When you’re touring Spain, it helps to be an unapologetic romanticist. So it follows that the most lyrical introduction to this country of irresistible landscapes and the timeless broth of its cultures is to listen to the voice of Placido Domingo, celebrating  the allure of a city engraved in  Spain’s history:

    “Granada, land of my dreams, mine becomes a gypsy song when I sing to you…”

    We are probably not going to mingle with gypsies when we travel from Madrid to Granada on our tour of  Spain from Oct. 3 to 14 this year. We are going to see Granada’s Alhambra, which for hundreds of years has been a centerpiece of the Spanish experience.

     You begin with the admission that you are not going to see all of Spain in two weeks, nor would you in two years. What you can see and feel is the sweep of 2,000 years of history in the grace of the Alhambra, Barcelona’s cathedrals and striking modern architecture, the antiquity of Toledo, the outdoor markets of Valencia, the surf of the great Mediterranean shorelines of Costa del Sol  and the near-desert beaches of the Cabo de Gato.

    You can visit the places that bred the genius of  Picasso, Dali and Miro, Segovia, Sarasate, Ibanez and the Cervantes of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza;  and at night gape at the electrifying skills of the flamenco dancer. You can walk down the main business street of Barcelona  and wage an internal struggle to remind yourself that you can’t walk past ALL of the shops because you are not going to come this way very often. And then you walk to the vast esplanade that opens to the Barcelona harbor, surmounted by a towering monument to Christopher Columbus. Seeing it, you  tardily  make the connection—between the history of Columbus’ world of 500 years ago, and ours of today.


    You’re invited. The airfare by Delta,  Minneapolis-St. Paul to Madrid, returning via Barcelona, is currently $1,100. Some choose to use frequent flyer miles, which reduces the overall cost by almost a third. The land costs, including the use of a private bus and  city guides, hotel accommodations, all breakfasts and five dinners, will be $3,350. This per person cost is based on 10 participants and two-to-a-room occupancy. Please indicate if you want a single room and we will advise you of the additional cost. Also indicate if you wish to share accommodations and would like to be paired with another single traveler. 

    A deposit of $750, payable by May 30,  is required to assure space on the trip. All bookings are being handled by Suzanne Zapolski, a longtime partner of Jim Klobuchar’s Adventures in the organization of overseas travel. Checks should be made out to Borton Overseas Travel, 5412 Lyndale Ave.S., Minneapolis 55419, marked attention Suzanne.
Jim will be the tour escort. Suzanne will be able to assist you in flight arrangements, travel insurance, additional hotel bookings and in planning potential trip extensions.

    Suzanne can be reached  at 612-661-4624 direct, or (cell) (612) 644-6404 or (800) 843- 0602. Fax (612) 822-4755. email suzanne@bortonoverseas.com. Jim is at (763) 258-1371 and jim@jimklobuchar.com.



       Here is my (our) registration deposit of $750 for Spain in Autumn with Jim Klobuchar’s Adventures Oct. 3-14 in 2010, due by May 30. I (we) understand Jim Klobuchar’s Adventures and Borton Overseas cannot be held responsible for illness or injuries incurred during the trip. Because the deposit is non refundable, purchasing trip insurance is recommended. 

                                                        
Name(s)________________________________________________________________________

Address_________________________________________________________________________
                                  
City________________________________________________________  Zip________________

Phones___________________________________  Email_________________________________


    We’ll be traveling in early autumn, an ideal time because the temperatures are moderate, the height of the touring season is past and the skies as you may have heard are gloriously sunny. And there are times when that marvelous oceanfront of the Costa del Sol  is practically private for great stretches of the road.

    We’ll fly to Madrid and spend two nights there, embracing the color and spectacle of the animated street life in the heart of the city. There the antiquity of the centuries and museums  co-exist without clashing  with the 21st Century’s bustle and futuristic architecture, not far from the bull rings and the street singers. You’re never far from the music of Spain, or music of any description.  It is a city remindful of the power struggles that grew out of Europe’s Dark Ages and into the Renaissance. But its vast and immaculately-kept parks and cypresses present  a stroller’s paradise.

