DECEMBER 2012: WINTER WALTZ Budapest, Vienna, Prague

A Festive Winter Waltz

Christmas Markets and Historic Symphony Halls of
Budapest, Vienna, Bohemia and Prague!
December 1 – 10, 2012

“Oh! Mozart! Immortal Mozart, how many visions of a brighter and better world you have imprinted on our souls.”

- Franz Schubert -

Join Earthbound Expeditions for a classical music journey to Budapest, Vienna and Prague. Enjoy the beauty and pageantry of classical music as it was meant to be experienced, in Europe’s most legendary symphony halls and opera houses! Visit the great composers’ homes and walk in their historic footsteps through Central Europe’s romantic musical capitals. You’ll sip hot spiced wine among colorful Christmas stalls in Vienna’s open air market, enjoy the Nutcracker at the Budapest State Opera and stroll through the historic back alleyways of Prague. Grab your muffler and don your boots and join us on this festive winter small-group getaway.

YOUR JOURNEY

3 Nights Budapest
3 Nights Vienna
3 Nights Prague

JOURNEY HIGHLIGHTS

An abundance of colorful Christmas markets ♦ Private tours of the homes and museums devoted to Haydn, Mahler, Liszt, Mozart and Beethoven ♦ A total of three classical concerts to be performed in Budapest, Vienna and Prague ♦ An evening dinner cruise on the Danube River in Budapest ♦ The State Opera Houses of Budapest and Prague ♦ A special chamber music concert in the monastery of the “German Teutonic Order” where Mozart worked, performed and lived ♦ Private guided walks in Budapest, Vienna and Prague with local experts ♦ Unique dining experiences in charming cafes, wine cellars and restaurants ♦ Vienna’s Fine Art Museum ♦ Backstage tour of the Vienna State Opera House highlighting the life of Gustav Mahler ♦ An insider’s tour of the residences of Mozart and Beethoven in Vienna ♦ The colorful baroque monastery of Melk markets ♦ An in-depth look into the history of Prague’s Jewish Quarter ♦ Major symphony halls and opera houses ♦ A small, fun group of soon-to-be-friends.

IT’S INCLUDED

• Guided by an Earthbound Expeditions program director
• Musical Events: Enjoy three classical concerts in historic settings
• Historic orientation/sightseeing walks in Vienna, Budapest and Prague with intriguing local guides
• Evening dinner cruise in Budapest
• Nine nights of accommodation in splendid European-style centrally located hotels (all hotels are within walking distance of major sights and have a private bath
• All breakfasts, four traditional lunches and four multi-course dinners
• Airport transfers in Europe for those arriving and departing with the group
• Transfers between Budapest, Vienna, Bohemia and Prague by private motor coach
• Gratuities for your guide and driver
• All entrances to museums listed in your itinerary
• A pre-tour educational reading/video viewing list
• Alumni travel discounts applied towards future trips with Earthbound Expeditions

TRIP FACTS

10 Days/9 Nights
$2,545 PP Based on Dbl. Occupancy (Land only)
Single Supplement: $590
Depart the USA on November 30, 2012
Trip begins in Budapest: December 1, 2012
Trip ends in Prague / USA on December 10
Group Size: Limited to 29 travelers
*Based on an exchange rate of .72 € to $1USD

WAYS TO SAVE!

Pay by check: Pay your final balance by check or money order and save $75 per person.
Alumni Discounts: All alumni of Earthbound Expeditions will receive $100 off the published journey price (private trips may be excluded). If Earthbound Expeditions has other discounts available, participants may choose the greatest available discount.
Refer a Friend: Refer a friend and save an additional $75 for each person new to Earthbound who travels with you on an Earthbound Expedition. “Refer a Friend” discounts may be combined with other discounts. 

“Music embodies feeling without forcing it to contend and combine with thought, as it is forced in most arts and especially in the art of words. “

- Franz Liszt -

YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS…

DAY 1
November 30, 2012
Depart Home City for Historic Hungary

DAY 2
December 1, 2012
Arrive in the City of Liszt…Budapest!
Isten hozta! Welcome to Budapest! Our musical journey through the treasures of Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic begins appropriately enough in Budapest as we land at the Liszt International Airport. After checking into your centrally located hotel, meet your guide for a welcome orientation dinner fit for a Hungarian king.  Sleep in Budapest

DAY 3
Discover Budapest, the Liszt Memorial Museum & a Cruise on the Danube
This morning we’ll meet our local guide for a leisurely historic walking tour of the two cities, Buda and Pest. Our tour will take us from the imposing castle district of Buda to Hungary’s stately parliament building in Pest. This afternoon we’ll enjoy a special tour of the Liszt Ferenc Memorial Museum. Liszt, the founding president and professor of the Academy, accepted no salary for his teaching and donated a treasure trove of personal belongings to the institution, including his Chickering piano and composing desk.

