Those who think cultural tourism is a 21st-century invention are well off course – Venice invented it long ago. Intent on setting the city under the international spotlight, the first International Art Exhibition ever was held there in 1895. That is, the Venice Biennale, which has continued until this day.

The undisputed artificer of the avant-garde art pulse – Documenta notwithstanding – the Biennale has run into its 57th edition without losing steam. Six months full-out, from 13 May to 26 November, during which the city is invaded by contemporary art, which takes over both land and sea. What with vaporetti, churches and palazzi, we visited the city of canals to soak up the latest trends, soon to descend on museums and art galleries across half the globe. Let the Grand Tour begin!

Survival Manual

A cautionary word to all navigators – moving through the Biennale is no mean feat. The key – comfortable footwear, strategically placed accommodation and solid planning. The offerings are boundless and the spaces, gargantuan.

The main facilities are located at the Arsenale and the Giardini di Castello. Those are the sites of the official exhibition, Viva Arte Viva, as well as many of the 85 national pavilions dotting the island. And, as if that weren’t enough, the list is augmented by countless top-notch parallel exhibitions and events that have staked out their territory in the city’s historic buildings.

My advice – keep calm and don’t get flustered. The marathon only comes around every two years. Set aside three days on your agenda and you won’t succumb in the attempt. Take up lodgings in the area of Il Castello, the Biennale’s hard core, thereby avoiding vaporetto tickets. And, have a notebook on you and a camera with fully charged batteries so you can review the sights once you’re back home.

In the Giardini – the Cream of the Crop

Separating the wheat from the chaff can be exhausting. By way of a warm-up, we headed south-east, to the confines of the city. Located there are the Giardini di Castello, Venice’s green lung par excellence and the preserve of the national pavilions (a somewhat archaic idea, a reminder that the current Biennale is an updated version of the classical trade fairs of yesteryear). The fact is that in Venice each state has its own building to showcase to the world the cream of the crop of its contemporary art production, by way of an Art Olympics where the winner manages to show the most muscle.

While the Biennale is all about art, it is in fact also about power and architecture. In terms of the latter, some pavilions shine with a light of their own. Not to be missed are the Finland pavilion, built in timber modules by the luminary, Alvar Aalto, the father of modern Scandinavian architecture; the Austrian pavilion, the work of Josef Hoffmann who, together with Gustav Klimt, founded the Vienna Secession, and that of The Netherlands, its open forms highlighting the minimalist elegance of 1950s neoplasticism.

But, let’s get back to art and to the most talked-about offerings. The Golden Lion for the Best Pavilion was awarded to Germany, where artist Anne Imhof installed a glass floor under which performances displaying the world “as a kennel” take place. France depicts a musical space and recording studio, Studio Venezia, an installation designed by Xavier Veilhan where musicians and artists from all over the world perform. And Austria draws all the camera flashes with a lorry standing on its nose by Erwin Wurm, a playful proposal in a pavilion redolent with sculptures which visitors can interact and have fun with.

The Off Programme

Side shows, parallel exhibitions, talks, dialogues, performances and film cycles – no body is built to withstand Venice. Indeed, the official programme is rivalled by a series of first-rate artistic proposals staged in churches, foundations and museums around the city. Here, then, are the juiciest offerings in the Off-Biennale 2017.

Damien Hirst has hit Venice with a two-fold proposal. At collector François Pinault’s art spaces, the Punta della Dogana and the Palazzo Grassi, he has installed his latest eccentricities,including an 18-metre-high sculpture which rises into the firmament. In keeping with the British artist we are familiar with, his show is pure spectacle, and the perfect excuse to visit two historic buildings overlooking the Grand Canal.

The tiny island of San Giorgio Maggiore surrenders unconditionally to Michelangelo Pistoletto. A key figure of Arte Povera and one of the most prominent Italian artists, Pistoletto presents One and One Makes Three, an exhibition housed in an abbey designed by Palladio where he showcases a selection of his works created between the 60s and the present, also featuring his popular “Venus of the Rags”.

We wind up our marathon tour at the Palazzo Fortuny, a Venetian Gothic gem which rises between the Rialto Bridge and St Mark’s Square. This former home and studio of painter Marià Fortuny houses both the artist’s collection and temporary exhibitions. This time around, it is the turn of Intuition, a collective display dedicated to the evocative power of art and featuring such great names as André Breton, Joan Miró, Vassily Kandinsky, Marina Abramovic and Anish Kapoor.

