Makom Los Angeles trip to Spain

• Depart the United States.

• Group flight arrives at Madrid International Airport.
• Group transfer and individual transfers to the hotel.
  • A Makor Educational Journeys representative will be in the arrival lounge with a sign for Makom LA from 5:00 pm
• Chance to rest and get settled; meet in the hotel lobby at 7:00 pm.
• Festive welcome dinner and trip orientation.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit the 17^th-century Plaza Mayor, the center of historic Madrid and sight of festivals and bullfights, and also the place where Jewish history marks the great trauma of the many auto-da-fes (ritual of public penance, followed by burning at the stake).
• Lunch on own at one of the many restaurants near the Plaza Mayor.
• Visit the Prado to explore the masterpieces of artists such as Velazquez, Goya, Bosch, Rubens, Titian, and other great European painters, and the Green Wall, right across from the Prado.
• Walk through Madrid, visiting:
  • Plaza de España, with an inspiring monument to Poet, Novelist, and Playwright Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
  • Royal Palace, a short walk from the Plaza and the official residence of the King of Spain.
• Return to the hotel with time to prepare for Shabbat.
• Shabbat dinner at Cocina de San Antón Restaurant.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Explore Madrid by foot.
• Stroll the main streets of Madrid’s oldest quarter, the original site of Madrid, called “Austrias,” with its small plazas and narrow streets.
• Visit the Plaza de la Villa, home to City Hall and the 15^th-century Tower of Los Lujanes, the site of the original Arab shuk of Madrid.
• Group lunch at Taberna La Daniela Cuchilleros.
• Late Afternoon Discussion: The Meaning of 1492 and the Relationship Between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, with Tour Educator.
• Free time to rest, followed by Havdallah and a free evening, with dinner on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out of the hotel.
• Drive to Toledo.
• Guided visit of the Old City of Toledo and capture a sense of the glory that was built on a convergence of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, taking in the Jewish Quarter, the Shmuel Halevi statue and El Transito, the Shmuel Halevi Abulafia synagogue, which was turned into a church, known as Nuestra Senora del Transito, the Sephardic Museum, and the Santa Maria La Blanca Church, formerly the Grand Synagogue.
• Group lunch at La Fabrica de Harinas.
• Visit the El Greco Museum, dedicated to the famous painter, who influenced 17^th-century Toledo.
• Visit the grand Toledo Cathedral.
• Group dinner together at the hotel, followed by a free evening.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out of the hotel.
• Drive to Seville, with (pre-paid) lunch en route.
• Visit the Santa Cruz neighborhood, formerly Seville’s Jewish Quarter, once known as La Juderia, with its winding alleyways and remnants of Jewish life found within the contemporary city, including a Jewish Heritage walking tour.
• Tour the beautiful Alcázar Palace, followed by visits to the Seville Cathedral, the burial place of Christopher Columbus, and La Giralda, a 12^th-century bell tower that became a symbol of the city. Your Tour Educator will share some thoughts about the role of Jews in the development of navigation cartography and astronomy.
• Dinner on your own and free evening in Seville, with a possible opportunity to check out the views from Las Setas (time permitting).
• Evening stroll on the Triana Bridge.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out of the hotel.
• Drive to Cordoba, home town of Moses Maimonides (Rambam) and the capital of the Moorish Kingdom of al-Andalus.
• Group lunch at Bodegas Mezquita Ribera.
• Explore the Jewish Quarter, inhabited by Jews since the year 840, including the Yehuda Halevi Square and Plaza Tiberiades, where the statue of Maimonides sits, with a peak at the nearby Moorish-styled building known as the Maimonides Synagogue.
• Special program at Casa de Sefarad, dedicated to the history of the Sephardic Jews in Cordoba and Spain prior to the Inquisition and the Expulsion of 1492, and meet with the people responsible for the creation of this private historical project in the Jewish Quarter.
• Dinner at Casa Mazal, with traditional Andalusian Jewish food and music.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Visit Cordoba’s famous Mosque-Cathedral (Mezquita), dating from 785, with its 1,000 colored columns.
• Lunch on your own at a local restaurant.
• Stroll through the restored heart of Cordoba, one of the largest medieval quarters in Europe.
• Free afternoon to rest or explore Cordoba on your own, especially Cordoba’s famous craft scene—pottery, jewelry, leather goods, and embroidery works—or some of Cordoba’s patios/courtyards, secret treasures tucked away that beckon the curious.
• Masterclass in Andalusian music.
• Group dinner at La Almudaina and free evening.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out of the hotel.
• Depart Cordoba and drive to Granada, the last stronghold of the Moors before it fell to Isabella and Ferdinand in 1492.
• Stop for a brief visit to the “Jewish Necropolis” of Lucena, regarded as the largest in the Iberian Peninsula.
• Lunch en route.
• Visit the Alhambra Palace and Generalife Gardens.
• Explore Albaicín, the old Moorish neighborhood which has no remains of the Jewish community but a host of legends, with its narrow streets and beautiful white houses, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for a guided visit of the Barrio Realejo, the former Jewish Quarter and the site of the original town bearing the name Garnata al-Yahud, continuing to the statue of Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon, translator of the Kuzari and the Guide for the Perplexed.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Attend a Flamenco performance, followed by a Flamenco workshop with the musicians and dancers, with dinner.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out of the hotel.
• Transfer to the airport for the flight to Barcelona (flight departs at 9:50 am).
• Arrive in Barcelona and start with a panoramic bus tour of the city beginning at Montjuic (The Mountain of the Jews), including a view over the whole city.
• Lunch on own.
• Meander through the city’s streets and avenues to Sagrada Familia for a guided visit of Gaudi’s unfinished masterpiece, considered one of the world’s awe-inspiring, unique places of worship.
• Visit Park Güell, located on Carmel Hill.
• Check in to the hotel.
• Musical Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat dinner with Rabbi Stephen Berkowitz, of the Liberal community in Barcelona.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Begin the day with a walk along La Rambla, Barcelona’s historic promenade.
• Just off La Rambla, encounter La Boqueria, the world-famous market of Barcelona.
• Picasso in Barcelona, visit the Picasso Museum, followed by a visit to some of Picasso’s favorite haunts.
• Continue with a guided walk through the Gothic Quarter and then the ancient Jewish Quarter, with a synagogue that may date to the third century.
• Free time in Barcelona, with lunch on own.
• In the late afternoon, optional visit to the Barceloneta Beach.
• Havdallah together and dinner on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Drive for a full-day tour to Girona and Besalú.
• Walk through the restored Call, what was once Girona’s old Jewish neighborhood, and continue to the Bonastruc ca Porta, a center of Jewish life and culture.
• Free time for lunch on own.
• Drive to the medieval city of Besalú and visit the Medieval Mikveh, ritual bath, which has become one of Spain’s most significant sites of Jewish heritage.
• Return to Barcelona.
• Depart hotel for dinner.
• Processing discussion and festive farewell dinner at La Tramoia Restaurant.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out of the hotel.
• Luggage collection, to be left outside hotel room door.  Be sure to keep essential and valuable items in your day pack.
• Transfer to Barcelona Airport for the return to the U.S.

*Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.