Anne & Kirk Woodyard – Music and Markets Tours

All aboard! About an hour west of Barcelona is Rome’s first outpost in the area, the city of Tarragona, a favorite day trip on our Barcelona Discoveries tour. We travel along the coast, waves nearly lapping the train tracks, to a city that was much more important than Barca, as Barcelona was called, millennia ago.
Walking up from the train station past the Roman Arena, used for varied concerts and events today, we look forward to sharing this many-layered town, a Unesco World Heritage site, with our guests.
Our preferred approach is along the Roman walls, entering near the archeological park to take a look at the excellent Maquette of Roman Tarraco which gives a clear impression of what the city looked like centuries ago.Throughout the town Roman relics jut into daily life – here, an ancient arch in the middle of a market square.Pilate, of Biblical notoriety, is said to have been born in Tarraco – his statue stands not far from exposed tiers of the Circus.We even eat lunch in the shadow of Rome – in Les Voltes (The Vaults), tucked right under the arches of the Circus in the middle of town.We enjoy spotting more recent touches of beauty and history as well – a sinuous Art Nouveau boutique, and the exquisite tracery on a carved entry.At the base of stairs ascending to the Cathedral medieval arches lead to the Call, the Jewish quarter of town, and on the site of the Roman forum, the peaceful cloister beside the cathedral invites us to relax,as doves coo and lush roses perfume the air.21st century life goes on, in the steps of those who walked here millenia-ago.

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The best way to describe us (Kirk and Anne Woodyard) is that we’re interested in the stories that make the places we visit come alive.

We’ve visited Europe more times than we can count, learned some entertaining stories there, and met some warm and helpful people who also enjoy the wonders of music and life in Europe. We look forward to sharing these stories and friends and experiences with our Music and Markets guests.

Since 2003 we’ve hosted Music and Markets tours in France, Italy, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, England and Spain, and in 2019 added Wonder Tours with a more intentional concentration on art and architecture, local culture, food and wine, and less time dedicated to concert-going.

We also design and host custom private tours – previous locations include many French, Spanish, British and Italian regions.

Between our music-related travels, we split our time between our homes near Washington DC and the south of France. While both of us have experience in organizing travel and music groups, Kirk’s background is in project management and competitive writing, and Anne is an accomplished pianist with over forty years of teaching and performance experience.