ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE
Synagogue Solutions USA is offering a unique opportunity to participate in a Jewish travel experience, "Jewish Heritage Spain", led by Aaron Kischel and Harry Silverman.
 The trip includes stops in Madrid, Toledo, Zaragoza, Córdoba, Granada, Malaga, Torremolinos, Gibraltar, Seville, Barcelona, Gerona, and Bresalú. The program will highlight both the present Jewish communities in these cities as well as celebrate the richness of Jewish life in historically in Spain. .
About our tour educators
Both Aaron and Harry have traveled extensively around the world, leading many groups. This journey, like all of our trips, will not only offer touring of places of Jewish and general interest, but also personal service provided by these two knowledgeable and caring hosts. Both Aaron and Harry are Jewish educators. Aaron has served as a leader of the USCJ's Hazak Israel trips, having led upwards of 300 mature adults on the program. Harry teaches the history of the Holocaust for the March of the Living and has travelled to Eastern Europe and Poland ten times with the March. He has also led eight Missions to the Jewish community of Cuba.
About our travel partner 
ITC Tours, LLC is a customized tour company dedicated to creating a personal travel experience that goes far beyond the universal definition of sightseeing. ITC's tour itineraries are made to order with a special focus on your personal interests and travel goals during your travel. All of our local tour guides are experts in their fields and have years of experience showing visitors like you places you visit through a different light.
ITC Specialized Events Division offers high-end, custom made and exclusive event production and hosting services to our guests from around the world.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Our travel program includes the following packaged services:
• Round trip flights from JFK Airport (optional)
• Licensed local tour guide throughout program
• Hotel accommodations according to the itinerary
• Meals according to the itinerary
• Luxury private air-conditioned touring bus
• Site entrance fees and activity costs according to itinerary
Not Included: Medical or travel insurance, gratuities (Suggested $100/traveler), meals not marked as included (suggested $100/traveler), meals not marked as included
Program Itinerary: (subject to change)
Oct. 20 Sunday
Depart USA - Madrid
Oct. 21 Monday
Madrid
Arrival and transfer to the hotel.
We will explore the capital, visits to Madrid’s splendid Synagogues, the Royal Palace, Prado Museum and Plaza Mayor with arts, crafts, chic boutiques and down the narrow streets of the old section of the city, with its outdoor cafes.
Dinner at your hotel,
Overnight Melia- Galgos hotel Madrid
.
Oct. 22 Tuesday
Madrid Toledo - Madrid
After breakfast drive to Toledo . Toledo was once the true center of Spain, and is widely considered a "pearl" in terms of its subtle beauty. This city was also the center for Jewish Spain, with a rich, creative heritage. We will visit the Grand Toledo Cathedral and view the painter, El Greco's famous masterpiece house, formerly the palace of the prominent (and Jewish) Samuel Halevy (treasurer of King Pedro I, and architect of the Del Transito Synagogue). Continue to Sinagoga de Santa Maria La Blanca, later converted to a church, and to the Sinagoga Del Transito, which today houses the Sephardic Museum. This strand of Judaism can now be found vibrantly alive all over the world.
Return for overnight in Madrid.
Dinner ON YOUR OWN ,
Overnight Melia Galgos hotel Madrid
Oct. 23 Wednesday
Madrid - Córdoba
After breakfast we take the AVE fast train to Cordoba . Cordoba thrived and expanded with its unique blend of cultures. These are beautifully expressed with a visit to Mezquita, the most significant Muslim architectural achievement in the Western world. This 8th century structure was first a church, then a mosque, and today has a cathedral oddly placed in its center. Walk the street leading up to the Juderia, with its whitewashed houses and colorful courtyards and shops. Today there is no Jewish presence, but few signs hint of the Golden Age of Jewish life for example, the tiny, gem-like synagogue, as well as the statue of the great court doctor and Torah sage, Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe Ben Maimon).
Dinner at hotel
Overnight Conquistador hotel Cordoba.
Oct. 24 Thursday
Córdoba - Granada - Córdoba
After breakfast take the bus to Granada.
