HPMEC to Sponsor Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms” Trip
October 02, 2015
PIGGOTT, Ark. —Friends of the Pfeiffers, the membership program of the Hemingway-Pfeiffer
Museum and Educational Center (HPMEC), invites the community to join them for Ernest
Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms,” a trip to Italy and Switzerland next spring, May
27-June 5, 2016.The trip is a unique opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the
famous novel and the historical figures that inspired it. Hemingway wrote portions
of the novel at his in-laws’ house in Piggott, in the barn they would later make a
permanent studio for him.
In 1918, Hemingway joined the Red Cross on the Italian front. He was injured near
Venice and recovered in Milan. Drawing on these experiences, “A Farewell to Arms”
follows wounded ambulance driver Frederic Henry as he is injured, falls in love with
his nurse and elopes to Switzerland.
This trip will explore sites associated both with Hemingway’s historical experiences
and his fiction, traveling from Venice to Milan to Switzerland, with stops along the
way. In addition to major Hemingway sites, the trip will also explore the history,
art and architecture of one of the world’s most picturesque regions.
The trip is open to the public, but space is limited and expected to fill up fast.
The cost is $3,899 per person (land package, double-occupancy). To receive a brochure
about the trip, contact the museum at (870) 598-3487 or adamlong@astate.edu. Questions can also be directed to John Frankel at International Tours (870) 972-5580).
In March, the tour featured an excursion to Paris, France. The group travelled to
Havana, Cuba, in May 2014.
HPMEC is an Arkansas State University Heritage Site. Regular museum hours are Monday-Friday
from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., and Saturday, 1-3 p.m., with tours on the hour. To learn about
the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center, go to http://hemingway.astate.edu.
