ZAGREB - MARIJA BISTRICA SHRINE - LUDBREG EUCHARISTIC MIRACLE - KRASIC BLESSED CARDINAL STEPINAC - OUR LADY OF SINJ - SPLIT - MEDJUGORJE - DUBROVNIK...
TOUR DATE:
October 17 - 28, 2011
May 2 - 13, 2012
June 22 - July 2, 2012
September 10 - 21, 2012
October 17 - 28, 2011
May 2 - 13, 2012
June 22 - July 2, 2012
September 10 - 21, 2012
ITINERARY
Day 1 DEPART FOR CROATIA
Depart from your gateway city, intercontinental flight to Croatia and its capital Zagreb, meals served on the board of the plane. (Departures from Europe will bring you to Croatia on the same day)
Day 2 ARRIVAL CROATIA
Arrival to Croatia, capital city Zagreb. Upon arrival the group will meet Blue Heart Travel escort guide and proceed with bus sightseeing of Zagreb followed by opening holy mass, in the St. Stephen's cathedral, Zagreb. Transfer to hotel, dinner and overnight.
Day 3 ZAGREB CITY TOUR
Today we are on the walking city tour of Zagreb including the Old Town - Kaptol and Gric, the St. Stephen's Cathedral - dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady. Early afternoon lunch break and then continue with the chapel of Majka Bozja od Kamenitih vrata, St. Mark's square with the church of St. Mark, then down to the St. Cyril and St. Methodius church until main Jelacic Square - Zagreb's main square with the equestrian statue of Ban Jelacic (see photo to the right). Before the end of our city tour we will take a panoramic bus tour of Zagreb, from the Mirogoj to the National Library, Croatian National Theatre and so on. Some free time before dinner and our second night in Zagreb.
Day 4 ZAGREB - MARIJA BISTRICA - LUDBREG –VARAZDIN
After breakfast your group will leave Zagreb for the entire day - pilgrimage excursion to the most popular and oldest Croatian Marian Shrine - Marija Bistrica. We will here have a chance to celebrate private Holy mass, walk the Way of The Cross and hear the story of the statue of Our Lady of Marija Bistrica on the border with most powerful Ottoman Empire . Same day visit will include stop in Ludbreg, Eucharistic Miracle Shrine. After lunch break tour will continue to Varazdin, baroque town on the very north of Croatia. Later in the evening we will return to Zagreb for our last overnight in the capital of Croatia.
Day 5 ZAGREB - KRASIC - SINJ – SPLIT
This morning we will leave Zagreb and will head south to Dalmatia, to Split. First stop will be in Krasic, the church where the blessed Cardinal Stepinac, beatified in Marija Bistrica by Pope John Paul II, spent his last days before he died. The life of Blessed Stepinac was great inspiration for all those who stayed faithful to the Church in the long years of the Communist regime. From Krasic we continue and not far from Split we will get off the highway and go to Sinj, three hundred years old Marian Shrine, to Our Lady of Sinj. Miraculously Our Lady saved the town, fortress of Sinj from the invasion of the Turks in 1715 year. This event until today is something historians can't explain, why the Ottoman army suddenly, over the night, left the Valley of Sinj where town and the fortress were kept under the siege - is it only because of the prayers before the Miraculous Icon, painting of Our Lady? At the end of the day we are in our hotel in Split, dinner and overnight.
Day 6 SPLIT - SOLIN - TROGIR
Morning in Split, after breakfast follows walking city tour of ancient Split, we will go back to the Roman times, to the life of Diocletian, Roman Emperor and his palace, today this is most beautiful and interesting part of Split, Diocletain's Palace. After lunch break we will head to Solin, archaeological site from the times before Christ, Greeks, Ilyrians, Romans, Croats....where the story of the Kingdom of Croatia begins. For the end of the day we are in Trogir, (L. Tragurium). Town which history goes back to the ancient Greeks who founded their colony here in 3rd century BC as Tragurion. Our dinner before we return to hotel will be in "konoba" - typical Dalmatian restaurant. A glass of good wine in the medieval Trogir will help us to have good night sleep.
Day 7 SPLIT - MEDJUGORJE
This morning we are on the way to Bosnia and Herzegovina, to the shrine of Our Lady of Peace, Medjugorje. After about 2 hours drive we will cross the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and then next 30 minutes drive through the countryside of Herzegovina. After arrival to Medjugorje and lunch break we will climb the Apparition Hill, Podbrdo as local people call it. It was here that Our Lady Queen of Peace appeared to 6 kids first day of June 24. We will have a chance to visit the site on the hill of Podbrdo and Bijakovici village before returning to our hotel in Medjugorje. Again here in the heart of Herzegovina we will have a chance to enjoy good dinner, local cuisine and quality Herzegovina wine - "U zdravlje"!
Day 8 MEDJUGORJE - DUBROVNIK
Good morning in Medjugorje always goes as "Faljen Isus i Marija", a sign of a cross and short prayer before breakfast. Then we will go to morning English speaking mass. After the mass group will have some short free time for personal devotions maybe confession or prayer on your own by the "Resurrection" statue behind the St. James church. After lunch break we will slowly move south, back to Croatia but this time in Dubrovnik, breathtaking town on the coast of Adriatic. Check in to hotel, and dinner, your first night in Dubrovnik.
Day 10 DUBROVNIK CITY TOUR
After breakfast we will start our day with the walk across the bridge and through the Pile gate, our walking tour begins. You will have a chance to visit Franciscan cloister and one of the oldest pharmacies in Europe, pass by the Fountain of Onofrio, along the Stradun, largest street in the old town of Dubrovnik, you will end of the Square of the Loggia with the Orlando's column and from here one can see major architectural masterpieces such as St. Blaise church, Cathedral of the Dubrovnik dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Cathedral one can see most precious treasure and the relics of St. Blaise the patron saint of Dubrovnik.Not far from here Ploce gate and also exit to the old port with the beautiful view on the fort St. John which in the past played important role in defending and protecting Dubrovnik and port.
Tour will end at the time for lunch, and this town gives you numerous opportunities to enjoy the seafood. One can go from fine expensive restaurants to cozy little "konoba" where one can have a good meal for little money.
Tour will end at the time for lunch, and this town gives you numerous opportunities to enjoy the seafood. One can go from fine expensive restaurants to cozy little "konoba" where one can have a good meal for little money.
Day 11 DUBROVNIK - WINE TOUR/PELJESAC/STONE
Today we will make an excursion to the Peljesac peninsula. Area where one can visit one of the best wineries in the entire southern Dalmatia. Now for sure we can say serious production and top quality is making this region famous for it and most of the glory goes to the wines like Plavac, Postup, Posip, Dingac. After a visit to the wineries, and after we made sure that few bottles will go with us back home we can continue the tour. Tour will end in Stone, site where God was most generous when creating the waters: It is here in the bay that the perfect conditions enable the cultivation of the gastronomic delight - oysters, we cannot miss it! Also right by the town Stone we will see how the the traditional and natural production of salt remained unchanged for centuries, today this is the end of our tour when we climb the Stone Walls, about 5,5 kilometers walls built for the protection of once powerful Republic of Dubrovnik. Return to Dubrovnik...farewell dinner, sounds of the traditioanl Croatian songs, breeze from the Adriatic.....who would want to leave?
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