Ayelet's Tours Traveling University with Professor Stephen Berk Eastern Europe
June 2018


Tour Rates & Dates:

There are no Departure Dates available for this Package.
*Please note that all rates displayed are based on standard room double occupancy.
All rates above are in US Dollars, and are based on full payment by credit card unless otherwise noted.
If check payment discount is available for this tour, it can be selected after clicking "BOOK" above.
(Deposit can still be paid by credit card).
Upgraded room categories may be available to book later in the booking process.
If Land & Air price is displayed, the air portion includes tax and fuel surcharges, which are subject to change until ticketed.

Contact Rebecca@ayelet.com to be placed on the waitlist.


Tour Overview:

EASTERN EUROPE HIGHLIGHTS:
LECTURES BY PROF. BERK

Plus spiritual insight and reflection with Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback of Stephen Wise Temple, Los Angeles

Jewish Heritage tour of Prague including:
Terezin, the Josefov, and the Jewish Cemetery
Jewish sites in Budapest including:
Dohany Synagogue, the Jewish Cemetery, and the Holocaust Memorial
Budapest's Royal Palace and Castle Hill area
Jewish Heritage tour of Krakow including:
Kazimierz and the Plashow Concentration Camp
Visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau Krakow's Wawel Castle and Cloth Hall
Opportunity to experience the 27th Annual Jewish Culture Festival
Jewish Heritage tour of Warsaw including:
The Warsaw Ghetto, Mila 18, and the Gensa Cemetery

AND SO MUCH MORE!

2 nights Hotel Paris, Prague, Czech Republic
4 nights Sofitel Hotel Budapest, Budapest, Hungary
3 nights Sheraton Krakow, Krakow, Poland
2 nights Hotel Bristol, Warsaw, Poland
Internal flight from Prague to Budapest
First class train from Krakow to Warsaw
Breakfast daily
Welcome dinner in Prague
Shabbat dinner in Budapest
2 dinners in Krakow
Dinner with members of Beit Warszawa
Farewell dinner in Warsaw
All touring with a local licensed English-speaking guide in an    
air-conditioned motorcoach
One group transfer is available on arrival and departure based on the group flights. Participants arriving at other times are responsible for their own transfers. Ayelet Tours will be happy to arrange private transfers at an additional cost
All entrance fees per itinerary
Porterage

BERLIN  HIGHLIGHTS:
LECTURES BY PROF. BERK

4 nights Hilton Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Breakfast daily
2 dinners, including Shabbat dinner

These Prices Do Not Include:

Roundtrip Airfare
(available soon)
Any border taxes or visas
Tips to guides, driver, and dining room waiters
($18.00 per person, per day-pre-collected)
Any items of a personal nature
Travel Insurance 
(Highly recommended)


Tour Itinerary:

DAY 1, Sunday, June 17, 2018: DEPARTURE

• We depart on our overnight flight to Prague.

DAY 2, Monday, June 18, 2018: ARRIVAL IN PRAGUE

• Arrival in Prague, the Czech capital, also known as "the City of One Thousand Spires" with its Baroque churches, promenades, parks and ancient city walls.
• Check in to hotel.
• Afternoon tour of Golden Prague, including the 1,000-year-old Hradcany Castle and St. Vitus' Cathedral, the Charles Bridge, and the Astronomical Clock.
• Tonight we enjoy an orientation lecture and welcome dinner with Professor Stephen Berk.

Overnight in Prague

DAY 3, Tuesday, June 19, 2018: JEWISH PRAGUE

• Breakfast.
• Morning lecture with Professor Berk.
• We enjoy a sightseeing tour of Jewish interest sites, with a visit to the Old City to view the Josefov, Prague's Jewish Town with its Old Town Hall, the Alt-Neu Synagogue, the Pinkas Synagogue, the Maisel Synagogue, the Spanish Synagogue, the Jewish Cemetery and the State Jewish Museum.

Overnight Prague

DAY 4, Wednesday, June 20, 2018: TEREZIN

• Breakfast.
• Morning lecture with Professor Berk.
• Today we travel to Terezin, the former "model" Nazi concentration camp. We visit the Fortress, Jewish Cemetery, Museum, the hidden synagogue, the Memorial Monument and the town itself.
• Transfer to the airport for our short flight to Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Situated on the opposite banks of the Danube River, the former cities of Buda and Pest are linked by a series of graceful bridges.

Overnight in Budapest

DAY 5, Thursday, June 21, 2018: BUDAPEST

• Breakfast.
• We enjoy a panoramic bus tour of Budapest, including Parliament, the Royal Palace, and the Castle Hill area, Fishermen's Bastion, Coronation Church, Hero's Square and Gellert Hill.

Overnight in Budapest

DAY 6, Friday, June 22, 2018: JEWISH BUDAPEST

• Breakfast.
• Morning lecture with Professor Berk.
• We begin our day at the Raul Wallenberg Memorial Statue, and then visit the Dohany Synagogue, the 2nd largest synagogue in Europe, and continue on to the Jewish Cemetery and Museum.
• In the evening, we enjoy Shabbat services at the Dohany Synagogue, followed by Shabbat dinner together.

Overnight in Budapest

DAY 7, Saturday, June 23, 2018: SHABBAT SHALOM!

• Breakfast.
• In the morning, we invite you to join us for optional Shabbat services.
• Afternoon at leisure to explore this beautiful city at your own pace.

