Monday, August 29 -- Departure Day
Tuesday, August 30

12:30 PM: Arrival in Gdansk; transfer to HANZA HOTEL

• We transfer to our hotel. If we arrive on time, it may be a little too early to check in at our hotel. We will go to the Gdansk Ship Yard (formerly known as “Vladimir Lenin Ship Yard”). This is where the workers’ liberation movements began, and the “Solidarity Union” was born. This was the “beginning of the end” of the communist system in Europe. A monument was erected there – to commemorate those who fought, those who died, and those who survived… simply saying those to whom we owe our freedom today. Next to the main monument, you will see all kinds of smaller plaques dedicated to people who either risked or lost their lives in the struggle for freedom of Poland, Eastern Europe, and beyond.  The fact that WE (citizens of the US of A, and of the rest of the world) can now freely walk around this place, can freely tour Poland, and all of Eastern Europe, we owe it in part to those people. The Berlin Wall… fell AFTER all those events, AND only as a RESULT of those events. so we may leisurely stroll through the Old Town doing our “initial sightseeing”.
• Our hotel is right in the heart of the Old Town, on the Motlawa River.
• 5:30 PM: Dinner in Gdanska Restaurant – a short walk from our hotel; and we have some free time after dinner

 
Wednesday, August 31

• 9:30 – 12:30 Tour of the Old Town. We will leave the hotel for our walking tour of the city; we will learn a little about “what we are looking at”; we will see some of the “highlights” of Gdansk – the “River Walk”, the “Crane” ( a medieval structure that was used to load and unload cargo on ships at the port of Gdansk), Medieval Granaries, Historic Gates (leading merchants from the port into the city, and back to the port), Long Market Street, Town Hall, the Well of King Neptune, St. Mary’s Church – the third largest brick church in the world, the Armory, the medieval “House of Torture”, etc.
• Gdansk is a fun city. It was first mentioned in historic documents in the year 999, but it did not receive its “city rights” until the year 1235. It was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1793 (during the Second Partition of Poland), and it became part of the German Empire. After World War I, Gdansk became an “independent city”, or a “free city” and only after World War II did it return to Poland, having been badly destroyed during the liberation campaign in 1944/1945 (mainly by the Red Army’s artillery). Interestingly enough, as the Germans considered Gdansk their city, Gdansk suffered little destruction during the beginning of the war. It was destroyed badly later on, towards the end of the war. Rebuilt after the war, it was further beautifully renovated for the celebration of its millennium, in the 1980s and 1990s.
  Once we are done with our tour, enjoy some free time for shopping and sightseeing. You may visit some of the many museums or other points of interest, or take a boat ride on the river. Dinner is on our own today. There are lots of options to choose from.

 
Thursday, September 1  

• We will go on our little excursion.

At 12 noon we leave for Cape Westerplatte, where the first shots of WW II were fired. Not too many people realize that World War II started right here in Gdansk, AND right here at Cape Westerplatte. It was not quite 5:00 AM on September 01, 1939, when a German battleship Schleswig-Holstein opened fire on the Polish military station of Westerplatte. A battleship with its turrets and cannons, and over 4,000 German ground troops started a fight against 185 Polish soldiers trying to defend the small piece of Poland. After 7 days, the Polish surrendered, having lost 15 of their companions.
We will continue on to the Beach Resort of Sopot, where we may take a walk on the longest wooden pier in Europe. Then we visit the small town of Legowo, where we will have our dinner together on the way back to Gdansk.

Friday, September 2

• 9:30 AM: Arrivederci Gdansk. See you next time.
• We are leaving for The Capital City of Warsaw. We hope to make a short stop in Malbork - at the Medieval Castle of the Teutonic Knights (XIII century). This is one of many fortresses that the Knights built in the region. Time and weather permitting, we may make a “walk through” the grounds, take a few pictures, maybe get a snack, and continue on.
  Enjoy the ride through the countryside, in the ever-changing scenery of Poland.
• 4:00 PM:  Arrival in Warsaw. If we arrive early enough, we may visit the Royal Lazienki Park. It may be a nice stretch (walk) after the 5-hour bus trip to Warsaw.
• Royal Lazienki Park, among other things, was the summer residence of some of the Polish kings, especially towards the end of the Polish monarchy. Lazienki Park can be translated as “Baths Park”. Indeed, it served not only as a summer residence for the kings, but also as a “spa” of a kind – with its pools, ponds, fresh air, and vegetation.
  Originally designed in the 17th century, and then in the 18th-century Łazienki was transformed by Poland's King Stanisław August into a setting for palaces, villas, classicist follies, and monuments. In 1918 it was officially designated a public park. Łazienki is visited by tourists from all over Poland and the world and serves as a venue for music, arts, and culture. The park is also home to peacocks and a large number of squirrels. The monument of Frederick Chopin is one of the points of interest in the park, as well as the “Palace on Water.”
  We check into our hotel and have some free time to rest before we walk to Restaurant Literatka for our dinner.
• 5:30 PM: Dinner at Literatka Restaurant; enjoy the rest of the night in the city, have a drink, make friends, observe life in the city, or just return to the hotel
• Night in Warsaw – Hotel Sofitel Victoria
   

 
Saturday, September 3

• 9:45 AM: Leave the hotel for our guided tour of the Royal City of Warsaw – Royal Castle, Old Town, New Town, etc. Warsaw is a city where “the old” mingles with “the new”; a city of great history and culture, a city that bled most during the war. Destroyed 3 times – in September of 1939 during the initial Nazi invasion and its bombing, then during the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944, and finally in January 1945 - during the liberation of the city. By then, however, there was not much to destroy… the city was completely in ruins. After the Warsaw Uprising, Hitler was so outraged at the people of Warsaw that he ordered total destruction, total demolition of the city once the uprising was defeated.  What you see in Warsaw today, was the work of the entire nation after the war – to rebuild the capital, and make it beautiful again.
• Dinner on our own tonight.
• Second night in Warsaw

