritone Robert Gleadow and ‘born Mozartian’ Sophie Karthäuser. We can expect very fine singing and some comedy action in the semi-staged version, judging from past experience of the meticulously prepared spectacles at this festival. In addition to the three performances, which begin at 9.00pm, there is time to explore some of the Route des vins where some of the oldest and most treasured vines are grown, to eat in some of Beaune’s best restaurants, to enjoy the spectacular countryside and to be introduced to wines in the cellars of Burgundy.
Itinerary 19–23 July 2018 (me 962) 5 days • £2,640 (Including tickets to 3 performances) Lecturer: Prof. Richard Langham Smith Two operas and a recital by the prize-winning soprano Vivica Genaux.
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Four nights in the delightful small city of Beaune with guided visits, wine tastings and Michelin-starred meals.
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Now established as one of the major French music festivals, the Beaune International Festival of Baroque and Romantic Opera centres on the open-air courtyard of the wellknown fifteenth-century Hospices de Beaune, celebrated not only for its multicoloured roof of glazed tiles and for its annual auction of fine Burgundies, but also for its infirmary where music was sung to the sick lying in their carved wooden beds: a kind of musical therapy before its time. The 2018 festival features Rodrigo, a fullyfledged opera written by Handel when he was only 22, first given in Florence, and full of the vitality and expressive arias which flowed from his pen in his youth. The third concert
Day 1. Take the Eurostar at c. 10.30am from London St Pancras to Paris. Coach transfer between stations to continue by TGV (highspeed train) to Le Creusot. Drive from here to Beaune where all four nights are spent. Dinner is in the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Loiseau des Vignes. Day 2: Beaune. Morning walk with a local guide takes in the concert venues. The stalwart Romanesque church of Notre-Dame has fine tapestries while the 15th-century Hospices de Beaune houses Rogier van der Weyden’s Last Judgement. Afternoon wine tasting in Beaune. Evening opera (concert version) in the courtyard of the Hospices de Beaune: Rodrigo (George Frideric Handel) with the orchestra of Les Accents directed by Thibault Noally. Day 3: Meursault, Beaune. Morning lecture followed by some free time to visit Beaune’s street market. Lunch in Meursault’s pretty town square is followed by a tasting at the prestigious Château de Meursault. Evening opera (concert version) in the courtyard of the Hospices de Beaune: The Marriage of Figaro (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) with the Vienna Philharmonia Chorus and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra directed by René Jacobs.
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Day 4: Dijon. Excursion to Burgundy’s capital, one of the most attractive of French cities with many fine buildings from the 11th to 18th centuries. The palace of the Valois dukes now houses a museum with extensive collections of work from the period of their rule (1364–1477). Free afternoon for independent exploration of Dijon. Recital at the Basilique Notre Dame: Vivica Genaux (mezzo-soprano): a selection of arias from operas by Handel and Porpora, accompanied by the ensemble Les Musiciens du Louvre, conducted by Thibault Noally. Day 5. Drive to Le Creusot for the TGV to Paris, then. Transfer by coach within Paris and take the Eurostar to London St Pancras arriving at c. 4.00pm.
Lecturer Professor Richard Langham Smith. Music historian, broadcaster and writer specialising in early music and 19th–20th-century French music. He is Research Professor at the Royal College of Music. In 1993 he was admitted as a Chevalier to the ‘Ordre des arts et des lettres’ for services to French Music, and was awarded an FRCM in 2016.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,640 or £2,330 without Eurostar & TGV. Single occupancy: £2,960 or £2,650 without Eurostar & TGV. Included: 3 top-category concert tickets costing c. £260; return rail travel by Eurostar (Standard Premier) and TGV (1st class); private coach; hotel accommodation; breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager. Music: open-air performances planned for the Hospices move to the basilica in inclement weather. At the time of going to print, the final festival programme is not confirmed so changes to the concert details given above are possible. Further details on soloists are due to be released later in Spring 2018. Accommodation. Hôtel le Cep, Beaune (hotelcep-beaune.com): 4-star hotel, housed in two 16th-century mansions, and located in the heart of Beaune. Rooms are decorated in traditional Burgundy style. How strenuous? Visits require a fair amount of walking and standing around. Burgundy is very hot in July. There are some late nights but starts are leisurely. You need to be able to lift your luggage on and off the train. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustration: Beaune, after a drawing from ‘Agenda PLM’, 1926.
MUSIC: NEWLY-LAUNCHED TOURS
Kuhmo Music Festival Chamber music in the Finnish forest 13–18 July 2018 (me 954) 6 days • £2,810 (including tickets to 12 performances) Lecturer: Stephen Johnson Intensive feast of chamber music in a remote location in northern Finland. The egalitarian and collaborative spirit among the artists creates one of the most musically satisfying of festivals.
bought tickets for additional concerts; intensity can be addictive.
Itinerary Day 1: London to Helsinki. Fly at c. 10.15am from London Heathrow to Helsinki (Finnair). Walk through the Neo-Classical heart of the city: the Esplanade, Senate Square, cathedral and Market Square. Overnight Helsinki. Day 2: Helsinki to Kajaani. Fly at c. 11.45am from Helsinki to Kajaani. Continue by coach (114 km) to Kuhmo, arriving mid-afternoon. A lecture precedes dinner and evening concert at the Kuhmo Arts Centre: Grieg, Peer Gynt Op.23. First of four nights in Kuhmo. Day 3: Kuhmo. 11.00am concert in the Kontio School: Ravel, String Quartet in F, M.35; Introduction & Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet, M.46; Debussy, Reflets dans l’eau; Ondine No.8 from the Preludes book II; String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op.10. Some free time before an afternoon concert at Kuhmo Church, a fine 19th-cent. timber building: Schumann/ Brahms/ Dietrich, F-A-E. Sonata; Brahms, Trio for two violins and double bass ‘Hymn in Veneration of the Great Joachim’; Schumann, Piano Quintet in E flat, Op.44. Visit Juminkeko and the Information Centre for Kalevala, the National Epic. The collection of poems and stories display an integral part of
Finnish identity and language. Dinner precedes a late evening concert at Kuhmo Church: Vivaldi, The Four Seasons, Op.8; Glass, Violin Concerto No.2, ‘American Four Seasons’. Day 4: Kuhmo. 11.00am concert at Kuhmo Church: Corelli, Concerto Grosso in G minor, Op.6 No.8; Brahms, Two Songs for mezzosoprano, viola and piano, Op.91; Kreisler, ‘Prayer’ for violin and piano – transcription of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2, Op.18; Messiaen, O Sacrum Convivium!; Piazzolla, Introducción al Ángel; Milonga del Ángel. Break for lunch before an early afternoon concert in the Kontio School: Barber, Angus Dei; Bloch, Nirvana for Piano; Holst, Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda, Op.26 No.3; Tavener, Prayer of the Heart; Schubert, Psalm 92, D953. Late afternoon concert at the Kuhmo Arts Centre: Beethoven, Erlkönig, WoO 131; Piano Trio in D, Op.70 No.1; Schubert, Gesang der Geister über den Wassern, D538; Erlkönig, Op.1. Free time for independent dinner before an evening concert at the Kuhmo Arts Centre: Mozart, Fantasy No.3 in D minor, K.397; Ave Verum Corpus, K.618; Clarinet Quartet in A, K.518. Day 5: Kuhmo. 11.00am concert at Kuhmo Church: Telemann, Gulliver Suite in D, TWV 40:108; Zelenka, Hiponcondrie a7 Concertanti in A, ZWV187; Mozart, ‘Alla Turca’ from Piano Sonata in A, K.331; Brahms, Souvenir de la Russie; Rodrigo, Adagio from the Concerto
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music
Peripheral’ is a word that keeps cropping up – not inappropriately for a tiny town (pop. 11,200) spread through forest and lakeland some 600 kilometres north of Helsinki. Russia is a stone’s throw away, the Arctic Circle not much further; an estimated fifty bears and thirty wolves reside within the municipal boundary. Location apart, there is absolutely nothing peripheral or provincial about its Chamber Music Festival. For two weeks every summer Kuhmo becomes a crucible of intensive music making. Some critics rate it the best chamber music festival in the world; participating artists love it (and not just because of the legendary sauna parties). What is the recipe for such success in such unlikely circumstances? The very high quality of the musicians who gather here from around the world is obviously an important factor, but the egalitarian and collaborative spirit is also a key ingredient. The festival is not a parade of stars, though there are stars in abundance. Fellow musicians are inspiration, not competition; Kuhmo is an ego-free zone. Musical intensity is another ingredient. Most concerts last little over an hour and have no interval, but with up to six concerts a day the gaps between feel like protracted intervals, and the whole festival feels like one giant concert. Going to lots of performances is an essential part of the experience; cherry picking misses the point. The effects of the Kuhmo spirit on the audience are an exceptional degree of receptiveness, unexpected delight in unfamiliar pieces and heightened perception of the familiar. Geographical remoteness itself is not irrelevant. The festival arose from the conviction, conceived in the Paris metro during rush hour one day in 1970, that chamber music and urban life are incompatible. Quietude and nature – specifically the ineffable stillness of Nordic near-wilderness – form the essential backdrop to Kuhmo. To emerge from a concert into a lingering sunset mirrored in a silver lake fringed with pine and birch – exposed edge of a forest which stretches to Siberia and beyond – is balm to the soul indeed. From seventy concerts in fifteen days we have with some difficulty chosen twelve. This might sound a lot for four-and-a-half days, but some participants on previous Kuhmo tours
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MUSIC: NEWLY-LAUNCHED TOURS Kuhmo Music Festival continued
Drottningholm & Confidencen Orpheus & Euridice and Pygmalion
Aranjuez. Break for lunch before an early afternoon concert in the Kontio School: Mendelssohn, Fantasy in E, Op.15; Respighi, The Fantastic Toy Shop; Liszt, Un Bal from Berlioz’s Grand Symphonic Fantasy transcribed for Piano; Britten, Fantasy in F minor for Oboe and String Trio, Op.2. A late afternoon concert at the Kuhmo Arts Centre: Debussy, La Cathédrale Engloutie; Schubert, Gesang der Geister über den Wassern, D714; Bax, The Poisoned Fountain; Tiensuu, Narcissus; Ravel, Une Barque sur l’Océan from Miroirs, M.43; C. Schumann, Lorelei. 6.00pm concert at the Kuhmo Arts Centre: Respighi, The Birds; Mozart, Papageno-Papagena Duet from The Magic Flute; Rautavaara, Cantus Arcticus, Op.61; Dinicu, Lark; Sibelius, Scene with Cranes, Op.44 No.2; Vaughan Williams, The Lark Ascending; Ellington, Sunset & the Mockingbird. Day 6. Fly at c. 1.45pm, Kajaani via Helsinki to London Heathrow (Finnair), arriving c. 6.00pm.
Lecturer Stephen Johnson. Regular presenter for BBC Radio 3’s Discovering Music and frequent broadcaster for BBC Radio 4 and World Service. He has also been a critic and journalist for the The Independent, The Guardian and Gramophone and lectured at Exeter University.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,810 or £2,580 without flights on days 1 and 6. Single occupancy: £3,100 or £2,870 without flights on days 1 and 6. Included: tickets for 12 concerts costing c. £220; flights with Finnair (Economy, Airbus 350/ATR 72/Airbus 321); travel by private coach; hotel accommodation; breakfasts, 2 lunches and 4 dinners with wine; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; services of the lecturer and tour manager. Accommodation. Hotel Haven, Helsinki (hotelhaven.fi): smart, boutique hotel close to the harbour. Hotelli Kalevala, Kuhmo (hotellikalevala.fi): in a peaceful lakeside and woodland location about 2 miles from the town centre, this 4-star hotel and restaurant is the best in the region. Rooms are fairly small but well equipped (mostly with shower only) and the lake is excellent for swimming. How strenuous? Access to performances would be difficult with impaired walking. There is a long coach journey on the second and final day but four days with minimal driving. Average distance by coach per day: 27 miles.
music
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
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Illustration, previous page: Finnish tar boats, after a drawing by V. Blomstedt 1900.
10–13 August 2018 (me 974) 4 days • £1,970 (Including tickets to 2 performances) Lecturer: Professor John Irving Two performances in historic theatres: Orpheus & Euridice (Gluck) at Confidencen (built 1752), and Pygmalion (Rameau) in the 18th-century Drottningholm Court Theatre. Some free time around the performances and lectures to see some of the magnificent museums and art collections. The tour is based in Stockholm throughout, with ample time to explore the city.
Itinerary Day 1: Stockholm. Fly at c. 9.15am from London Heathrow to Stockholm (British Airways). Drive to the Ulriksdal Palace, built in the 17th century on the banks of the Edsviken in Solna as a country retreat. There is time to settle into the hotel before an introductory talk and dinner. Day 2: Drottningholm. After a morning lecture, travel by boat from the centre of Stockholm to Drottningholm Palace, summer residence of the Swedish royal family since the 17th century; splendid interiors, wonderful gardens, landscaped park, exquisite Chinoiserie pavilion and theatre museum. Late afternoon performance at Drottningholm Slottsteater: Pygmalion (Rameau). Vittorio Ghielmi (conductor), Anders J Dahlin (Pygmalion), Kerstin Avemo (L’Amour). Day 3: Stockholm. A morning lecture, followed by a guided tour of the old town centre. Free afternoon; recommended is the spectacular display of prehistoric gold artefacts at the Museum of Antiquities and the Museum of Modern Art. Late afternoon opera at Confidencen Theatre: Orpheus & Euridice
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(Gluck). Arnold Östman (conductor), Maria Sanner (Orpheus), Albina Isufi (Euridice), Johanna Wallroth (Amore). Day 4: Stockholm. Free morning or optional visit to the museum of the Wasa, the royal flagship which sank on its maiden voyage in 1628. Fly to Heathrow, arriving at c. 5.30pm.
