Festive Tours 2019 | ACE Cultural Tours

FESTIVE TOURS C h r i s t m a s a n d N e w Ye a r 2 0 1 9

AC E C U LT U R A L TO U R S

F e s t i v e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n

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Contents Advent Cruise on the Rhine

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Christmas in Athens

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Bologna at Christmas

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Christmas in Catalunya

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New Year in Ravenna

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Orthodox Christmas in Moscow

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Introduction Each year our Christmas and New Year tours introduce travellers to some of our favourite destinations. These tours offer a balance of cultural stimulation and convivial company whilst we enjoy the festive season away from home.

As a particular highlight for 2019 we are delighted to announce the release of our new festive cultural cruise, exploring the Christmas markets, cathedrals and towns along the River Rhine during Advent in early December.

Tours to Bologna, Athens and Catalunya will run over the Christmas period, and will all feature celebratory dinners and opportunities to attend Christmas services alongside visits that showcase the very best of what each of these destinations has to offer.

Over the New Year, our tours to Ravenna will round off our annual offerings for the festive season in style, with a chance to welcome in 2020 in a city of longstanding historical and cultural importance.

In January of 2020, the return of our Orthodox Christmas in Moscow tour will offer a chance to explore the traditions of Orthodox Christianity in the Russian capital.

To reserve a space on any of these tours, or for further details, please contact the office and we will be delighted to make a booking for you.

01223 841055 aceculturaltours.co.uk

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F e s t i v e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n

Advent Cruise on the Rhine

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1-7 DECEMBER, 2019 | from £2245

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ights trail across pointed wooden roofs, illuminating temporary pathways between stalls piled high with carved ornaments. Woolly-hatted crowds mill around shining decorations and nativity scenes as the sweet and spicy scents of Glühwein and confections mingle with the chilly air.

On December 1, 2019, the ACEchartered MS Lafayette will embark on a unique Advent voyage that will take us into the musical, cultural and festive heritage of this fairytale region to enjoy its famous Christmas traditions.

The German Christmas market, or Christkindlmarkt, is both familiar and mysterious, a classic yet forever evolving landscape, bridging the experiences of the present day with traditions that go back centuries. Its cultural heritage is equally as compelling: ushering in the season of Advent, the first such markets in the world originated in the German-

speaking parts of Europe and Eastern France, allowing communities to gather together, exchange gifts and stock up for the winter months.

As our cruise builds towards its climax, we will enjoy a gala feast on St Nicholas’s Day (December 6), followed by a celebratory evening recital of carols and other seasonal music.

Mornings will frequently be spent cruising, with time dedicated to lectures and recitals, while afternoons will provide opportunities for nearby visits as well as exploration of the markets themselves – many of which are within walking distance of our mooring points – before returning aboard for music and dinner.

Our base for this cruise will be the MS Lafayette, a premium five-anchor ship featuring luxury accommodation over two decks and a sundeck. The MS Lafayette was entirely refurbished in 2015.

Following on from the model successfully implemented on previous ACE Cultural Cruises, this cruise will feature a team of several ACE Tour Directors, working together to combine their knowledge and expertise to give a multidisciplinary perspective on our visits. Read on to disover more.

Day 1 Eurostar from London St. Pancras via Paris to Strasbourg.

Welcome drink and introduction onboard. Evening music recital, including works by Mozart and Schumann.

Day 2 Morning lectures on board: The Rhine (words and music) and Art & the Christmas Story Part I: Annunciation & Nativity. Free time in Frankfurt with opportunity to visit Christmas market. Evening song recital on board: Schumann Frauenliebe und Leben.

Day 3 Illustrated morning lecture: Brahms’s Journey on the Rhine. Time to explore Cochem (characterful town with half-timbered buildings and medieval gates), with visit to local mustard mill followed by Christmas markets.

Day 4 Morning lecture: Art & the Christmas Story Part II: Shepherds & Magi; followed by excursion to Cologne. Evening recital: works by Mozart and Brahms.

Day 5 Morning lecture: St Nicholas.

Afternoon: excursion from Rudesheim mooring to Kloster Eberbach Abbey.

Day 6 (St Nicholas’s Day) Morning lecture: The Medieval Feast. Organ recital in Mannheim followed by opportunity to visit Christmas market.

Celebratory gala dinner and evening recital, including festive works.

Day 7 Morning organ recital in St Thomas’s Church, Strasbourg. Return to London on Eurostar via Paris.

