May 28 - June 8, 2012

"We wander for distraction but … WE TRAVEL FOR FULFILLMENT."
— Hilaire Belloc, Anglo-French writer & historian

12 DAYS

incl. travel time

$4,995

(Airfare is not included)

The Program Includes the Following:

• Personally selected first class hotels with private bath/shower
  
• Bus transfers to & from the airports will be provided to those who are arriving & departing at the designated times
  
• Single room supplement is available
  
• Private Motor Coach
  
• 10 Buffet Breakfasts + 6 complete meals are included
  
• Informative Travel Portfolio
  
• Daily painting, sketching, photographing
  
• Painting & sketching demonstrations & critiques by Glenn Vilppu
  
• Shopping forays with Roberta
  
• Final Gala Dinner Party
  
• A detailed itinerary will be provided to participants

Celebrate with us our 27th year of "Small Group Travel"

EARLY REGISTRATION IS YOUR ONLY GUARANTEE OF A SPACE ON THIS TRIP

A Deposit of $300
Will Hold Your Space
(Non-artists welcome)

Mail your completed registration form and checks payable to:

Personalized Travel
4618 E. Tumbleweed Drive
Cave Creeks, AZ 85331

Phone: (480) 907-7436

Prices shown reflects payment by check or cash.

Shop-Till-You-Drop:

For the non-artists, the Shop-Till-You-Drop tour runs concurrent with this tour.

Read more

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Visit Glenn Vilppu's Website

Our 2012 adventure with Glenn Vilppu, el maestro, begins in MADRID, the capital of Spain.

Our hotel is positioned in a charming "up-scale" neighborhood known as "the Museum District". For a city of its size, Madrid boasts an exceptional number of world-class museums. Heading the list as the very best museum in all of Europe and certainly the one that we will be visiting on our itinerary is "The Prado", particularly notable for its collections by Velasquez, Goya, Ribera and Zurbaran. A special excursion will be made to the chapel where Goya was commissioned to do the frescoes that cover the walls and ceilings. It is also in this chapel that Goya is buried.

I want to mention that I found Madrid to be an "elegant" city that reflects architecture from the periods of Art Nouveau, Bourbon, Neo-Classical & Art Deco plus the most contemporary buildings in Europe. We will sketch, paint, photograph and YES, shop the "Gran Via" and wander into the "Retiro Park" with its enormous and graceful trees. The Monument of Alfonso XI will certainly be an inspiration to artists and photographers as its arched facade reflects into the boating lake just in front of the monument.

Mid-day snacking is an art in Madrid as one slips into a quaint café just off the Plaza Major where you are served a cup of hot, dense, dark chocolate which acts as a foil for dipping "Porras" (special Spanish pastry) into the rich hot chocolate, just to coat the tip of the porras. Paella is a Spanish experience and Tapas is served at any time with a glass of wine or beer. One of our dinners will be in a noted Taberna (tavern) which opened in the mid-19th century.

Our 2012 adventure with Glenn Vilppu continues in BARCELONA.

The heartbeat of Barcelona is intensified by its architectural wonders & its atmospheric medieval streets. Nothing quite prepares you for the impact of the Antonio Gaudi structures of Barcelona. La Pedrera, unmistakably Gaudi seems to grow from the very pavement itself. Fluid & eerily alive, its curving facade sprouts writhing wrought iron balconies. This visit to Barcelona will afford the artist & photographer a never ending array of creative inspiration.

Just to name a few of our favorite spots ... La Rambla street, with its mimes & craft kiosks, is the perfect place to indulge in the Spanish ritual of the paseo (stroll). It's a wide, pedestrian street that is anything but pedestrian. An orgy of activity day and night, La Rambla is voyeuristic heaven. We, of course, found the best shop for "Elato" (that is gelato, Spanish pronunciation) and you all know how hard we work at finding the very best gelato shop for our itineraries. Trust us on this one ... Oh, my!

La Mercado Boqueria a cacophonous shrine to food, is a cavernous market that has it all, from stacks of fruit to suckling pigs and writhing lobsters. We also photographed an Italian couple that were dining on a huge mounded plate of fish that cost them euro 39 for the two of them. A definite must for next year!

The Barri Gotic is there for wandering through a network of ancient streets with everything from confec-tionery shops, jewelers to tiny Tapas and wine bars.

A day will be dedicated to visiting the Gaudi buildings. The "Sagrada Familia" Cathedral which is the enduring symbol of the city & is Gaudi's other-worldly "piece de resistance" pierces the Barcelona skyline with its eight spires. You may even choose to hail a taxi & have an elegant dinner at Casa Calvet, one of Gaudi's buildings.

THE ISLAND OF MALLORCA

We will fly from Barcelona across the Mediterranean Sea to arrive in Palma the seaside capital of Mallorca. It is the largest of the Balearic Islands, 51 miles east from the Iberian Peninsula of Spain.

Our destination will be to paint, sketch, photograph and explore the Monastery of Valldemossa where Frédéric Chopin and Georges Sand wintered together in 1838. After visiting the monastery and its gardens we will listen to a hauntingly beautiful, live piano concert as a tribute to Chopin.

One of our days on the island of Mallorca will be an adventure "par excellence" ...we will board an antique train which opened in 1912 as we travel through the steep peaks & valleys of the Serra de Tramuntana on our way to our stay in Port de Sóller. The narrow gauge, rolling stock, quant carriages & clanking engine only add to the experience. Port de Sóller ... a charming cove with a beach front village and harbor. You will find the best & largest cappuccino at the seaside restaurant, just in front of our hotel there. In the early afternoon a little beach cabana offers samplings of Tapas and wines for 3 euro. Can't beat that!

All of this magic happens along the boardwalk where our hotel is situated. The beauty of the sea, the little thatched beach umbrellas tell you that, surely you will return to Mallorca.

"The impulse to travel is one of the HOPEFUL SYMPTOMS of life."
— Agnes Repplier, American essayist & writer

This Spanish itinerary has created more interest than any other itinerary during our 26 years of "small group travels".

Many of you have expressed an interest in traveling to Spain with Glenn in 2012 and we would like to suggest that if you plan to go on this trip, mail in your $300 deposit before August 1, 2011. This will guarantee your space and also give you as an "Early Bird Special" the choice of $100 off the tour price or ... an evening performance in Barcelona of Flamenco dancing and Opera. — "Carpe diem"... seize the day. Non-Artists are welcome.