Sanctuaries, Monasteries, Abbeys and Popes

Day 1: HOMETOWN - WARSAW

We will arrive at Warsaw Airport where we will meet our tour escort. We will take our coach to go to the hotel to check in and leave our luggage and after a short break we will start our guided tour of Polish Capital. A big part of what we will see is a perfect reconstruction made after WWII and thanks to it Warsaw is one of the UNESCO Heritage Sites since 1980. We will start our sightseeing tour walking down the most beautiful Warsaw Park called Łazienki Królewskie - The Royal Baths - where so called Palace over the Water, a beautiful summer residence of the last Polish king Stanislas August Poniatowski was built in the 18th century. In the upper part of the Park we will see the Monument dedicated to Frederic Chopin - the most famous Polish Composer and Pianist. After the visit to the Park we will continue our guided tour of Warsaw driving along Droga Królewska - The Royal Road - where we will admire plenty of outstanding palaces that once belonged to Polish nobles and aristocracy. Many of them survived the WWII and nowadays they belong to Polish government or to the embassies of different states. Upon arrival to the Royal Castle Square with the Column dedicated to Polish King Sigismund III who moved the capital from Cracow to Warsaw in 1596 we will leave our coach to walk down the Old Town. We will enter Warsaw Cathedral dedicated to Saint John that lies in Swiętojańska Street that was rebuilt, as the whole Old Town. The tomb of the most famous Polish Primate Stefan Wyszyński, friend of Pope John Paul II is in a side chapels. We will see the Main Square of the Old Town with the Monument of the Siren which is the symbol of the Polish Capital. We will continue our walking tour admiring the 16th century Barbican leaving the Old Town and entering The New Town where Madame Curie was born - she was the only one woman in the whole world who gained twice the Nobel Prize - in Physics and in Chemistry. Our walk will end up in Krasinski Square where the Monument to the Warsaw Uprising stands that commemorates two hundred thousand people who died in the biggest uprising ever organised against the German Nazis that took place in 1944 and lasted 63 days. We will take our coach to drive to Piłsudski Square where on June 2, 1979 the Polish Pope John Paul II celebrated his first Holy Mass during his first pilgrimage to Poland. It was then when he pronounced a very famous phrase: "Let your Spirit descend. Let your Spirit descend and renew the face of the earth, the face of this land". There are many who say this cry gave beginning to all the changes that took place in Poland in the eighties of the last century. After we will drive the area where during WWII the Jewish Ghetto was established by German Nazis, totally destroyed during and after the Jewish Uprising of 1943. We will see two monuments: to Ghetto Heroes and to Umschlagplatz. Afterwards we will reach our hotel for our dinner. Overnight.

Day 2: WARSAW – CZĘSTOCHOWA (134 miles) – CRACOW (90 miles)

After breakfasts we will drive to Częstochowa which is considered a Spiritual Capital of Poland. Upon arrival we will have a guided tour of the Sanctuary of Jasna Góra in Częstochowa that belongs to the Monks of Saint Paul the First Hermit who arrived there in 1382. The most precious item is the Miraculous Painting representing Mother of God with Jesus Child known as Black Madonna. Tradition says it was Saint Luke the Evangelist who painted it but we know the Polish Prince Ladislas of Opole brought the Painting to Częstochowa in 1382 and invited the Monks to come to look after it. In 1430 some thieves related to Hussite movement arrived in Jasna Góra, entered the Miraculous Chapel, stole plenty of precious ex votes and damaged the Painting which since that moment carries three scars on the face of the Virgin. During our stay we will enter the Miraculous Chapel, we will visit the Knights’ Room, we will stop at the Stations of the Cross painted by Duda Gracz, we will visit the Treasury Room and the Museum of 600 years. We will have time for private devotion and later we will have lunch at a local restaurant. Afterwards we will leave Częstochowa going towards Cracow where we will register in our hotel. Overnight.

