Spanish Literature in Spain

Day 3: Sword-Fighting & Flamenco Dancing

Morning

Test your skills with a sword-fighting class. Try your hand at fencing, then learn about its role in Spanish Golden Age literature at the Lope de Vega house and museum. As well as a guided tour of Lope de Vega’s well-preserved house, the museum offers shows based on his life and works, poetry recitals and guided tours of the literary quarter of Madrid to learn about Lope and other authors, like Calderón de la Barca and Quevedo.

Afternoon

Put on your dancing shoes for a flamenco dancing class.

Evening

Enjoy some traditional Spanish tapas for dinner.

Day 4: Don Quixote’s Windmills

Morning

Take a guided tour of the medieval city of Toledo. Yesterday, you were sword-fighting, and today you’re taking part in a sword-making workshop. Use age-old techniques to create authentic knives and swords.

Afternoon

Visit Don Quixote’s famous windmills. There’s a scene in Cervantes’ Don Quixote where Quixote sees windmills and mistakes them for monsters – and these are supposedly the ones that inspired the author! Enjoy a tasting of manchego cheese inside before admiring the views from the terrace.

Evening

It’s back to Madrid for dinner. Then, head for the Reina Sofía to stand in awe of Picasso’s most famous painting, Guernica. It was a big political statement, named after the town that the Nazis bombed during the Spanish Civil War.

Day 5: Next Stop, Granada

Morning

Take a minute to admire the indoor forest in Atocha station before continuing on to Granada.

Afternoon

After settling in embark on a historical tour of Granada and explore the city’s surplus of medieval architecture, including royal palaces and fortresses. Pay a visit to the Alhambra, a wonderful Arabic palace and fortress. Once a royal palace under the Sultan of Granada Yusuf I, it was taken over by Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, where they lived when they granted Christopher Columbus permission to set off on his voyage.

Day 6: Fuente Vaqueros

Morning

Take a trip to Fuente Vaqueros to see Lorca’s birthplace and holiday home. His birthplace has been turned into an exhibition space, showing photographs, manuscripts and publications. In the house he spent summers in Granada, he wrote many of his most famous plays.

Afternoon

Listen up at a talk from a Cervantes expert. Having seen the windmills in Madrid, learn more about the author and hear analyses of passages from the text of Don Quixote. Then, relax as you watch a play at the Teatro Cervantes.

Day 7: Adiós España!

It might be home time, but it’s not over. Spain’s literary magic will follow you back to the classroom…and beyond!