    And yet that unique amalgam of passion, art, struggle and grace that seem to define Spain for the traveler as well as the historian are dramatically just ahead. From Madrid we travel little more than an hour south to Toledo, where the Gothic towers of  The Cathedral leap above the cobbled streets. It’s where El Greco painted his masterworks and where some 1,500 years ago Christians, Jews and Muslims lived together more or less amicably in what we now call the Dark Ages, until the religious wars convulsed this part of Europe. It is the city of the famed fortress Alcazar, of shops, museums, homes, churches and restaurants with international menus jammed into a architectural  potpourri that defies order. But it vividly reflects the ages of its history.

    And after we spend the night in the town of Ebeda we travel south toward the snow-ridges of the Sierra Nevada mountains to Granada, where centuries ago the Moors built a fortress and palace and spectacular gardens. They called it The Alhambra, where you need almost a full day to draw some conception of the immensity and  nobility of it, and  above all its timeless loveliness.     
 

    We’ll tour in a comfortable private bus that allows us plenty of time to admire the seaside beyond Granada, stopping where it makes sense and heading toward our overnight in the city of Nerja near spectacular caves. From there it’s on to Valencia, the site of a huge and celebrated  open market (they grow a lot more than oranges in Valencia’s environs). As much as any other sizeable city in Spain, Valencia presents a striking contrast of ancient Spain with modernity. It’s a place of robust business, but also a place to explore at leisure. We’ll spend a night there and then head back toward the sea for Tarragona and its stunning harbor.  Here once more is  the imprint of the Romans amid the ruins of the chariot stadium, the Circ Romans and the Amphitheater, where gladiators fought. You’ll find little fighting, however, on the somewhat naughty beach of Sitges.

    And from there we spend three climactic days in one of the great cities of the world, Barcelona. Millions met Barcelona for the first time in its memorable presentation of the Olympic Games in 1992. Yet older generations will remember Barcelona’s brave resistance during the Spanish Civil War, won eventually by the Fascist leader Francisco Franco. But the country eventually cast off the dictatorship, and in the years since, Barcelona has emerged as a magnet in international travel. It’s an energetic  and creative  player in world trade and business, embracing modernism in architecture  and the arts, but hardly shy about preserving its  Catalan heritage. Our three nights in Barcelona, culminating in a farewell dinner, will give us ample time to follow our own interests. There is no better way to explore Barcelona than to walk down the city’s main drag of La Rambla  toward the spruced-up waterfront, window shopping, snacking, mixing with the shopkeepers, sipping, gawking and having a bundle of fun.



Oct. 3  Depart  USA.

Oct. 4  Arrive Madrid 9:35 a.m. Transfer to hotel. Afternoon city tour. Welcome Tapas Dinner. Overnight Madrid (D).

Oct. 5  Day at Leisure in Madrid. Overnight Madrid. (B).

Oct. 6  Drive to Toledo by motorcoach for city tour. Continue to town of Ubeda for overnight.(B,D).

Oct. 7  Drive to Granada for tour of Alhambra and Gerenalife Gardens. Overnight Granada (B).

Oct. 8  After breakfast  depart to town of Nerja and it’s remarkable cave complex near Malaga.                   Overnight in Nerja. (B).

Oct. 9  Drive along seacoast to Valencia along renowned Costa del Sol
              Overnight Valencia. (B,D).

Oct. 10  After  a morning tour of Valencia, drive to seacoast city of Tarragona. Overnight                                 Tarragona. (B,D),

Oct. 11  Tour of Tarragona and Sitges with lunch in Sitges. Drive to Barcelona for overnight.(B,L).

Oct. 12  Morning city tour of Barcelona. Overnight Barcelona (B).

Oct. 13  Barcelona at leisure (B,D). Farewell dinner.. Overnight Barcelona.

Oct. 14  Depart Barcelona at 11:20 a.m. Adios,Espana,Gracias.

---

 Jim Klobuchar

 

     This will be the 36th  Jaunt With Jim, which annually brings together some 150
cyclists for what has become a reunion as much as a bike ride but retains its annual
nvitation to any of the curious who would like to join us.

The Gift of Silence

     There are not many stop signs on the roads in the southeastern Minnesota bluffs.
This is a part of the world that seems comfortable with itself and with the hidden glens
of its hills above the Mississippi River. It wears its age gracefully, its old mills and
occasional ghost towns and the apple orchards that are part of its commerce. Add the
palisades above the town of Lanesboro.  Add the widening Mississippi at La Crescent
and Winona, evoking the blend of today with the times of the pioneers. These are the
river towns that preserve the relaxed tenor of the past without trying to keep it private

     Since we have bicycled in the bluff country before, why return? The better
question might be, why not?
    
