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DAY
1 DEPARTURE FROM NORTH AMERICA
Enjoy full meal service on your scheduled wide-bodied flight
to Barcelona.
DAY
2 ARRIVE BARCELONA AREA (2 NIGHTS)
We will
be met at the airport by our tour manager/guide, where we
will board our own private coach and travel to Barcelona.
The city is the capital of Catalunya, and second only to
Madrid in size and importance. Your guide will be pleased to
take you on some introductory sightseeing in the center of
medieval Barcelona. Our visits in the Gothic Quarter
will include the splendid facades of the City Hall, the
Episcopal Palace and the Palace of la Generalitat. We will
visit the massive Gothic Cathedral, which took 600
years to build, and the exquisite Picasso Museum,
housed in two Renaissance palaces. This evening we will
explore Barcelona by taking a stroll along Las Ramblas,
Barcelona’s most colorful street. We begin at the Placa
de Catalunya, a large square filled with fountains and
flowers, and continue past markets, shops and cafes until we
reach the harbor, where a statue of Christopher Columbus
gazes out over the Mediterranean.
DAY
3 MONTSERRAT & BARCELONA
Our morning takes us inland to the famous mountain of
Montserrat, the principal religious and cultural
center of Catalunya. The Romanesque Monastery with
its Shrine of the Virgin of Montserrat (also known as the
Black Virgin because of her dark complexion), perches
dramatically on the edge of the mountain and remains a
popular pilgrimage destination today. Returning to
Barcelona, we will turn our attention to modern city and the
works of Antonio Gaudi, the modernist architectural genius
who left most of his creations to the city.
· Your First Concert Performance will be today
DAY
4 COSTA BRAVA - OVERNIGHT TRAIN (1 NIGHT) - MADRID
Today we will enjoy the lovely scenery of the Costa Brava.
The name means the “Wild Coast”, and it is so named because
of its twisted, rocky shoreline. The area is known for its
clear waters and picturesque fishing villages. We will begin
our explorations at Gerona, an ancient city that can
trace its routes back to the Iberians. We will stroll
through the Old Town and visit the Cathedral
and its Tesoro, which houses an unusually rich
collection of art from the Middle Ages. This afternoon, we
will journey to the coast for a visit to the picturesque
village of Llorets de Mar and to Tossa de Mar,
a seaside resort with 13th century city walls that surround
the old town. We will enjoy the coastal scenery of the
Corniche Road as we wind our way back to Barcelona.
This evening we will fly to Madrid, the capital of Spain.
DAY
5 MADRID
Our sightseeing will start with a tour of the richly
decorated Royal Palace, the home of Spain’s Bourbon
monarchs until 1931. Today the palace’s 2,800 rooms are
still used for sumptuous state functions. This afternoon we
will visit The Prado, one of the world's great
museums with a rich collection of Spanish, Italian and
Flemish paintings by such masters as Goya, Velasquez, El
Greco, Raphael, Titian and Bosch.
· Your Second Concert Performance will be today
DAY 6 MADRID - EL ESCORIAL - SEGOVIA AREA (2 NIGHTS)
We begin our day with a tour of El Escorial, the
massive monastery-palace commissioned by Philip II, which is
an impressive monument to 16th century Spain. We will visit
the Royal Apartments, many decorated with fine
tapestries, and the austere rooms that once belonged to
Philip II. The king was so religious that he had his
quarters designed so that he could see the high altar from
his bed. We will see the Pantheon of the Kings,
which contains the mortal remains of all of the Spanish
monarchs from the time of the emperor Charles V, and the
Pantheon of the Infants where royal children were
buried. We continue to Segovia, where upon arrival your
guide will be happy to take you on an introductory tour.
DAY
7 SEGOVIA AND LA GRANJA
We will explore
Segovia this morning, a city of delicate spires and graceful
towers. Our Walking Tour will take us through
Spanish history as we view the 2000 year old Roman
Aqueduct, made with no mortar and still functioning
today, and then continue through the winding streets of
medieval Segovia to visit the Cathedral, the last
Gothic building constructed in Spain and resplendent with
pinnacles and flying buttresses. Our next stop will be the
fairy tale fortress of the Alcazar where Columbus
elicited funds for his journeys from Ferdinand and
Isabella. This afternoon, we will journey into the nearby
mountains to visit the Palace of La Granja, known as
“Little Versailles.” Philip V had La Granja built in the
French style because he was homesick for the palace of his
youth. The palace boasts magnificent tapestries and the
gardens are some of the loveliest in Spain.
DAY
8 SEGOVIA AREA - MADRID (1 NIGHT)
We leave Segovia today and travel to Madrid; we will have
some free time to explore before coming together for our
last performance.
· Your Third Concert Performance will be today
DAY
9 DEPARTURE
FROM MADRID
Our enjoyable and rewarding tour will come to an end as our
tour manager/guide accompanies us to the airport for the return
flight home.
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