Lecturer Professor John Irving. Musicologist, pianist and harpsichordist. Professor of Performance Practice at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, and previously taught at the Universities of London and Bristol. He has written six books on Mozart, including the award-winning The Mozart Project.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,970 or £1,800 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,220 or £2,050 without flights. Included: tickets for 2 operas (not yet confirmed); flights (Economy) with British Airways (Airbus A319 & A320); coach or boat for excursions; hotel accommodation; breakfasts and 3 dinners with wine; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer. Accommodation. Hilton Stockholm Slussen (hilton.com): 4-star hotel situated on the waterfront of the Södermalm district of Stockholm, close to the old town of Gamla Stan. Rooms have a view over the lake and old town. How strenuous? A short tour with a fair amount of free time. Nevertheless you need to be able to navigate the city centre and parks on foot and to cope easily with stair climbing. Average distance by coach per day: 12 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants. Illustration: Drottningholm Palace, engraving c. 1700.
MUSIC RETREATS
The Elias String Quartet
After Beethoven – a Music Retreat in rural Suffolk 4–6 June 2018 (me 895) The Swan Hotel & Spa, Lavenham 3 days • 4 concerts • From £710 Speaker: Richard Wigmore Sara Bitlloch violin Donald Grant violin Martin Saving viola Marie Bitlloch cello The superb Elias Quartet perform a weekend of music by Beethoven and those who were influenced by him. Pre-concert talks are included, by writer and broadcaster Richard Wigmore. Stay for two nights at the comfortable and welcoming Swan Hotel & Spa in Lavenham – an inn since 1667, it is one of the loveliest and best-known small-town hotels in England.
The Programme Concert 1: Monday 4 June, 6.00pm Pre-concert talk at 5.30pm Beethoven, Quartet in E flat, Op.127 Schumann, Quartet in A, Op.41 No.3 Concert 2: Tuesday 5 June, 11.00am Pre-concert talk at 10.30am Beethoven, Quartet in F minor, Op.95, ‘Serioso’ Shostakovich, Quartet No.7 Mendelssohn, Quartet No.2 in A minor, Op.13
Concert 3: Tuesday 5 June, 6.00pm Pre-concert talk at 5.30pm Ravel, String Quartet in F Smetana, Quartet No.1, ‘From My Life’ Donald Grant, Scottish folk tunes Concert 4: Wednesday 6 June, 11.00am Pre-concert talk at 10.30am Dvořák, Quartet in A flat, Op.105 Brahms, Quartet in A minor, Op.51 No.2
Practicalities Prices, per person. Single occupancy: single room £710; double for single use £760. Two sharing: standard double/twin £730; superior double £800; junior suite £840; suite £940. Included: admission to concerts and talks; accommodation for two nights; breakfasts, 2 afternoon teas and 2 dinners with wine; interval drinks; tips for hotel staff; programme booklet. Tickets to individual concerts: mornings £15; evenings £20 (also includes admission to talks, interval refreshments, and a programme).
ALSO IN SPRING 2018
2018/19 SEASON
The Mandelring Quartet Haydn, Schubert & Beethoven
The Chilingirian Quartet Haydn & Mozart: String Quartets & Quintets
9–11 March 2018 (me 771) The Castle Hotel, Taunton 3 days • 4 concerts • From £730 Speaker: Richard Wigmore Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com
13–15 April 2018 (me 811) The Castle Hotel, Taunton 3 days • 4 concerts • From £730 Speaker: Richard Wigmore Please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com
Artists so far confirmed include: The Endellion String Quartet, Albion String Quartet, Nash Ensemble, Heath Quartet, Fitzwilliam Quartet, Castalian String Quartet, Clare Hammond (piano), The Gesualdo Six and Amatis Piano Trio. Please contact us to register interest. Photograph, top: The Elias String Quartet ©Benjamin Ealovega; centre: The Swan Hotel & Spa, Lavenham.
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music
The Elias Quartet formed at the Royal Northern College of Music where they worked closely with the late Dr Christopher Rowland and later became Junior Fellows and Associate Quartet. They also spent a year studying at the Hochschule in Cologne with the Alban Berg String Quartet. For four years they were resident quartet at Sheffield’s ‘Music in the Round’ as part of Ensemble 360, taking over from the Lindsays. Their four concerts explore how various composers were influenced by Beethoven, and the different directions that this took them in – within the string quartet medium – taking us from Schubert, Schumann and Mendelssohn, through to Brahms, Smetana and Ravel. The programme would of course not be complete without some works by Beethoven himself – we hear his String Quartets Op.127 and Op.95 (Serioso). The Elias Quartet also decided to include some arrangements of Scottish folk tunes (Tuesday evening) by their own violinist, Donald Grant – who is also a respected Scottish fiddle player.
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MUSIC: LONDON DAYS
London Choral Day
Three choirs and three churches in Chelsea Tuesday 10 July 2018 (le 957) Price: from £195 Our London Choral Days showcase outstanding choral ensembles in a selection of the most beautiful buildings in and around the capital. A day-long sequence of performances, refreshments and talks in venues which are within walking distance of each other. There is some connection between the venues and the music performed. This may be chronological – music of the same period as the building – or associational, a specific historical link between music and church.
Venues & artists Chelsea Old Church. The parish church, dedicated to All Saints but generally known as Chelsea Old Church, developed over several centuries and was largely mediaeval and 17th-century until it took a direct hit in 1941. Painstaking restoration results in visitors assuming it had suffered damage without realising the extent of destruction. Its additive, irregular fabric and accretion of monuments and furnishings make it a rarity in the metropolitan area for its retention of the appearance and atmosphere of a country parish church. Some of England’s earliest Renaissance detailing can be found in the chapel built for Thomas More (Sir or St according to taste), though the Tower of London came to be his final resting place. We are delighted to welcome back the Orlando Consort, internationally known for their ground-breaking performances and recordings of mediaeval and Renaissance music. Their programme of late 15th and early 16th-century music focuses on two Chelsea connections: Thomas More and gardens. In his book Utopia, More describes the Renaissance style of ‘Musica Reservata’, seeing it as a return to the ancient ideal of music in which text takes precedence, eschewing complex counterpoint and structure. The programme includes floral madrigals by Sermisy, Arcadelt, Crecquillon and Lupi, together with Robert Fayrfax’s beautiful benedicite, What Dreamed I, a piece known to be directly connected to More himself. Illustration: Holy Trinity, Sloane Street.
Royal Hospital Chelsea. The Royal Hospital in Chelsea was founded by Charles II for retired soldiers – a function it retains to the present day as home to the Chelsea Pensioners. Sir Christopher Wren was the architect, and the red brick ranges around grassed courts and grounds which reach down to the Thames form one of the most appealing of London’s historic precincts. The scale is regal, but the architecture restrained to the point of being almost domestic in feel. Capacious, serene and filled with light, and ornamented with a light dusting of carved wood and stucco, the chapel is perhaps the noblest of Wren’s churches, St Paul’s aside. It is embellished with one of the finest (if least seen) paintings in London, The Resurrection by Sebastiano Ricci in the apse vault. The short life of Henry Purcell, England’s greatest native composer (and a Londoner), overlapped with that of the chapel (consecrated 1692) by three years. Strangely little is known of his life, but it is inconceivable that he did not visit Chelsea Hospital and hear some of his works here. The other composers in today’s programme are English contemporaries of Purcell or from earlier in the century – Tomkins, Gibbons, William Croft and Pelham Humfrey. The chapel’s superb professional choir has taken wing under the directorship of the multi-talented William Vann, who conducts today’s concert. Holy Trinity Sloane Square. A Gesamtkunstwerk of architecture, sculpture, metalwork, painting and stained glass – and, for you, music – John Betjemen dubbed the church of Holy Trinity ‘the Cathedral of
Handel in London Retracing the composer’s steps Tuesday 13 March 2018 (le 779) Lecturer: Richard Wigmore An afternoon spent exploring locations associated with the great composer.
music
Culminates with a performance of Rinaldo – Handel’s debut opera – with Iestyn Davies in the title role and The English Concert under Harry Bicket.
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The 26-year-old Handel scored a sensation in 1711 with his first London opera, Rinaldo. A year later he settled permanently in the English capital, already the largest city in the world. As a contemporary noted: ‘His return to London was hailed by the musical world
as a national acquisition, and every measure was adopted to make his abode pleasant and permanent.’ Indeed it was. Handel immediately became the de facto resident composer of the Haymarket opera company and Queen Anne granted him an annual pension of £200, an arrangement continued by George I. Long before he took British citizenship in 1727 he was being acclaimed as Purcell’s undisputed successor as Britain’s national composer. The afternoon begins with a short walk through Mayfair to the composer’s own parish church, St George’s in Hanover Square. From here to the Handel House Museum in Brook Street, where the composer lived from 1723 to his death, and which houses inter alia a superb collection of Handel-related paintings.
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The Foundling Hospital holds the Gerald Coke Handel collection of manuscripts, music and books and the remarkable hall is where Handel’s own performances of the Messiah raised huge sums for the hospital.
Practicalities Start: 12.45pm at Green Park Underground. Finish: c. 10.15pm at Barbican Centre. Price: £265. This includes refreshments, dinner, travel by Underground/taxi, visits, top-category tickets for Rinaldo costing £55. Fitness: some busy tube journeys and a considerable time on foot. Rinaldo will not finish until c. 10.15pm. Group size: maximum 18 participants.
MUSIC: LONDON DAYS / MUSIC FESTIVALS
MARTIN RANDALL MUSIC FESTIVALS the Arts & Crafts movement’. It is a place of staggering beauty, so it beggars belief that in the 1970s it was closed and scheduled for demolition (it now regularly achieves a threefigure Sunday congregation). Begun in 1888 and consecrated in 1892, though embellishment continued well into the next century, it was paid for by Earl Cadogan, the landlord of much of this part of Chelsea, and designed by John Dando Sedding. Many of the leading artists and craftsmen of the time, including William Morris and Edward BurneJones, contributed a diverse range of artworks. Holy Trinity Choir is the church’s professional ensemble directed by Oliver Lallemant. John Ireland, organist c. 1897, described the church as having the ‘reputation of the best musical service in London’. This programme is conceived as a celebration of this great church, a musical transition through the old and new, combining the temporal with the secular, woven around select movements from two masses by Tomás Luis de Victoria and Vaughan Williams. Other composers are John Wilbye (1574–1638), Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795–1856), William Harris (1883–1973), Holst, Ireland, Parry and Grainger.
Practicalities Start: 11.30am at Chelsea Old Church, SW3 5DQ. Doors open at 11.20am, though the adjacent church hall will be serving refreshments from 10.45am. At the junction of Cheyne Walk beside the Thames and Old Church Street, it is about 20 minutes on foot from Sloane Square Station (District and Circle Lines) and a little more from South Kensington Station (District, Circle and Piccadilly Lines). Black cabs should be plentiful. Finish: c. 6.00pm, Holy Trinity, Sloane Street, SW1X 9BZ. Sloane Square Station is 2–3 minutes walk away.
Music in the Cotswolds
The Divine Office
The Tallis Scholars (Peter Phillips director), Gabrieli Consort (Paul McCreesh director), Orchestra of St John’s, The English Cornett & Sackbutt Ensemble.
Westminster Cathedral Choir, Stile Antico, The Tallis Scholars, Contrapunctus, Intrada, Vigilate, Magdalen College Choir, Merton College Choir, New College Choir, The Queen’s College Choir, Instruments of Time & Truth, Brook Street Band.
21–24 May 2018
A Festival of Music in Prague 13–19 June 2018
Classical Opera – The Mozartists (Ian Page director), The Sixteen, Lucie Špičková mezzosoprano & Lada Valešová piano, The Wihan Quartet & Martin Kasík piano, Collegium 1704, Collegium Marianum, Bennewitz Quartet.
The Rhine Valley Music Festival 20–27 June 2018
Llyr Williams piano, Birgid Steinberger soprano & Stephan Loges baritone with Roger Vignoles piano, Miah Persson soprano, Albion Quartet, Auryn Quartet, Sollazzo Ensemble, The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, The Cardinall’s Musick, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra (Ton Koopman director).
Music in Franconia
25 August–1 September 2018 La Serenissima (Adrian Chandler violin & director), The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Amphion Wind Octet, Albion String Quartet, In Echo & Alex Potter counter-tenor, Dorothea Röschmann soprano & Malcolm Martineau piano, Sonatori de la Gioiosa Marca (Dorothee Oberlinger recorder & director), Barocksolisten München & Sophie Junker soprano.
24–28 September 2018
Music in Bologna
1–6 November 2018 I Solisti dell’Orchestra Mozart (Håkan Hardenberger trumpet & director), Rose Consort of Viols with Jacob Heringman lute & Clare Wilkinson mezzo-soprano, Odhecaton, The Dufay Collective, Kammerorchester Basel, Orchestra Sinfonica Gioachino Rossini, Australian String Quartet, William Howard piano.
In 2019: The Johann Sebastian Bach Journey May 2019 Music in Derbyshire June 2019 The Danube Music Festival August 2019 Santiago de Compostela: A musical peregrination September 2019 Music in Southern Sicily October 2019 The Thomas Tallis Trail November 2019
Walking: For those who do not choose the vehicular option, there are walks at a leisurely pace of, at most 20 minutes, (waiting at pedestrian crossings included). There is the option of signing up in advance for taxis to avoid the two longer walks at a cost of £20 per person. Price: £195, or £215 with transport by taxi as specified above. This includes lunch and morning and afternoon refreshments as well as exclusive admission to the three concerts.