Cost of £2245 includes: return travel, accommodation based on sharing a main deck twin cabin.

Full tour details available on our website.

Main deck twin cabin for single use supplement £250. Upper deck supplements available upon request.

Call:

01223 841055

to make an enquiry, or email: sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk Strasbourg Christmas Market

F e s t i v e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n

M e e t o u r To u r Directors

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AND TOUR MANAGER

Cathy Oakes is an Associate Professor in Art History at Oxford University and a regular contributor to courses at the Victoria & Albert Museum. Her particular interests are the English and French Middle Ages and she has led a number of tours over the years exploring the Romanesque and Gothic in those areas.

John Bryden has played across Britain and Europe as a soloist, accompanist and chamber musician. He has given concerts in venues ranging from California to Kathmandu via Wigmore Hall and was classical pianist on MS Saga Rose for eighteen cruises around much of the world. For many years John coached at the Dartington International Summer School, where he performed in master classes given by Jacqueline du PrĂŠ.

Nicholas Wearne is a former ACE Bursary student, tutor and Junior Fellow at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. His career as a solo organist has taken him all over the world and he was winner of the Poul Ruders Prize at the 2011 Odense International Organ Competition. Nicholas has held a number of prestigious positions as organist; most recently at St Martin-inthe-Fields, Trafalgar Square.

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Advent Cruise on the Rhine

1-7 DECEMBER, 2019 | from £2245 Sarah Burles studied History of Art at Cambridge before going on to a career in museum and gallery education. Sarah has a passion and enthusiasm for making museums and their collections accessible as well as a growing interest in the lives of the collectors whose legacies have shaped the museums we see today.

Judy Brown is a Scottish mezzo-soprano who trained at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama and is a much soughtafter recitalist, opera and consort singer, having perfomed on stages worldwide including Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, the Vienna Musikverein and St Magnus’ Cathedral, Orkney. Her interpretation of Schubert lieder has been praised for its “dynamism and delicacy”.

Our Tour Manager Michaela Rowland Hall has been a member of the ACE team for almost twenty years. She is an experienced Tour Manager who has accompanied many tours across Europe and worldwide, and is also responsible for training new tour personnel. She very much enjoys being an ambassador for ACE and overseeing the smooth delivery of our itineraries as well as providing a warm welcome to all our clients.

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C h r i s t m a s i n At h e n s 20-27 DECEMBER, 2019 | from £2295 | with Andrew Wilson

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he elegantly marbled Parthenon, rising high on the Acropolis, epitomises the classical city of Athens: the zenith of western civilisation, cradle of democracy and the birthplace of philosophy. This is the city where Socrates and Plato taught, and where Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides laid the foundations of the West’s cultural expression.

The Acropolis Museum, opened in 2009, is the mesmerising home for the remaining Parthenon sculptures, and the gallery shares the exact dimensions and orientation of its namesake, whose monumental outline dominates the hillside opposite.

In addition to discovering these classical remains, we will explore Byzantine Athens.

Many attractive churches reveal the link between St Paul’s address on the Areopagus and the Greek Orthodox Church of today.

We will visit both classical and Byzantine sites and museums in a relaxed fashion, and hope to include opportunities to attend Christmas worship for those who wish to do so. Short evening talks will focus on the Byzantine church, Athenian religion and Greek theatre.

Two excursions into the Attica Peninsula will take us first to the archaeological site of Brauron, and then to Sounion and Thorikos. We will view the fine Doric temple dedicated to Poseidon at Sounion externally, and discover the ancient theatre at Thorikos.

This tour will be led by Andrew Wilson, who studied archaeology then theology before working overseas as an archaeologist, specialising in Roman frontier systems and Byzantine mosaics.

He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and the Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies, and has led many ACE tours in the Greco-Roman world.

Day 1 Fly London Heathrow to Athens.

Day 2 Arch of Hadrian, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Roman Agora, Library of Hadrian and Ancient Agora (including Temple of Hephaestus and Stoa of Attalos). Short optional visit to Kerameikos cemetery or free time. Evening talk: Athenian Religion followed by free evening.

Day 3 Morning excursion to Eleusis (site of the Eleusinian Mysteries).

National Archaeological Museum.

Evening talk: The Byzantine Church.

Day 4 Theatre of Dionysus, Acropolis and Acropolis Museum. Evening talk: Greek Theatre.

Day 5 (Christmas Eve) Visits to archaeological sites at Marathon and Brauron (exteriors), followed

by Sounion (exterior of temple) and Thorikos. Christmas Eve dinner followed by optional midnight liturgy at an Orthodox church.

