Overview:
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Tour Itinerary:
7 days / 6 nights - £935 per person
The Chopin 200th Anniversary Tour takes you on a journey across Poland, re-tracing the footsteps of Frederic Chopin. This year Poland is celebrating the 200th birthday of their renowned composer with concerts and festivals highlighting his music. This tour will give you a feel for Chopin and his beloved country.
Package price is £935 per person based on availability and sharing a twin or double room. Single supplement is £160.
2010 Departure Dates: 14 August WAIT LIST ONLY!!!!!
Package includes:
- Direct flights from London to Warsaw on British Airways (Heathrow) and Wizzair (Luton). We can arrange connecting flights from other airports upon request.
- Airport transfers in Warsaw
- 2 nights at 5-star Radisson Blu hotel in Warsaw
- 1 night at 3-star Qubus Hotel in Lódz
- 2 nights at 4-star Swing hotel in Krakow
- 1 night at 5-star Radisson Blu Hotel in Warsaw
- 6 buffet breakfasts at the hotels
- 1 dinner at a local restaurants,
- 4 lunches at a local restaurant
- 1 home-hosted lunch
- Cake & coffee/tea at famous “U Bliklego” coffee-shop in Warsaw
- Sightseeing tours: Warsaw, Lódz, Krakow including:
- Warsaw Royal Castle, Zelazowa Wola,Poznanski Palace, Jasna Gora Sanctuary, Wadowice, Wawel Royal Castle and
- Cathedral, Krakow St. Mary’s Church
- English & Spanish speaking tour escort assistance throughout
- Obligatory local guides and entrance fees
- Air-conditioned motor coach services throughout
- Taxes and service charges
- Tickets for 2 concerts for the Festival “Chopin and his Europe”
- Ticket for 1 concert of the “Music in Old Krakow” Festival
- Private Chopin concert in Lowicz
- Taxes and service charges
Chopin's 200th Anniversary Tour- Detailed Itinerary
Day 1 SATURDAY, WARSAW A meeting with your tour escort at your hotel at 6:oo p.m. Dinner at the local restaurant. Your meal will be specially designed and connected with Chopin’s compsition and will be an
unforgettable introduction to Polish hospitality, culture and cuisine. Overnight at the hotel.Overnight at the hotel.
Day 2 SUNDAY, WARSAW A half day sightseeing tour of Warsaw including the city highlights, such as: the Old Town beautifully rebuilt after the WW II with
the impressive Royal Castle, the seat of kings of Poland. It was where the 3rd Of May Constitution was promulgated in 1791, the second constitution, next to the US Constitution, ever in the world. You will admire some of its 300 rooms. All interiors where
carefully restored and look like it was centuries ago. You can see there Canaletto Room with 23 paintings of his, Throne Room, magnificent Knight’s Hall with six large paintings by Marcello Bacciarelli, the Marble room with 22 portraits of Polish kings and the largest and most impressive of all the castle’s chambers, the Ballroom.
In the footsteps of Frederic Chopin tour. Start with a stop at the Castle’s Square where between 1826-1831 a building stood belonging to Sisters Bernadine with a music school lead by Joseph Elsner, Chopin’s music teacher. Walk along the Krakowskie Przedmiescie street with stop by the building of Res Sacra Miser. It was here where young Chopin was giving his first public concerts, at Namiestnikowski Palace and the Church of Nuns of the Visitations, as well. A visit to the Chopin Drawing Room where Chopin performed his etudes, some polonaises, and mazurkas for the first time. There is a commemorative plaque in the front of the building. Interiors were reconstructed in 1960’s according to original scetch made by Chopin’s schoolmate Antoni Kolbert. See the Kazimierzowski Palace, seat of the Warsaw Lycee which Chopin ented in 1823. Last stop along the Royal Route is at the Krasinski Palace, where Chopin’s family lived and where was the famous Chopin’s grand piano commemorated in the poem by Norwid “Chopin’s Piano”, who said about Chopin “Varsavian by birth, Pole by heart, global citizen by talen”. Lunch at a local restaurant and continue your tour.
CHOPIN’S HIGHLIGHT IN WARSAW Drive to newly opened Chopin’s Museum located in the Ostrogski Palace. Italian designers Migliore & Servetto are responible for the innovative and state of the art exhibition concept and they reasure this will be something exceptional and the most interesting biographical museum in Europe. It will measure 4500 square meters and each out of 4 floors will be dedicated to different aspect and period in Chopin’s life. The cellar will present Chopin as a composer/pianist along with his followers. Concert
room will be there as well. The ground floor will present Zelazowa Wola period, child’s room, Mr. Nicolas Chopin saloon and exhibit “ Warsaw in the times of Chopin” . First floor will focus on Parisian life, Nohant and on women in his life. Second and the last floor will be dedicated to Chopin’s European Journeys, his Personality and finally his death. Museum will be fully interactive and most technically advanced. Each visitor will receive a special token/chip which will be your guide to individual tour throught the exhibition. The token placed in one of the many readers will allow to listen to the music, view rare manuscripts and listen to the information in many languages. The visitors will hear the noise of 19th Parisian street, sounds from the kitchen at Nohant mansion, smell the aroma of Chopin’s favourite violets etc. Beside the rare and precious 800 manuscripts and autographs viewers
will be able to see Chopi’s personal belongings including his clothes, coffee cup, handkercief, pens and jewellery. Entire museum will sound with Chopin’s music except with the room ommemorating his death which will be dark silent. His postmortal mask will be presented death and a piece of his natural hair. In the evening join for the International Music Festival “Chopin and his Europe”. Symphonic Concert: Bella Davidovich & Simfonia Varsovia
Day 3 MONDAY, WARSAW, ZELAZOWA WOLA, BROCHOW, LOWICZ, LODZ Morning drive to Zelazowa Wola, a birthplace of Frederic Chopin. Visit the interiors of the manor house, now a museum devoted to our great composer, where you will see memorabilia of Chopin and his family. Afterwards, drive to Brochów to see the parish church where young Chopin was baptized. It is also here where Chopin’s parents got married, as well as his sister Ludwika. There is an inscription “Baptised in this church on 23 April 1810 was Frydery Chopin,
born on 22 February 1810 at Zelazowa Wola”.
