English

Traveling University
Musical Trip to
Romania & Moldova
Led by Professor Yale Strom
October 23 - November 3, 2022

Tour Rates & Dates:

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Tour Overview:

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Romanian and Moldavan Jewish history is enriched by the many famous Jewish artists originating here: playwright Eugene Ionesco, actors Molly Picon, Edward G. Robinson and John Houseman, opera star Alma Gluck and writer Elie Wiesel, among many others. Yiddish musical theatre was born in Iasi, Romania and today there is still a Yiddish theater in Bucharest. Yiddish musical theater immigrated to New York in the late 19th century, giving birth to what we know as Broadway - the contributions from this region have had a global impact on culture today. Prof. Yale Strom, a world-renowned ethnomusicologist and klezmer violinist, will lead a tour to these fascinating and less traveled countries. Prof. Strom will perform two concerts during the tour featuring local musicians, playing a repertoire of klezmer tunes, Yiddish songs and Roma melodies as we come to know the musical roots and heritage of this region. This is the ultimate backstage pass to the performance and the rich living history behind it all!

ON OUR 10-NIGHT EXPLORATION WE WILL:

  • Hear enriching lectures by our scholar, Professor Yale Strom
  • Enjoy klezmer performances and other musical treats along the way by Professor Strom
  • Encounter Jewish heritage in Chisinau, including the Jewish cemetery, the Jewish ghetto and the Synagogue of Glaziers
  • Explore Iasi, the birthplace of Yiddish theater and formerly the largest and most sophisticated Jewish community in Romania
  • Drive to Piatra Neamt, home to the only original wooden synagogue in Eastern Europe, where the "Baal Shem Tov" served for many years
  • Discover the beauty of Bucharest with visits to the Royal Palace, Arch of Triumph and Romanian Opera, and enjoy a performance at the Yiddish State Theatre
  • Experience the wonder of Bran, the castle made famous by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, in the Carpathian Mountains


    • ON OUR 2-NIGHT EXTENSION WE WILL:

  • Travel to the city of Satu Mare, a historical city going back to the Middle Ages and presently the academic, cultural, industrial and business center of northwestern Romania; also the city where the Satmar Hasidim was founded in 1905 under the leadership of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum
  • Visit the synagogue and the Elie Wiesel museum in Sighet Marmatiei


AND SO MUCH MORE!

INCLUDED IN MAIN TOUR:

  • 2 nights Radisson Blu Leogrand, Chisinau, Moldova
  • 2 nights Hotel Unirea, Iasi, Romania
  • 4 total nights Intercontinental Hotel, Bucharest, Romania
  • 2 nights Aro Palace Hotel, Brasov, Romania
  • All touring and sightseeing in a deluxe air-conditioned vehicle with expert English-speaking guides
  • Professional Tour Director throughout
  • Lectures by Professor Yale Strom
  • Breakfast daily
  • 5 dinners, including Shabbat dinner in Bucharest
  • Lunch at the local farmhouse in Sibiel
  • Internal flight from Iasi to Bucharest
  • Transfer upon arrival and departure with the main group
  • Entrance fees as per itinerary
  • Porterage


    • INCLUDED IN EXTENSION:

  • 1 night Gradina Morii Hotel, Sighetu Marmatiei, Romania
  • 1 night Doubletree Hotel Cluj City Plaza, Cluj Napoca, Romania
  • All touring and sightseeing in a deluxe air-conditioned vehicle with an expert English-speaking guide
  • Professional Tour Director throughout
  • Lectures by Professor Yale Strom
  • Breakfast daily
  • Dinner in Sighetu Marmatiei
  • Internal flight from Bucharest to Satu Mare
  • Airport transfers for internal and international flights (with main group)
  • Entrance fees as per itinerary
  • Porterage


    • NOT INCLUDED:

  • Roundtrip airfare, departure taxes and fuel surcharges
  • Border taxes or visas
  • Tips to guides, driver, and dining room waiters ($20 per person, per day; pre-collected) (For more information on Ayelet’s tipping policies, click here)
  • Meals not listed above
  • Items of a personal nature
  • Any costs associated with testing or related to proof of Covid/vaccine status.
  • Travel insurance (recommended - group policy available)

Tour Itinerary:

Day 1: Sunday, October 23, 2022: DEPARTURE

• We depart the United States on our overnight flight to Chisinau.