Day 6 (Christmas Day) Optional service at an Orthodox church followed by walking tour of Byzantine and Orthodox churches of Athens and other monuments. Visits to Syntagma Square and Olympic Stadium followed by Byzantine churches of Agia Aikaterini and Agios Nikolaos Rangavas (exteriors). Celebratory Christmas lunch followed by free time.

Day 7 By coach to Flisvos Marina (on the coast) to board boat for day cruise to the Saronic Islands (Hydra, Poros and Aegina) and free evening.

Day 8 Morning excursion through Attica countryside and short visit to Benaki Museum. Fly Athens to Heathrow.

Call:

01223 841055

to make an enquiry, or email: sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk Acropolis of Athens

Cost of ÂŁ2295 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room. Full tour details available on our website.

Single room supplement ÂŁ295.

Day 1 Fly London Heathrow to Bologna.

Day 2 Morning: Cathedral, Piazza Maggiore (medieval square), Santa Maria della Vita (including museum) and Palazzo Pepoli Antico. Afternoon: Medieval Museum housed in the Palazzo Ghisilardi Fava. Evening introductory lecture.

Day 3 Excursion to Modena for visits to the Galleria Estense, cathedral and Cathedral Museums.

Day 4 Morning: San Petronio, Archiginnasio, view of Torre degli Asinelli (medieval tower). Afternoon: Santa Cecilia and San Giacomo Maggiore. Free evening.

Day 5 (Christmas Eve) Morning: San Giovanni in Monte, San Domenico and Civiche Collezioni d’Arte.

Afternoon: Santo Stefano followed by some free time. Celebratory Christmas Eve dinner.

Day 6 (Christmas Day) Morning: optional Christmas Day service and free time. Afternoon walking tour examining the historical development of the city. Celebratory Christmas Day dinner.

Day 7 (Boxing Day) Strada Maggiore, Santa Maria dei Servi (Cimabue’s Holy Virgin Enthroned) and University Museum at the Palazzo Poggi. Afternoon: Pinacoteca Nazionale (wide collection of 13th to 18th century Emilian paintings).

Day 8 Fly Bologna to Heathrow.

Cost of £2595 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room. Full tour details available on our website.

Single room supplement £175, double room for single use supplement £425.

Call:

01223 841055

to make an enquiry, or email: sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk

F e s t i v e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n

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B o l o g n a at C h r i s t m a s 20-27 DECEMBER, 2019 | from £2595 | with Christopher Wellington

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ying midway along the Via Emilia at the foot of the Apennines, where the Reno valley opens into the plain, Bologna has always been a communications hub.

The Etruscans made its ancient site Felsina the centre of their northern dominions; later, the Romans left their mark on the street plan of the modern city, as did the barbarian invaders who settled around the city gates.

Bologna is perhaps most famous for being home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, but it is also renowned for its ecclesiastical architecture, great art collections, and cuisine.

The years of the proud medieval city state and of the Bentivoglio lordship left rich brick palazzos and churches, some of them of immense size and splendour.

Piazza Maggiore

Papal domination did not end the city’s artistic importance – the Carracci family started their Academy, which had a significant impact on the course of art in the 17th century.

We will explore the heritage of modern Bologna and study the layout of the streets, examining how the civitas of classical times expanded and was altered by the needs of people centuries later.

The collection of ancient and medieval churches that form the ‘Jerusalem of Bologna’ at Santo Stefano contrasts with the great Gothic Church of San Petronio. Meanwhile, works by many great masters fill churches and galleries, from Giotto to Michelangelo and Raphael to Guido Reni.

This tour will be led by Christopher Wellington, who graduated in history from Cambridge University but has spent most of his career living and working in Italy. Christopher’s professional interests include not only history and the Church, but also art and architecture.

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C h r i s t m a s i n C ata l u n ya 20-27 DECEMBER, 2019 | from £2295 | with Kevin Hand

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t the northern end of the ‘wild coast’ of the Costa Brava sits the Cap de Creus Natural Park where gannets, gulls and shearwaters dive and glide across the crashing waves while birds of prey soar above the stark reefs, eroded by the strong northeasterly wind known as the tramuntana.

The Aiguamolls Natural Park, with 300 species of birds, is one of the best wetlands in Spain. Wintering ducks and geese fill the lake and the partly drained grasslands and the wet woods are home to black winged stilts, Cetti’s warblers, flamingos and white stork nests.