Our Lady of Częstochowa - LIVE

Day 3: CRACOW – AUSCHWITZ (37 miles) – CRACOW (37 miles)

After breakfast we will depart for a walking guided tour of the former capital of Poland, centre of science, culture and of the arts that exists for more than one thousand years. We will walk down the Old Town which was subscribed on the UNESCO Heritage List in 1978. We will visit the Wawel Hill - that belonged to Polish Kings and Princes and that still belongs to Cracow Bishops. The Wawel Cathedral was a place where Royal coronations took place since 1320 and became the Royal Pantheon in 1333 when Polish King Ladislas the Short was buried. Karol Wojtyła, the future Pope John Paul II was Cracow Bishop and he looked after the Cathedral between 1959 - 1978. In the Crypt of Saint Leonardo which lies in the underground part of the Cathedral Wojtyla celebrated his first Holy Mass in 1946, Nov. 1st. He used to pray also near the Tomb of Saint Stanislas, Bishop of Krakow killed by Polish King Boleslas in 1079, and near the 14th century Cross considered miraculous – there had been also Saint Hedwig, Queen of Poland who prayed hours and hours in front of the same Cross in the remote 14th century. On the Wawel Hill we will see also three courtyards among which the 16th century Castle Courtyard is the most elegant and the most beautiful one. Afterwards we will leave the Hill and we will keep on walking down the medieval streets and squares of this beautiful town – along Kanonicza Street where Karol Wojtyła lived between 1951 - 1967, Saint Mary Magdalene's Square where we will admire a Romanesque St. Andrew's Church and a Baroque one dedicated to Saint Peter and Paul, of a royal foundation and the first ever Baroque building in Poland. We will keep on walking Grodzka Street and we will cross All The Saint's Square where we will enter Saint Francis of Assisi Church. The Franciscans arrived to Kraków in the 1330s invited by a Cracow Prince. They settled down and built up the monastery that exists up till now. Among Franciscan Fathers there was Father Kolbe who spent two years of his life in Cracow convent. The church itself was also a very important place to Karol Wojtyła, who while living in an adjacent Bishops' Palace prayed a lot in one bench where now the conmemorating inscription is. Once he became Pope he offered a copy of the Turin Shrine to the Church which now is exhibited in one of its Chapels. The Saint Francis of Assisi Basilica is also known because of its modernist details such as the wall polychrome and outstanding stained – glass windows projected by a young Polish artist and genius Stanisław Wyspiański at the end of the 19th century. The one that presents God Father creating the world is considered one of the best not only in Cracow but in whole Europe. Upon leaving the Church we will see the Bishops' Palace with its famous Pope's Window where John Paul II talked to the people gathered during his pilgrimages. We will walk down the Park called Planty created in the 19th century where the city walls and the moat were, to arrive in the university quarter where Collegium Maius stands, that is the first and the oldest building belonging to Cracow University. The University was founded by the King Casmir the Great in 1364 and this building was constructed at the beginning of the 15 century thanks to jewels left by Saint Hedwig. We will reach the Main Market that is the biggest European medieval square and comes from 1257, with its Town Hall Tower built in the 15th century, the Cloth Hall where now you can find traditional items of a local craft and Saint Mary's Church with an outstanding Main Altar carved by Veit Stvoss between 1477 - 1489. The Church itself has two towers; tradition says they were built by two brothers, who ended their lives in a tragic way - one brother was killed by another one and the assassin comitted suicide. Taller tower always belonged to the city and even nowadays each and every hour it is possible to listen to a special melody that is played by a trumpeter. It reminds the Tartar invasion that took place in 1240s. We will have lunch at a local restaurant. After heaving lunch we will depart from Cracow to Oświęcim to visit Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II Birkenau Camps. WWII began with the German Nazis attack on Poland that took place on September 1, 1939. On September 17, according to the secret part of Ribbentrop - Molotov Pact Soviets invaded Poland from the East and so called fourth partition of Poland took place. German Nazis offered one part of Polish territory to Soviets, another one incorporated to the Third Reich, and from the remaining part a state called General Government that depended totally on the Third Reich was created. Hans Frank was a head of this strange state and lived in Cracow, on the Wawel Hill where once Polish Kings and Queens had lived. Oświęcim is one of the oldest Polish towns with its history of more than 800 years but when the WWII started, German Nazis incorporated the town to the Third Reich and changed its name for Auschwitz. When German Nazis made up their mind to creat first Auschwitz camp in 1940, it was thought to use buildings that once had belonged to the Polish Army. First transport of 728 Polish prisoners arrived from Tarnów on June 14, 1940. In 1941 Auschwitz II Birkenau camp was started to be constructed on spot of Brzezinka village, named Birkenau at the beginning of WWII. In September of 1941 Germans for the first time used Cyclone B, making this horrible try on 600 Soviet war prisoners and 250 Poles moved from camp hospital to underground cellars of Block No 11 in Auschwitz I Camp. Later on this method became the main one used by German Nazis in Auschwitz to kill Jews, Gypsies and all the prisoners, no matter the nationality, who weren’t capable to work anymore. Even the decision regarding the extermination of Jews was taken in Berlin - Wansee in January of 1942, the first Jewish transports arrived in Auschwitz earlier. During the WWII in all Auschwitz Camps one million four hundred thousand people were murdered, and among them there were 90% of  Jews coming from different European countries. We will never learn the exact number of victims since the majority of them died immediately in gas chambers after arrival without becoming camp prisoners. Auschwitz - Birkenau Camps are State Museum since 1947 and they are on the UNESCO Heritage List since 1979. We will enter the camp through the Entrance Gate with a inscription “Arbeit macht frei” – “Work makes free”, we will follow the exposition on the Camp history with photos, drawings made by prisoners and prisoners' clothes. We will see some items found by Russians on 1945, January 27th when they liberated the Camp – glasses, shoes, suitcases, human hair. We will enter the Death Block with special underground cells – and we will see the one where Father Maximilian Kolbe spent last days of his life, another one where many people died because of lack of the oxygen and four more – called the dark ones – each of the dimensions 90 x 90 cm and each destined for four prisoners who were supposed to stay there in the same time. We will also see the Death Wall where prisoners were shot and a Gas Chamber I. In Auschwitz II Birkenau we will see the Death Gate, a platform where the selections took place and we will enter some wooden barracks. Afterwards we will return to Cracow for dinner in our hotel. Overnight.