Audience size: c. 100–160.
For full details of any of our music festivals in 2018, please contact us or visit www.martinrandall.com To receive full details of any of our festivals in 2019 as soon as they are ready, please contact us to register your interest.
Illustration right: Regensburg, copper engraving c. 1750.
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music
Lunch and refreshments. Lunch in good neighbourhood restaurants; the audience is split into three. Refreshments are served on arrival at Chelsea Old Church in the church hall, and in the afternoon between the concerts.
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Archaeology
Expansion of our range of archaeology tours has led to a series of journeys dedicated to the legacies of one of history’s great powers: the Roman Empire. As a result, our experts Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary and Mark Grahame will take you to the lesser known towns of Vienne, Tarragona, Mérida and Carsulae, without neglecting the epicentre of the Empire’s dominance in Rome or the more recognisable treasures of Orange, Bath and Pompeii. Travelling even further back in time, we are delighted to have enlisted the expertise of Caroline Wickham-Jones, archaeologist and resident of the Orkney Islands, home to some of the most important Neolithic sites in Western Europe. As well as taking participants to working archaeological digs, she will also enlighten you on the later visitors to this fascinating archipelago: Vikings, world war soldiers and artists. Romans in the Rhône Valley, 23–29 April 2018 The Romans in Mediterranean Spain, 1–7 October 2018 Roman Italy, 8–17 October 2018 Romans in the South of Britain, May 2019 – please register your interest Romans in Western Iberia, 14–20 October 2019 – please register your interest Sophie Wright | Product Development Manager: Archaeology
MARCH 2018 2–13 5–21 6–15 9 19–28
Persia’s Great Empires (me 774) Professor Hugh Kennedy Lands of the Maya (me 770) Professor Norman Hammond Israel & Palestine (me 766) Dr Garth Gilmour London Day: Ancient Egypt at the British Museum (le 769) Lucia Gahlin.............................................. 15 Minoan Crete (me 787) Dr Alan Peatfield • full
archaeology
APRIL 2018
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9–14 11–20 12–26 23–29
Pompeii & Herculaneum (me 807) Dr Mark Grahame • full Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (me 820) Carolyn Perry Persia’s Great Empires (me 815) Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones Romans in the Rhône Valley (me 833) Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary
MAY 2018 12–21 Classical Greece (me 862) Professor Antony Spawforth • full 14–20 Walking Hadrian’s Wall (me 865) Graeme Stobbs • full
JUNE 2018 24– 1 Rock Art in Scandinavia (me 932) Dr Paul Bahn
JULY 2018 2– 8 3–10 28– 3
Western Ireland (me 941) Professor Muiris O’Sullivan Vikings & Bog Bodies (me 946) Dr Gareth Williams Orkney: 5,000 years of culture (me 969) Caroline Wickham-Jones • full
AUGUST 2018 3
London Day: Ancient Egypt at the British Museum (le 973) Lucia Gahlin.............................................. 15
SEPTEMBER 2018 4–10 6–17 6–21 10–16 12–21
Cave Art in Spain (mf 103) Dr Paul Bahn • full Persia’s Great Empires (mf 113) Professor Llewellyn-Jones • full Peru: the Andean Heartland (mf 107) Dr David Beresford-Jones Walking Hadrian’s Wall (mf 110) Graeme Stobbs Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity (mf 125) Carolyn Perry
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“Full and balanced. Great effort was made to get us into hard-tosee sights.” – Minoan Crete 15–23 Sardinia (mf 151) Dr Thomas-Leo True 15–24 Classical Greece (mf 150) Dr Andrew Farrington • full 17–23 The Etruscans (mf 158) Dr Nigel Spivey 24–29 Pompeii & Herculaneum (mf 193) Dr Nigel Spivey
OCTOBER 2018 1– 7 The Romans in Mediterranean Spain (mf 201) Professor Simon Esmonde Cleary 1– 7 World Heritage Malta (mf 206) Juliet Rix 8–17 Roman Italy (mf 207) Mark Grahame 11–25 Persia’s Great Empires (mf 213) Professor James Allan 15–23 Palestine: Past & Present (mf 222) Felicity Cobbing 25 London Day: Ancient Greece (lf 277) Professor Antony Spawforth..................... 15 27– 4 Essential Jordan (mf 298) Sue Rollin & Jane Streetly......................... 13
NOVEMBER 2018 16
London Day: Ancient Egypt at the British Museum (lf 314) Lucia Gahlin
DECEMBER 2018 5
London Day: Ancient Greece (lf 354) Professor Antony Spawforth..................... 15
FEBRUARY 2019
3–16 Guatemala, Honduras, Belize (mf 420) David Drew
APRIL 2019 6–14 Essential Jordan (mf 474) Felicity Cobbing
Illustration above: engraving c. 1800 (detail) of a Roman wall and ceiling decoration, original hand colouring.
ARCHAEOLOGY: IN 2018 & 2019 / NEWLY-LAUNCHED TOURS
Essential Jordan
The major Nabataean, Roman, Christian & Islamic sites Archaeology in 2019 Please contact us to register your interest ALBANIA
Albania: Crossroads of Antiquity ENGLAND
Walking Hadrian’s Wall Romans in the South of Britain FRANCE
27 October–4 Nov. 2018 (mf 298) 9 days • £3,920 Lecturers: Sue Rollin & Jane Streetly Newly-launched: 6–14 April 2019 (mf 474) 9 days • £3,990 Lecturer: Felicity Cobbing
Romans in the Rhône Valley Roman & Mediaeval Provence Cave Art of France
Outstanding monuments of several civilisations – Nabataean, Roman, Early Christian, Umayyad and Crusader.
GREECE
The lecturers have travelled widely in the Middle East and are authorities on Jordan.
Minoan Crete Classical Greece IRAN
Persia’s Great Empires ISRAEL
Israel & Palestine ITALY
Pompeii & Herculaneum Essential Rome Roman Italy Roman Palazzi Pompeii & Herculaneum Food, Wine & Archaeology in the Bay of Naples Civilisations of Sicily MALTA
World Heritage Malta MOROCCO
Morocco OMAN
Oman, Landscapes & Peoples
Petra is the most spectacular archaeological site in the Middle East; we spend three nights here. Jordan possesses the most spectacular archaeological site in the Middle East – Petra, ‘rose-red city, half as old as time’, that easternly fascinating, westernly Baroque, altogether extraordinary city of the desert. Hidden in the mountains at the confluence of several caravan routes, many of its finest monuments are hewn from the living rock, brilliantly coloured sandstone striated with pinks, ochres and blue-greys. Its creators, the Nabataeans, drew on a range of Mediterranean and oriental styles to create a novel synthesis – uniquely Nabataean but with architectural evocations of the Hellenistic world, Egypt, Assyria and Imperial Rome. Illustration: Petra, Ed-Deir (‘The Monastery’), lithograph by Louis Haghe after David Roberts c. 1850.
The Nabataeans were an Arab people, first recorded in the fourth century bc, who grew rich by controlling the trade routes across an empire stretching from Saudi Arabia to Syria. With Petra their capital, these nomadic desert traders became administrators and city-dwellers, whose kingdom was eventually incorporated into the Roman Empire. But decline set in, and by the eighth century ad Petra had become virtually uninhabited. In Roman times part of the wealthy provinces of Syria and Arabia, Jordan is also rich in traces of other civilizations. Jerash is one of the best preserved and most beautiful of Roman cities. Remains of Byzantine churches, with very fine floor mosaics, lie scattered through the Jordanian hills and valleys – themselves the settings of many events recorded in the Old Testament. The varied arts of Islam are seen in the hunting lodges and desert retreats of the sophisticated and pleasureloving Umayyad dynasty of the mid-seventh to mid-eighth centuries. And the castles of the Crusaders and their Arab opponents are among the most impressive examples of mediaeval military architecture anywhere. A constant backdrop to all this are the awesomely beautiful mountains, gorges and deserts of today’s Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Created after the First World War and the downfall of the Ottoman Empire, Jordan’s borders are an almost arbitrary outcome of the Franco-British re-ordering of the Levant. Something of a backwater then, and constantly buffeted since by the disputatiousness of larger neighbours, Jordan has – against all odds – succeeded in steering a precarious course to survival, stability and modest prosperity.
PALESTINE
Palestine: Past & Present Israel & Palestine SCOTLAND
Orkney: 5,000 years of culture SPAIN
Romans in Western Iberia The Romans in Mediterranean Spain TUNISIA
Tunisia TURKEY
Classical Turkey USA
Cliff Dwellings & Canyons UZBEKISTAN
archaeology
Samarkand & Silk Road Cities
For details of our other tours and events, including art and architecture, please visit www.martinrandall.com or contact us.
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ARCHAEOLOGY: NEWLY-LAUNCHED TOURS Essential Jordan continued
Itinerary Day 1. Fly at c. 4.00pm (British Airways) from London Heathrow to Amman (time in the air: c. 5 hours 30 minutes). Arrive at the hotel at c.11.45pm. First of three nights in Amman. Day 2: Amman, Jerash. The impressive new Jordan Museum presents an overview of the history and cultural heritage of Jordan in a series of beautifully designed galleries. Drive north through red earth hills with olive groves and Aleppo pine woods. Jerash, ancient Gerasa, a leading city of the Decapolis and very prosperous in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ad, is one of the best-preserved and most beautiful of ruined Roman cities and we spend the afternoon there. Among the more spectacular remains are a triumphal arch, an oval piazza, the Cardo, with its flanking colonnades, a food market, hippodrome, theatres, magnificent temples of Zeus and Artemis and several early Christian churches. Day 3: Amman, Umayyad desert residences. The citadel in Amman was the religious and political centre of the ancient city. Here are the remains of the Temple of Hercules, the rebuilt Umayyad palace. To the east of Amman, in the desert, are remarkable survivals from the Umayyad Caliphs, the first dynasty of Islam – early 8th-century small pleasure palaces and hunting lodges. The fortress-like desert complex of Qasr Kharana; the fort of Azraq, originally Roman, rebuilt in the 13th century and used by T.E. Lawrence as his HQ for two months in 1917–18. Break for lunch at the Azraq Lodge, a former British military field hospital, before continuing to the unesco world heritage site of Qasr Amra, whose unique and exceptionally beautiful wall paintings were recently restored in a project coordinated by the World Monuments Fund.
Day 6: Petra. For the second day in Petra walk again through the Siq, past the ‘Street of Façades’ and the theatre to study the more open area around the paved and colonnaded street. The remains of various structures include two mighty buildings, the ‘Great Temple’ and Qasr al Bint. Recent excavations have revealed what is almost certainly a cathedral with 5th- and 6thcentury mosaic floors. Climb up (over 900 steps) to one of the finest rock-cut façades, Ed-Deir (the Monastery), and some staggering views of hills and valleys of contorted rock. Day 7: Little Petra, Dead Sea. ‘Little Petra’, a narrow gorge with three natural widenings, thought to be an ancient commercial centre with carved façades and chambers and a fragment of naturalistic Nabataean painting. A spectacular descent through rugged sandstone leads to Wadi Araba, part of the Jordanian section of the Great Rift Valley. Stop at the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth featuring important archaeological finds recovered from the region, including artefacts from the church and monastery of St Lot. Reach the hotel on the Dead Sea shore mid-afternoon to relax and swim. First of two nights in Sweimeh. Day 8: Mount Nebo, Madaba. Drive up from the Dead Sea, flanked by dramatic mountain scenery. Visit the Byzantine church with remarkable mosaics on Mount Nebo, the reputed burial site of Moses. The nearby Church of SS Lot & Procopius, with its mosaic decoration dates from the 6th century. From the same period, the unique mosaic map of the Holy Land in the church of St George at Madaba is another highlight. Day 9. Drive to Amman airport (1 hour). Arrive Heathrow c. 1.00pm.
Lecturers
archaeology
Day 4: Amman, Madaba, Karak. Leaving Amman, drive southwards along the Biblical King’s Highway to the archaeological park at Madaba, before proceeding to Umm ar-Rasas, a unesco World Heritage site, which started as a Roman military camp and grew to become a town from the 5th century. The 12th-century Crusader castle of Karak, modified by the Mamluks in the 13th century, is an impressive example of mediaeval military architecture with many chambers surviving. First of three nights in Petra.
uniquely Nabataean – supreme among Petra’s wealth of sculptured monuments and those that follow on the ‘Street of Façades’. These are mainly tombs, created in the living rock. There are also impressive remains in the heart of the city, from grand temples, public buildings and churches to houses. Not the least striking feature is the multicoloured, striated but predominantly red sandstone. After lunch, return to the hotel or climb, via the Soldier Tomb complex, up to the High Place of Sacrifice (c. 800 steps) where the cultic installations are still clearly visible.
Day 5: Petra. The Siq, the narrow mile-long crevice with its Nabataean carvings and hydraulic system would itself merit a detour, but it is just the prelude to one of the most astonishing archaeological sites in the Middle East (also a unesco world heritage site). Emerging from the Siq, the visitor is confronted by the temple-like façade of the ‘Treasury’, vast in scale, both oriental and classical in vocabulary, Hellenistic in inspiration but
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Telephone +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com
Sue Rollin. Archaeologist, interpreter and lecturer, widely travelled in the Middle East. Her linguistic repertoire includes ancient Near-Eastern and several modern European languages. She lectures for the Art Fund, Arts Society and V&A. She has taught at UCL, SOAS and Cambridge, interprets for the EU and UN and is co-author of Blue Guide: Jordan.