As we traverse the local paths we will examine the complex geology of the terrain. The beauty of this isolated coast, and the quiet traditional port and medieval town of Cadaqués,

have enticed many artists, including Picasso, Miró and Salvador Dalí, whose home and museum is located in converted fishermen’s houses in Port Lligat.

The top of Senillosa observatory, originally built to dry and store rice, offers a panoramic view of the network of freshwater and brackish lagoons, marshes and ricefields grazed by Camargue horses.

Our base inland is the Spanish town of La Seu d’Urgell, situated at the start of the route over the Pyrenees to Andorra, with its imposing 12th century cathedral Santa Maria d’Urgell.

This beautiful Romanesque cathedral encompasses fine cloisters as well as a rare 10th century illustrated manuscript, the Beatus.

Tour Director Kevin Hand is a conservationist and environmental consultant with a special interest in birds, mammals and ecotourism. In 2017 Kevin was appointed President of the Cambridge Natural History Society.

Day 1 Fly London Heathrow to Barcelona. Transfer to Cadaqués.

Day 2 Whole day excursion to Aiguamolls Natural Park.

Day 3 Local morning walks through olive groves, introduction to Mediterranean ecology. Afternoon: explore Cadaqués (buildings associated with the artists of the 1920s), walk via Hermitage of Sant Sebastià to Port Lligat (Dalí’s home and museum).

Day 4 Excursion to the heart of Cap de Creus Natural Park (exploring geology and ecology along coastal paths with possible sightings of black redstart, Sardinian warbler and Iberian wall lizard). Afternoon: Sant Pere de Rodes Monastery, a 9th and 12th century restored monastery where the bones of St Peter are said to have been hidden in a cave.

Day 5 (Christmas Eve) Depart for La Seu d’Urgell via Dalí TheatreMuseum at Figueres. Optional midnight service at Santa Maria d’Urgell.

Day 6 (Christmas Day) CadíMoixeró Natural Park, Ansovell.

Return via mountain village of Arsèguel (Romanesque church).

Optional visit to Parc del Segre (Cirl bunting, tree sparrow, black redstart, vultures and birds of prey).

Day 7 Whole day excursion to Alt Pirineu Natural Park: birds to spot include snowfinch, firecrest, bearded vulture and birds of prey.

Day 8 Fly Barcelona to Heathrow.

Cost of £2295 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room. Full tour details available on our website.

Double room for single use supplement £235.

Call:

01223 841055

to make an enquiry, or email: sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk Alt Pirineu Natural Park

F e s t i v e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n

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N e w Ye a r i n R av e n n a 30 DECEMBER, 2019 – 3 JANUARY, 2020 | from £1675 with Andrew Wilson

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oday a small, tranquil town of cobbled streets, Ravenna was once one of the Mediterranean’s most illustrious cities. The final capital of the Western Roman Empire, Ravenna served as the seat of Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, before the Byzantines transformed the city into one of Europe’s foremost centres of art and culture.

Ravenna’s surviving collection of early Christian monuments and mosaics – including a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites – is without parallel in Christendom, a beguiling blend of Greco-Roman tradition and Christian iconography.

At the heart of this opulent legacy lies the Basilica of San Vitale, begun under the Ostrogoths’ rule and finished under Justinian, where the glittering mosaic portraits of Justinian and his

wife Theodora capture the essence of Byzantium: the emperor, set against a flat, gold background, is resplendent in imperial purple, a gold paten in his outstretched hand, a halo encircling his scintillating crown.

Breathtaking, too, is the interior of the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, erected by Theodoric and later re-consecrated under Byzantine rule: the mosaics here include the depiction of the Three Wise Men, bearing gifts for the baby Jesus, shown to the right.

Just outside the ‘city of mosaics’, we will visit the ancient port of Classe, founded by Augustus, to view the huge Basilica of Sant’Apollinare with its exceptional mosaics, rich in gold and turquoise.

This tour will be led by Andrew Wilson, who studied archaeology then theology before working overseas as an archaeologist, specialising in Roman frontier systems and Byzantine mosaics. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and has led many ACE tours in the Greco-Roman world.

Day 1 Fly London Heathrow to Bologna. Transfer to Ravenna. Evening talk: Church Architecture of Ravenna.