Enjoy Kraków - LIVE

Day 4: CRACOW – KALWARIA ZEBRZYDOWSKA (22 miles) – WADOWICE (9 miles) – OLOMOUC (120 miles)

We will have breakfast in our hotel and afterwards we will drive to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a UNESCO Heritage site since 1999 where the Shrine of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska is. The complex consists of a Basilica where in a side chapel the Miraculous Painting of the Virgin Mary with Child is placed for almost 400 years, cloisters, monastery buildings and about forty chapels dedicated to Holy Mary and to Passion of Jesus Christ which are spread in the area surrounding the Sanctuary creating a kind of a walking path that is 3,7 miles long! When Karol Wojtyła's mother died when he was almost nine his father decided to go with him to the Sanctuary of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska and to present him the Virgin Mary as his new Mother. The Pope admitted many times that Kalwaria Zebrzydowska had been a very special place to him since when he was worried or sad he always tried to go there to pray and to walk down the paths - it gave him a lot of strength. He went to Kalwaria as a child, student, priest, Cracow Bishop, Archbishop, Cardinal and twice as Pope. We will have time for private devotion and after we will drive to Wadowice where we will have lunch at a local restaurant. Later on we will visit the Church that stands in the Main Market Square where Karol Wojtyła was baptized and we will see the exhibition dedicated to The Pope. Afterwards we will leave Wadowice going towards Olomouc where we will register in for one night stay. We will have our dinner in the hotel. Overnight.

Day 5: OLOMOUC – SVATÝ KOPECEK (6 miles) – VIENNA (140 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Afterwards we will have a guided walking tour of Olomouc that is the third biggest city in the Czech Republic as far as the number of its inhabitants is concerned but the second one as far as the number of monuments. Among them there is the Trinity Column, 35 meters/115 feet high erected between 1716-1754 in the Market Square that is one of the UNESCO Heritage Site. The Clock of the Town Hall is famous as well even if many of its original details were lost after WWII and now there are many of them which are typical for the socialist period. The most important church is the Cathedral dedicated to Saint Wenceslas, remodelled at the end of the 19th century according to the Neo Gothic Style therefore conserving plenty of original ornaments. In the proximity of the Cathedral King Wenceslas III lost his life on his way to Poland. We will have lunch at a local restaurant and after we will have a short drive to Svatý Kopecek that lies only few miles away from Olomouc. There is a Basilica dedicated to the Visitation of the Virgin Mary there which beginnings date back to the 17th century, to the period of the Thirty Years War when the tiny Chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary was built. The actual construction is from 1669 -1679 following the project of an Italian artist G.P.Tencalla. The Pope John Paul II visited this Marian Sanctuary in 1995. Afterwards we will continue our drive to Vienna to register in our hotel for three night stay. We will have our dinner in the hotel. Overnight.

