GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “SUMMING UP THE SPANIARDS, AN ACCOUNT OF HOW SOME FAMOUS TRAVELLERS HAVE SEEN SPAIN,” 3 OCTOBER 1969 — (2) Unique & Picturesque »
The rage for travel in Spain came into vogue after 1825. In those early days there was one word that cropped up more than any other among the tourists: picturesque. "The picturesqueness we were seeking was found in abundance," wrote Théophile Gautier
GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “SUMMING UP THE SPANIARDS, AN ACCOUNT OF HOW SOME FAMOUS TRAVELLERS HAVE SEEN SPAIN,” 3 OCTOBER 1969 — (3) Food & Culture »
While for Gautier Spain was a stamping ground in which to delight in voluptuous sensibilities, for Ford it was a vast storehouse of culture and customs, a veritable way of life with which to whet his erudition and invigorate his body. Dumas spent his whole trip in Spain trying to palliate his gourmet’s taste.
GUIDEPOST REPRINT: “SUMMING UP THE SPANIARDS, AN ACCOUNT OF HOW SOME FAMOUS TRAVELLERS HAVE SEEN SPAIN,” 3 OCTOBER 1969 — (4) Barbers, Bandits, Bulllfighters & Beautiful Women »
Brenan sees Spain's waiters one of the most striking and representative of the country. They move with the ballet dancer's precision and operatic air. So are the barbers in their own way. A most favorite subject is the bullfight, said by some to be a barbarous and pagan left-over from the days of the Romans. But not Hemingway who finds it complex and compelling. And there are the women. Dumas: "There so many beautiful women along the Prado that only a plain woman is remarkable." As numerous in the travellers' mind are the bandits, thinking Spain is full of them.