Your afternoon will be free to further explore this East European gem, or reward yourself with a relaxing Turkish bath at one of Budapest’s famous bathhouses. Tonight take in the stunning views while enjoying your evening meal on a dinner cruise along the Danube River. Sleep in Budapest

DAY 4
Heroes Square & Budapest State Opera House
After a leisurely morning, we will travel beyond the banks of the Danube deeper into Pest to explore impressive Heroes Square with its mighty statue of the Angel Gabriel, its glorious Fine Arts Museum and many architectural curiosities. Then we are off to the Great Synagogue in Dohány Street, also known as the Tabac-Schul, the Yiddish translation of dohány (tobacco), after the Hungarian name of the street. It is a monumental, magnificent synagogue, with a capacity of 2,964 seats (1,492 for men and 1,472 in the women’s galleries) making it one of the largest in the world. The afternoon is free to explore the city markets, museums and cafes before meeting your fellow travelers for a performance at the gorgeous Budapest State Opera House. Sleep in Budapest

DAY 5
Off to Vienna: A Day with Haydn and Liszt
Guten Tag! This morning we are off to the legendary home of Strauss, Mozart, the Habsburgs and the Waltz! En-route to Vienna we visit Austria’s Burgenland province and the historic town of Eisenstadt. The major attraction here is the Schloss Esterházy (1364). Count Esterhazy restored it initially in a Baroque and later in a Classical style (1663-1672). Joseph Haydn, a leading composer of the classical period, left a lasting impression on Eisenstadt, where he lived and worked as Prince Esterhazy’s Kapellmeister (music director) for over 40 years. Today Haydn’s white marble tomb can be seen in the Bergkirche (Haydnkirche). Other sights include the Haydn Mausoleum and the Haydn and Liszt House. From 1848 to 1861, Franz Liszt served as Kapellmeister Extraordinaire at the Weimar court. Almost a century earlier, Joseph Haydn had been Kapellmeister at the court of Prince Esterházy.

After lunch near the Castle, we continue our journey to Austria’s musical capital. Afterwards, check into our centrally located hotel. Then take time to marvel at this merry city resplendent with colorful lights before joining your fellow travelers for a hearty Viennese dinner hosted by your guide in an historic Esterházy family wine cellar, frequented by both Mozart and Haydn in a by-gone era. Sleep in Vienna

DAY 6
In Pursuit of Mozart and Beethoven
Enjoy a morning walking tour through the merry streets of Vienna. Accompanied by a local expert, learn why Vienna in the 18th century was the musical capital of Europe. Visit Mozart’s house where he composed the Marriage of Figaro. After, you will have a guided tour of the Beethoven Pasqualati House, where Beethoven is known to have composed his Fourth, Fifth and Seventh Symphonies.

The afternoon is yours to explore Vienna at your own leisurely pace. We suggest a visit to one of the nearby festive Christmas markets, the House of Music or the Belvedere Palace Museum, where the works of Art Nouveau master Gustav Klimt are located. Enjoy a private evening concert in the very chamber where Mozart himself first performed in Vienna as a young man. Sleep in Vienna

DAY 7
Vienna’s Fine Art Museum & the Vienna State Opera House
The Museum of Fine Arts ranks among the richest and most important art collections in the world. In its corridors, you’ll find dazzling works by Bruegel, Rubens, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Dürer, Raphael, Titian and Velazquez. In addition, the Museum of Fine Arts is celebrating the life of Gustav Mahler (1860-1911). Mahler is regarded as a genius of the fin de siècle, a composer whose work is celebrated both as the culmination of the romantic symphony and a precursor to “Neue Musik.” To celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth and 200th anniversary of his death, the Austrian Theatre Museum is showing an exhibition that focuses on the wealth of connections that linked the celebrated composer and director of the Imperial Opera House with Vienna. After our tour of the Museum of Fine Arts, enjoy an included lunch at a typical Viennese Café. This evening is free for you to visit colorful Christmas markets or attend an optional classical concert. Sleep in Vienna

DAY 8
To Prague via Monastery of Melk
This morning we say “auf wiedersehen” to Vienna and head north towards Bohemia. Before leaving Austria, we’ll meander through the Wachau Danube Valley, one of the most spectacular stretches of river in Europe, to the majestic baroque Monastery of Melk. This Monastery inspired Umberto Eco to use Melk as the setting for his medieval masterpiece, “The Name of the Rose.” The awe-inspiring edifice is a treasure chest of paintings, sculptures, and decorative art, and its great library contains over 2,000 volumes of medieval manuscripts. You may even hear the timeless echoes of the monks’ Gregorian chants. After lunch we’ll make our way north towards the soaring spires of Prague. Arguably Europe’s most beautiful city, Prague is the birthplace of Franz Kafka and the city Mozart loved best. It’s also your home for the next three nights. As this is our first evening in Prague, let’s enjoy a Bohemian feast together. Sleep in Prague