Day 6: VIENNA

After having our breakfast we will start our sightseeing of the Austrian Capital. The city lies on the banks of the Danube River. The first settlement was established 2500 years ago and it was a Celtic one. In 15 BC Vienna became a Roman border city - Vindobona - and it was supposed to guard the Roman Empire from Germanic and Barbarian tribes. It obtained city rights in 1221 flourishing under the Babenberg Dynasty and later under the Habsburgs. In the morning we will walk down the Old Town with its Cathedral dedicated to Saint Stephen. The first church was built in the very same place between 1230-1263 in late Romanesque Style. It was a seat of the Chapter since 1365, the Bishopric since 1469 and in 1723 it was transformed into Archbishopric. The Vienna Cathedral is considered one of the biggest European Temples. After the visit to the Cathedral we will continue our walking tour down the streets and squares of the city to arrive to Saint Rupert Church - the most ancient city church that was built in the 11th century - at the beginning it was used by sailors and navigators to pray there for safe trip. The Hofburg Palace was the ancient residence of Vienna rulers - the first construction was erected in the 13th century. It was rebuilt multiple times and it was used by the Habsburg Dynasty as a winter palace. Lunch at a local restaurant and afterwards we will drive along the famous Ring plenty of imminent buildings from 19th century towards the Shonbrunn Palace that was a summer palace that was rebuilt in Maria Theresa times according to Baroque Style. Francis Joseph, the Emperor, was born and died there. His famous wife Sissi spent many time there as well. Dinner in our hotel and overnight.

Day 7: VIENNA – MARIAZELL (100 miles) – HEILIGENKREUZ (62 miles) – VIENNA (22 miles)

We will have breakfast in our hotel and after we will depart to Mariazell that is a tiny village of 2000 inhabitants but which each year hosts more than half a million of pilgrims coming not only from Austria but from the whole Europe. The date of the foundation of the Sanctuary is December 21, 1157 when the Abbot Otker from the Benedictine Abbey of St. Lambrecht sends a Monk named Magnus to the area of Mariazell that belonged to the Abbey in order to evangelise there. The Monk decides to carry with him a Romanesque Statue representing the Holy Mary and Jesus Child carved in tile wood. Exactly on December 21 the path was cut by a huge rock. The Monk kneels down in front of the Statue and the rock withdraws. After the arrival Magnus puts the Statue over a trunk and starts to construct what was supposed to be a Chapel and a cell. Henry of Moravia with his wife is among the first to come and to regain their health thanks to prayers to the Holy Mary after having followed the advice revealed by Saint Wenceslas. Henry was also one of the founders of the first Sanctuary. The first information on it comes from 1243. The document sealed by the Bishop of Salzburg in 1300 presents the Sanctuary as a well known pilgrimage place visited by a huge number of people. In 1365 Hungarian King Louis wins a battle against Turkish soldiers thanks to the intercession of Our Lady of Mariazell - in the Treasure Room of the Sanctuary there is a painting that documents this event. Around AD 1500 Mariazell is one of the most famous pilgrimage sites - there were people coming from what now is Bavaria, the Czech Republic, the Slovak Republic, France, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary. After the Council of Trent the number of pilgrims grew even bigger and when the recommendation made by the Habsburg Dynasty offering themselves and the whole country to Our Lady Of Mariazell finally nobles started to arrive. The Abbot Pierin of St. Lambrecht took decision to make the Sanctuary much bigger. The Italian artist Domenico Sciassia prepared a project but he had died four years before the works finished. Only in 1704 the actual Sanctuary was consecrated. There was a big fire in the 19th century but fortunately the interior wasn't destroyed. The damages were repaired thanks to donations of the whole country. We will visit the Sanctuary and its Treasure Room. We will have time for private devotion and after we will have lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon we will drive to Heiligenkreutz, a Cistercian Monastery that was founded in 1133. The Blessed Otto, a Cistercian Monk and a Bishop of Freising asked his father to help him to establish this new monastic order in Austria. These were the beginnings of Heiligenkreutz - and in 1188 Leopold V donates a relic of the Holy Cross that is the biggest piece that is in North of the Alps. The monastery of Heiligenkreutz is the most ancient one in the whole world that never stopped to exist. In the complex we will visit a Romanesque Church and a Chapel of the Relic. Afterwards we will return to our hotel in Vienna for dinner and overnight.

