Exploring Jewish Greece with Temple Sinai Atlanta

• Depart USA for Athens.

• Arrive at Athens International Airport, with assistance from a Makor Educational Journeys representative.
• Introductory drive through the city of Athens.
• Lunch on own.
• In-depth guided tour of the Acropolis and Parthenon.
• Visit Classical sites in Athens, including the Olympian and Hadrian’s Library.
• Check in to the hotel with time for rest and relaxation.
• Introduction: Jewish Greece and its Communities – The Romaniyot Jews.
• Welcome dinner at a local restaurant with a leader of the Athens Jewish Community for a discussion about contemporary Jewish life in Greece.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Curator led tour of the Jewish Museum of Greece with Zanet Battinou.
• Synagogue is a Greek word: Guided tours of the Beth Shalom and Etz Chaim Synagogues.
• Visit Holocaust Memorial and Jewish Cultural Center.
• Lunch on own
• Visit the Agora, the site of Athens traditional classical market and continue to Syntagma Square, symbol of Greek independence and the modern Greek state.
• Return to the hotel for rest and relaxation.
• Free evening, dinner on own: explore lively Placa Quarter.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Morning flight to Thessaloniki. (Salonica)
• Guided tour of Thessaloniki, including the Rotunda, Fortress (Eptagyrion), White Tower and Ataturk Museum, with lunch on own during the tour.
• Check in to hotel.
• Free evening to explore the Ladadika District with dinner on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• In-depth tour of Jewish Thessaloniki, a major center of Jewish life and learning before the Holocaust, including the Museum of the History of the Jews of Salonica, Yeni Mosque, Synagogues, Jewish Cemetery, Allatini and Modiano Villas.
• Market Tasting Tour for lunch.
• Continue exploring Jewish Thessaloniki, including the Carasso Arcade, Modiano Market, Yahoudi Hammam, and Freedom Square Holocaust Memorial, dedicated to 65,000 Thessaloniki Jews murdered in the Holocaust.
• Return to the hotel.
• Dinner with members of the Thessaloniki Jewish Community at the Jewish Community Center.
• Optional late-night exploration of Thessaloniki.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Drive to Meteora.
• Visit Nikolaus and other cliff-hanging monasteries in the dramatic Meteora landscape.
• Lunch on own.
• Drive to Ioannina.
• Check in to hotel.
• Kabbalat Shabbat followed by Shabbat Dinner in a private room at the hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Shabbat morning exploration of Jewish Ioannina, once the Castro Jewish Quarter and Kahal Kadosh Yashan Romaniyot Synagogue. (The visit to the synagogue might need to be delayed until Sunday morning)
• Lunch on own
• Tour of Castle Town, including an opportunity to meander through the alleyways of the town and visits to some of the following, depending on time:
  • Acropolis of Its Kale, with the Fethiye Mosque, and The Byzantine Museum
  • The Acropolis of Aslan Pasha and mosque, which today houses the Ethnographic Museum of Ioannina.
• Lakeside Dinner in a restaurant.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Drive to Igoumenitsa for ferry to Corfu.
• Ferry to Corfu.
• Visit the Corfu Old Town, including the Venetian Fortress and Spyridon Church, with lunch on your own.
• Guided tour of Corfu’s Jewish Quarter and only surviving synagogue, the Scuola Greca.
• Check into the hotel, with free time for personal exploration.
• Dinner on own.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Free time for Relaxation in the Sun on one of Corfu’s famous beaches.
• Boat Tour along the Corfu coast.
• Lunch on your own.
• Later afternoon excursion to a Corfu Winery, followed by Dinner and Music at a Greek Tavern.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check-out.
• Drive to Corfu airport.
• Flight to Rhodes via Athens.
• Lunch on your own en route.
• Arrive in Rhodes in the afternoon.
• Visit the Lively Market Area, where you can sample delicious local cuisine and purchase souvenirs
• Check in to hotel.
• Explore Rhodes by night with dinner on your own at one of the many traditional Greek restaurants.

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Drive to the East Coast of the city and visit The Jewish Cemetery, one of the best preserved in Europe and containing gravestones from the 1840’s to the present.
• Continue to the “Kahal Shalom” Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in Greece. It was built in 1577 and is still in service, followed by a visit to the Jewish Museum of Rhodes.
• Lunch on own en route.
• Visit the Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, an extraordinary castle built 700 years ago by the Order of Malta.
• Walk along the Street of the Knights, a beautiful cobbled street lined with medieval houses, and the towering defensive walls that once protected the city.
• Continue outside the city walls, and take a quick peek at the Mandraki Harbor, where according to tradition, the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, once stood.
• Return to hotel.
• Early Farewell Dinner at a Rhodes restaurant.
• Transfer to Rhodes Airport for flight to Athens at 8:50pm.
• Check in to hotel.

• Breakfast at the hotel (in Athens Airport) and check-out.
• Walk to terminal in Athens Airport.
• Depart on return flight to the United States, arriving on the same day.

Program is subject to change, pending confirmations.