Reflections on the Friends tour to the Cote D’Azur
Reflections on the Friends tour to the Cote D’Azur
Reflections on the Friends tour to the Cote D’Azur
Reflections on the Friends tour to the Cote D’Azur
It was with some trepidation that I took on the task of organising the overseas tours for the Friends of the Whitworth. Over the past years, Friends groups have visited some exotic and far-flung locations, under the leadership of Stuart Halsall, so it would be a hard act to follow.
Fortunately, we have used an excellent travel company, Distant Horizons, and have had the services of an exceptional guide, Nirvana Romell, so I knew that any suggestion of a travel location that was made would result in a well organised and thought-through programme.
I knew from the start that I wanted our overseas tours to have a high ‘art’ content even though there are many locations which also have wonderful architecture, for instance. The choice of the Cote D’Azur for the tour just completed was entirely consistent with this aim and we were able to visit many excellent art galleries and museums.
One of the factors which need to be considered when planning any tour is the physical effort required by participants to get to some locations. It is not always possible to take a coach everywhere and a considerable amount of walking might be necessary, as was the case with the Cote D’Azur tour. It is important to give people a good indication of the effort required so that they can decide whether to join a tour or not.
I will leave it to others to give their impressions of this tour but I was, once again, impressed by the programme put together by Nirvana Romell and by her input during the various locations visited. It makes a huge difference to participants when they can rely on their guide.
Now a little about the future Friends overseas tours.
As many will know, we visited Vienna last Nov/Dec for a long weekend, principally to see the major Breugel exhibition. This tour, based around a ‘blockbuster’ exhibition, was a great success, so much so that we are repeating such a visit on the same weekend this year but based on the major Rembrandt and Velazquez exhibition in Amsterdam, with a visit to Leiden. The tour will be led by Nirvana Romell. Details and booking forms will be sent out in the next few weeks.
Next year’s (2020) summer tour will be to Helsinki and Tallinn and promises to be a fascinating experience. The detailed programme is being put together at the moment and information should be available around October.
Thoughts now turn to 2021 - it’s never too early ! - and how we can devise a tour which maintains the high standards of those in the past. Watch this space!
It was with some trepidation that I took on the task of organising the overseas tours for the Friends of the Whitworth. Over the past years, Friends groups have visited some exotic and far-flung locations, under the leadership of Stuart Halsall, so it would be a hard act to follow.
Fortunately, we have used an excellent travel company, Distant Horizons, and have had the services of an exceptional guide, Nirvana Romell, so I knew that any suggestion of a travel location that was made would result in a well organised and thought-through programme.
I knew from the start that I wanted our overseas tours to have a high ‘art’ content even though there are many locations which also have wonderful architecture, for instance. The choice of the Cote D’Azur for the tour just completed was entirely consistent with this aim and we were able to visit many excellent art galleries and museums.
One of the factors which need to be considered when planning any tour is the physical effort required by participants to get to some locations. It is not always possible to take a coach everywhere and a considerable amount of walking might be necessary, as was the case with the Cote D’Azur tour. It is important to give people a good indication of the effort required so that they can decide whether to join a tour or not.
I will leave it to others to give their impressions of this tour but I was, once again, impressed by the programme put together by Nirvana Romell and by her input during the various locations visited. It makes a huge difference to participants when they can rely on their guide.
Now a little about the future Friends overseas tours.
As many will know, we visited Vienna last Nov/Dec for a long weekend, principally to see the major Breugel exhibition. This tour, based around a ‘blockbuster’ exhibition, was a great success, so much so that we are repeating such a visit on the same weekend this year but based on the major Rembrandt and Velazquez exhibition in Amsterdam, with a visit to Leiden. The tour will be led by Nirvana Romell. Details and booking forms will be sent out in the next few weeks.
Next year’s (2020) summer tour will be to Helsinki and Tallinn and promises to be a fascinating experience. The detailed programme is being put together at the moment and information should be available around October.
Thoughts now turn to 2021 - it’s never too early ! - and how we can devise a tour which maintains the high standards of those in the past. Watch this space!
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