Day 8 VIENNA – MELK (55 miles) – SALZBURG (136 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Afterwards we will drive to Melk. Stift Melk is a Benedictine Abbey that lies in the nearby of the Wachau Valley and is one of the Christian monasteries that is famous all over the world. In 1089 Leopold II gave one of his castles to the Benedictine Monks from Lambach Abbey. In the 12th century the monks founded the school and started writing the manuscripts which huge collection is possible to see now in the world famous library. In the 15th century Melk became a very important centre of the reform that brought back certain vigour to the monastic life in Austria and in Southern Germany. In 1625 the Melk Abbey became a member of Austrian Congregation, nowadays included in Benedictine Confederation. The works which gave a Baroque aspect to the whole complex started in 1702. Jakob Prandtdauer was a Master Builder and Architect but it was Johann Michael Rottmyr who painted the Church with beautiful frescos and Paul Troger painted the ceiling of library. The convent, thanks to its international fame wasn't dissolved under the Emperor Joseph II, it survived the Napoleonic period and the Anschluss of Austria to the Third Reich. The school was reopened after the WWII and actually there are 900 students - girls and boys who study there. Umberto Eco, a world famous Italian writer, author of "The name of the Rose" presented Adso of Melk as one of the novel protagonists. We will have our lunch at a local restaurant in Melk and afterwards we will drive to Salzburg for one night stay. Dinner in our hotel in Salzburg and overnight.

Day 9: SALZBURG – ST. MARIA PLAIN (4 miles) – MUNICH (90 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Afterwards we will start our walking guided tour of the city of Salzburg. This one is the fourth Austrian city and also a UNESCO Heritage Site since 1996. It is also a hometown of a genius musician Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. During our sightseeing we will visit the house where he was born that lies in Getreidgasse - Street of Grain - in which there are some of his personal belongings. Afterwards we will walk down narrow streets and we will visit the Cathedral from the 17th century building that dominates the perspective of the Old Town. The Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Rupert whose relics lie inside. We will cross the monumental cemetery of Saint Peter and we will go up to the hill where the Hohensalzburg Fortress is. This is the biggest and the best preserved Fortress in whole Europe. It was sieged many times but it was never conquered. Its construction started in 1077 under the rules of Prince Archbishop Gebhard von Hellfenstein. It was made bigger and bigger till 17th century with new bastions, towers and walls. We will have lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon we will drive to the outskirts of Salzburg where the village of Bergheim is where the Basilica of Our Lady of Maria Plain exists. This Basilica is considered the traditional Pilgrimage Church for the City of Salzburg. The legend says the Image that represents the Holy Mary with Jesus Child survived a huge fire that had destroyed the Bavarian city of Regen during the Thirty Years War. After this the Painting was sent to Salzburg and Prince Archbishop Guidobald Thun founded a chapel in 1652. Not much later another Prince Archbishop Max Gandolf founded a Church near the Chapel. It was an Italian artist Giovanni Antonio Dario who projected the Sanctuary and directed the works in the 1670s. The Miraculous Painting is now in front of the Main Altar - it was crowned on July 14, 1751 and Mozart himself composed his famous Coronation Mass for the 28th anniversary. There are still two more chapels near the Sanctuary - the Heiligegrab Kapelle - that is the Chapel of Holy Tomb that is a copy of the Christ's Tomb in Jerusalem, and Schmerzenskapelle - the Pain Chapel with Pietà by Franz Schwanthaler. We will visit the Sanctuary and later we will have time for private devotion. It will be possible to take a lot of pictures of Salzburg from the hill where the Shrine is placed - there is an outstanding view on the city from there. Afterwards we will depart to Munich for two night stay. Dinner in our hotel in Munich and overnight.