Day 2: Monday, October 24, 2022: ARRIVAL IN CHISINAU

• We arrive in Chisinau, capital of Moldova, and are met by our Ayelet Tours representative.
• Transfer on own to the hotel (private transfers available at additional cost).
• This afternoon, we meet in the lobby for a short orientation before beginning our walking tour.
• We set out to view the highlights of the Moldavian capital, including the main boulevard Stefan cel Mare, the main square of the General National Meeting, the two central parks, churches and the Central Market.
• We return to our hotel to refresh, followed by a welcome dinner and orientation lecture.

Overnight in Chisinau

Day 3: Tuesday, October 25, 2022: CHISINAU

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Morning lecture by Prof. Strom.
• Today, we enjoy a Jewish heritage tour, including the Jewish cemetery, memorial to the Victims of the Kishinev Pogroms and the former Jewish ghetto.
• Along the way, we also visit the Synagogue of Glaziers and the Jewish History Museum.
• We stop for lunch on own in the city center.
• Next, we meet with representatives from the United House of Jews in Moldova at the local JCC, where we see their library.
• Free evening to enjoy dinner on our own in the Moldavian capital.

Overnight in Chisinau

Day 4: Wednesday, October 26, 2022: IASI

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• Early this morning, we depart Chisinau and cross the border to Iasi (Jassy). Iasi is the second largest city in Romania, birthplace of Yiddish theater, and formerly the largest and most sophisticated Jewish community in Romania. Professor Strom will lecture on the bus.
• We begin at the one remaining synagogue, the Great Synagogue, headquarters of the Hakham Bashi in the 17th century. It is no longer in use, but serves as a museum, open by appointment.
• Next, we visit the Palace of Culture, Trei Ierarhi Church, Copou Park and the Golia Monastery, where we see a beautiful panorama of the city.
• We check into our hotel and enjoy dinner together this evening.
• Later tonight, we meet with local Jewish community members, followed by a short klezmer concert coordinated by Yale.

Overnight in Iasi

Day 5: Thursday, October 27, 2022: IASI TO PIATRA NEAMT

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Morning lecture with Prof. Strom.
• Today, we drive to Piatra Neamt, home to the only original wooden synagogue in Eastern Europe. It is here where “Baal Shem Tov”, Rabbi Eliezer Ben Israel, served for years.
• We take a brief tour of the city and meet with a representative of the community.
• We return to Iasi for an evening at leisure and dinner on own.

Overnight in Iasi

Day 6: Friday, October 28, 2022: BUCHAREST

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• Morning lecture by Professor Strom.
• Today, we transfer to the airport for our flight to Bucharest.
• Upon arrival, we enjoy a sightseeing tour during which we see the Royal Palace, Arch of Triumph, Romanian Opera and the Military Academy.
• We check into our hotel and prepare for Shabbat.
• As the sun sets, we travel to the newly renovated Choral Synagogue, which is without a doubt the most impressive synagogue in Romania. Here, we enjoy Kabbalat Shabbat, followed by Shabbat dinner together.

Overnight in Bucharest

Day 7: Saturday, October 29, 2022: SHABBAT IN BUCHAREST

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Option to attend Shabbat services this morning or enjoy time at leisure to see all that the Romanian capital has to offer.
• This afternoon, we meet for a walking tour of Bucharest, including Constitution Square and the Parliament Palace, also known as the “House of the People”, which is the heaviest and second largest building in the world after the Pentagon.
• We meet for dinner together this evening before we join the local Yiddish State Theater for a performance relishing in the past Jewish culture revival in modern day Romania.

Overnight in Bucharest

Day 8: Sunday, October 30, 2022: JEWISH SITES AND SYNAGOGUES OF BUCHAREST

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• Morning lecture by Prof. Strom.
• This morning, we visit the Holocaust memorial, which was opened in 2009.
• Next, we see the Great Synagogue, founded in 1845 by a congregation of Polish Jews. This was the first major place of worship for the Ashkenazi community of Bucharest, and it was designed as a spacious, multipurpose edifice.
• We continue to the Jewish Museum located in the former United Holy Temple synagogue, which survived World War II. The museum provides a broad history of Judaism in Romania, including a large collection of books and paintings by Romanian Jews, and more.
• Our next stop today is the JCC of Bucharest, where we learn about the film, dance, music and culinary events they organize as well as their summer camp for children.
• Our final stop is at the newly renovated Choral Temple, which is without a doubt the most impressive synagogue in Romania, dating back to 1864.
• We return to our hotel for an evening at leisure and dinner on our own.