Jane Streetly. Co-author of Blue Guide: Jordan and Istanbul: A Traveller’s Guide. She was born and raised in Trinidad, studied French and Spanish at university and now works as a conference interpreter and travel writer. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and has travelled widely throughout Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Felicity Cobbing. Executive and Curator of the Palestine Exploration Fund in London. She has excavated in Jordan with the British Museum and travelled throughout the Middle East. She is co-author of Beyond the River – Ottoman Transjordan in Original Photographs and Distant Views of the Holy Land.
Practicalities Price, per person in 2018. Two sharing: £3,920 or £3,350 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,590 or £4,020 without flights. Price, per person in 2019. Two sharing: £3,990 or £3,450 without flights. Single occupancy: £4,670 or £4,130 without flights. Included: flights (Economy) with British Airways (aircraft: Airbus 321); private coach for all other journeys; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts, 7 lunches (including 2 picnics) and 5 dinners (plus a snack on arrival on day 1) with wine, water and coffee; all admissions; all gratuities; all taxes; the services of the lecturers and a local guide. Visas: required for most foreign nationals. A group visa is issued on arrival (the cost is included in the price of the tour as long as you are travelling with the group). Accommodation. The Intercontinental, Amman (intercontinental.com): modern, excellently located 5-star hotel. Mövenpick Hotel, Petra (moevenpick-hotels.com): modern hotel, located close to the site; rated 5-star but more comparable to a 4-star. Mövenpick Dead Sea Hotel, Sweimeh (moevenpick-hotels. com): slightly fatigued 5-star hotel comprised of buildings scattered through lush tropical gardens; shady lounges, antique or traditionalstyle furnishings, spa and health centre. How strenuous? This tour is quite demanding and you must be capable of walking all day over rough sites. A good level of fitness and surefootedness is essential throughout, especially in order to manage the climbs in Petra to Ed-Deir and the High Place. Many sites are exposed with little or no shelter from the sun. Average distance by coach per day: 72 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
ARCHAEOLOGY: LONDON DAYS
London Days at the British Museum Study ancient civilisations in the capital Ancient Egypt at the British Museum | Belief and society Friday 9 March 2018 (le 769) Friday 3 August 2018 (le 973) Friday 16 November 2018 (lf 314) Lecturer: Lucia Gahlin Explore the customs, beliefs and daily lives of the Ancient Egyptians through the British Museum’s rich collection. Benefits from Friday evening openings. Refreshments in the Great Court restaurant.
Practicalities Start: 3.15pm at the British Museum. Finish: c. 8.15pm at the British Museum. Price: £185. This includes refreshments and a donation to the museum. Group size: maximum 14 participants. Illustration: imaginary reconstruction of an Egyptian temple, engraving published in 1799.
Ancient Greece | at the British Museum Thursday 25 October 2018 (lf 277) Wednesday 5 December 2018 (lf 354) Lecturer: Professor Antony Spawforth Art and artefacts from before the Classical period to Roman copies of Greek sculpture made centuries after the originals, viewed in four sequential sessions. Entry to the Bassae Room. Lunch and refreshments are provided in the Great Court restaurant. A product of the Renaissance and of the Enlightenment, it is appropriate that the British Museum should be housed in a building modelled on Ancient Greek architecture – indeed, it is the grandest example of the Greek Revival in the country. It is equally appropriate that it houses one of the greatest collections of Greek art and artefacts outside Greece, given that the Classical world was the first and for long the primary object of antiquarian study and literary exegesis in Europe. It is the case that Britain had a special if controversial role in the creation of modern Greece. The exceptionally wide range of its holdings enables the day to begin two millennia before the Classical period and to finish with Roman copies of Greek sculpture made hundreds of years after the originals. The day consists of four
sessions in the galleries of approximately an hour each, with relatively leisurely refreshment breaks. The first session looks at Minoan and Mycenaean Greece, and at the Geometric and Archaic periods which saw Greek civilisation emerge to greatness again after the mysterious extinction of the earlier civilisations. The second session is largely devoted to the peerless sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens, the so-called Elgin Marbles, famously – infamously – the highlight of the collection, and among the most fascinating and beautiful creations in western art. Lunch is at the Great Court restaurant, after which there is a little back-tracking to look at the development of pottery from the Archaic to the Classical periods, almost the only evidence of the glories of Greek painting that remains. Finally comes the Hellenistic period, Alexander the Great and after, especially the remarkable monuments from Lycia, the Nereid Monument and the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
Practicalities Start: 10.15am, British Museum, Great Russell Street entrance. Finish: by 5.15pm. Price: £195. This includes lunch and refreshments at the Great Court Restaurant. Group size: maximum 14 participants.
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archaeology
Ancient Egypt is perhaps best known for its mummies and pharaonic splendour, its monumental architecture and colossal statuary. One of the world’s most important collections of these antiquities is housed in London, at the British Museum. Its display of pharaonic might is second to none – Ramesses II casts his eyes downwards, a gaze which inspired Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’. The tours of the Egyptian galleries during this late-afternoon visit focus on the beliefs and lives of the ordinary people. The itinerary takes advantage of the lesscrowded Friday ‘late’ at the British Museum and starts by exploring the formation of the Egyptian state around 3100 bc, and the changes this brought to the ancient people living in the Nile Valley. The material culture of this early period in Egypt’s history helps us understand the cultural, technological and political developments which changed Egypt forever; the social history of the Ancient Egyptian people, the transition from chiefdoms to a country united under one ruler. Time is spent in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery, to wander between the statues of Pharaohs and gods. Here is a treasure-trove of evidence for private religion and daily life, lesser-known aspects of the ancient Egyptian civilisation. And in the Nebamun gallery fragments of painted plaster from the tomb of the 15th Century bc temple accountant, as fine as any known examples of ancient Egyptian art, are found displayed alongside an array of objects of daily use. Art and artefacts complement each other to create the fullest picture of ancient Egyptian society.
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Gardens
New for this year, Gardens of the Bay of Naples (5–11 May 2018) continues the highly popular formula of visiting exceptional historical gardens attached to buildings of architectural interest – palaces, villas and country houses. The stunning Amalfi coast with its lemon groves and views, the royal palaces of Naples and ancient ruins of Pompeii, together with Ischia and Capri’s gardens of fine horticultural history are a winning combination. It was after attending a talk by Dan Pearson at Chatsworth that my fascination with the style, design and aesthetic creation of gardens was ignited. Subsequently, we looked at how we could widen the appeal of our tours with itineraries that focus not only on beautiful yet traditional gardens and landscapes but also modern design and planting.
“Absolutely right – exactly the gardens I should have wished to visit, with the right amount of time allocated to each.” – Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes “Excellent variety and thoroughly enjoyable.” – Walking & Gardens in Madeira
This has led to two tours that mark a departure from the norm: Gardens & Landscapes of the Dutch Wave, Piet Oudolf & Modern Garden Design (8–13 September 2018; see opposite) and Gardens of Cheshire & Shropshire (16–21 July 2018). In the Netherlands, we follow the new perennial style while in Cheshire and Shropshire, the visits to private and public gardens are centred around a day at Tatton Park where new and upcoming designers and summer plants are showcased. On both tours we include privately-owned gardens and meet designers, garden owners and head gardeners who shed light on both the design and practical elements that conspire to create such stunning spaces.
DENMARK
Hannah Wrigley | Product Development Manager: Gardens
ITALY
APRIL 2018
Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes Tuscan Gardens Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana Gardens of the Bay of Naples
9–14 11–17 19–25
Gardens & Villas of Campagna Romana (me 813) Dr Katie Campbell Gardens of the Riviera (me 810) Caroline Holmes Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes (me 829) Steven Desmond • full
MAY 2018 5–11 15–20
Gardens of the Bay of Naples (me 846) Steven Desmond • full Gardens & Palaces of Berlin & Potsdam (me 875) Steven Desmond
JUNE 2018 London Gardens Walk (le 912) Louisa Allan.............................................. 18
2– 8 16–21
Danish Castles & Gardens (me 944) Dr Margrethe Floryan Gardens of Cheshire & Shropshire (me 916) Amanda Patton
AUGUST 2018 22
London Gardens Walk (le 986) Louisa Allan
SEPTEMBER 2018 8–13 Gardens & Landscapes of the Dutch Wave (mf 116) Amanda Patton.............. 17 20–26 Gardens & Villas of the Italian Lakes (mf 170) Steven Desmond
Please contact us to register your interest Danish Castles & Gardens FRANCE
Gardens of Île-de-France
JAPAN
Japanese Gardens NETHERLANDS
Gardens of the Netherlands PORTUGAL
Gardens of Northern Portugal Gardens of Central Portugal
OCTOBER 2018 8–13 25– 5
Walking & Gardens in Madeira (mf 211) Dr Gerald Luckhurst Japanese Gardens (mf 290) Yoko Kawaguchi
gardens
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JULY 2018
Gardens in 2019
Illustration above: Longleat, house and gardens as they appeared towards the end of the 17th century, steel engraving c. 1850.
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For details of our other tours and events, including art and architecture, please visit www.martinrandall.com or contact us.
GARDENS: NEW TOURS IN 2018
Gardens & Landscapes of the Dutch Wave Piet Oudolf and modern garden design
Garden and landscape designs of internationally-renowned Piet Oudolf and the Dutch Wave. Beautiful new-perennial planting that is at its best in September. Privileged access to private gardens and meetings with key designers are a feature. Utrecht is one of the best-preserved historic cities in the Netherlands; Zwolle’s moated medieval centre is charming. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the Netherlands has been at the forefront of a new direction in planting design, in which a more naturalistic approach to planting, using perennials and ornamental grasses and known as The Dutch Wave (and latterly the New Perennial Movement), has quietly been gathering momentum. Two significant Netherlanders have been at the heart of this movement; Mien Ruys and Piet Oudolf. Oudolf, inspired by Mien’s earlier work, has become the most significant and acclaimed landscape designer working within this genre, and a private visit to his own garden and nursery, along with visits to several of his designed public spaces and private gardens, is a major feature of this tour.
The English origins of the naturalistic planting movement flourished in the form of the Victorian plantsman William Robinson whose book, the Wild Garden, is still in print 135 years after first being published. His friend, Gertrude Jekyll, shared his ideas and added colour theories learnt from the Impressionist painters in her acquaintance. These ideas proved to be highly influential to a young Dutchwoman, Wilhelmina (Mien) Ruys, who was raised at the famous Moorheim nursery in Dedemsvaart. Here, her father experimented with propagating new forms of perennial plants, making these available to the wider public as demand increased through the writings of Robinson and Jekyll. Mien’s interest however lay not in producing plants but in using them. After meeting Jekyll in England, she studied at the Bauhaus in Germany before embarking on a lifetime of experimentation with perennials, mixing the naturalism of Robinson, the painterly qualities of Jekyll and the clean lines she had learnt from Modernism to create something that was not only original but has also proved to be a continuing inspiration for designers today. ‘It all begins with Mien’ says Piet Oudolf of the influence Mien Ruys has had on contemporary planting design. Oudolf, now in his early seventies, began creating gardens in the 1970s and, frustrated at the difficulty of acquiring enough plant material for his work, started a nursery to grow the plants he needed to meet his own demand.
Through a small group of like-minded artists and growers, ideas began to emerge around the appeal of seedheads and ornamental grasses, extending the season of interest in a flower border beyond the traditional 6-week flowering period, into a style where form takes precedence over flowers and colours. Resulting in a more naturalistic planting, the style complements both contemporary urban spaces and country gardens. Piet’s work has spread far beyond his native Dutch borders in the creation of the High Line in New York and the Lurie Garden in Chicago, but more importantly, has opened a wider debate on the value of naturalistic planting within garden and urban settings.
Itinerary Day 1: Amstelveen, Utrecht. Fly at 11.45am (British Airways) from London Heathrow Airport to Amsterdam Schiphol. Visit the Jac P Thijssepark, a suburban oasis of water and woodland, beautifully designed with native plants in the 1930s to create one of the first examples of a stylised natural landscape. Drive to Utrecht, for the first of three nights. Day 2: Utrecht, Vianen. The Vlinderhof, a large new garden (2014) within Utrecht’s Maxima Park designed by Piet Oudolf, originated from an initiative by local residents and is maintained by them. The landscape surrounding the Miele Inspiration Centre in Vianen (2008) has
gardens
8–13 September 2018 (mf 116) 6 days • £2,190 Lecturer: Amanda Patton
Piet Oudolf’s plan for the garden at Vlinderhof (reproduced here with the permission of Piet himself).
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GARDENS: NEW TOURS IN 2018 / LONDON DAYS Gardens & Landscapes of the Dutch Wave continued
been designed with grasses and late-season perennials adjoining large pools for rain water harvesting, and fountains for noise abatement. Free time for lunch in the small historic town of Vianen before a visit to a private garden (subject to permission). Overnight in Utrecht. Day 3: Rotterdam, Utrecht. Largely destroyed in the Second World War, Rotterdam has emerged as a centre of post-modern architecture. Piet Oudolf has been responsible for designing three very different public spaces within the city. The Leuvehoofd features Oudolf’s painterly planting in triangular beds that step down to the river; the Westerkade forms part of the revitalisation of the quays with a new cobblestone tree-lined esplanade; the Ichtushof is a magical wooded courtyard space created on a pedestrian route in an urban setting. The afternoon is free to explore Utrecht. Overnight Utrecht. Day 4: Hummelo, Deventer, Zwolle. The morning is dedicated to the private garden of Piet Oudolf and his wife Anja (by special arrangement) where Oudolf’s experiments offer an insight into his personal development and current thinking. Free time for lunch in the attractive medieval market town of Deventer. In the afternoon, visit the Mien Ruys Experimental Gardens. From 1924 until her death in 1999, Ruys created a series of 30 gardens trialling different planting schemes and architectural ideas. Ahead of her time, the gardens are still as fresh and inspirational as when she first conceived them. First of two nights in Zwolle.
gardens
Day 5: de Wilp, Eestrum (Friesland). Our two gardens today show the latest development of the Dutch Wave, including the influence of the American prairies, whose native plants formed the basis of the Dutch Wave palette. Lianne’s Siergrassen (by special arrangement) is a private nursery with parterre garden created solely using grasses, and a large experimental prairie garden. Jacobstuin (by special arrangement) is a private modern garden designed in a naturalistic planting style with late season perennials and pale grasses creating a painterly feel.
