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Poland: In the Footsteps of Saint Paul II

DAY 1 MADRID – WARSAW Meeting in Barajas Airport at the indicated time to leave on a flight to Warsaw. Arrival and transfer to the hotel. Dinner and lodging.

DAY 2 WARSAW Breakfast. Departure to take a panoramic tour of Warsaw. We will visit Lazienki Park, where there is a sculpture of Chopin, the Warsaw Ghetto, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Umschlagplatz, deportation place for the Jews during the German occupation, the Palace of Culture and Science… The Old City of Warsaw was totally destroyed during the Second World War and reconstructed with the impressive effort of the Polish people in the postwar years. It is inscribed on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Lunch in restaurant. Then, we will visit the Royal Castle. Free time in the Old City of Warsaw. Dinner and lodging.

DAY 3 WARSAW – KRAKOW: DIOCESIS of the MONSEÑOR KAROL WOJTYLA Breakfast. Departure for Krakow. Lunch in a restaurant. In the afternoon we will visit Krakow, which is one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in Poland. It has the Largest Market Square in Europe, the Town Hall Tower, the Basilica of Our Lady with the altar by Wit Stwosz, short Tour of the old wall near Saint Florian’s Gate and the Barbican. In the Church of Saint Florian, situated in the Matejki Karol Square. In the year 1978 Krakow was inscribed on the list of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Transfer to the hotel. Dinner and lodging.

DAY 4 KRAKOW – EXCURSION TO WIELICZKA Breakfast. We will continue with the Tour of Krakow: the Wawel Hill with the Royal Castle with the Renaissance court, the Cathedral where, in the Crypt of Saint Leonard, the young Karol Wojtyla celebrated his first mass on November 2 in the year 1946. The Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque architecture of the Old City, the Archbishops Palace of Krakow, where the Bishop, and later the Archbishop and Cardinal Karol Wojtyla lived… Walk through the historic center and tour of the university Jagiellonski where Karol Wojtyla studied in the years 1938-1939 before the Second World War. During the tour: audiovisual presentation of the history of amber – Poland’s gold. Lunch in restaurant. We will continue the visit in the Shrine of Divine Mercy, with the famous painting ‘’Jesus in you I trust’’ and declared ‘’the center of Divine Mercy’’. Then, departure for Wieliczka, where we will visit the Salt Mines – one of the oldest slat mines in the world which has worked from prehistoric times, also very famous for its long tourist tradition: This place was visited by Nicholas Copernicus, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Dmitij Mendeleev, etc. Also, it is UNESCO World Heritage Site. The mines forms a subterranean city, with Chapels (the Chapel of Saint Kinga is the largest subterranean chapel in the world), lakes and tunnels. Dinner and Polish folklore concert in a restaurant in Wieliczka. Return to the hotel. Lodging.

DAY 5 KRAKOW – EXCURSION TO KALWARIA ZEBRZYDOWSKA, WADOWICE and AUSCHWITZ Breakfast. Departure for Kalwaria. Tour of the Zebrzydowska Shrine that, after that of Jasna Góraen Czestochowa and Łagiewniki in Krakow, is the most visited shrine in Poland. The mannerist architecture and the entire surrounding area of the Shrine was inscribed on the list UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Continuation to Wadowice, birthplace of Pope John Paul II. We will visit the house where he was born and the Parish church in which he was baptized. Lunch in a local restaurant in Wadowice. Departure for Auschwitz. Tour of the ex-concentration camp and of nazi exterminations, constructed by the Germans during the Nazi occupation in Poland. In this camp, during the Second World War, the nazis murdered more than one million people, the majority of Jewish origin. Today the ex-concentration camp of Auschwitz forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Return to Krakow. Dinner and concert of traditional Jewish music in a restaurant. Lodging.

DAY 6 KRAKOW – EXC. RIO DUNAJEC and ZAKOPANE Breakfast. Departure for Sromowce Wyżne. We will take a trip on rafts on the Dunajec River, which runs between the picturesque caonyons of the Pieniny. The trip on traditional rafts (wooden trunks tied together into a raft), guided by rafters from the mountains, is an exciting and unforgettable experience that is considered one of the most important tourist attractions in Europe . Lunch in restaurant. Continuation to Zakopane, the capital of the Polish mountains. the charm of Zakopane consists of its location (at the feet of the Tatra Mountains) and its wooden architecture. Tour of Zakopane: Jaszczurówka, Peksowy Brzyzek, the town Atma, Krzeptówki, the Marian Shrine. At the end of the visit, we will stroll through Krupówki: the best known street in Zakopane. Free time in the capital of the Polish mountains. Trip by cablecar to Gubalowka, from where we can admire the panorama of the Tatras. Return to the hotel in Krakow. Dinner and lodging.

DAY 7 KRAKOW – CZĘSTOCHOWA – WARSAW Breakfast. Departure for Czestochowa. We will visit the Monastery of the Pauline Friars where the miraculous image of the Virgin María, also called the Black Madonna, is found: the the most important pilgrimage site in Poland. Lunch in a restaurant in Czestochowa. After finishing, departure for Warsaw. Transfer to the hotel. Dinner and lodging.

DAY 8 WARSAW – MADRID Breakfast. Transfer at the indicated time to the airport to embark on the return flight to Madrid. Arrival and END OF TRIP