Moorish-to-Modern Spain.

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he New Renaissance. You can’t understand it until you’ve visited the Iberian Peninsula. Franco’s gone, the European Union’s arrived. So has Frank O. Gehry and his postmodern Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao.

But make no mistake. The Spaniards hold their past in the highest esteem.

Explore Spain with R. Crusoe & Son to understand its past and its present. The Moors, the Crusaders, the great masters (El Greco and Goya, to name a couple), the navigators and explorers who set sail in search of new turf. But also the Guggenheim, Bilbao’s monument to contemporary art (Rauschenberg, Serra, Basquiat, as well as Barcélo, Kiefer, Pérez, and others you may not have heard of—yet).

Begin in Madrid. Get your bearings on a city tour, then indulge in (some of the 8,600) master paintings at the Prado. Pick up the rhythm of the city smack in the middle at Plaza Mayor.

On a day trip, head for Toledo, a mishmash of Moorish, Jewish, and Christian influences remarkably united. Narrow, medieval streets link 15th- and 16th- century squares. At the Gothic Cathedral, see El Greco’s genius; there’s more at the Church of Santo Tomé. Walk the Jewish Quarter, a powerful neighborhood between the 11th- and 13th centuries.

Then passion, drama, and the restless beat of flamenco in Seville. Explore Reales Alcázares, home to kings for 700 years or so.

Córdoba, religious melting pot. Granada and its Alhambra, paradise on earth. See what the Nasrids wer eup to during the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries. Tour the Albaic’n, the town's Muslim Quarter. If you choose, take lunch at historic La Bobadilla Hotel.

In Barcelona, favorite son Antoni Gaudí, the architect who took nature as his inspiration, added his outrageous flourishes. Will you love them or hate them? Either way, your reaction is strong. Trace Picasso through the Gothic Quarter. Check out Las Ramblas.

Head for the country and Montserrat. Sip decorously at a cava vineyard for your introduction to Spain’s version of champagne.

Fall in love with Bilbao and Gehry’s cutting-edge titanium work of art in the Basque country. It's rare that a museum overshadows the art it was built to show off.

Back to Madrid. Adios, España.

Moorish-to-Modern Spain.

Departures: Throughout the year as a private journey.