Thus far our review of the Biennale, a centennial event which reinvents itself each year and showcases art to suit all tastes, interests and theories. We’re off to the canals!

Book your Vueling to Venice here

Text by Núria Gurina

Photos by: Andrea Avezzù, Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, Francesco Galli, g.sighele, imagea.org, Erin Johnson

Barcelona and sport have long been comfortable bedfellows. It was in the late eighties that Montserrat Caballé and good old Freddie Mercury took turns to sing to the city to the tune of “Barcelona, Barcelona, B-A-R-C-E-L-O-N-A-A-A”. The rhythm was taken up by the syncopated clapping of Los Manolos and a spectacular staging of the event that would ensure nobody ever forgot the Olympic capital of 1992. That was when the seed of sport was sown and, thanks to it being magnificently fertilised, we can now proudly proclaim that Barcelona has grown in tandem with sport. No one would dispute the city’s footballing hegemony, spearheaded by the likes of Barça and Espanyol. It is similarly cherished by skaters worldwide, having put the Fórum to good use. Further, the post-Olympic Barceloneta has become an increasingly more popular destination among surfers. The surrounding Collserola, and the Carretera de les Aigües, have grown into areas plied by hikers, runners, cyclists and strollers. Barcelona is also the mecca of marathon runners, triathletes and other enthusiasts of endurance sports.

But, just what is brewing in post-Olympic Barcelona? Might this be the right time to discover the city from above, and do so by climbing? Sharma Climbing, headed by the guru of world climbing, the Californian, Chris Sharma, opened in November in the 22@ / Poblenou area. Sharma is world famous for having opened up impossible climbing routes. In the photo we see him climbing the Bon Combat line at the Cova de L’Ocell in Sant Miquel del Fai, a 9b/+ rating said to be the toughest in the world, as shown in this video. Sharma is one of the leading promoters of psicobloc (deep water soloing). In spite of his top-notch skills, Sharma’s Barcelona climbing wall is accessible to all-comers, with a preponderance of easy and medium-difficulty routes, as his goal is to foster the learning process and encourage newcomers to take up this sport. The venue is open from Monday to Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., with súper jueves late closing at 1 a.m. on Thursdays. Facilities include changing rooms with showers, enabling you to slip out occasionally from work if you start getting the climbing bug. If you need to sleep over, the Barceló Atenea Mar hotel is just a few minutes’ walk away and you can also go running along the esplanade.

Climbing is a world of its own and climbing walls are just part of it. So, if you’re eager to test your skills in the outdoors by climbing on bare rock, the city offers two readily available options, both for beginners and experts. The Costas de Garraf, just 30 kilometres from Barcelona, feature some 90 short routes for all climbing levels, with incredible views over the sea, including the Pas de la Mala dona (in the photo). The second area is Montserrat, also a climbing “sanctuary”, located just 65 km from Barcelona. It has an infinite number of lines – most of them long ones – requiring more techniques than in Garraf. They include routes near the Monastery, in two major areas – Gorros and La Plantació. For more detailed information on climbing in Montserrat, I advise you to read el coleccionista de vías.

Starting to feel the bug, aren’t you? Well, I hope you aren’t easily fazed. If your time is not at a premium or you want to engage in other activities apart from climbing, here are some pointers to procuring the right equipment.

Cycling: you can hire both road and mountain bikes at Orbea Campus Barcelona. For mountain biking, you should head for Collserola and, for road cycling, the best thing is to pedal up the Arrabassada and then go back down via the Forat del Vent, as this is an easy route with little traffic.

Skating: At Inercia you can hire longboards, skates and even inline skates. The store is just 300 metres from the Arco de Triunfo, a pedestrian promenade which is ideal for building up your confidence on the board. From there, I recommend taking the following route: go down the bicycle lane that crosses the Paseo de Picasso, skirt around the Zoo and continue as far as the Calle Marina, where you connect up with the Paseo Marítimo (esplanade). Together with the Fórum area, this is the easiest and safest spot to skate in Barcelona.

SUP, surfing, sailing and other water sports: There are loads of options to choose from, but for starters you can go to the Nautical School, Pukas Barcelona or Surf Box Barcelona.

Swimming: For open-water swimming, head for the Barceló Atenea Mar – which is also where the Garmin Barcelona Triathlon usually starts from – where swimming groups are organised. If you prefer to swim in a pool, the Picornell swimming pools are accessible and you don’t need to be a member to get in.