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Day 6: Hoorn. Spectacular drive over the twenty mile long Houtribdijk which spans the IJsselmeer lake separating Flevoland from North Holland, home to numerous sea birds. Visit a private garden designed by Piet Oudolf in 1999 (by special arrangement) on reclaimed land (polder). Some free time for lunch in Hoorn, one of the main ports of the Dutch East India Company, before continuing to the airport. Fly from Schiphol and arrive at London Heathrow at c. 6.00pm.
Lecturer Amanda Patton. Landscape and garden designer, writer, broadcaster and artist. A Registered Member of the Society of Garden Designers, British Association of Landscape Industries and member of the Garden Media Guild, she has created Show Gardens at the RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court flower shows. Her specialism is the development of the 20thcentury garden.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,190 or £2,040 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,470 or £2,320 without flights. Included: flights (Euro Traveller) with British Airways (Airbus 319); hotel accommodation;
travel by private coach; breakfasts; 1 lunch and 4 dinners with wine, water and coffee; admission to museums and galleries; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager. Accommodation. The Grand Hotel Karel V, Utrecht (karelv.nl): 5-star hotel converted from a 19th-century hospital in a quiet location within the city walls. Grand Hotel Wientjes, Zwolle (bilderberg.nl): 4-star hotel, formerly a mansion, close to historic city centre. How strenuous? There is quite a lot of walking and some of the gardens are extensive with uneven ground. The tour would not be suitable for anyone with difficulties with everyday walking and stair-climbing. There are some long coach journeys but facilities are good. Average distance by coach per day: 75 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
LONDON DAYS:
London Gardens Walk | The City and its borders Tuesday 19 June 2018 (le 912) Wednesday 22 August 2018 (le 986) Lecturer: Louisa Allen A walk exploring old and new gardens and public spaces. Contemporary landscaping and planting by Professor Nigel Dunnett and Piet Oudolf. Lunch at The Charterhouse and a tour of their private garden by special arrangement. The day finishes with views over London from Nomura International’s rooftop garden. It may surprise people to learn that London is one of the greenest cities in Europe. Forty percent of its area is dedicated to readily accessible parks and public spaces, and while the great parks are known and loved by Londoners and visitors alike, few people know of the many small and remarkable spaces that are dotted through the city. With a history spanning five centuries, this walk encompasses old and new gardens and public spaces, some by special arrangement, to see the best of this small pocket of London’s lesser-known gems. Several of these have been created in the bombed-out remains of Wren churches, including the awardwinning St Dunstan’s in the East whose dramatic ruins have been engulfed in a wide range of wall shrubs and climbers to create a beautiful garden with a haunting atmosphere. Postman’s Park, beloved as a lunchtime venue for City workers is another small
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space with a story; the newly re-opened Salters’ Hall gardens and Barber Surgeon’s also lie on our path. Lunch is at the former Carthusian monastery, The Charterhouse with its country garden just beyond the City boundary. In contrast, the dramatic Brutalist architecture of the Barbican housing estate has been updated with an innovative planting scheme developed by Professor Nigel Dunnett, following the success of his landscaping around the Olympic Park. And renowned Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf has been responsible for a new park on the South Bank at Potter’s Field which abuts one of the finest pieces of landscape architecture undertaken in London in recent years.
Practicalities Start: City Hall, SE1 2AA, 9.15am, (nearest Underground station is London Bridge). Finish: Nomura International, EC4R 3AB at approximately 6.00pm, (nearest Underground station is Monument). Price: £215. This includes special entrances, lunch, morning and afternoon refreshments and one Underground journey. Fitness: we cover c. 5 miles and you will be on your feet for most of the day. Please don’t attempt it unless you are able to walk at about 3 mph for at least an hour at a time. Stout shoes are advisable. Group size: maximum 18 participants.
Gastronomy & wine
2018 sees the launch of four new itineraries in our increasingly diverse range of gastronomy tours. While established centres of gastronomic excellence of course have their place, we are confident these lesser-known areas of Spain, Italy and Greece will surprise and delight. The remote region of Galicia is home to a number of Michelin stars out of all proportion to its size. Capitalising on this richness, we include four ‘starred’ meals in restaurants famed for innovative menus embedded in Galician traditions. The food and wine are balanced by architectural magnificence and the beautiful landscape of coast, river valley and mountain. Le Marche is little visited, wonderfully peaceful and unspoilt. Here we focus on local flavours and recipes, cutting back on the predictable Italian staples, and off-set the food with three appetite-building and visually-stimulating country walks. Gastronomic Crete (see overleaf) looks at foods and wines which have been produced for centuries, as well as the contemporary take on Cretan cuisine. Visits to archaeological sites are part of the story as is our journey from Heraklion deep into the countryside. Our fourth and final new gastronomy tour is to the West Country. Not exactly lesserknown, but perhaps a surprise to some that it is held in such high regard gastronomically. Here we enjoy the best of British produce in the company of Marc Millon, food and wine writer and Devon resident. Our 2018 tour is fully-booked, but we plan to repeat it in 2019. Fine food is an important feature of our wine tours, too but great wine determines our visits and some meals are included at the châteaux themselves. Bordeaux is a grand city, with much of its wealth still dependent upon the diverse, world-famous wines made at its surrounding vineyards. Special arrangements at key châteaux, such as d’Yquem and expert guidance from the lecturer, Rod Smith MW enhance the appreciation of, and delight in this classic region – The Wines of Bordeaux takes place in October 2018. Maddy Anedda | Product Development Manager: Gastronomy Linda Hanks | Product Development Manager: Wine
7–13 23–30
Gastronomic Emilia-Romagna (me 805) Marc Millon Gastronomic Valencia (me 832) Gijs van Hensbergen
MAY 2018 16–23 18–24
Gastronomic Veneto (me 871) Marc Millon Savouring Lombardy (me 867) Fred Plotkin • full
JULY 2018 2– 8 Gastronomic West Country (me 943) Marc Millon • full Illustration above: Engraving c. 1850.
Gastronomy & wine in 2019 Please contact us to register your interest ENGLAND
Gastronomic West Country FRANCE
Gastronomic Provence Wine, Walks & Art in Alsace ITALY
Gastronomic Piedmont Wines of Tuscany Gastronomic Puglia Savouring Lombardy Food, Wine & Archaeology in the Bay of Naples Gastronomic Sicily SPAIN
Gastronomic Andalucía Classic Catalan Wines Gastronomic Galicia Gastronomic Spain SWEDEN
Gastronomic Sweden
SEPTEMBER 2018 3–10 17–24 17–24 30– 8
Bilbao to Bayonne (mf 106) Gijs van Hensbergen • full Gastronomic Galicia (mf 160) Gijs van Hensbergen Tastes of Le Marche (mf 161) Marc Millon Gastronomic Crete (mf 198) Rosemary Barron...................................... 20
OCTOBER 2018 15–22 22–28 22–29
Gastronomic Spain (mf 215) Gijs van Hensbergen Wines of Bordeaux (mf 269) Rod Smith mw Gastronomic Sicily (mf 272) Marc Millon
For details of our other tours and events, including art and architecture, please visit www.martinrandall.com or contact us.
Telephone +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com
gastronomy & wine
APRIL 2018
“The perfect way to see the country, taste the food, and understand how great products are made.” – Gastronomic Emilia-Romagna
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GASTRONOMY & WINE: NEW TOURS IN 2018
Gastronomic Crete
Ambrosia and díaita, from land to table
30 September–8 Oct. 2018 (mf 198) 9 days • £3,240 Lecturer: Rosemary Barron A tour celebrating Cretan gastronomy, from ancient to modern, country simplicity to epicurean sophistication. Feast with a shepherd in the mountain foothills, taste wine at a vineyard overlooking ancient Gortyn and meet restaurateurs championing Cretan cooking.
gastronomy & wine
Visit some of the archaeological highlights of the island with local expert, George Spyridakis.
Surrounded by coral seas rich in maritime life, and endowed with snow-capped mountains and natural springs, Crete has fabulous sea food and more indigenous plants than any other European island. Today, herb-covered foothills, olive groves and ancient terraced hillsides covered in vines define the landscape just as they did in the past. Carob trees offer summer shade (and ‘chocolate’ and syrup in the kitchen) and abundant almond blossom promises luscious, honey-soaked nut cakes and pastries. There is no gentle pasture here, nor spare grain; livestock and Cretans alike forage for wild greens (horta), herbs and fruits. These nutrient-dense plants provide rich grazing for the sheep and goats whose milk, in turn, makes exquisite fresh cheeses – myzithra, anthotyro – aged graviera (mountain sheep cheese), the best yogurt made anywhere, fine-flavoured meats and game and memorable glyko tou koutaliou – ‘spoon sweets’ of cherries, citrus blossom, quince or tiny figs. The supreme quality of Cretan olive oil is well-known to connoisseurs, so too is the sweet richness of the island’s thyme honey and sun-kissed sultanas and raisins. Curious wine-lovers are in for a treat. Grape varietals in Crete date back to antiquity, and we shall be tasting the finest. A new generation of wine-makers is bringing alive the old flavours, including Cretan malmsey, the favourite tipple of Shakespearean England. As we travel from Heraklion south, through the central mountains, then west to Chania, we
Gastronomically-speaking, the Greek island of Crete is a place like no other. The Greek word gastronomia, the art and science of good eating and drinking, has its roots in Linear B, the language of the Minoans. With their knowledge of the natural world and their advanced farming and artistic skills, these early Cretans and their diet, or díaita (Greek, meaning ‘way of life’), became a source of myth and legend for the classical Greeks. Crete’s honeys, herbs, olive oil, fruits, cheeses and wines were renowned, and traded, throughout the empire – North Africa, Sicily, Asia Minor – in Byzantine and Ottoman Constantinople, and mediaeval Venice. Five hundred years later, Cretans are still celebrating their magnificent foods and we are beginning to understand the true meanings of gastronomy and diet.
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shall meet home-cooks, wine producers, bakers and olive farmers, visit street markets, kafenio (cafés serving coffee the traditional way), tavernas – dedicated to fish, meats, mezes or grills – and restaurants using local ingredients that would make any chef elsewhere envious. Meanwhile, the renowned sites of Knossos and Phaestos provide the focus for appreciating the significance and legacy of Minoan civilization. Immersion in Crete’s unique historical and modern traditions, brings home a deeper understanding of how and where history and gastronomy, diet and culture meet.
Itinerary Day 1: Heraklion. Fly at c.12.15pm from London Heathrow to Heraklion via Athens (Air Aegean). Arrive at the hotel in time for a meze supper. First of three nights in Heraklion. Day 2: Heraklion, Anogiea, Ideon Andron. After an introduction to Cretan gastronomy, we drive inland, ascending to Anogiea, in the northern foothills of Mount Ida. A short walk up onto the Nida Plateau to meet a shepherd (and his flock). Lunch is served in this beautiful mountain setting. Return to Heraklion and the Archaeology Museum, with its exceptional collection of Minoan artefacts. Day 3: Heraklion, Knossos. Early start to explore Heraklion market on foot. At its heart, a family bakery has deep roots in the Cretan baking tradition. The excavations and
GASTRONOMY & WINE: NEW TOURS IN 2018
vibrant past. The Minoan remains of Kastelli lie under the Venetian walls embedded with reused Greek columns. Down by the harbour are both the Turkish mosque and the synagogue. We focus on Crete’s gastronomic life in Venetian and Byzantine times and taste some of the dishes created in these eras. First of three nights in Chania. Day 7: Chania. Start with a visit to the market and an opportunity to explore the specialist foods shops and local delicacies that can be found in the small streets and alleys around the harbour. Free time to continue at leisure, or to visit one of the numerous museums (these include archaeology, Byzantine and Maritime histories). Dinner at one of the finest restaurants here.
reconstructions at Knossos, capital of Minoan Crete and centre of the Bronze Age Aegean, enrich our understanding of early civilisation and Cretan díaita. An olive oil tasting precedes dinner at Peskesi, a restaurant specialising in modern Cretan cooking. Final night Heraklion. Day 4: Heraklion to Zaros. Heading south-west into the glorious rural hinterland, visit a sophisticated, family-owned winery cultivating island grape varietals. Pies, from tiny parcels to the magnificently huge, and stuffed with savoury or sweet fillings, are a feature of Cretan cuisine. A fine, local cook demonstrates her pie-making skills, before entertaining us to lunch on the terrace of her home. Gortyn, the Roman capital of Crete, is en route to the tranquil village of Zaros, where we spend the next two nights.
Day 9. Fly to London Heathrow via Athens arriving c.3.30pm. The opening of sites on Crete can be influenced by the politics at the time of the tour. This may mean that at short notice not all sites listed can be visited.
