It is said that the best things about traveling are the previous days, the illusion, the expectations, and also the days after, memories, memories Well, for Jules Verne, the social meeting for the preparation of those deeds that brought together adventurers and geographers was quite an experience. And so he portrayed it in the novel Around the World in 80 Days, starring Phileas Fogg, in the Extraordinary Journeys collection.
With this starting point, the Cotton House Hotel commemorates these assemblies. and he does in the emblematic 19th century building that houses it. It is in the neoclassical eighteenth-century style, it was the headquarters of the Cotton Textile Foundation in Barcelona, and today it is a benchmark in the Catalan capital.
Portrait of Jules Verne, by Félix Nadar (c. 1878).
“The initiative was born with the desire to inspire citizens with the journeys of explorers and travelers, and share experiences that allow us to travel with the senses”, comments Maite Felices, cultural programmer responsible for the idea, and continues: “We seek to illuminate with the stories of challenges and objectives achieved that were undertaken in other times, as well as through workshops for creators and gastronomes”.
The Cotton House Hotel is housed in a beautiful 19th century building.
In previous years, Maite has organized different cycles with various themes, but this 2022 is the most Traveler of all. For example, has been inaugurated by two tasting expeditions. One, for the territories that cradle cocoa, with a chocolate tasting as a guide –The jungles of Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, the Congo, Ecuador and Tanzania are the origins of specific varieties such as the Arhuaco, the Virunga, the Cuncho or the Emeralds–.
Another, thanks to a tasting of Caj Chai teas. An exotic journey into the world traditions and origins of the different types of tea and their meaning for the soul. And it is that around a cup some of the most interesting conversations are born of the history of great civilizations.
The Cotton House Hotel celebrates its "Extraordinary Journeys".
Likewise, there has been a talk with the art director David Ruiz, who has shared his feat of going around the world alone with a sailboat. A sign of overcoming the man who, against fears, doubts and excuses, decided to completely stop the clock to reach his own goal.
As a further approximation, the figure of the architect and landscaper Nicolau Maria Rubió i Tudurí has been recovered, who was in charge of the reform of the Hotel building (Palacete Boada) in 1959 and the spiral staircase that characterizes it.
Rubió i Tudurí went on to write books on odysseys such as Sahara-Níger, Ulisses al Argòlida, The Egyptian Temple and the Animal Divinity or From Paradise to the Latin Garden. And the art historian Ignacio Somovilla has come to narrate a journey through eight secret gardens in the world.
Staircase of the Cotton House hotel.
As if that were not enough, for lovers of Florence, A tour of the city has been made based on its characters, Leonardo, Galileo, Dante and other illustrious personalities. And hey, we're still in June.
What events does Maite have in mind for the rest of the year? “An extraordinary journey through the technique of drawing with the illustrator Ana de Lima that will transport us through painting. oh! And more tastings. They can be consulted on the hotel website and on its social networks”, reports the content curator. And she says goodbye: "In short, we want to have fun remembering that life is a great adventure full of setbacks, like Fogg's," she laughs she.
Stay at the Cotton House hotel.
Note: the novel Around the World in 80 Days it was delivered by fascicles in the magazine Le Temps from November 7 to December 22, 1872 (later, it would be published in its entirety on January 30, 1873), the same year in which the action takes place.