Royal Palace and Gallery of the Royal Collections: History of the Spanish Monarchy

Dear visitor, My name is Jorge. I was born in Madrid but my family origins lie in Toledo. I learnt to love my city and my country by traveling and living in many places and countries. I started to really appreciate both of them when I came back and realised how beautiful and appealing they are. Let me first tell you why I am here: When I was 10 years old I visited the Alhambra of Grenade with my family and I was so amazed by the beauty of that monument that I decided I would have a profession related to history and monuments. And so I did. Since then my working and personal life have been intimately related to Cultural Heritage. Many years after that first, revealing visit, I can say that it has been a long lasting love story and I hope it will be a happy ending one!. What I propose is a new thrilling way of enjoying Cultural Heritage and an accurate but refreshing approach to Spanish culture and way of life. Odysseus/Ulysses, king of Itaka and Homer's The Odyssey hero, was the first great traveler in the history of literature. The return to his beloved homeland after he went out to fight at the Trojan War took him 20 years full of adventures, dreams and discoveries of new people, places and cultures. As his fellow countryman Kavafis, a genius himself, later said in his poem "Itaka": "As you set out for Itaka hope the voyage is a long one, full of adventures, full of discovery…". The final destination is Itaka but the most important thing is the journey. A vital journey full of emotions and personal fulfilment. This is precisely my aim: to help you, whatever your final destination might be, to enjoy your trip in our beautiful Spain with thrill, doing my best to make your experience into a milestone in your life. As I said in my PHD Thesis: "Knowledge with no passion, no emotion, will never live on in our memory". You will be guided by a fully licensed Guide, PHD in Cultural Heritage Interpretation and BA in History. I offer cultural tours and guided visits to museums, monuments and royal residences in Madrid and Toledo in Spanish, French and English. I propose a more contextualized emotional approach to Cultural Heritage linking History, Society, Art and modern Spain, with a personal touch, less descriptive or classical, and more "touching" and interactive. Together with classical destinations such as the Prado Museum or Habsburg and Bourbon Madrid, I give the choice of personal à la carte tours adapted to group needs. Please do not hesitate to speak up. I dearly hope you will find this proposal an interesting and appealing one. Fully licensed Tour Guide. Madrid and Toledo. Able to guide inside palaces, museums and other monuments. PhD of Museum Studies and Cultural Heritage Interpretation. UAM. Madrid Master of Arts in Museum Studies and Communication. École du Louvre. Paris Bachelor of Arts in History. UCM. Madrid 25 years experience in tour guiding and Cultural Heritage interpretation. Languages: English: Certificate of Proficiency, Cambridge University (C1-C2) French: M.A. École du Louvre, Paris (C1-C2) Spanish: Mother tongue Trips outside Madrid will be done by fast train