Past and New Culinary Traditions of Spain Travel Experience
Celebrating 56 years of the St. Lawrence Spain Connection
~ April 20th - May 2nd, 2023 ~
¡Bienvenidos a casa! (Welcome Home!)
In 1967, Dr. Rita Goldberg, emerita professor of Spanish at St. Lawrence University, crossed the Atlantic Ocean by boat with the first cohort of students who were excited about continuing their studies of Spanish language and culture in Spain. Since then, many Laurentians have had extraordinary academic and personal experiences in the land of Cervantes participating in or directing the year-long or semester St. Lawrence Spain program. In April 2023, St. Lawrence will celebrate 56 years of the Spain program by offering Laurentians an exclusive opportunity to learn about the diverse culinary traditions of the country. Participants will enjoy foods and wines from four different regions while also learning about the changing cultures that make up Spain’s multicultural mosaic. Laurentians will celebrate and experience some of the rich history of the St. Lawrence Spain program as well. Led by the renowned Dr. Marina Llorente, Charles A. Dana Professor of Hispanic Studies, who has directed the Spain program four times, participants will explore the theme of past and present culinary traditions by learning about Spanish cultures, innovations in technology and renewable energy, as well as the country’s challenging political climate.
Welcome to the St. Lawrence Spain program in Madrid!
Trip Highlights Include Opportunities To:
- Explore Spain’s diverse culinary traditions and cultures, past and present
- Learn about the rich history of Spain and the current challenges and innovations that the country is confronting
- Stay in several unique Spanish cities
- Meet students, faculty, and homestay families in the St. Lawrence Spain program in Madrid
- Experience how unique the St. Lawrence-Spain connection is
Itinerary (subject to changes):
View an interactive map of the trip.
CENTRAL SPAIN - Land of the Iberian Ham, Lamb, and Cheese
Participants will meet Dr. Llorente, the trip leader, at Adolfo Suarez-Barajas International Airport and transfer to the hotel in downtown Madrid. You will enjoy a four-night stay and a relaxing introduction to life in Spain’s cosmopolitan capital city. Madrid’s unique tapas and chocolate con churros will be on the menu for sure. You will be able to meet students in the Spain program, hear about their experience studying in Madrid, and talk with the Spain program faculty about contemporary Spain. We will take day trips to Salamanca province, land of jamón ibérico, to learn about the process of making it, and Zamora province to taste their cheeses and wines. In Segovia, you will enjoy the delicious Spanish roasted lamb and roasted suckling pig.
EASTERN SPAIN – The Food and Cava of Catalonia
We will travel northeast by the high-speed AVE train. During our two-night stay in the multicultural city of Barcelona, we will learn about their famous tapas and cava (Catalonian sparkling wine) as well as the challenges of the political situation in Catalonia. We’ll visit the iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral and houses designed by Antoni Gaudi as well as the Picasso Museum.
NORTHERN SPAIN – The Txokos, Gastronomical Societies from the Basque Country
From Barcelona, we will fly to the north to the beautiful Basque region for a one-night visit. We will learn about the famous Txokos (gastronomical societies) and will visit the spectacular Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.
SOUTHERN SPAIN – The Roman and Arab Influence in the food of the South
Heading south, we will visit the luminous Andalucía region. During our four-night stay in Marbella, we will have the opportunity to taste Spanish fish and seafood, paella (Spanish rice), and the lovely sherry and sweet wines from Málaga and Jerez de la Frontera. In Granada, we will visit the Alhambra, the magnificent Arab palace, and will eat their famous delicious and free tapas.
The trip will end with a final celebration dinner in Marbella before flying back to the Adolfo Suarez airport in Madrid to take the flight back to the U.S. on the morning of Tuesday, May 2nd.
Flying back to the U.S. with a Tuesday arrival.
Trip Leader:
Dr. Marina Llorente is Charles A. Dana professor of Hispanic Studies and former Associate Dean for International and Intercultural Studies (2016-2022) at St. Lawrence. She teaches elementary, intermediate and advanced Spanish language courses. Her upper level courses are Hispanic Cultural Studies, Cultures of Spain, Introduction to Spanish Literature, Literature, Film and Popular Culture in Contemporary Spain, Hispanic Protest Music, Poetry and Ethics, and Hispanic Women Writers. She has published Palabra y deseo: Espacios transgresores en la poesía española, 1975-1990 (Word and Desire. Transgressive Spaces in the Poetry of Spain 1975-1990), and co-edited the anthology Abuelas Hispanas: desde la memoria y el recuerdo (Hispanic Grandmothers: Memories and Recollections). Her latest monograph Poesía en acción: poemas críticos en la España contemporánea (Poetry in Action: Critical Poems in Contemporary Spain), was launched by Baile del Sol in Spain in June 2014. She has articles on the intersections between Hispanic literatures, gender and social justice with a focus on contemporary Hispanic poetry analyzed under the theoretical framework of cultural studies. Her current research addresses ethics, the politics of memory and contemporary literature and film in Spain and Latin America. Her co-edited volume Sites of Memory in Spain and Latin America: Trauma, Politics, and Resistance (2015) is a collection of essays exploring historical memory at the intersection of political, cultural, social, and economic forces in the contexts of Spain and Latin America. Llorente’s latest book Activism Through Poetry: Critical Spanish Poems in Translation, a bilingual Spanish/English contemporary poetry anthology which she co-edited and co-translated, was published by Hamilton Books-Rowman & Littlefield on May 2017. This poetry anthology presents cultural, political, social, and ecological issues in the context of contemporary Spain. Her new project explores traces of the Francoism time in contemporary Spanish poetry focusing in the analysis of poems dealing with violence against women. She founded the SLU Poetry for Peace reading series in 2003, and delivered the Piskor Lecture on April 2013 on contemporary Spanish poetry and politics.
Cost (airfare not included):
$5,960 per person (for double occupancy/sharing)
$6,560 per person (for single occupancy)
Note meals, non-alcoholic drinks, and one glass of wine during meals are included throughout the trip. Travel insurance coverage during the duration of the trip is included.
Health care insurance coverage during the duration of the trip is required.
Maximum of 20 Laurentian participants - family members above age 16 are welcome to join.
Housing Information
Accommodations will be in three and four star hotels.
Registration
Deposit of $1,000 is due no later than October 20, 2022. This travel experience is first come, first serve and space is extremely limited. To reserve a space register at https://alumni.stlawu.edu/spain-travel-experience23.
Full payment is due by January 10, 2023. If the University cancels this experience, we will work with travelers on a future visit to Spain or work to refund the full or partial deposit amounts as circumstances allow.
Questions?
Please contact Joe Keniston via email at jkeniston@stlawu.edu or by calling 315-229-1858, or email Dr. Marina Llorente at mllorente@stlawu.edu.