Running: if you’re an asphalt junky, a good option is to run along the Paseo Marítimo. It is usually jam packed with people so, if you want to avoid crowds, you could go running on Montjuïc or along the Carretera de les Aigües in Collserola.

Barcelona is a climbing destination and a city married to sport, a place worth returning to time and again. Start booking your flight here for this year.

Text by Raúl Casañas

Images by Chris Sharma, Alexia JMC, Ginés Díaz, Ionana Manolache

The writer and journalist, David Lagercrantz, took up the challenge of continuing the trilogy begun by Steig Larsson, having authored the fourth novel in the Millennium series, That Which Does Not Kill. In addition to instigating Scandinavia’s black novel phenomenon, this popular trilogy featuring Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist as the main characters has turned into a fascinating alternative guide to the city where the action is set – Stockholm.

7-Eleven

While not a particularly interesting spot for sightseers, establishments like 7-Eleven, at number 25 Götgatan Street, can always comes in handy. As a regular, it is here that the hacker and social recluse, Lisbeth Salander, sources the two essential ingredients of her pernicious diet – frozen pizzas and cartons of Marlboro Light.

Ikea

Ikea is a veritable institution in Sweden and Steig Larsson could not afford to ignore it in his trilogy. It features in the second instalment, when Lisbeth Salander turns up at the Kungens Kurva premises (the largest in the world) to buy furniture for her new apartment. Larsson provides such a detailed list of the purchase – Karlanda sofa, Galant desk, Bonde bookshelves… – that anyone wishing to faithfully replicate Salander’s flat interior could easily do so.

Kvarnen

Among Lisbeth Salander’s few friends are the members of the heavy metal group, Evil Fingers, who she usually meets up with at Kvarnen on Tuesday evenings. Located at number 4 Tjärhovsgatande Street and with over a century’s standing, it is one of Stockholm’s oldest taverns, offering such noteworthy traditional Swedish dishes asköttbullar (meatballs) and surströmming (herring).

Lisbeth Salander’s House

In The Girl Who Played With Fire (2008), Lisbeth Salander moves to a luxury apartment at 9 Fiskargatan Avenue. This block, built in 1910, stands out in Stockholm’s skyline for its green metal roof. Salander enjoys no fewer than 21 rooms in her new abode, as well as tempting views of Djurgården island and Saltsjön Bay!

Mikael Blomkvist’s House

It requires no feat of the imagination to picture Larsson walking in front of 1 Bellmansgatan Street and fantasise settling down in such a privileged enclave. His desire, at least in the fiction tale, materialised when he had one of his main characters, Mikael Blomkvist, move into the attic, a 65m² apartment flooded with light, affording beautiful views over Riddarfjärden Bay, Gamla Stan and the Stockholm City Hall.

Mellqvist Kaffebar

At 78 Hornsgatan Street, the Mellqvist Kaffebar is not just one of the cafés most frequented by the protagonists of Millennium. It was actually one of the author’s favourite spots, too. There are even those who claim that, between one café and another, it was there that Larsson wrote more than a chapter of his successful trilogy. Indeed, the journal, Expo, of which Larsson was the director, was housed on the floor above it.

Mosebacke Torg

Just a few metres from Salander’s new apartment lies the Mosebacke Torg, one of Stockholm’s loveliest squares. Sited on the square is the Södra Teatern, the city’s oldest theatre, built in 1859. It is in the theatre bar that Lisbeth usually meets Annika Giannini to exchange confidences over a few beers. The Mosebacke Torg also houses one of Stockholm’s last-surviving telephone boxes still in service.

Millennium’s Editorial Office

Located on the corner of Götgatan Avenue – one of the busiest arteries in the Södermalm district – and Hökens Gata Street, the editor’s office of the Millennium journal is housed on the floor above Greenpeace’s headquarters. Staunch enthusiasts of the trilogy are likely to be disappointed when they realise that, while the offices of Greenpeace are indeed located on that corner, the upper floors of the building are all just apartments.

Samirs Gryta

Enthralled with their couscous and mutton stew, the Samirs Gryta Syrian restaurant is a favourite among the Millennium editorial staff. The exact address of this fictitious eatery is never divulged in any of the instalments but, in terms of its appearance, Steig Larsson was probably inspired by the Indian restaurant Dado (Tavastgatan, 28) and the adjoining Lebanese restaurant, Tabbouli (Tavastgatan, 22).