Day 10: MUNICH – ALTÖTTING (60 miles) – MARKTL AM INN (9 miles) – MUNICH (69 miles)

Breakfast in our hotel. Afterwards we will have our guided tour of the Capital of Bavaria. Munich is one of the biggest German cities and it offers plenty of places of interest, museums, art galleries - despite very heavy damages the city suffered during WWII it was rebuilt in the 50s. The very heart of the city is Marienplatz - Mary's Square with an impressive building of the New Town Hall with its famous Clock. A very short walk from Marienplatz you can find the Frauenkirche - the Cathedral dedicated to Our Lady - which is one of the symbols of the city. The Pope Benedict XVI was Archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1981. On the other part of the city centre, near Marianplatz there is the Viktualienmarkt – in other words a Food Market - today not only the traditional open air market but also a place where it is possible to taste typical dishes of the city - such as Weißwirst - white sausage, Leberkäs - a kind of ham served hot and, of course, a beer. Do not forget that each year in Munich there is the famous Oktoberfest to be organised since 1810 and millions come to take part in this event. on that occasion the whole area of Theresienwiese is full of tents and places that offer pints and pints of beer. In other periods of time it is interesting to enter the Hofbräuhaus that lies in the city centre - the first construction was erected in 1589 and the actual building dates back to the late 19th century. 3500 people can be sitting and drinking beer there. The Capital of Bavaria stands also for BMW World (Bayerische Motoren Werke - Bavarian Motor Works) which exists since 1916 and in 1917 there was made first plane engine of high compression, in 1923 BMW produced its first motorbike and in 1929 made its first car. Munich id also famous for the FC Bayern Munich and its extraordinary football stadium. We will have our lunch at a local restaurant and afterwards we will drive to Altötting, a lovely and tiny town of 13.000 inhabitants. There is the most important German Marian Shrine there. In 1489 a little three year old boy drew in a river and his mother who was in despair brought the body of her son in front of the Statue dedicated to the Holy Mary. The boy came back to life. The information on the miracle spread and many people started to come to Altötting to pray in front of The Image. Nowadays more than 500.000 people come each year to venerate Our Beloved Lady of Altötting - Unsere Liebe Frau von Altötting - placed in the Chapel of Grace. In the same Chapel as the tradition wants, there are urns with hearts of Bavarian rulers and among them you can find the one with Ludwig’s II, called The Mad, heart who was the constructor of famous Neuschwenstein Castle. The Pope John Paul II visited The Sanctuary in 1980 but the Pope Benedict XVI came numerous times to the Sanctuary. He still remembers the canonization of a Capuchin Monk Konrad von Parzham that took place in 1934. Ratzinger came to Altötting in 1989 during Jubilee Year to preside a ceremony of inauguration, in 1999 to celebrate 400 years of the Marian Congregation, in 2001 he accompanied thousands and thousands of pilgrims who had arrived on foot, in 2005, January, he came in private with his brother Georg. On April 24 of the same year he gave thanks to the Mayor of Altötting Herbert Hofbauer for the copy of the Holy Mary. During our stay we will see the Sanctuary and the Panoramic Painting from 1901 that represents the Crucifixion. We will also have time for private devotion in the Sanctuary. Afterwards we will drive to Marktl Am Inn, a small village of 2700 inhabitants known because of the tradition of organising market events. The most important person who was born there is the Pope Benedict XVI whose house - transformed now in the museum - we are going to visit. We will also enter the Church where the baptism fount stands where little Joseph Ratzinger was baptized on the very same day when he was born - on April 16, 1927. After we will drive back to our hotel to Munich for dinner and overnight.

Day 11: MUNICH – HOMETOWN

We will have breakfast in our hotel and after there will be time for leisure until the hour to leave the hotel in the direction of the Airport to take our flight back home.