Lecturer Rosemary Barron. Food, wine and travel writer specialising in Greece. In the 1980s, she ran a pioneering cookery school on Crete and Santorini. She has had papers published by the Oxford Symposium on food and cookery, and features in the UK and international media. Her books include Flavours of Greece and Meze: Small Bites, Big Flavors from the Greek Table.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £3,240 or £2,900 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,440 or £3,100 without flights. Included: flights (Euro Traveller) with Air Aegean; travel by private coach throughout; accommodation as described below; breakfasts, 5 lunches, 7 dinners with wine; all admissions; all tastings; all tips for drivers, restaurant staff, guides; all state and airport taxes; the services of the lecturer and a national guide. Accommodation. Lato Boutique Hotel, Heraklion (lato.gr): family-run 3-star hotel with small but well-appointed rooms. Good location by the Venetian port. Hotel Keramos, Zaros: family-run country guest house, basic but clean with traditional decor, showers not baths. Kydon Hotel, Chania (kydon-hotel.com): 4-star hotel, spacious rooms, well situated close to the old town and port. How strenuous? There is a fair amount of standing and walking on this tour. Meals can be long and large and so expect some late nights. If you have dietary requirements it is advisable to contact us before booking. Average coach travel per day: 38 miles.
Day 5: Zaros, Phaestos, Agia Triada. Phaestos is the second largest Minoan palace. Nearby villa remains at Agia Triada, in sight of the Bay of Mesara, are thought to have been its summer resort. Sample more native varietal wines and traditional drinks at a beautifully-sited winery on the rocky, calciferous slopes of Orthi Petri. Overlooking parts of ancient Gortyn, organically-cultivated grapes are grown here at an altitude of 500m. Overnight Zaros. Day 6: Zaros, Chania. Cross the Psiloritis mountains to Chania. In the Venetian harbour town, we bring together myriad threads of the Cretan food story while surrounded by a
Practicalities
Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
Illustration above left: map of Crete, reproduction of an 18th-century engraving. Above right: ladies of the Minoan Court, after a painting by John Duncan, c. 1910.
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gastronomy & wine
Day 8: Chania. Etz Hyyim Synagogue is a fitting location in which to discuss the history of Jews in Crete, as well as the Jewish/Cretan dishes for which its former spiritual director Nikos Stavroulakis was well known. A beachside lunch of local specialities precedes a visit to a family-owned olive mill producing organic olive oil using millstones and presses. Our final appointment is dinner at Nykterida, Babis Mastoridis’ pioneering restaurant overlooking Souda Bay.
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History
MRT is proud of its growing selection of History Tours and how they punch above their weight in terms of subject and customer satisfaction. I am ambitious for this category and want MRT to become as well known for its history trips, symposia and events as for its art and archaeology programme. I hope to expand the category, which is currently especially strong on military subjects, to encompass more political, social and cultural history and I am actively seeking to grow the number of historians within our stable of lecturers. Watch this space! In the meantime, the calibre of historian we invite you to travel with is no better exemplified than by Professor Tim Blanning, esteemed among history buffs for his broad expertise on modern Europe. In 2016, Tim was awarded the British Academy Medal for his book Frederick the Great: King of Prussia; places are still available on the unique tour he leads on this riveting subject – see opposite for details. Charlotte Crow | Product Development Manager: History
APRIL 2018
AUGUST 2018
11 London Day: London’s Underground Railway (le 821) Andrew Martin
6–11 The Industrial Revolution (me 975) Paul Atterbury 6–14 Estonia (me 976) Neil Taylor 13–17 Frederick the Great (me 978) Professor Tim Blanning............see opposite 20–25 King Ludwig II (me 985) Tom Abbott
MAY 2018 7–20 8–13 15–27 16–22 20–24 29
The Western Balkans (me 845) Lady Elizabeth Roberts • full Tudor Power in South & West (me 856) Professor Maurice Howard Wellington in the Peninsula (me 869) Patrick Mercer obe The House of Hanover (me 868) Dr Jarl Kremeier Occupation in the Channel Islands (me 874) Dr Paul Sanders The Tudors (le 853) Dr Neil Younger
JUNE 2018 6 London Day: London’s Underground Railway (le 913) Andrew Martin 15–21 Crown & Cromwell (me 906) Patrick Mercer obe
3 7–10 8–17 10–16 16–22 17–23
The Tudors (lf 118) Dr Neil Younger Poets & the Somme (mf 115) Andrew Spooner Georgia Uncovered (mf 117) Ian Colvin The Imperial Riviera (mf 124) Richard Bassett • full Early Railways: the North (mf 155) Anthony Lambert History of Medicine (mf 159) Professor Helen King & Dr Luca Leoncini
History in 2019 Please contact us to register your interest CROATIA
The Western Balkans (also visits Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia) ENGLAND
Tudor England England by Rail In Churchill’s Footsteps The Age of Bede ESTONIA
Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania FRANCE
Crécy, Agincourt & Waterloo Poets & the Somme GEORGIA
Georgia Uncovered GERMANY
King Ludwig II History Symposium in Weimar ICELAND
Iceland: Sagas & Landscapes IRELAND
‘A Terrible Beauty’: Ireland & The Troubles WALES
Mediaeval Wales: Castles, Campaigns, Conquest
OCTOBER 2018 1–14 12–18 24– 5
The Western Balkans (mf 210) Lady Elizabeth Roberts Memories of Monte Cassino (mf 214) Patrick Mercer obe The Indian Mutiny (mf 279) Patrick Mercer obe
history
JULY 2018
SEPTEMBER 2018
“Something I have wanted to do for many years and it well and truly lived up to my expectations.” – Poets & the Somme
2– 6 Mediaeval Wales: Castles, Campaigns, Conquest (me 942) Dr Marc Morris 9–14 ‘A Terrible Beauty’: Ireland & The Troubles (me 953) Patrick Mercer obe 22– 4 Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania (me 965) Neil Taylor
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Illustration: drawing by Muirhead Bone, 1917.
For details of our other tours and events, including art and architecture, please visit www.martinrandall.com or contact us.
HISTORY: TOURS
Frederick the Great Controversial King of Prussia
A study of the life, achievements and artistic patronage of the most prominent and divisive king of the eighteenth century. Based in Berlin for all four nights with excursions to palaces at Rheinsberg, Charlottenburg and Potsdam. Led by one of the leading experts on eighteenthcentury Europe whose biography of Frederick (2015) won widespread praise. Frederick II of Prussia acquired the sobriquet ‘the Great’ within four years of the commencement of his 46-year reign. One of the sharpest minds ever to grace a European throne, he was impressively well read, passionately engaged as a connoisseur of music, art and architecture and a prolific writer of prose and verse. These are qualities which are unusual but not unknown among hereditary rulers; in Frederick, quite exceptionally, they were combined with fierce executive energy, indomitable will and ruthlessness of action in the service of both civil governance and military matters. To his contemporaries, Frederick was the most salient and divisive ruler of the eighteenth century, abhorred and adored in equal measure. Subsequent students of German history have also been divided, and controversy continues. Was he one of the greatest generals of all time, or merely the lucky beneficiary of an army he inherited? (Blanning’s verdict: ‘he was an indifferent general but a brilliant warlord.’) Apostle and friend of Voltaire and insistent on equality before the law, he has been lauded as the Enlightenment enthroned; but he was also absolutist, capricious, vindictive and cruelly disdainful of the common people. What is beyond controversy is that he turned Brandenburg and Prussia from a third-rate power into one that was feared and respected throughout Europe. There is somewhat less wholehearted agreement that he began the process which, if not exactly lineal, led to a united Germany under Prussian leadership becoming the dominant power in continental Europe. That Frederick seems to be at the source of developments that led to the Third Reich still adds a frisson to the mention of his name. This is one of the many themes the tour will explore. Tim Blanning is the author of a biography of Frederick which has received accolades from all quarters. Formerly Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge, and a renowned lecturer, he has spent a lifetime studying the eighteenth century Illustration: Berlin, Schloss Charlottenburg, wood engraving c. 1880.
and the German speaking lands. His depth of understanding of music and the visual arts adds a dimension which is not often provided by political historians. Any study of Frederick must begin with his monstrous bully of a father, Frederick William I, to whom his intellectual and aesthetic interests as well as his sexual preferences were an anathema (most biographers have drawn a discreet veil over the latter). The son attempted to exorcise the ghost of his uncouth, foul tempered and militaristic parent by exceeding him in aggression, beginning within weeks of
palace – and the famous statue unveiled 1851. All four nights are spent in Berlin.
becoming king by seizing Silesia, the Austrian monarchy’s richest province. For the twenty-first-century traveller, however, Frederick’s legacy consists most strikingly of a series of palaces – Rheinsberg, Charlottenburg, Sanssouci and the New Palace at Potsdam – which are exquisitely decorated and filled with furniture and works of art.
and his followers. There is free time to visit the other museums at Charlottenburg including the collection of Berlin porcelain whose production Frederick encouraged.
Itinerary Day 1: Berlin. Fly at c. 11.00am from London Heathrow to Berlin Tegel (British Airways). A walk along Unter den Linden passes buildings erected during Frederick’s reign – opera house, Catholic cathedral, library, Prince Henry’s
Day 2: Rheinsberg. Frederick later said of his years at Schloss Rheinsberg, his court from 1736 until his accession, that they were the happiest of his life. It has been restored after subsequent vicissitudes. Day 3: Charlottenburg. The palace and gardens at Charlottenburg originated at the end of the 17th century, but Frederick added a wing with his favoured Rococo decoration and installed there his collection of paintings by Watteau
Day 4: Potsdam. Created by Frederick as a retreat from the affairs of state, the extensive, park of Sanssouci consists of gardens, parkland, palaces and pavilions. Visit his relatively modest single-storey palace atop terraces of fruit trees, the exquisite Chinese teahouse and the large and imposing Neues Palais. Drive through Potsdam town centre with its Dutch quarter and Nikolaikirche by Schinkel. Day 5: Berlin. The German Historical Museum is a fascinating and unflinching display of the
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history
13–17 August 2018 (me 978) 5 days • £1,980 Lecturer: Professor Tim Blanning
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HISTORY: TOURS / LONDON DAYS Frederick the Great continued
London’s Top Ten
Lifting the veil of familiarity from famous sights Thursday 12 April 2018 (le 822) Lecturer: Martin Randall Thursday 8 May 2018 (le 843) Lecturer: Dr Steven Brindle Friday 29 June 2018 (le 937) Lecturer: Sophie Campbell Break through the barrier of over-familiarity and see the best-known sights with fresh eyes. Learn history that is nuanced, gain insights that are informed and original, see details that are rarely noticed.
sort which Germany does well. Some free time for the museums on Museums Island. Fly to Heathrow, arriving c. 4.45pm.
Lecturer Professor Tim Blanning. Emeritus Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of Sidney Sussex College and Fellow of the British Academy. Among his many acclaimed books are The Culture of Power & the Power of Culture, The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648–1815, and The Triumph of Music in the Modern World. His most recent is Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, awarded the British Academy Medal 2016.
Practicalities
Start: 9.15am, Tower Hill Underground.
Most of our London Days focus on a particular and sometimes arcane theme, and usually they provide access to the inaccessible and show you little-visited gems. Top Ten takes the opposite tack: the subject matter is London’s most famous tourist sights. What justifies this apparent volte-face in the MRT repertoire? The lecturer’s discourse. You will hear information and explanation rarely imparted by ordinary guides and guidebooks, and hear analyses and interpretations, often reflecting new scholarship, which go beyond the expectations of the majority of tourists. Monuments that have been familiar since childhood become difficult to appraise with one’s usual sensory and critical faculties; this tour aims to lift the veil and enable you to see and feel their deeper significance and beauty. By locating the sights in a broader architectural
Price: £195. This includes morning and afternoon refreshments, lunch, two admission charges and transport.
Included: flights (Euro Traveller) with British Airways (Airbus 320); travel by private coach; hotel accommodation as described below; breakfasts; 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager. Accommodation. Regent Hotel, Berlin (theregentberlin.de): elegant 5-star hotel decorated in Regency style, located close to Unter den Linden. How strenuous? Quite a lot of walking is required and standing around is unavoidable. Average distance by coach per day: 42 miles (primarily on two days of the tour.) Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
history
Practicalities
Includes entry to St Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abbey.
Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,980 or £1,840 without flights. Single occupancy: £2,240 or £2,100 without flights.
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and historical context, and by placing them in the history of London and in the history of the nation, the lecturers will change the way you see these world-famous places. We’ve misled you slightly: each edition of the Day will include only eight or nine places, selected by the lecturer for that day from this list of ten: Tower of London, Tower Bridge, the Shard (from a distance), St Paul’s Cathedral (entered), Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey (entered), Houses of Parliament, Piccadilly Circus, Downing Street, Buckingham Palace – enhanced of course by our leader’s commentary.
Combine this tour with: King Ludwig II, 20–25 August 2018 (please contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com). Illustration: Berlin, statue of Frederick The Great (Christian Daniel Rauch) mid-19th-century engraving.
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Finish: c. 4.50pm Green Park Underground.
Fitness: there are two short journeys by Underground and one by taxi, but the day is otherwise spent on foot. There is quite a lot of walking, up to half a mile at a time. Group size: maximum 18 participants. Combine the April day with: The Everchanging City Skyline, 10 April 2018; London’s Underground Railway, 11 April 2018. Combine the May day with: Hampstead in the 1930s, 9 May 2018. (Please contact us for full details of these, or visit www.martinrandall.com.) Illustration: St. Paul’s Cathedral, watercolour by A.R. Hope Moncrieff, publ. 1916.