     The civilized way to bike the bluff  country is to travel on the  widely admired
bikepaths of the Root River trail where they are  available, which means  80 per cent of
the time on our route. The original trail and its expanded links  weave together the towns
of Fountain, Preston, Harmony, Peterson, Lanesboro, Houston and Rushford. We’ll visit
all of them and overnight in Harmony, Houston and Rushford in addition to the apple
orchard haven of LaCrescent and the college and art center of Winona, two of the jewels
of the Mississippi River directly beneath the highest of the bluffs.

     Most of the riding is in the valleys at the base of the bluffs. There’s a day out of
La Crescent when the route  moves up for a few miles to a spectacular overlook above
 the Mississippi where you’ll stop for refreshments to enjoy the airiness and the woods
and the meadows; and take all the time you want on the way to Winona.  We camp
overnight in community parks or school grounds, take many of our meals together,
bring duffelbags for transport of our equipment from camp to camp, and set one day
aside as a kind of R&R recess. But on that day we also also offer one or two optional
events open to all.

       The registration price covers the cost of the duffelbag shuttle service and the
Penn Cycle maintenance van, ably handled by Pat Rivers and John Witt, the use of
public grounds and services, the annual T-shirt and incidental services connected
with the ride. The cost of this year’s ride is the same as last year, $170. A registration
form is provided in this newsletter.

 Add an Early Evening River Cruise and Pizza Party

     The daily distances are basically humane. In deference to the younger riders, who
occasionally have to woof and strain to stay within range of the septugenarians, we’re
averaging 45 miles or so a day, with optional extra miles to satisfy the inexhaustible.
Most of the people who enjoy group bike rides are by nature sociable and vocal folk 
whose wry gifts for assessing  a day on the road are most easily stirred by an off-hours
boat ride. So we will have a boat ride on our second day in LaCrescent, June 15, when
we have chartered a modern  river boat for a supper cruise on the Mississippi featuring
an all-you-want pizza party. The total charge for the boat experience, covering cruise, 
transport across the river to and from the dockside in LaCrosse, WI, plus pizza and
beverages including some temperate quaffing of beer, is $25.

      The registration form provided here covers the cost of the bike ride services, $170.
For the river cruise the charter service prefers that all who are interested in the ride 
make their payments to Jim Klobuchar’s Adventures, to be consolidated into one
payment from JKA to the charter company. So if you are interested in the cruise,
include a check for $25 in addition to the check for $170 for the ride, both made out
Jim Klobuchar’s Adventures. Meals on the ride are extra, but are often prepared
economically by civic or church groups
 
     All are welcome. But largely in the interest of The Conductor’s sanity, it’s strongly
suggested that you mail your payment(s) sooner than later. We had some disappointed
people last year because 150  is about the limit of what is practical on our bike ride,
and there may also be some limit in the number that can be accommodated on the
river cruise.

     We’ll gather in the late afternoon and evening of June 11, a Friday, at the high
school in Chatfield MN southeast of Rochester. For your cars there will be ample
parking for the week in the high school parking lot and plenty of room to tent in
grassed campus nearby. We’ll have breakfast at the school June 12 and after 15
miles or so join the bike trail at Fountain and spend our first night on the trail at
Harmony. From there our stops will be Houston June 13, LaCrescent June 14 and 15,
Winona at Winona State University June 16, Rushford June 17 and return to
Chatfield June 18.

      Instructions on how to reach the school in Chatfield, together with ID markers
for the duffel bags will be mailed to all registrants well in advance of June 11.
Day to day itineraries and T-shirts will be provided before breakfast at the school.
In packing those bags, please have mercy on John Witt, the driver who loads them.
This is a bike ride, not an expedition to K2.  At Harmony you’ll have the option,
at nominal cost,  of exploring Niagara Cave, a major attraction of southeastern
Minnesota two miles west of Harmony, our first overnight on the trail.
                   
                                                Registration

      Mail checks to Jim Klobuchar’s Adventures, P.O. Box  47063,
Plymouth MN 55447. I (we) understand that Jim Klobuchar’s Adventures
cannot be held responsible for injuries or illness incurred on the trip.



     Yes, include me (us) in the June 11-June 18 Find the Treasures of the Bluffs
bike ride. Enclosed is $170 per person to cover the services of the ride. (Also include
a check for $25 per person if you wish to join the river cruise and supper party
On June 15).