We will visit Al caiceria , Granada's Cathedral & Royal Chapel , we will continue with a walking tour of the Alhambra and the Generalife Gardens.
Dinner at hotel
Overnight Conquistador hotel Cordoba.
Oct. 25 Friday
Córdoba - Malaga - Torremolinos - Gibraltar
After breakfast, drive to Malaga, the capital of the Costa del Sol, an important port city in Andalusia (Southern Spain), Spain's Coastal Plain.
Take a short trip to the Picasso Museum. (Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga.) After lunch, continue to Torremolinos through the famous Costa del Sol. We then continue to Gibraltar, which lies at the southwest tip of the Iberian Peninsula. Jews have lived in Gibraltar at least since 1356. Today the Jewish community of Gibraltar is again growing; almost the entire community is Sephardim.
Get ready for Shabbat
Shabbat Kosher dinner Catered at Hotel, or with community members.
Overnight at Elliot hotel Gibraltar
Oct. 26 Shabbat in Gibraltar
Free day
Shabbat activities, lunch at hotel.
Free evening, overnight at Elliot hotel
Optional visits to the Rock and t he Great Siege Tunnels will be available.
Oct. 27 Sunday
Gibraltar - Seville
After breakfast, drive to Seville; visit the Alcázar of Seville which is a royal palace, originally a Moorish fort. It is the oldest royal palace still in use in Europe , Together, the Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias as a series, form a remarkable monumental complex in the heart of Seville. They perfectly epitomize the Spanish "Golden Age", incorporating vestiges of Islamic culture, centuries of ecclesiastical power, royal sovereignty and the trading power that Spain acquired through its colonies in the New World. Continue to, the famous Plaza de Toros de la Real Maestranza is the oldest bullring in Spain , the o ld city neighborhood of Triana and a new Museum of Flamenco.
Dinner on your own
Overnight Becquer Hotel Seville
Oct. 28 Monday
Seville - Barcelona
After breakfast, depart for the airport for your early flight to Barcelona, when we arrive in Barcelona, we will take a bus tour of the city including the Cathedral , Barrio G'otico (old Gothic Quarter), see Gaudi's Barcelona including Sagrada Familia, Park Guel and casa Batelo. One of the main attractions is the ancient Call (Juderia, or ghetto) and the Sinagoga Mayor . Despite perhaps being the oldest synagogue in Europe, the Sinagoga Mayor was forgotten and abandoned until the twentieth century. Then on to the top of Tibidabo Mountain for a breathtaking view of the city, continue to Montjuic . Lying just outside Barcelona is the ancient Jewish cemetery of Montjuic ( Jewish mountain) located on the western edge of the city. Before returning to hotel will take a brief visit of the Olympic park
Dinner at hotel or Jewish community,
Overnight at Presidente hotel Barcelona
Oct. 29 Tuesday
Barcelona - Gerona - Barcelona
Departure for Gerona - Gerona, which stands today not only as a charming example of Spain's quaint early- Medieval ambience, but also as a reminder of the days when Jewish traditions bloomed. Jewish Gerona was once a link between the first Kabbalists of Provence and the poets and writers of Cordoba and Toledo - also major Kabala Centers. Walking through the "Call" (Jewish Quarter) still evokes this precious Jewish culture, an important part of the Golden Age of Spain. The spirit of our ancestors, you will sense, has never vanished. We will visit the Archeological and Jewish Museums during our tour. Of particular interest is Besalú´s mikva or place for ablutions that dates to the 11 th -12th centuries.
Return to Barcelona for a free evening ( a flamenco show)
Dinner on your own
Overnight at Presidente Hotel Barcelona
Overnight at Presidente Hotel.
Oct. 30 Wednesday
Barcelona - Free day
Day at leisure to shop and stroll in Barcelona including some of the Gaudi famous buildings, the Cathedral, the Gothic Quarter, and the Picasso Museum. We will get together for a farewell dinner.
Overnight at Presidente Hotel Barcelona
Oct. 31 Thursday
Barcelona - USA
Breakfast and transfer to the airport. Flight to USA
Begin planning your next trip with Synagogue Solutions USA and ITC .
Itinerary Subject to Change
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