Walking
In my ten years at MRT I have been incredibly fortunate to travel a lot and mostly to countries with which I am familiar. But last year saw me undertake one of my favourite ever prospecting trips to a country I knew little about: Slovenia. And what a beautiful surprise! I was there to devise a new walking tour for 2018 and during my stay found myself gazing over acres of vineyards one day (sampling the excellent, little-known Furmint in the evening), being dazzled by the turquoise waters of Lake Bled the next, before traversing a gorge and following in the footsteps of WW1 soldiers. I was enchanted by this land of contrasts where Austrian heritage dominates the east and Venetian glamour appears in the west, while Ljubljana maintains a style of its own with the help of Jože Plečnik. I do hope that I can persuade you to undertake a similar voyage of discovery. The next new walking tour under consideration is a journey in the footsteps of J.S. Bach who in 1705 walked 250 miles from Arnstadt to Lübeck to seek inspiration from the music of Dietrich Buxtehude. Register your interest now. Sophie Wright | Product Development Manager: Walking
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London Day: The London Backstreet Walk (le 831) Sophie Campbell
MAY 2018 7–14 14–21 14–20 16 17
Footpaths of Umbria (me 854) Dr Antonia Whitley • full Walking in the Cotswolds (me 866) Dr Steven Blake Walking Hadrian’s Wall (me 865) Graeme Stobbs • full The London Backstreet Walk (le 859) Barnaby Rogerson London Day: The South Bank Walk (le 863) Sophie Campbell........................................ 27
JUNE 2018 5–16 8–13 18–23 19
Walking to Santiago (me 896) Dr Alexandra Gajewski Walking in Southern Bohemia (me 904) Dr Jana Gajdošová Walking to Derbyshire Houses (me 908) Paul Atterbury London Day: The London Backstreet Walk (le 921) Dr Geoffrey Tyack
Illustration: Orvieto, engraving 1575.
20–27 27– 1
Walking the Rhine Valley (me 919) Richard Wigmore The Schubertiade with mountain walks (me 939) Richard Wigmore
JULY 2018 London Day: The South Bank Walk (le 958) Dr Jeffrey Miller......................................... 27 London Day: The London Backstreet Walk (le 967) Barnaby Rogerson
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AUGUST 2018 24 25– 1
London Day: The South Bank Walk (le 988) Sophie Campbell........................................ 27 Walking in Franconia (me 989) Richard Wigmore • full
8–13 8–15
Walking & Gardens in Madeira (mf 211) Dr Gerald Luckhurst Walking in Eastern Sicily (mf 212) Christopher Newall
“Just about everything worth seeing was covered by this tour. The ordering of what we saw and where we walked was excellent.”– Walking Hadrian’s Wall Walking in 2019 Please contact us to register your interest AUSTRIA
Walking the Danube ENGLAND
Walking to Derbyshire Houses Walking & Literature in the Lake District CZECH REPUBLIC
Walking in Southern Bohemia ITALY
Walking in the Footsteps of Leonardo & Michelangelo Walking in Southern Tuscany SLOVENIA
Walking in Slovenia SPAIN
Walking to Santiago
SEPTEMBER 2018 3–10 4–15 10–16 17–23 24–30
Walking in Slovenia (mf 111) Professor Cathie Carmichael.................... 26 Walking to Santiago (mf 102) Dr Alexandra Gajewski • full Walking Hadrian’s Wall (mf 110) Graeme Stobbs Walking a Royal River (mf 156) Paul Atterbury Walking to Cornish Houses (mf 162) Paul Atterbury
For details of our other tours and events, including art and architecture, please visit www.martinrandall.com or contact us.
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walking
APRIL 2018
OCTOBER 2018
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WALKING: NEW TOURS IN 2018
Walking in Slovenia A green and historic nation
Itinerary Day 1: Ljubljana to Ptuj. Fly at c. 1.00pm from London Stansted to Ljubljana (EasyJet). Drive east to Ptuj for the first of two nights. Day 2: Jeruzalem, Ptuj. Morning walk on farm tracks, forest paths and country roads through the rolling hills of the Jeruzalem and Ljutomer vineyards with views to Slovenia’s four neighbouring countries: 7 km, c. 2 hours 30 minutes. Ascent: 235m, descent: 153m. Visit en route the pilgrim church of Our Lady of Sorrows in Jeruzalem. Return to Ptuj in the afternoon, one of Slovenia’s oldest cities, with fine mediaeval centre and pedestrian streets. Visit the majestic castle with its excellent regional museum. Day 3: Ljubljana. Absorb the wide-ranging architectural styles of the capital’s historic core, vigorously reconstructed by the architect Jože Plečnik following the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy. See fine Baroque churches, NeoRenaissance government buildings, and the enchantingly picturesque riverside with its incomparable nexus of Plečnik’s bridges. First of three nights in Ljubljana.
3–10 September 2018 (mf 111) 8 days • £2,980 Lecturer: Professor Cathie Carmichael Five country walks with beautiful and diverse scenery: vineyards, lakes, gorges, forests and coastline. A small country with a fascinating history, ancient and modern.
walking
Under-appreciated wines and varied cuisine, influenced by close neighbours.
castle, there is a clear Austrian legacy. Simon Clements, an English wine merchant who travelled here in 1715, described the country as ‘wonderfully cultivated’ with ‘vineyards and little churches’ and ‘pretty fair buildings on the tops and sides of the hills’. A visit to the tranquil Lake Bled, one of the loveliest spots in Europe, will confirm his opinions. Slovenia’s proximity to Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Italy give it a complex history of different cultures interacting during times of harmony and conflict. The unique Slavonic Slovene language has some archaic characteristics and is spoken by just over two million people, almost all of whom are bi- or trilingual in other languages. In 1991 the Slovenes left their Yugoslav past under Marshall Tito and his successors behind them, but reminders from that era can be seen in bakeries, coffee shops and Balkan grilled meats. It is home to some surprising historic gems including the First World War site of memory at Kobarid, elegant onion-domed Catholic churches and the quirky modernist architecture of Jože Plečnik in the capital, Ljubljana. Slovenia is an ideal place to appreciate on foot before tasting the local grape varieties cultivated since mediaeval times and sampling cuisine that takes its notes from the best of Central Europe.
One of Europe’s smallest countries, Slovenia is distinguished by vivid and varied landscapes and its intelligent, bookish locals, who have a clear respect and love for their inheritance which is reflected in every aspect of life from recycling and housing to literature and the arts. According to seventeenth century writer Baron Valvasor, the Slovenes already were skiing on the Bloška planota to get around in winter, while saving the copious shellfish in their lakes to take to the towns. The stunning Adriatic white buildings on the coastline betray a Venetian past, best seen on the quayside in Piran. On the other side of the country in Ptuj, a town dominated by its twelfth-century
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Day 4: Vintgar Gorge, Lake Bled. Drive north for a walk in the Vintgar Gorge: 6 km, c. 2 hours 30 minutes. Ascent: 451m, descent: 447m. The walk begins by passing through small villages and countryside, with views of Bled, Triglav (Slovenia’s highest peak), and across the Alps to Austria. The narrow wooden walkway through the gorge itself makes for a stunning finish. In the afternoon admire Slovenia’s jewel, Lake Bled, from above at the 17th-century castle and travel by gondola to its picturesque island with a tiny church containing Gothic frescoes. Day 5: Kobarid. Travelling north-west to the Italian border, visit the town of Kobarid, home of an excellent museum examining the WWI Battle of Caporetto in 1917. A lovely walk by the turquoise waters of the Soča river follows the Italian line of defence, and takes in the Italian cemetery commissioned by Mussolini in 1938, army trenches and a waterfall: 5 km, c. 3 hours. Ascent: 352m, descent: 360m. Day 6: Vipava Valley to the Istrian Peninsula. Tasting and lunch in Goče, an enchanting wine village in the Vipava Valley with over sixty cellars. Continue to the coast and walk from Strunjan to Piran: 5 km, c. 2 hours. Ascent: 205m, descent: 181m. This is an easy walk that begins by crossing Strunjan salt pans, established in ad 804 and an important source of income to the region in the Middle Ages. Thereafter there are fine views of the Gulf of Trieste, the Slovenian and Italian coastlines, and St George’s campanile indicates our arrival in the beautiful Venetian town of Piran. First of two nights in Piran.
WALKING: NEW TOURS IN 2018 / LONDON DAYS
The South Bank Walk Famous and forgotten sites Day 7: Hrastovlje, Piran. Morning walk from the Romanesque Church of the Holy Trinity in Hrastovlje with exquisite frescoes depicting the danse macabre: 4 km, c. 2 hours. Ascent: 391m. Descent: 399m. This is a circular walk that climbs to the abandoned village of Zanigrad, below the karst plateau, with wonderful views. Return to Piran after lunch. Once a group of mediaeval fishing villages, this coastal town was developed by the Venetians into a centre of civilisation, producing composers such as Giuseppe Tartini and other notable figures.
Thursday 17 May 2018 (le 863) Lecturer: Sophie Campbell
Day 8: Piran. Free time to enjoy Piran before driving to Ljubljana Airport in time for the flight to London Stansted, arriving at 6.00pm.
Explore the area’s architecture from Georgian terraces and Victorian warehouses to cuttingedge contemporary buildings.
Lecturer
Lunch in a restaurant overlooking the hustle and bustle of Borough Market.
Professor Cathie Carmichael. Professor of European History at the University of East Anglia. She studied at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia in the 1980s before independence. Her books include Slovenia & the Slovenes, Language & Nationalism in Europe, Genocide before the Holocaust and Bosnia e Erzegovina, Alba e tramonto del secolo breve.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £2,980 or £2,780 without flights. Single occupancy: £3,360 or £3,160 without flights. Included: flights (Economy) with EasyJet (Airbus 319); hotel accommodation; breakfasts; 5 lunches and 6 dinners with wine, water, coffee; all admissions; all tips; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager. Accommodation. Hotel Mitra, Ptuj (hotelmitra.si): centrally located 3-star hotel. Hotel Grand Union, Ljubljana (union-hotels.eu): the city’s oldest hotel, rated 4-star. Hotel Piran (hotel-piran.si): recently refurbished 4-star hotel with sea views.
Thursday 12 July 2018 (le 958) Lecturer: Dr Jeffrey Miller Friday 24 Aug 2018 (le 988) Lecturer: Sophie Campbell Visit City Hall, Southwark Cathedral, The Rose Playhouse and The Shard.
Listed in the Sunday Telegraph’s ‘10 great city walking tours’. The south side of the river between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge now plays host to some of London’s most prominent art museums, concert halls and theatres; restaurants, cafés, bars and food stalls are found in abundance; luxury apartments, starchitect office buildings and hotels proliferate. At times there is severe congestion on the Thameside walk. Even twenty years ago very few could have envisaged such a future for what was still a largely depressed and partly derelict strip of central London. Long after cultural colonisation commenced with the Royal Festival Hall (1951), generations of Jeremiahs warned against moving arts institutions to the South Bank. But the temptations of derelict land, abandoned industrial buildings and, in one striking instance, historical precedent (Shakespeare’s Globe) led to an arts quarter of world importance. A tipping point was reached:
Southwark became one of Europe’s biggest citycentre regeneration projects. Some of this provides some of the interest of this day. Much of the walk’s fascination, however, lies in what has been untouched by this gentrification a few hundred yards inland, where there remain enthralling vistas of Victorian warehousing and industry, intersecting viaducts, strangely well-preserved Georgian terraces and outstanding items like Southwark Cathedral, the world’s oldest operating theatre, London’s first railway station and its most beautiful recent tube station. There are lively markets and the last of the great coaching inns, and a couple of the most famous of contemporary buildings, City Hall and The Shard, western Europe’s tallest building. At the end of the day the tour ascends to The Shard’s Viewing Gallery on the 68th– 72nd floors to look down on the day’s itinerary, and much more besides.
Practicalities Start: 9.30am, Waterloo Station. Finish: London Bridge Station c. 6.30pm. Price: £220. This includes lunch and morning and afternoon refreshments, admission charges and donations. Fitness: we cover c. 5 miles; you are on your feet for most of the day. Please don’t attempt unless you are able to walk at about 3 mph for at least an hour at a time. Stout shoes are advisable. Group size: maximum 18 participants. Combine the May day with: Occupation in the Channel Islands, 20-24 May 2018 (contact us for full details or visit www.martinrandall.com). Combine the July day with: The London Choral Day, 10 July 2018 (see page 10).
How strenuous? This tour should be considered only by those who are used to regular country walking with some uphill content. You will need strong knees and ankles. A pair of wellworn hiking boots with good ankle support are essential. Terrain can be loose underfoot, and slippery in wet weather. Average distance by coach per day: 82 miles. Group size: between 10 and 22 participants.
walking
Combine this tour with: The Imperial Riviera, 10–16 September 2018; Hungary, 12–19 September 2018. Please contact us for full details of these tours, or visit www.martinrandall.com.
Illustration, left: Ljublana, wood engraving c. 1890. Right: Borough High Street, wood engraving c. 1880.
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MORE NEWLY-LAUNCHED TOURS / STILL TO COME
Art in Paris
Great exhibitions in autumn 2018 At the Musée du Luxembourg there will be a show of the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, whose name became synonymous with Parisian Art Nouveau after he created a series of posters for the great actress Sarah Bernhardt. At the Rodin Museum the working methods of the great sculptor will be illuminated with a show of his cut-outs. At the sumptuous Belle époque Grand Palais, constructed for the Paris World Exhibition of 1900, there will be a celebration of Venice in the Golden Age of Vivaldi and Tiepolo, and in the more intimate spaces of the Museum of Romantic Life on the slopes of Montmartre, there will be a show devoted to Sir Thomas Lawrence that will enable to see through French eyes a British artist who was much admired by the French Romantics. In addition to the exhibitions, visit two more galleries, the Petit Palais, the Musée d’Orsay and the Musée Gustave Moreau.