Overnight in Budapest

DAY 8, Sunday, June 24, 2018: TO KRAKOW

• Breakfast.
• This morning we depart for Krakow, driving through the lovely hills and countryside of Slovakia, past the Tatras and into the Great Plains of Poland. Professor Berk lectures on the bus.
• This evening we enjoy dinner together with Jonathan Ornstein, executive Director of the Krakow JCC, who updates us on the many exciting projects they have undertaken in what is now a growing and flourishing Jewish community in the heart of Galicia.

Overnight in Krakow

DAY 9, Monday, June 25, 2018: AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU

• Breakfast.
• This morning we travel to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the infamous Nazi Concentration Camps where many Jews and others perished in WWII. Here we see the museum and pay tribute to the victims.
• We return to Krakow and have the remainder of the afternoon to reflect.
• Enjoy dinner together this evening at a local restaurant.

Overnight in Krakow

DAY 10, Tuesday, June 26, 2018: KRAKOW

• Breakfast.
• Morning lecture with Professor Berk.
• Our morning city tour includes Wawel Castle, St. Mary's Church, the Renaissance Cloth Hall and other ancient landmarks.
• This afternoon we enjoy a Jewish Heritage Tour that includes the Old Jewish District, Kazimierz, where we see the Old Synagogue (a massive fortress-like building erected in the 15th and 16th centuries), the "Temple," and the Ramuh Synagogue. We continue to the Little Museum at the Drug Store inside the Jewish Ghetto, Schindler's Factory, and the Plashow Concentration Camp.

Overnight Krakow

DAY 11, Wednesday, June 27, 2018: WARSAW

• Breakfast.
• This morning we travel by train to Warsaw and check into our hotel.
• This afternoon we have plenty of time to enjoy a guided visit of the New Museum of the History of Polish Jews.
• Tonight we meet with members of Beit Warszawa, the new progressive congregation in Warsaw. We enjoy dinner and hospitality as we learn more about the Judaism alive in today's Poland.

Overnight in Warsaw

DAY 12, Thursday, June 28, 2018: WARSAW

• Breakfast.
• Morning lecture with Professor Berk.
• Today we enjoy a city tour of Warsaw including Chopin's Monument, the Royal Castle, the Jewish Historical Society, and walk to Old Town Market Square and Lazienki Park.
• This afternoon we have a sightseeing tour encompassing Nozyk Synagogue (the only surviving synagogue in Warsaw, founded in 1900), Chopin's Monument, the Warsaw Ghetto, the Jewish Resistance Bunker at Mila 18, Stawski Street buildings (where the SS had their headquarters), the Gensa Cemetery (established in 1806, containing the graves of about 250,000 people and known as the largest cemetery in Poland).
• Tonight we enjoy a special farewell dinner together and a wonderful gala event!

Overnight in Warsaw

DAY 13, Friday, June 29, 2018: DEPARTURE

• Breakfast.
• We transfer to the airport for our flight home.


OR
OPTIONAL
EXTENSION TO BERLIN


DAY 13, Friday, June 29, 2018: ARRIVE BERLIN

• After breakfast, we will transfer to the airport to board our flight to Berlin.
• We begin our tour of Berlin (Germany's capital, reunited in 1989, and home of Germany's largest Jewish community), with a tour of the Mitte, Berlins Historic center district.
• We see Checkpoint Charlie, the East Side Gallery, featuring artwork painted on the Berlin Wall, the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, the Burning of the Book Memorial & more.
• Tonight we enjoy Shabbat services with the local community at the Pestalozistrasse Synagogue, followed by Shabbat dinner together.

O/N Berlin

DAY 14, Saturday, June 30, 2018: SHABBAT SHALOM!

• Breakfast.
• Morning at leisure. You may choose to join services at one of the many local synagogues, or explore this beautiful city at your own pace!
• This afternoon we enjoy a walking tour of the Old Jewish Quarter, revolving and changing.
• Following the walking tour, you may choose to visit one of Berlin's fantastic museums at Museum Island (on own).

O/N Berlin

DAY 15, Sunday, July 1, 2018: POTSDAM

• Breakfast.
• Morning lecture with Professor Berk.
• We start our day at the Gleis 17 Memorial and continue to the Wannsee House where the Wannsee conference took place and the “final solution” of the Jewish question was decided.
• We continue to Potsdam. On the way, we cross the Glienicke Bridge, a famous exchange point for Soviet spies during the days of the Cold War. In Potsdam, we view the stunning Sanssouci Palace and Gardens, built by Frederick the Great.
• Continue to Cecilienhof Manor, site of the famous 1945 meeting between Truman, Churchill and Stalin.

O/N Berlin

DAY 16, Monday, July 2, 2018: BERLIN

• Breakfast.
• Morning lecture with Professor Berk.
• We will stop and visit the Oranienburgerstrasse Synagogue, tour the beautiful Rykestrasse Synagogue, Germany's largest synagogue, reopened 70 years after being damaged severely during Kristallnacht, and the Rosenstrasse Memorial, site of a significant peaceful protest by Aryan wives and relatives of Jewish Germans rounded up for deportation.
• This afternoon we visit the Jewish Museum (building designed by Daniel Libeskind). This is not a Holocaust Museum - the permanent exhibition deals with the Jewish contribution to life in Germany since the 1st century.
• Tonight we enjoy a farewell dinner together.

O/N Berlin

DAY 17, Tuesday, July 3, 2018: DEPARTURE

• Breakfast.
• Transfer to the airport for our flight back to the United States arriving home later today.


The Memories Last Forever!


*Itinerary subject to change