DAY 9
Old Town Prague & Jewish Quarter
Our historic walking tour of Prague begins in the medieval center. The Old Town Square (Staromìstské námìstí) has been Prague’s heart since the 10th century and was its main market place until the beginning of the 20th century. Within the Old Town Square you discover a massive monument to Jan Hus, the Church of St. Nicholas (completed in 1735), and the gothic Old Town Hall with its medieval astronomical clock and calendar.

We then continue to Prague’s historic medieval Jewish Quarter. The Old-New Synagogue (Staronová synagóga), built around 1270, is the oldest working synagogue in Europe and one of Prague’s earliest gothic buildings. The Old Cemetery (Starý židovský høbitov), founded in 1478, is Europe’s oldest surviving Jewish cemetery and is a highlight of the city tour. After the walking tour, enjoy some free time this afternoon to explore the quaint lanes of this captivating capital. Meet this evening for our third included concert. Sleep in Prague

DAY 10
Charles Bridge & Wenceslas Square
We have a full and exciting day ahead of us, so let’s get going early! We start our walking tour with Wenceslas Square (Václavské námìstí). Originally a horse market, the Square is the main center of modern Prague and has been the backdrop for a great deal of Czech history. In 1969, university student Jan Palach set himself on fire in protest against the Warsaw Pact invasion. Then in November 1989, protest meetings against police brutality were held here, leading to the Velvet Revolution, which culminated in the end of communism for Czechoslovakia.

This evening meet your guide for an evening farewell feast up in Prague’s castle. Sleep in Prague

DAY 11
December 10, 2012
Return Home with a Lifetime of Memories
Your journey concludes after breakfast today. You may wish to spend a few more days in Prague or travel four hours north by intercity express train to Germany’s exciting new capital, Berlin. Bon Voyage!

CONCERTS: WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

Former Winter Waltz guests have enjoyed chamber music concerts in historic venues, operas in grand opera houses, symphonies in stately symphony halls and the occasional ballet and/or advent concert. You can be assured that we’ll do our very best to obtain the best concert seats available and will reserve a pleasant balance of venues and events. Concerts will be announced approximately 60 days prior to departure. SCHEDULE NOTES: Earthbound Expeditions is not responsible for any changes regarding the program, performers, times and/or dates which the concert organizers may alter. If for reasons beyond our control a concert is changed or cancelled a substitute concert will be found.

CHRISTMAS MARKETS OF CENTRAL EUROPE

Each year Christmas Markets spring up around central Europe in the weeks before the Christmas holidays, signaling the beginning of Advent.

The centuries-old tradition reaches back to a time when regular seasonal markets took place throughout the year. Christmas Markets were a welcome occurrence during cold-weather months. They were joyful occasions for weary villagers and added a bit of light to long winter nights. The first Christmas Markets were little more than winter markets that lasted a couple of days. Instead of the cozy stands that line Christmas Market alleys today, traders in some cities laid their goods out in the streets.

Through the years, each Christmas Market has stayed true to its own particularities, with each specializing on local delicacies and traditional products. In the past, only local tradesmen were allowed to sell their wares at the city’s market, which led to the distinctive regional character of today’s markets.

Today, German Christmas Markets serve much the same function that they have for centuries — as a festive meeting place for locals and a market for homemade Christmas ornaments and decorations.

Some of the most traditional handicrafts can be found here in the weeks before Christmas — from nutcrackers, wooden figurines, straw stars and smokers, to cookie tins, glass balls, toys, and tin tree ornaments.

Despite the widespread belief that Christmas has only recently developed into a feast of commercialism, it may be shocking to find out that, as early as the 17th century, gift-buying at Christmas Markets had already become a main pre-holiday activity.

Usually, the Christmas Markets were held around the city’s main church to attract church-goers. But they were so enticing that a priest in Nürnberg in 1616 complained that he could not hold the afternoon service on Christmas Eve because no one attended.

It is likely that the Christmas Markets drew more visitors when religious reformer Martin Luther instituted new customs for Christmas. Before Luther, the exchanging of presents took place on the saint days of St. Nicholas, December 6, or of St. Martin, on November 11.

It was Luther who suggested that children receive presents from “the Christ child,” hence the name “Christkindlsmarkt,” a popular name for many Christmas Markets, especially in the south of Germany.