Itinerary Day 1. Take the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris at c. 10.30am. Continue by coach to the Rodin museum, which as part of their autumn exhibition displays fifty paintings from the artist’s personal collection. Day 2. Begin at the Musée du Luxembourg and a rich retrospective of posters, paintings and illustrations by Mucha. Continue to the Musée d’Orsay, home to the world’s finest collection of Impressionism, also displaying Picasso’s Blue & Pink Periods.
30 October–2 Nov. 2018 (mf 280) 4 days • £1,820 Lecturer: Patrick Bade Alphonse Mucha at the Musée du Luxembourg. Picasso’s Blue & Pink Periods at Musée d’Orsay. Venice in the Time of Vivaldi & Tiepolo at the Grand Palais.
Day 4. Visit Thomas Lawrence, painter of intimacy at the Musée de la Vie Romantique before returning to London by Eurostar, arriving at c. 5.45pm.
more newly-launched
Cubism at the Centre Pompidou.
Day 3. The morning is spent at the Grand Palais studying depictions of Venice in the Golden Age of Vivaldi and Tiepolo. Lunch in the restaurant of the Grand Palais precedes a visit to the collections of the nearby Petit Palais. Finish at the Centre Pompidou where an exhibition brings together 300 works by Picasso, Braque, Derain, Laurens, Delaunay, Léger, Picabia and Duchamp.
After le retour, the return to normal life after the mass exodus over the summer, Paris offers a feast of exhibitions in the autumn. In 2018 the Paris museums will, as usual, be unveiling a splendid array of exhibitions. With their own rich holdings these museums are able to take their pick of the finest works of the world’s great museums. Amongst the highlights of the exhibition season will be a comprehensive survey of Cubism, the most important and influential early modern art movement at the Pompidou Centre, the iconic architectural masterpiece of Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano.
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Lecturer Patrick Bade. Historian, writer and broadcaster. He studied at UCL and the Courtauld and was senior lecturer at Christies Education for many years. He has worked for the Art Fund, Royal Opera House, National Gallery and V&A. He has published on 19th- and early 20th-century painting and on historical vocal recordings. His latest book is Music Wars: 1937–1945. Illustration: Paris, rue du Haut Pavé and Pantheon, watercolour by Yoshino Markino publ. 1908.
Practicalities Price, per person. Two sharing: £1,820 or £1,660 without Eurostar. Single occupancy: £2,070 or £1,910 without Eurostar. Included: rail travel (Standard Premier) by Eurostar; private coach; hotel accommodation; breakfasts, 1 lunch and 3 dinners with wine, water, coffee; all tips; all admissions; all taxes; the services of the lecturer and tour manager. Accommodation. Hotel Édouard 7, Paris (hoteledouard7-paris.com): comfortable 4-star hotel, located on the Avenue de l’Opéra. How strenuous? Visits require a fair amount of walking and standing around. You need to be able to lift your luggage on and off the train. Group size: between 10 and 20 participants.
TOURS TO COME IN 2018
Shakespeare & his World July 2018 Incontri in Terra di Siena July/August 2018 Opera in Pesaro August 2018 CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR
Bruges at Christmas Lecturer: Dr Sophie Oosterwijk Vienna at Christmas Lecturer: Dr Jarl Kremeier Modern Art on the Côte d’Azur at Christmas Lecturer: Lydia Bauman Dresden at Christmas Lecturer: John Holloway Music in Berlin at New Year Lecturer: Tom Abbott Milan at Christmas Lecturer: Dr Luca Leoncini Verona at Christmas Lecturer: Dr R.T. Cobianchi Christmas in Emilia-Romagna Lecturer: Nigel McGilchrist St Petersburg at Christmas Lecturer: Dr Alexey Makhrov Full details available in Spring 2018. Contact us to register your interest.
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PAYMENT & AGREEMENT
Martin Randall Travel Ltd Voysey House Barley Mow Passage London W4 4GF United Kingdom Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 Fax +44 (0)20 8742 7766 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com
5085
ABTA No.Y6050
Account name: Martin Randall Travel Ltd Bank: Handelsbanken, 2 Chiswick High Road, London W4 1TH
For transfers from UK (Sterling) bank accounts: Account number 8663 3438 • Sort code 40-51-62
For transfers from non-UK bank accounts: please instruct your bank to send payment in pound sterling (GBP). IBAN: GB98 HAND 4051 6286 6334 38 Swift/BIC code: HAND GB22
☐ CHEQUE. I enclose a cheque payable to Martin Randall Travel Ltd – please write the tour code on the back (e.g. md 123).
Martin Randall Australasia PO Box 1024, Indooroopilly QLD 4068, Australia Tel 1300 55 95 95 New Zealand 0800 877 622 Fax +61 (0)7 3371 8288 anz@martinrandall.com.au North America 1155 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, USA Tel 1 800 988 6168 usa@martinrandall.com
☐ DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD. I authorise Martin Randall Travel to contact me by telephone to take payment from my Visa credit/ Visa debit/Mastercard/AMEX. I have read and agree to the Booking Conditions and Privacy Policy (www.martinrandall.com/privacy) on behalf of all listed on this form.
Signature Date
BOOKING DETAILS
Booking conditions
Please read these You need to sign your assent to these booking conditions on the booking form.
Our promises to you •
We aim to be fair, reasonable and sympathetic in all our dealings with clients, and to act always with integrity.
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We will meet all our legal and regulatory responsibilities, often going beyond the minimum obligations.
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We aim to provide full and accurate information about our holidays. If there are changes, we will tell you promptly.
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If something does go wrong, we will try to put it right. Our overriding aim is to ensure that every client is satisfied with our services.
What we ask of you That you read the information we send to you.
Specific terms Our contract with you. From the time we receive your signed booking form and initial payment, a contract exists between you and Martin Randall Travel Ltd. Eligibility. We reserve the right to refuse to accept a booking without necessarily giving a reason. You need to be in good health, free of infectious or contagious illness, and have a level of fitness which would not spoil other participants’ enjoyment of the holiday by either infecting them or slowing them down – see ‘Fitness below’. To this end we ask you to take the tests described. By signing the booking form you are stating that you have met these fitness requirements. If during the tour it transpires you are not able to cope adequately, or are ill, you may be asked to opt out of certain visits, or be invited to leave the tour altogether. This would be at your own expense.
Fitness A certain level of fitness is a requirement for participation on our tours. We ask that all participants take these quick and simple tests to ascertain whether they are fit enough. 1. Chair stands. Sit in a dining chair, with arms folded and hands on opposite shoulders. Stand up and sit down at least eight times in thirty seconds. 2. Step test. Mark a wall at a height that is halfway between your knee and your hip bone. Raise each knee in turn to the mark at least sixty times in two minutes. 3. Agility test. Place an object three yards from the edge of a chair, sit, and record the time it takes to stand up, walk to the object and sit back down. You should be able to do this in under seven seconds. An additional indication of the fitness required, though we are not asking you to measure this, is that you should be able to walk unaided at a pace of three miles per hour for at least half an hour at a time, and to stand unsupported for at least fifteen minutes.
Insurance. It is a requirement of booking that you have adequate holiday insurance. Cover for medical treatment, repatriation, loss of property and cancellation charges must be included. If you are making your own flight/travel arrangements, please ensure you have insurance in place that protects you in the unlikely event of Martin Randall Travel cancelling the tour. Experience tells us that free travel insurance offered by some credit card companies is not reliable in the event of a claim. Passports and visas. British citizens must have valid passports for all tours outside the United Kingdom. For most countries the passport needs to be valid for six months beyond the date of the tour. If visas are required we will advise UK citizens about obtaining them. Nationals of other countries should ascertain whether visas are required in their case, and obtain them if they are. If you cancel. If you have to cancel your participation on one of our holidays, there would be a charge which varies according to the period of notice you give. Up to 57 days before the tour the deposit only is forfeited. Thereafter a percentage of the total cost of the tour will be due: between 56 and 29 days: between 28 and 15 days: between 14 days and 3 days: within 48 hours:
40% 60% 80% 100%
If you cancel your booking in a double or twin room but are travelling with a companion who chooses to continue to participate on the tour, the companion will be liable to pay the single occupancy price. If you cancel a London Day we will return the full amount if you notify us 22 or more days before the event. We will retain 50% if cancellation is made within three weeks and 100% if within three days. We take as the day of cancellation that on which we receive written confirmation of cancellation. If we cancel the tour. We might decide to cancel a tour if at any time up to eight weeks before there were insufficient bookings for it to be viable. We would refund everything you had paid to us. We may also cancel a tour if hostilities, civil unrest, natural disaster or other circumstances amounting to force majeure affect the region to which the tour was due to go. Safety and security. If the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office advises against travel to places visited on a tour, we would cancel the tour or adjust the itinerary to avoid the risky area. In the event of cancellation before the tour commenced we would give you a full refund. We would also treat sympathetically a wish to withdraw from a tour to a troubled region even if the FCO does not advise against travel there. Seatbelts. Our tours and festivals subscribe to the health and safety legislation of the destination. In some parts of the world the law concerning seatbelts differs to the UK. The limits of our liabilities. As principal, we accept responsibility for all ingredients of a tour, except those in which the principle of force majeure prevails. Our obligations and responsibilities are also limited where international conventions apply in respect of air, sea or rail carriers, including the Warsaw Convention and its various updates. If we make changes. Circumstances might arise which prevent us from operating a tour exactly as
advertised. We would try to devise a satisfactory alternative, but if the change represents a significant loss to the tour we would offer compensation. If you decide to cancel because the alternative we offer is not acceptable we would give a full refund. Financial protection. We provide full financial protection for our package holidays which include international flights, by way of our Air Travel Organiser’s Licence number 3622. When you buy an ATOL protected flight inclusive holiday from us you receive an ATOL Certificate. This lists what is financially protected, where you can get information on what this means for you and who to contact if things go wrong. Most of our flights and flight-inclusive holidays on our website and in our brochure are financially protected by the ATOL scheme. But ATOL protection does not apply to all holiday and travel services listed. Please ask us to confirm what protection may apply to your booking. If you do not receive an ATOL Certificate then the booking will not be ATOL protected. If you do receive an ATOL Certificate but all the parts of your trip are not listed on it, those parts will not be ATOL protected. In order to be protected under the ATOL scheme you need to be in the UK when you make your booking and/or one of the flights you take must originate or terminate in the UK with the group. We provide full financial protection for our package holidays that do not include a flight, by way of a bond held by ABTA The Travel Association. We will provide you with the services listed on the ATOL Certificate (or a suitable alternative). In some cases, where we aren’t able do so for reasons of insolvency, an alternative ATOL holder may provide you with the services you have bought or a suitable alternative (at no extra cost to you). You agree to accept that in those circumstances the alternative ATOL holder will perform those obligations and you agree to pay any money outstanding to be paid by you under your contract to that alternative ATOL holder. However, you also agree that in some cases it will not be possible to appoint an alternative ATOL holder, in which case you will be entitled to make a claim under the ATOL scheme (or your credit card issuer where applicable). If we, or the suppliers identified on your ATOL certificate, are unable to provide the services listed (or a suitable alternative, through an alternative ATOL holder or otherwise) for reasons of insolvency, the Trustees of the Air Travel Trust may make a payment to (or confer a benefit on) you under the ATOL scheme. You agree that in return for such a payment or benefit you assign absolutely to those Trustees any claims which you have or may have arising out of or relating to the non-provision of the services, including any claim against us (or your credit card issuer where applicable). You also agree that any such claims maybe re-assigned to another body, if that other body has paid sums you have claimed under the ATOL scheme. English Law. These conditions form part of your contract with Martin Randall Travel Ltd and are governed by English law. All proceedings shall be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. Privacy. By signing the booking form you are stating that you have read and agree to our Privacy Policy, which can be found online at www.martinrandall.com/privacy.
Telephone +44 (0)20 8742 3355 | info@martinrandall.co.uk | www.martinrandall.com
booking details
Before booking, please refer to the FCO website to ensure you are happy with the travel advice for the places you are going to www.fco.gov.uk
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Martin Randall Travel Ltd Voysey House Barley Mow Passage London W4 4GF United Kingdom
Martin Randall Australasia PO Box 1024 Indooroopilly QLD 4068 Australia
North America 1155 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 300 Washington DC 20036 USA
Tel +44 (0)20 8742 3355 Fax +44 (0)20 8742 7766 info@martinrandall.co.uk www.martinrandall.com
Tel 1300 55 95 95 New Zealand 0800 877 622 Fax +61 (0)7 3371 8288 anz@martinrandall.com.au
Tel 1 800 988 6168 usa@martinrandall.com
How to book 1. Booking option We recommend that you contact us first to make a booking option which we will hold for seven days. To confirm it please send the booking form and deposit within this period – the deposit is 10% of your total booking price. Alternatively, you can make a definite booking straight away at www.martinrandall.com
2. Definite booking
booking details
Fill in the booking form and send it to us with the deposit. It is important that you read the Booking Conditions at this stage, and that you sign the booking form. Full payment is required if you are booking within ten weeks of departure.
3. Our confirmation Upon receipt of the booking form and deposit we shall send you confirmation of your booking. After this your deposit is non-returnable except in the special circumstances mentioned in the Booking Conditions. Further details about the tour may also be sent at this stage, or will follow shortly afterwards.
Illustration: Cambridge, King’s College, lithograph 1814.