Overnight in Bucharest

Day 9: Monday, October 31, 2022: BRAN AND THE PEARL OF THE CARPATHIANS

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• We continue to Bran to visit the castle made famous by Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. The castle was built by the German Saxons to guard the trade route through the Carpathian Mountains between the regions of Transylvania and Wallachia. Prof. Strom lectures on the bus.
• Next, we enjoy a tour of Brasov, including the synagogue, Sinagoga Neologa, and the Black Church.
• We continue to our hotel for check-in and enjoy an evening at leisure with dinner on own.

Overnight in Brasov

Day 10: Tuesday, November 1, 2022: SIBUI

• Breakfast at our hotel.
• This morning, we travel to Sibiu, listed as the European Capital of Culture in 2007. The original town of Sibiu was built in the 13th century and was protected by walls and brick towers. The buildings were joined by tunnels and narrow passageways, with heavily grated windows to cover the stairways and corners where intruders might be ambushed. Everywhere you look, there is evidence of Sibiu's historical past. We enjoy a walking tour during which we will see the baroque style Roman Catholic cathedral, the Evangelical cathedral, the Liar’s bridge and the Old Squares.
• After the tour we drive to the nearby Sibiel village, founded during the Middle Ages by the Wallachian shepherds, where we will enjoy lunch at one of the local farmhouses with traditional dishes.
• After enjoying the hospitality of the local family and a lecture by Prof. Strom, we return to Brasov and enjoy dinner on own.

Overnight in Brasov

Day 11: Wednesday, November 2, 2022: BRASOV

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• This morning, Professor Strom gives a closing lecture.
• Later this morning, we stop at Sinaia, Romania’s most famous mountain resort also known as the "Pearl of the Carpathians". Here, we will visit the Peles Castle, which was the former summer residence of the First Romanian King Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen.
• Lunch on own.
• We return to Bucharest and check into our hotel.
• Tonight, we enjoy a farewell dinner together, along with a klezmer concert and a performance by Yale.

Overnight in Bucharest

Day 12: Thursday, November 3, 2022: DEPARTURE

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• We transfer to the airport for our flight back to the United States, landing later today.

OR JOIN US ON
OUR WESTERN ROMANIA EXTENSION:



Day 12: Thursday, November 3, 2022: SIGHETU MARMATIEI

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• We transfer to the airport for our flight to Satu Mare, a historical city going back to the Middle Ages and presently the academic, cultural, industrial and business center of northwestern Romania.
• Upon arrival, we transfer to Sighetu Marmatiei. Professor Strom will lecture on the bus.
• Upon arrival, we visit the synagogue in Sighet, one of the only remaining examples of a completely intact Romanian Sephardic synagogue with full Moorish architecture, dating from the mid-19th century.
• We visit the world-renowned Elie Wiesel Museum, birthplace of the late Nobel Prize winner.
• We continue to Sighetu Marmatiei to check into our hotel and enjoy dinner together, along with a klezmer concert and a performance by Yale.

Overnight in Sighetu Marmatiei

Day 13: Friday, November 4, 2022: CLUJ-NAPOCA

• Breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• Today, we travel south to Cluj-Napoca, one of Romania’s largest cities and the unofficial capital to the historical province of Transylvania.
• Along the way, we stop in a shtetl to see how some of the locals live. It is like stepping back to days from years past.
• Upon arrival to Cluj Napoca we stop at the newly opened Jewish Muezon.
• Upon arrival, we transfer to our hotel to check in, then enjoy dinner on own.

Overnight in Cluj Napoca

Day 14: Saturday, November 5, 2022: DEPARTURE

• Early morning breakfast and check out of our hotel.
• We transfer to the airport for our flight back to the United States, landing later today.

Professor Yale Strom is an acclaimed violinist, composer, filmmaker, writer, photographer, playwright and a pioneer among revivalists in conducting extensive field research in Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans among the Jewish and Roma communities. Initially, his work focused primarily on the use and performance of klezmer music among these two groups. Gradually, his focus increased to examining all aspects of their culture, from post-World War II to the present. For more than 3 decades and 75 such research expeditions, Strom has become the world's leading ethnographer-artist of klezmer music and history. Strom has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Europe and taught at NYU for 4 years, where he created the course "Artist-Ethnographer Expeditions". At present he is Artist-in-Residence and professor in the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University.

THE MEMORIES LAST FOREVER!
(Itinerary subject to change)