Afterwards, we invite you for a home-hosted lunch served by the young couple of artists who will welcome you in their charming wooden cottage based of Lowicz castle ruins. Meet with their family and enjoy the typical Polish hospitality. Departure for Lodz, the city famous for the Polish-Jewish-German tradition, now an important commercial trade, science, and medial center, highly regarded for its rich traditional heritage and the latest accomplishments. Today’s tourists take the great
delight in seeing beautifully refurbished tenements and residential structres of great factory magnates – the real gem of Art Nouveau and eclecticism – as well as museum collections and unrivelled ineteenth-century industrial architecture.
Day 4 TUESDAY, LODZ, KRAKOW Morning visit to the famous Poznanski Palace that houses the Historical Museum with beautiful dining room and exhbition devoted to Artur Rubinstein, a great pianist of Jewish origin. “Chopin was a genius of universal appeal. His music conquers the most diverse audiences. When the first notes of Chopin sound through the concert hall there is a happy sigh of recognition. All over the world men and women know his music. They love it. They are moved by it. Yet it is not "Romantic music" in the Byronic sense. It does not tell stories or paint pictures. It is expressive and personal, but still a pure art. Even in this abstract atomic age, where emotion is not fashionable, Chopin endures. His music is the universal language of human communication. When I play Chopin I know I speak directly to the hearts
of people!” - Arthur Rubinstein. See the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe that dates back to 1892 and holds more than 160 thousand graves. A vast portion of the cemetery is occupied by an extensive burial place of ghetto victims. Lunch at a local restaurant and departure for Krakow. .En route stop in Ojcow National Park. Chopin gave a detailed and witty account of thea dventure connected with his trip to Ojcow on July 26, 1829 . Chopin was certainly familiar with the legends connected with Ojcow and, as the composer’s biographers sates.
Visist the magnificent gothic Pieskowa Skala Castle, called a little Wawel, located in an exceptinally picturesque area of Krakow.
“We spent the first week in Krackw just walking around and visiting the surrouding area” wrote Chopin in his letter sent to his friend Tytus Woyciechowski. Chopin stopped in Krakow on this way to Vienna in the second half of July 1829.
Private piano recital “Romanticism in Chopin’s Music”
Program to include:
- Improptu G-flat major op. 51 No. 3
- Fantaisie-Impromptu C-sharp minor op. 66
- Nocturne D-flat major op. 27 No. 2
- Grand Valse-brillante E-flat major op. 18
- Mazurka C-sharp minor op. 30 No. 4
- Ballade G-minor op. 23 No. 1
Day 5 WEDNESDAY, KRAKOW Tour of Krakow, the former capital of Poland situated at the foot of the Royal Wawel Castle. The 13th-century merchants' town has Europe's largest market square and numerous historical houses, palaces and churches with their magnificent interiors. Walk through the Old Town with the Main Market Square with magnificent houses and palaces. In the middle of the square there is the Cloth Hall built before 1349, but altered in the 16th century and the magnificent extensive Gothic Church of Our Lady with the famous wooden altar created by Wit Stwosz. Visit to Collegium Maius where in the visitor’s book you can find Chopin’s signature under the date of July 23, 1829. The manuscript, which is held in the Jagiellonian Library, also carries the entries made by the friends who travelled with Chopin. Numerous Chopin souvenirs have been gathered in Krakow, in such institutions as: Collegium Maius, Jagiellonian Library and National Museum. It contains of manuscripts, autographs of his compositions and letteres, portraits and busts. One of the most important exhbits is the Pleyel piano on which the composwer payed during his sojourn in Scotland in 1848. It stands in the Green Room of Collegium Maius.
Lunch at a local restaurant and balance of the day at leisure. In the evening join for the Festival “Music in Old Krakow”
Day 6 THURSDAY, KRAKOW-CZESTOCHOWA-WARSAW Morning departure for Warsaw. En route stop in Czestochowa, the world-famous pilgrimage destination. Visit the Jasna Gora Sanctuary with the miraculous Black Madonna picture. See the Treasury Room with the impressive collection of many precious gifts given to the monastery throughout the ages.
Lunch at a local restaurant and drive to Warsaw.
Upon arrival in Warsaw, some time to relax and refresh before your evening at National Philharmonic Hall. In the evening join for the International Music Festival “Chopin and his Europe”. Symphonic Concert: Academy of Ancient Music & Pawel Kotla
Day 7 FRIDAY, WARSAW Breakfast at the hotel. Transfer to airport for your departure flight.
Package Includes:
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