Taking Cruise in Spain Means Luxury on Rails

Charging through Andalusia like a bull with horns down is the train fit for a matador.

This mint-fresh train has elan and bravura. It takes privileged passengers through lands of rich Moorish legacy, sherry wine, brave bulls and passionate amores.

Andalus meant “heaven on earth,” the Moorish name for the part of Spain under Muslim rule. Perfectly titled, the Al Andalus Expreso is a joy for Hispanophiles and the perfect opportunity to grasp the boldness of Andalusia by convenient train.

The view from the high windows of the wide-gauge carriages shows Andalusia to be a corrugated, color-coded quilt. Guest passengers see the gold of the fields of cropped wheat, the red of the great swaths of tilled earth, the green of the polka dots of grapevines crowding toward one another, the yellow of the enormous sunflower heads fighting the sun. Blowing tassels on neat lines of corn stalks are straw-colored, and olive trees framed by the fine gravel fabric of the railbed are silver.

Hispanophiles are known to be emotional. Some blot their eyes as the arrogance, spirit and sentiment of Andalusia seeps into their senses and moods. Perhaps they smell the orange blossoms, imagine Carmen and choruses of women and hear the dancing of the flamenco.

Whence the Rail Cruise?

The Al Andalus Expreso was no doubt inspired by the profit and prestige of the several Orient Express trains crossing Europe.

How did the Spanish Railroads make a tourist attraction? For starters, they invested $1.3 million in a train to carry only 66 passengers a week. They bought four scuffed but worthy restaurant carriages from the Wagons-Lits International Co., scavenged their best period artwork, bought the finest new woods.

Then they paid the best artisans, designers, woodworkers and dedicated craftsmen to create interiors with such glamour that they outshine the posh royal carriages preserved on platforms in Europe’s national railroad museums.

They added the best commercial sleeping carriages available, pulled them by steam locomotive where possible and by the nation’s most powerful diesel engines otherwise, arranged an itinerary filled with visits to magnificent mosques and palaces inherited from a turbulent past.

They had created Al Andalus Expreso.

Success Was Immediate

By every measure of lavish living, comfort, convenience and ambiance, the Al Andalus was a glittering success the moment it began service last September.

When guests first left the modern sleeping cars and entered the restored antique public carriages, many gasped. Some wanted to look at the detail so closely that they felt like they should be on a guided tour led by a docent.

The coaches reflect the theme of the train. Their names, such as Giralda and Medina Azahar, reflect the glitter and glamour of the Moorish past. Three public carriages feature inlaid woods, mahogany, teak, walnut, oak and ebony--and damask window draperies in subdued colors. The decorators achieved a warm and gracious, club-like atmosphere, in high style.

The public carriages are social cars. Amid the extravagant handicraft, travelers immediately fancy the stand-up bar, the video lounge, the paisley-upholstered romantic niches doubling as breakfast nooks in the morning and the discotheque dance floor complete with flashing and spinning lights.

The sleeping cars are upgraded versions of Wagons-Lits’ TEN, Trans-Europ-Noche, coaches, the best in Europe for international travel, repainted in the distinctive Al Andalus chocolate-and-cream livery and decorated with the eye-catching Al Andalus logo outside.

Lavish Comforts

The showers are in two separate remodeled luggage vans with locked cabins minded by stewards. These oak cabins are more like a health club than a hotel facility “down the hall,” especially when guests are given white terry bathrobes and huge fluffy towels from the five-star Palace Hotel in Madrid.

Departing from Madrid at 10:30 a.m. on Mondays and returning at 9:55 a.m. on the following Sundays, the Al Andalus covers almost 1,000 miles and touches Spanish ports on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The leisurely schedule lets guests experience in an easy and casual way the compelling pleasures of Andalusia.

When the Al Andalus leaves Madrid’s Atocha station pulled by a steam locomotive of the Mikado type, guests already expect their trip to be opulent. But when they arrive in Aranjuez to be greeted by a 27-piece band and travel to the Royal Summer Palace in a 40-person fringed surrey called a jardinera, pulled by a brace of elaborately festooned mules, they know their presence is appreciated and no effort has been spared.

Highlights include Cordoba and a visit to its great 10th-Century mosque (La Mezquita). Its stunning interior dazzles with a fantastic labyrinth of peppermint-striped pillars and an enclosed, awkward Baroque cathedral.

Famous Landmarks

In Seville they see Santa Cruz barrio, charming whitewashed homes and luxuriant patios characteristic of the region, the famous Gothic cathedral (third largest in the world), Maria Luisa Park and the landmark La Giralda tower.

Jerez de la Frontera is a surprise highlight. This is the town that the British mispronounced and gave sherry wine its name. Guests visit the cellars, or bodegas, and the Andalusian School of Equestrian Art where Lippizaner horses prance as high as those in the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.

To top it off, they see a demonstration of the art of bullfighting. Some guests take cape in hand and attempt passes with a spunky calf. No doctor is needed to treat the minor bruises they suffer.

The trip culminates in Grenada when guests enter the purple-red Alhambra, the exciting 13th-Century Muslim palace complex of woodland, water and gardens.

For brochures, contact your travel agent or Marsans International, 3325 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 508, Los Angeles 90010, phone (800) 525-5515.

Prices mirror the all-included concept of a railroad cruise. Until March 31, one-week cruising on the Al Andalus will cost $850 per person, double occupancy, $725 triple and $1,370 single, including land transportation, continental breakfasts on board and all restaurant meals with wine.