Day 11: MUNICH – REGENSBURG (77 miles) – PRAGUE (163 miles)

After breakfast we will drive to Regensburg, known also as Ratisbon - a Bavarian city that was built at the confluence of two rivers: the Danube and the Regen. The name of Regensburg derives from the Celtic one - Radasbona. Around AD 90 the Romans constructed the fort, in AD 179 they put the first stone of the town and they built the Castra Regina for the Legio III called Italica according to the decision of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. In the Middle Ages Regensburg became the political centre of the Sacred German Roman Empire. During Napoleonic wars the city was conquered many times by French and Austrians. Neither in 19th century nor at the beginning of the 20th Regensburg wasn't industrialised and even if the Messerschmitt factory was built there the city almost wasn’t destroyed by heavy bombings of the Allies during WWII. In 2006 the Old Town was put on the UNESCO Heritage List. During our stay in Regensburg we will visit Saint Peter’s Cathedral and we will cross the Stone Bridge that links two banks of the Danube River since 1146. We will have our lunch at a local restaurant. Afterwards we will continue to Prague for dinner and overnight.

Day 12: PRAGUE

Breakfast in our hotel. After it we will start a full day guided tour of Czech Capital. Prague in the shape it exists now was formed in 1784 when five historic centres came together: the Old Town, the New Town, Josefov, Mala Strana and Hradcany. Since 1992 Prague is one of the UNESCO Heritage Sites. We will start our walking tour on the left bank of the Moldova River where districts of Hradcany and Mala Strana lie. The first monument to be visited will be Loreto that is a complex of buildings from the Baroque period which construction started in1626. The benefactor was a Czech Baroness Kathleen Lobkovic. The central part is the Loreto house projected by an Italian architect Giovanni Orsi and it was consecrated only few years after the works had started - in 1631. We will continue our walk towards the Cathedral dedicated to Saint Vitus, Saint Wenceslas and Saint Adalbert, which is also considered the National Pantheon where are buried the Czech Rulers and where the Coronation Insignia, among which Saint Wenceslas Crown, are guarded. The first Church was constructed on the same spot in 925 in the times of Wenceslas I and it was dedicated to Saint Vitus; in 973 the church became the Cathedral. The works upon the actual construction started in 1344 and one of the Master Builders was Peter Parler who projected also the Chapel of Saint Wenceslas. We will walk down the streets of Mala Strana District to arrive to the Church of Our Lady of Victory where the Statue of Infant Jesus of Prague is - the most known place of pilgrimages in Prague and in the whole Bohemia region widely known abroad. Later we will have our lunch at a local restaurant. In the afternoon we will reach famous Charles Bridge which history starts in the 14th century - its construction was assigned to Peter Parler. In the Baroque period 30 statues of Saints were added - the most known one is dedicated to Saint John of Nepomuk - the tradition says that if you touch the Statue and bas-reliefs with your left hand your dreams will come truth and you will come back again to Prague! Afterwards we will arrive to the Market Square where the Town Hall with its famous clock stands. The Clock was created in 1410 by Mikulaš of Kadane and Jan Šnidel. The last one became a professor of maths and astronomy at Charles University. It shows four different ways of measuring the time: the old Czech time scale, the old German time scale, the astronomical and the Babylonian ones. Each hour from 9 am to 9 pm twelve figures representing all twelve Apostles appear. Return to our hotel, dinner and overnight.

Day 13: PRAGUE – HOMETOWN

We will have breakfast in our hotel and after there will be time for leisure until the hour to leave the hotel in the direction of the Airport to take our flight back home.

The film is adapted from the autobiography of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish Jew who detailed his survival during World War II. A composer and a pianist, he played the last live music heard over Polish radio airwaves before Nazi artillery hit. During the brutal occupation, he eluded deportation and remained in the devastated Warsaw ghetto. There, he struggled to stay alive even when cast away from those he loved. He would eventually reclaim his artistic gifts and confront his fears, with aid from the unlikeliest of sources. (FILMAFFINITY)

Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using flattery and bribes to win military contracts, and brings in accountant and financier Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to help run the factory. By staffing his plant with Jews who've been herded into Krakow's ghetto by Nazi troops, Schindler has a dependable unpaid labor force. For Stern, a job in a war-related plant could mean survival for himself and the other Jews working for Schindler. However, in 1942, all of Krakow's Jews are assigned to the Plaszow Forced Labor Camp, overseen by Commandant Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), an embittered alcoholic who occasionally shoots prisoners from his balcony. Schindler arranges to continue using Polish Jews in his plant, but, as he sees what is happening to his employees, he begins to develop a conscience. He realizes that his factory (now refitted to manufacture ammunition) is the only thing preventing his staff from being shipped to the death camps. Soon Schindler demands more workers and starts bribing Nazi leaders to keep Jews on his employee lists and out of the camps. By the time Germany falls to the allies, Schindler has lost his entire fortune — and saved 1,100 people from likely death. (FILMAFFINITY)

This program recreates the early career of John Paul II in the years leading up to when he was elected pope. KAROL: A MAN WHO BECAME POPE also features interviews with the film's actors, and footage of the actual John Paul II giving his first speech as pope. Krakow, September 1939, the German army invade the city under the leadership of Nazi general Hans Frank (Matt Craven). From the beginning, their politics is destructive towards everything that is Polish, the culture and the whole Polish Nation. The attack of hatred and destruction is directed towards elites of Polish universities, particularly, Professors at Jagiellonian University, and the Church. Young Karol experiences these events very cruelly, the suffering of his Nation is his suffering. His plans to study Polish philology and literature, to become an actor are ruined, his dearest friends (including the Jewish Family Kluger) are taken to Holocaust or killed on the way. The world seems to have turned into sheer bestial madness. But Karol's escape are books and prayer. With some of his friends, including Hania (Malgorzata Bela), they decide to retain the Polish culture meeting secretly and cultivating their love to the theater. They strengthen their faith that the only cure for the hatred in the world is love. It is then that Karol decides to be a priest and serve God. He goes to the seminar after which he serves his First Holy Mass on November, the 2nd, 1946. But the cruel experience of WWII does not end. After WWII, Poland experiences another pressure of the totalitarian reign, this time it is communism, illusively directed towards the goodness of people and openly against the Church. Karol as a young priest, later bishop and cardinal, never gives up defending human rights, heading for the real goodness of the society, and consoling people, sowing hope whenever possible. The movie shows two most important events: Poznan (1956) and Nowa Huta (1977). This experience which started with the trials of his Nation leads him to Rome, to the memorable 16th of October 1978 when the whole world hears the news: Habemus Papam... Cardinalem Wojtyla (the archive final shot of the movie). (FILMAFFINITY)

SINGLE ROOM SUPPLEMENT IN 4 STAR HOTEL: 400 €

DISCOUNT THIRD PERSON IN THE ROOM: 15%

EXTENSION WITH PRAGUE 3 DAYS/2 NIGHTS IN 4 STAR HOTEL: 180 €

THE PRICE INCLUDES

10/12 nights in 4* hotels – 1 in Warsaw , 3 in Krakow, 1 in Olomouc, 3 in Vienna, 2 in Munich; 2 in Prague in case of 13 day itinerary.

10/12 breakfasts and 10/12 dinners in the hotels.

9/11 lunches in local restaurants.

Still water included during lunch and dinner.

Luxury coach with air - conditioning throughout the trip.

Tour escort service throughout the trip.

Guided visits: 4 hours in Warsaw, 2 hours in Czestochowa, 4 hours in Krakow, 3 hours in Auschwitz Concentration Camp, 2 hours in Olomouc, FD visit – up to 8 hours – in Vienna, 1 hour in Benedictine Abbey of Melk, 3 hours in Salzburg, 3 hours in Munich; 2 hours in Regensburg, FD visit – up to 8 hours in Prague – in case of 13 day itinerary.

Entrance tickets: Krakow Cathedral, St. Mary’s Basilica, Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, Treasury Room in Mariazell, Mozart House in Salzburg; Loreto and Cathedral of Prague in 13 day itinerary.

Travel insurance.

Cancellation insurance.

THE PRICE DOESN´T INCLUDE

Flight ticket.

Extras such as drinks, telephone calls, tips, etc.

Everything that has not been mentioned in the programme or in the leaflet concerning the trip.

IMPORTANT: THIS PROGRAMME IS ONLY A SUGGESTION AND IT CAN BE TAILORED AND PERSONALISED ACCORDING TO GROUPS WISHES.