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YOUR TRIP INCLUDES: ~ 1 nights: Hotel Mundial, Lisbon, Portugal ~ 2 nights: Santa Maria Jardim, Fatima, Portugal ~ 1 night: Hotel Abba Fonseca, Salamanca ~ 3 nights: Hotel Cicerone or Quirinale, Rome ~ 4 nights: A modern home/hotel with private baths in Medjugorje
Lunches, Drinks with dinners, Travel Insurance optional at $99-$225. Tips to your guide & driver (Euro 6-8 per day) Items of a personal nature. "Land Only" does not include airfare or airport transfers.
Sample Day-by-Day Itinerary:
Day 1 - USA – Spain Evening departure from your home town, for the overnight flights to Spain. Dinner and breakfast will be served on board. Upon arrival you will be met by your tour guide and driver and transferred to your hotel in Santiago de Compostela. Dinner and overnight in Santiago de Compostela.
Day 3 - Santiago De Compostela Visit Cathedral of St. James is one of the finest examples of architecture in all of Europe. As pilgrims, we have the opportunity to climb the stairs behind the high altar to visit the crypt where the relics of St. James are preserved, touch the central pillar (Portico de La Gloria), view the 'botafumeiro' and admire the wealth of medieval art inside the Cathedral, before visiting the cloister museum. Enjoy a stroll on own, though the beautiful streets of Santiago de Compostela, the city of the apostle, full of historical buildings and other attractions (before or after dinner). Dinner and overnight in Santiago de Compostela.
Day 4 - Santiago de Compostela - Lisbon After breakfast we depart for Lisbon.
After breakfast depart Lisbon for Santarem
Six times, from the May 13 to Oct 13, 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three novices belonging to the diocese of Leiria. A new big basilica is under construction, however just as beautiful, an older basilica was constructed here in 1928, and millions of pilgrims visit each year. Fatima is one of the most visited holy places for Catholics from around the world. The atmosphere of intense spirituality and the importance of Fatima have been attested to by the visits of two Popes: Paul VI and John Paul II. Touring Fatima, see the After breakfast depart for Salamanca. On the way we stop in Alba de Tormes, where St. Teresa of Avila is buried. Arrive in Salamanca with free time for exploration before dinner and overnight.
Day 8 - Salamanca - Avila - Burgos After breakfast we depart for Avila. Here atmosphere has changed very little since the days of St. Teresa of Jesus, to whom the city is dedicated. St. Teresa the great mystic, was the first woman to be named a Doctor of the Church. In Avila we will visit: the Cathedral, which contains many of St. Teresa relics; The crypt of the Convento of La Santa, built on the site of the house where she was born, is home to the most comprehensive museum dedicated to her life, and La Encarnacion Convent, the first convent she found. Afternoon departure to the city of Burgos, the historic capital of Old Castile. After dinner explore Burgos (on your own), and admire the magnificent limestone Cathedral.
After breakfast, our guided tour of Lourdes will include the sanctuary; the Basilica of St Pius X, the world's largest underground church; and the baths where hundreds of miraculous cures have taken place. Enjoy a video presentation telling the story of Lourdes, and walk in the footsteps of St Bernadette. See Boly Mill where St Bernadette was born and the "Cachot," an abandoned prison where Bernadette's impoverished family lived. Join your prayers with those of pilgrims from around the world as you pray for the sick, drink water from the miraculous spring,pray at the Grotto and submerge yourself in the healing baths. Experience Christ's love as you walk the life-sized Stations of the Cross overlooking the holy Grotto. Kneel in the chapel built on the very rock of the Grotto in obedience to the request of the "Immaculate Conception." Attend the blessing of the sick and participate in nightly candlelight processions requested by Our Lady, and take time for private devotions. Each evening dinner and overnight at your hotel.
Day 12 - Lourdes - Rome Travel by flight(s) to Rome. Upon arrival your escort will warmly greet you this morning and welcome you to Italy. Transfer to your hotel and enjoy a free afternoon for rest, relaxation, or exploration. You tour escort can suggest sights or walks for you to enjoy
Day 13 - Rome Wake up in Eternal City, one of the greatest centers of Western Civilization and the first truly cosmopolitan city on earth! It is also spiritual capital for all the Catholics around the world. Today is truly a day we will have in our minds for many years to come. This morning we go to Vatican City to attend the weekly Papal Audience or Blessing given by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (pending papal schedule). Following the audience visit of the Vatican Museums, a group of most impressive edifices with hundreds of galleries filled with art treasures. See awe-inspiring relics and works of art donated throughout centuries as tributes of faith. We'll cover The Tapestry Gallery, The Raphael Rooms and the most overwhelming Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo's Masterpiece, restored mural of the Last Judgment. Later, enter the largest church in Christendom St Peter's Basilica, built on the site where St Peter was martyred. Unsurpassed in beauty, a monument to the long history of the Catholic Church, to which pilgrims come from around the world, St Peter's is the grandest of the world's churches. Marvel Pieta and Bernini's amazing bronze canopy. We will also visit the grave of Pope John Paul II located at the Vatican (time permitting). Before dinner, we'll have some time at leisure, to explore your own paths, to shop, or just to sit in one of the outside cafes and watch the world go by.
Day 14 This morning we depart for a sightseeing tour entitled "Christian Rome" Which includes: the Basilica of St. Mary Major,
Day 15 - Rome - MedjugorjeAfternoon departure from Italy for your flights to Medjugorje. Upon arrival, you'll also be greeted by a tour guide and/or driver who will then take you on the 2 1/2 hour drive by private coach to the village of Medjugorje. Guide will be with your throughout your stay. Once there, you'll meet your fellow pilgrims and your spiritual leader and be introduced to your host family in whose modern and comfortable house you will be staying for the next four nights.
Experience the beauty and peace of this simple village. During your stay in Medjugorje you will have the opportunity to share faith with pilgrims from all over the world. Our local guide will accompany us throughout your stay.
Here are some of the activities you'll be sharing with our fellow pilgrims: Each morning at 10am we assemble at St James Church for the English-language Mass (Feast days and Sundays English Mass is at Noon). Follow the path up Apparition Hill where the visionaries first encountered Our Lady. Touch and pray before the cross that commemorates the spot where Mary first appeared to the visionaries.
Each evening at 5pm or 6pm daylight savings time, we will join the villagers and pilgrims to pray the rosary. The apparition takes place at 5:40pm or 6:40 daylight savings time, and then stay on for Croatian Mass. Don't miss on Tuesdays and Saturdays Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and on Fridays Veneration of the Cross in the Church. Each evening during Croatian Mass, there is the Blessing of the Sick and blessing of the items you have with you.
Our guide will arrange meetings with the visionaries at their own homes provided that they are in Medjugorje during your trip, and pending their availability. We will have the opportunity to climb Krizevac Mountain, where in 1933 the villagers built a 30' high cross on the anniversary of Jesus' crucifixion. Visit and pray at "Blue Cross", which is a place of great healings and graces- a very special place at the base of Apparition Hill.
We will visit the Oasis of Peace, which has an incredible 24-hour Adoration Chapel.
After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, we leave by motor coach for Dubrovnik Airport (Spilt or Sarajevo) for return flights home.
For Additional Information & Travel Tips Please Visit: What to Know Before You Go to Spain What to Know Before You Go to France
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