The following is a reading list, which covers an array of topics from architecture and art to gastronomy and history. Please read along and share your your thoughts, facts and findings along the way.
A Traveller's Wine Guide to Spain: Spain has more land under vine than any other country in Europe, and over the past thirty years has transformed its wine industry into one of the greatest in the world. Using a unique combination of native and imported grape varieties, Spain now produces a wide range of quality wines. Yet its wine regions and villages, many of which are located in unspoiled and remote areas, remain relatively unknown. The authors introduce the wine-loving traveler to these regions, providing a background to their wines and leading bodegas, or wineries.
Barcelona and Modernity: Picasso, Gaudi, Miro, Dali: Barcelona and Modernity examines this remarkable seventy-one-year period, when Barcelona also reigned as one of the most dynamic centers of modernist art and architecture in Europe. Focusing on the Catalan Renaixença, Modernisme, Noucentisme, avant-garde movements of the early 20th century, and artistic reactions to the Spanish Civil War, essays by an extraordinary international team of scholars offer new insights into the work of such Catalan artists as Antoni Gaudí, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, and Salvador Dalí, among others, by setting them in context with the art of their teachers, colleagues, and rivals.
La Cocina de Mama: The Great Home Cooking of Spain: Penelope Casas has collected recipes from great chefs and traditional home cooks in every region of Spain, all of whom have shared with her the dishes they grew up loving and still cook for themselves today. There are recipes for tapas, elegant soups and hearty one-pot meals, many wonderful seafood dishes, paella and other rice dishes—and even a few pasta dishes. Whether of Roman, Moorish, or peasant origin, all of the dishes appeal to today’s tastes and exemplify the virtues of the Mediterranean diet. Sidebars throughout discuss ingredients, areas of Spain unfamiliar to most Americans, travel vignettes, and more. At last, Americans can discover the unique and irresistible flavors of authentic Spanish home cooking.
The Prado Museum: Pritzker Prize-winning architect Rafael Moneo designed the 2007 Prado Museum expansion--the fourth in the Madrid building's 189-year history. In addition to covering Moneo's addition, this generously illustrated volume contains reproductions of nearly 300 works--including Brueghel's "The Triumph of Death," Bosch's "The Garden of Earthly Delights," Rubens' "The Three Graces," Raphael's "The Madonna of the Fish" and Tiepolo's "Olympus"--with a particular emphasis on work by the Spanish masters, including El Greco, Velazquez, Murillo and Goya. Also included are texts by art historian Santiago Alcolea Blanch detailing the new building and contemporary Spanish sculptor Cristina Iglesias' acclaimed entrance, as well as outlining the museum's history to date, paying special attention to chief patrons who have shaped, over the centuries, one of the world's most important museums of art.
Spain (Insight Guides): This guide to Spain covers the whole of the country, with vivid, full-color photographs and maps throughout. It is filled with an assortment of information from local guides, historians, and photographers. There is a history section, a brief overview of local customs, a section on the people, and a section that guides you through each major city or province in a country. The pictures on each page also give you things to look out for so you do not miss exciting events and customs or if you need a reference point.
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