VIRGILIO TRAVEL
DETAILED ITINERARY
(Subject to Change)
Friday,
December 5
Depart from Newark- EWR on United 42 at 7:30PM for overnight flight to Frankfurt (FRA) Germany.
Saturday,
December 6
Everyone will meet at the Frankfurt Arrivals Hall at 10:15 AM local time and be ready to go. Lino, Tyler, Fr. Mike, and our tour escorts/guides will meet you as we hop on the buses on our way to Cologne. We’ll stop to have a light lunch (as if that exists in Germany), and get to our hotel. After showering off those nasty plane germs, we’ll have a chance to taste some local beer and have a big welcome dinner.
Sunday,
December 7
We'll begin our day at 9am with a walking tour of the beautiful city of Cologne. We'll then get a guided tour of the amazing Cologne Cathedral, and visit the relics of the Three Wisemen. We'll then have lunch as a group at a local restaurant. From there, we'll go to St Severi's church for Mass, followed by more of our walking tour. You'll have the evening free to explore the fantastic Christmas markets, drink gluwein, eat heavy foods, and shop.
Monday, December 8
The day starts at 9am as we head to the city of Aachen. We'll begin with Mass celebrating the Immaculate Conception at the beautiful Gothic Marian Shrine that is the Aachen Cathedral as well as a tour of the Cathedral. After that, we'll head to lunch as a group and have a short tour of Aachen. From there, you'll have time on your own to explore one of Germany's best known Christmas markets for more eating, drinking, and shopping.
Tuesday,
December 9
We'll check out of our hotel and head to Bruges. Along the way, we stop in the beautiful port city of Antwerp and its Flemish architecture. We'll have Mass at the Cathedral and then you'll have free to explore their Christmas markets with lunch on your own. From there, we hop back on the bus and head to Bruges. We'll check into our hotel and freshen up before heading out for a delicious dinner at a local restaurant.
Wednesday,
December 10
We'll start our day at 9am and visit the Church of Our Lady which holds the world famous Bruges Madonna - a sculpture by Michelangelo himself. We then get a guided tour of the city, visit the Cathedral, and the exquisitve market square. We then have Mass at the Basilica of the Holy Blood, which contains a relic of Christ's blood. After Mass, we have lunch together at a local restaurant followed by a boat ride touring the canals of Bruges. The rest of the day is at leisure to eat waffles, taste Belgian chocolate, drink beer, and, of course, shop at the Christmas markets.
Thursday,
December 11
This morning we check out and head to Ghent. Our main mission for the visit is to see the Ghent Altarpiece painted by van Eyck in 1432 and housed in St. Bavo Cathedral.
It's rare for Lino to get to see anything new on these pilgrimages, and this is actually a piece of art he gets to see for the first time.
We then have Mass at St James Church, followed by free time to explore Ghent on your own and have lunch. We then continue to Brussels and check-in at our hotel. After time to freshen up, we'll go out for another great meal together.
Friday,
December 12
We begin at 9am with a tour of Brussels and its many churches: the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula, St Nicholas Church - where we'll have Mass - and more. We'll then have free time to visit some Christmas Markets one last time and get more shopping and eating and drinking in. We then head to the hotel to pack, freshen up, and have one big farewell dinner together.
Saturday,
December 13