 
Sunday, September 4

• 9:30 AM: Leaving for Czestochowa, the Shrine of the Black Madonna. We will celebrate SUNDAY MASS, and then have some free time to walk around and do some sightseeing. The main “point of interest” is the Chapel of the Black Madonna, with its icon of the Black Madonna itself – Our Lady of Czestochowa. The chapel will be crowded with people, however; and so we may not have a very “prayerful experience” in the chapel itself. We will, however, celebrate mass in a quiet chapel right next to the “main chapel” of the shrine.
• We will have dinner and will stay overnight n Hotel Mercure Patria.

 
Monday, September 5 
 

• 9:30 AM We leave for the mountain resort of Zakopane. If we arrive early, we may take a walk to Krupowki Street, which is the main promenade in Zakopane.
• 6:00 Dinner at Sabala Inn with a little taste of the local culture, music, and dance
• Free time in town, or simply return to the hotel and enjoy some hospitality time

Tuesday, September 6
 

• 9:30 AM  We will be leaving the hotel (by local transportation) for Kuznice, which is the lower station of a gondola, that will take us to the top of Kasprowy Wierch (Mount Kasprowy Wierch). The road to Kuznice is closed to public traffic. Only local transportation is allowed to carry visitors to Kuznice, and to the gondola station. From there we take a ride on the gondola to the summit of Mount Kasprowy Wierch. You may need an extra layer of clothing as it is generally cool (or cold) on top of the mountain. We will have the most up-to-date weather report at that point. Return to Zakopane/hotel
• Dinner TBD

  
Wednesday, September 7

• 10:00 AM: We leave for Krakow
• 1:10 PM: Before we actually arrive in Krakow, we will make our visit to the Wieliczka Salt Mine, just outside of Krakow. We have our pre-paid admissions to the Salt Mine. The Salt Mine is listed on the UNESCO heritage list, and it is an amazing place to see. We will go down the steps into the shaft of the mine, going down about 400 feet underground. There is NO ELEVATOR to go down; just steps (about 500 of them going down). Once we get down, the total distance we will walk through the mine’s corridors is about 2 miles (some steps up and down on the way, too). If you are severely claustrophobic, the tour may not be for you; in which case you may choose just to walk around the town of Wieliczka, or take a break on one of the local restaurants. The tour of the mine will take about 2.5 hours, and then we will eat dinner in the underground restaurant inside the salt mine. Fun.
• After visiting the mine, we continue on to Krakow, check into our hotel, and enjoy the rest of the day/evening in Krakow.
• Night in Krakow – Hotel Stary

 
Thursday, September 8 -- Optional Day Tour to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Wadowice – the birthplace of Pope John Paul II. If you would rather just stay in the city, you are free to do so. Quite a long (but doable) day.
 

• 9:30 AM: We leave for Auschwitz. This tour, just like everything else on our trip is “optional”. “Optional” on our trip does not mean that you have to pay “extra” for the activity. On our trip the word “optional” means that it is optional - you don’t have to do it. By the way, on our trip everything is optional.

We visit the WW II Nazi Concentration Camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Our tour is to begin right at 11:30 AM.  As you can probably imagine, this is not a “fun” visit. This is a place where between 1940 and 1944 about 1.3 mln people were put to death, most of them in gas chambers. About 90% of those killed were Jews. Not all those who were killed there died in gas chambers though. Many simply starved to death or died of forced labor, diseases, individual executions, or medical experiments. Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest, was also put to death there by starvation/ lethal injection. Auschwitz is a “must-see” place… but only once in your lifetime.

After our tour of Auschwitz, we continue on to Wadowice, the birth town of Pope John Paul II. We will make a short stop in town, and see the church, in which the future Pope was baptized.

• 4:00 PM (or so) Dinner at Dworek Mikolaj (which could be translated as the Mansion of St. Nicholas).

Wadowice is the hometown of Karol Wojtyla, who later became better known as Pope John Paul II. He lived here as a child and youth. The Wojtyla family occupied a small apartment on the second floor of the house (today it is a museum) right next to the church. Unfortunately, we do not have time to tour the museum itself. We will visit the church, maybe take some pictures by the very baptismal font where Karol Wojtyla was baptized, and continue on to our dinner.
After dinner, we return to Krakow and enjoy the rest of the day/evening.

5. Night in Krakow – Hotel Stary

 
Friday, September 9

• In the morning… Explore the Old Town on your own (visit the many churches, historic sites, shops, arts and crafts; walk by the river, etc.).
• I believe Krakow is a “jewel” of Poland. One of the very few Polish cities that were NOT destroyed in WW II. You may wonder why…  Well, the president of the city knew that he had no chance to defend the city against the powerful Nazi army, and so he surrendered without fighting. That, as it turned out, was not a bad move. Today, we can admire Krakow in its original beauty.
• 11:30 (?) We meet our tour guide for a guided tour of Historic Krakow. Just like everything else – the tour is optional J but not too strenuous today.
• 5:30 Dinner at “Hawelka” Restaurant with another presentation of the local (The Krakow Region) culture, music, and dance.
• Our third night in Krakow

 
Saturday, September 10

• Early departure for the airport in Krakow.
• Leave for the US

 

Three of our hotels (Warsaw, Zakopane, and Krakow) will have a pool and/or SPA. So you if you think you may want to take advantage of it, bring your bathing suit with you.