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Multi-day
Tours
Krakow, Poland, the
Home of John Paul II
11-day Tour
July 9 - 19, 2007
"The
harmony of music and song, which knows no religious or social barriers,
may be a constant invitation for believers and all people of good will to
seek together the universal language of love, which makes men capable of
building a world justice and solidarity, of hope and peace." Pope
Benedict XVI
Day
1: Toronto to Warsaw
Departure
from Pearson International Airport in Toronto for our overnight flight to
Warsaw.
Meals will be served in flight.
Day
2: Warsaw
(D)
Arrival
in Warsaw.
Warsaw is an old city with unique architecture and beautiful
surroundings.
This morning your group will be met by a professional tour manager
with a private motor coach at your disposal for the next nine days.
Guided city tour with visit to St. John’s Cathedral, built in the
14th century and the oldest and the most famous religious building in
Warsaw, built in. Other interesting places to visit are the Castle Square,
famous for its excellent architecture and charming, narrow streets, and
Church of the Holy Cross, designed by Italian architect Bellotti and built
between 1679 and 1696 on the site of a wooden church; the heart of
Frederic Chopin is kept here.
Dinner this evening is included.
Overnight at the Hotel Mercure Fryderyk Chopin or similar.
Day 3: Krakow (B/D)
Following
a hot buffet breakfast, we depart from the hotel for Krakow.
We stop in Czestochova for a guided visit to the Monastery to see
the “Queen of Peace and Mercy - Black Madonna”.
The tradition holds that St. Luke painted the portrait on the top
of a cypress-wood table that came from the home of the Holy Family.
At the request of the faithful, Mary sat for the portrait.
When it was finished, she was pleased, saying that “My grace
shall accompany it.”,
and thus began the wonderful history of the painting.
Entrance is included to the Monastery at Jasna Gora with a tour
guided by a monk. We continue on to Krakow for dinner at a local
restaurant and overnight at the Hotel System Premium.
Option this evening to attend the President’s meeting on your
own.
Day
4: Krakow (B/D)
Continental breakfast followed by half-day guided tour of Krakow including
admission to Wawel Castle, home to three dynasties of Poland’s monarchs.
Its stately halls and exquisite chambers are filled with priceless
art, best period furniture and rare ancient objects.
Some free time this afternoon to explore the famous sites: the
700-year-old City Walls, the 500-year-old Great Barbican and Krakow’s
Basilica of the Virgin Mary’s. Following
dinner at a local restaurant, your choir will participate in evening
opening ceremonies in the Market Square. Overnight Hotel System Premium.
Day
5: Krakow (B/D)
Continental
breakfast followed by morning rehearsal for Sunday Liturgy. Afternoon
prayer for peace in Divine Mercy Basilica.
Dinner at our hotel followed by the Evening Gala Concert.
Day
6: Krakow (B/D)
Continental
breakfast followed by morning rehearsal for Sunday Liturgy. Afternoon
sightseeing tour with entrance fees to the Wieliczka Salt Mine Museum, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. Millions of visitors, including crowned heads
and such celebrities as Goethe and Sarah Bernhardt, have enthused over the
subterranean world of labyrinthine passages, giant caverns, underground
lakes and chapels with sculptures in the crystalline salt and rich
ornamentation carved in the salt rock.
The last 900 years, when the Wieliczka Salt Mine has been worked,
produced 200 kilometers of passages as well as 2040 caverns of varied
size.
Dinner at our hotel followed by participation in evening masses in
various churches around Krakow.
Day
7: Krakow (B/D)
Continental
breakfast followed by morning celebration of solemn Eucharistic liturgy.
Afternoon sightseeing to the Auschwitz UNESCO World Heritage Site,
with entrance fees and museum guide included.
The site of the Nazi notorious Auschwitz death camp is an hour’s
drive from Krakow.
Between June 1941 and January 1945 about one million men, women and
children perished in the Auschwitz concentration camps. Dinner at our
hotel and balance of evening free.
Day
8: Krakow (B/D)
Continental breakfast followed by an excursion
to Wadowice, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II. You will visit his
Holiness' family house, now a musuem, where Karol Wojtyla spent his
formative years.
The rest of the day
is at leisure or to explore this interesting city, perhaps visiting
Krakow Old Town Historical, another UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Krakow was the country's capitol from 1038 to 1791 and is Poland's most
popular tourist attraction.
Day
9: Prague (B/D)
We
say farewell to Krakow as we journey today to Prague in the Czech
Republic. Prague
contains some of the most well-preserved and varied architecture in
Europe. UNESCO
designated the whole historic centre of the city - all 866 hectares - as a
world heritage site in 1992.
Standard dinner and overnight at the Hotel Expo Prague.
Day
10: Prague (B/D)
Hot buffet breakfast this morning
followed by a half-day guided tour of this remarkable city.
Entrance fees are included to the Prague Castle, the official
residence and seat of Czech rulers throughout history, with foundations of
the castle dating from the 9th century.
The royal gardens are where the first European tulips were
cultivated. After
visiting the Prague Castle, the group will be transferred to visit the
Loreta Church. This extraordinary baroque pilgrimage church was built in
1626 with funds donated by Countess Lobkowitz. The church played a role in
Ferdinand
II’s campaign to re-Catholicize the Czechs.
Dinner at a local restaurant and overnight at the Hotel Expo
Prague.
Day
11: Prague to Toronto (B)
Hot buffet breakfast and time for
some last minute shopping before we head to the airport for our return
flight home.
Meals in flight.
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For
more information, please complete our Expression
of Interest or contact us at 1.888.923.9183.
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