Day 2 (New Year’s Eve) Morning visits to 5th century Mausoleum of Galla Placidia (exceptional late antiquity mosaics), Basilica of San Vitale (famous mosaics of Justinian and Theodora) and National Museum of Ravenna (archaeological objects from early Christian and Byzantine periods). Afternoon: Arian Baptistery (built by Theodoric), Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo (splendid frieze of martyrs), cathedral, Neonian Baptistery (outstanding early Christian mosaics) and Archiepiscopal Museum.

Celebratory New Year’s Eve dinner.

Day 3 (New Year’s Day) Morning talk: The Church Mosaics of Ravenna, followed by visit to 7th century Domus of the Stone Carpets (beautiful floor mosaics) and some free time.

Afternoon: San Nicolò complex for exhibition on mosaic art and Church of San Giovanni Evangelista (subject to confirmation).

Day 4 Morning: excursion to 11th century Abbey of Pomposa (interior repainted in 14th century by Vitale de Bologna). Afternoon: Mausoleum of Theodoric and ancient port of Classe for Basilica of Sant’Apollinare (gold and turquoise mosaics).

Cost of £1675 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room. Full tour details available on our website.

Single room supplement £95, double room for single use supplement £145.

Call:

01223 841055

to make an enquiry, or email: sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk

Basilica of Sant’Apollinare

© Dbachmann

Day 5 Transfer to Bologna for flight to Heathrow.

Day 1 Fly London Heathrow to Moscow. Evening introductory lecture: The History & Urban Development of Moscow.

Day 2 Kremlin (Armoury and cathedrals), Red Square with visit to St Basil’s Cathedral, Kitay-gorod district with Church of the Trinity in Nikitniki (exterior).

Day 3 (Orthodox Christmas Day) Monasteries of Moscow: Krutitskoe Podvorye Estate, Novospassky (including Christmas Day liturgy), Spaso-Andronikov Old Believers’ settlement at Rogozhsky Poselok, Pokrovsky Monastery.

Day 4 Novodevichy Convent, Sparrows’ Hill, Leo Tolstoy HouseMuseum and Church of St Nicholas in Khamovniki. Pokrovskaya Church, Fili and exhibition of ice sculptures on Poklonnaya Hill. Evening lecture: Russian Art at the Tretyakov Gallery.

Day 5 Historical Zamoskvorechye district followed by Tretyakov Gallery.

Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (largest museum of European art in Moscow) and Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (pictured).

Day 6 Kolomenskoye Historical and Architectural Museum followed by sleigh ride and visits to House of Peter the Great and Church of Our Lady of Kazan. Afternoon monastery visits: Danilov and Donskoy.

Day 7 Excursion by coach to Sergiev Posad (ancient Golden Ring town, site of the UNESCO-listed Trinity-Sergius Lavra Monastery). Fly Moscow to Heathrow.

Cost of £2395 includes: return airfare, accommodation based on sharing a twin or double bedded room. Full tour details available on our website.

Double room for single use supplement £295.

Call:

01223 841055

to make an enquiry, or email: sales@aceculturaltours.co.uk

F e s t i v e To u r s C o l l e c t i o n

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Orthod ox C hristmas in Moscow 5–11 JANUARY, 2020 | from £2395 | with Alex Koller

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nion-shaped spires glitter beneath swirling snow, tinged by the glow of vast, illuminated palaces and sweeping, lamplined streets. The picture is both familiar and enchanting, a perfect image of Moscow’s distinctive cityscape during Russian Christmastide, a period known as Svyatki (January 7–19).

Far from absorbing the atmosphere alone, our tour will delve deeply into Moscow’s rich architecture and multi-layered history; in particular, the prominence of Moscow as both a political and religious centre.

Moscow’s charming district of Zamoskvorechye is one of its least changed, retaining a great deal of its pre-revolutionary character and atmosphere.

Today it is home to several historical buildings, including

the 17th century Church of St Gregory of Neocaesarea, a brilliant ochre structure with bold, contrasting decoration.

Monasteries were established in Moscow from the 12th century, later forming a chain around the city to protect it from hostile forces.

We will dedicate a day to exploring some of these fine monastic structures, including Andronikov Monastery on the bank of the Yauza River, which contains some of Moscow’s earliest buildings and houses a beautiful collection of Russian iconography and early art.

Please note that we will be exploring the city on foot, and a good level of fitness is required for this tour.

This tour will be led by Alex Koller, an art historian who has been leading tours since 1998. An accomplished linguist, Alex’s guiding experience ranges from Eastern Europe, Russia and the Himalayas to Japan and Southeast Asia.

AC E C U LT U R A L TO U RS

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