Stortorget

Stortorget is the square where Dragan Armanski catches sight of Lisbeth Salander shortly after being hired by Milton Security. Stortorget is one of Stockholm’s historic sites as here, in November 1520, the Bloodbath took place, when Danish King Christian II had hundreds of members of the ruling classes executed in order to seize control of the country. Also in Stortorget is the Nobelmuseet, the Nobel Prizes museum.

The Stockholm City Museum offers a fascinating tour of the city inspired by the Millennium trilogy. Click here for further details.

Ready for an exciting journey through the trilogy? Check out our flights here.

Text by Oriol Rodríguez for ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Images by Holger Ellgaard, I99pema, Kirsty Komuso, Arild Vågen, Mstyslav Chernov

The Ribera del Duero is renowned for being one of Spain’s leading winemaking regions. Sited along the banks of the river Duero, it covers an area of 115 km long by 35 km wide, distributed between the provinces of Soria, Burgos, Segovia and Valladolid. The landscape is characterised by vast swathes of vineyards stretching along the Duero riverbanks, dotted with wine cellars at certain intervals. For wine connoisseurs, moving about this region means revisiting the source of familiar tastes and aromas which they will have encountered at wine-tastings, romantic evenings or festivities. For the novice, it is a unique opportunity to make a triumphal entry into the complex world of nuances. Here are some details on the essential things to do in this region:

1. An Appetiser – Aranda de Duero and its Underground Cellars

Located in the heart of the region, Aranda de Duero is one of the main towns in the Ribera del Duero. Hidden in the basements of the old town is what is known as the bodega de Las Ánimas, no less than 7 kilometres of tunnels and galleries that were excavated between the 13th and 18th century to harness the constant humidity and temperature values (11–13°C) for wine-making. A tour of this cellar can be rounded off by a visit to the Centro de Interpretación de la Arquitectura del Vino (CIAVIN), which highlights how Aranda de Duero and the Ribera del Duero are closely related to wine.

2. Between Glasses of Wine

Let’s cut to the quick –the time has come to meet the makers of “the elixir of Bacchus”. Amid the vast, never-ending array of wine cellars, the best thing is to make a selection of what we’re most interested in, from mere curiosity, through entertainment, to seeking out a particular flavour. In recent times, some wine merchants have elected to revamp their corporate image, as evinced in the design of their buildings. It is therefore rewarding to view the results of applying the latest trends in architecture to their wineries. A case in point is the Bodegas Portia, the work of Norman Foster, Protos, designed by Richard Rogers, along with Alonso Balaguer and Arquitectos Asociados, and the Cepa 21, Pagos del Rey and Legaris wineries.

For those hankering after new sensations, the Matarromera Group, among a wealth of other enotouristic experiences, offer visitors the chance to take on the role of a viniculturist and make their own wine. Exciting, don’t you think?

If you happen to be here during the wine harvest (October–November), some wineries allow you to take part in them, as with the Condado de Haza winery, which hosts a Jornada de Vendimia. But, remember, in all instances you have to book ahead – don’t forget it!

3. Eating Lechazo

The star dish in the Ribera del Duero is lechazo (suckling lamb), roasted over a wood fire after being marinated in a good local wine. We can recommend the Molino de Palacios which, as its name indicates, is located in a windmill in Peñafiel. In autumn they hold a “Game and Field Mushroom Day”. Another pleasant grill-house is the Lagar de Isilla, in Aranda de Duero.

4. A Tour of Peñafiel Castle

Halfway between Valladolid and Aranda de Duero lies the magnificent town of Peñafiel with its striking, walled castle, set atop a hill, dating back to the 10th century. Declared a national monument in 1917, it now houses the Provincial Wine Museum, which promotes the province of Valladolid through the world of wine. Don’t miss out on the stunning views of the valley!

5. Let’s Join the Fiesta!

One of the many summer fiestas which take place in mid-August is Sonorama Ribera, a festival which proves that domestic and international pop and rock marry well with the region’s wine culture. In addition to a wealth of music, the festival programme includes wine tastings, wine cellar breakfasts and more.

6. Wine Therapy?

After all this hustle and bustle, take a well-earned rest and try the treatment offered by the Lavida spa hotel in which the benefits of wine are applied to skin care.

Don’t miss the chance to discover this land of wines – book your fare now!

Text by ISABELYLUIS Comunicación

Photos by Ruta del Vino Ribera del Duero