The "A Tale of Two Cities" seminar in Prague and Berlin will be led by Haim Aronovitz, Director of the Melton Travel Seminars. The seminar is open to adults who enjoy in-depth Jewish educational travel, including all Melton students and graduates.   

For more information about this seminar, please click the tab headings in this section or the ≡ icon on mobile devices. 

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Tour Includes

• 8 nights' accommodation at select hotels
• Meals: breakfast daily & 6 additional meals
• All entrance fees and programs as per the Melton program

Day One: Wednesday
PRAGUE: A WALKING INTRODUCTION

• 2:30 p.m. Meet with your Melton educator and fellow group members to begin the program.
• Orientation to the program.
• Walking tour of the Old Town Square and its vicinity, a kaleidoscope of periods and styles: (how) were the Jews a part of this culture? 
• Welcoming dinner.
• Return to the hotel.

Overnight: Prague

Day Two: Thursday
THE GLORY OF PRAGUE, GENERAL AND JEWISH

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Introduction to the day: The Crown, the Cross and the Jews.
• Transfer to the Strakhov Monastery for a special tour of their library, followed by a visit to the environs of the Hrad (Prague Castle).
• Overview of the City of 100 Spires and walk along the Golden Lane, with a study session on the way: Politics and Leadership: Between Nobles, Burghers and Jews.
• Walk through the Lesser Town and over the Charles Bridge crossing the Vltava River, once the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas
• Lunch on your own en route.
• Afternoon devoted to the Old Jewish Town (Yosefov):
• Introduction: The Fabric of Jewish Life Until the 19th century
  • Guided visit through the Altneu Shul
  • Explore the rest of the Old Ghetto and the Precious Legacy Exhibit at the Jewish Museum, encompassing the Old Cemetery, the Maisel, the Klausen and the Pinkas Synagogues.
• Dinner on own and evening at leisure.
• (Optional): A Jew in K.'s Prague (walking exploration of Kafka’s World in Central Prague).

Overnight: Prague

Day Three: Friday
MEMORY & CONTINUITY

• Breakfast at the hotel and introduction to the day: Twentieth Century Breakdown.
• Depart Prague and drive to Terezin.
• Visit Terezin, the town that was turned into the “model” ghetto and concentration camp. Visit the Historical Museum and the Art Exhibits, created by the artists who were prisoners of the camp, stop by the so-called Hidden Synagogue and the Crematorium. Conclude the visit with a special study session: What Makes For Heroism?
• Boxed lunch en route back to Prague.
• Meeting with a young leader of the Czech Jewish community.
• Shabbat Dinner, possibly with members of the community.

Overnight: Prague

Day Four: Saturday
A PRAGUE SHABBAT

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Optional Shabbat morning services at a local synagogue.

OR

• Morning at leisure to explore Prague on own.
• Lunch on own. 
• Afternoon walking tour.
• Bein Kodesh Lechol: light Shabbat Snack, study session and Havdalah.

Overnight: Prague

Day Five: Sunday
FROM PRAGUE TO BERLIN

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out.
• Drive to Dresden, symbol of Germany in her defeat and of the price of war.
• Site visit and discussion: Victor Klemperer - A Jew, Not by Choice. 
• Boxed lunch together, in a park near Dresden's cathedral.
• Continue the drive to Berlin; upon arrival:
  • Visit Nikolaikirsche Platz for an overview of the story of the city and its Jewish community.
  • See Ephraim-Palais, home of the court Jew of Frederick the Great
  • Presentation alongside Lessing's home: Lessing and "Nathan the Wise" (Moses Mendelssohn).
• Check into the hotel.
• Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Six: Monday
JEWISH LIFE IN BERLIN

• Breakfast at the hotel and introduction: German Jews and Their Judaisms.
• Visit the Weissensee Jewish Cemetery, the second largest Jewish cemetery in Europe.
• Walk along Grosse Hamburger Strasse, once the center of Berlin Jewry.  
• Tour to Jewish sites in the neighborhood, including:
  • The Hackescher Markt
  • The Jewish Cemetery, including Moses Mendelsson's grave
• Break for lunch on own.
• Guided visit to the Jewish Museum of Berlin, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. One of the most conspicuous architectural landmarks in the city, it embodies remembrance, melancholy, and departure.
• Return to the hotel or remain in museum.
• Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Seven: Tuesday
FROM IMPERIAL TO NAZI BERLIN

• Breakfast at the hotel and introduction to the day: From Bismarck to Hitler; Models of Authoritarianism.
• The Fate of Books and People: Visit the Book Burning Memorial at Bebel Square, alongside Humboldt University.
• Stop at the Victory Column in the Tiergarten: Bismarck, Architect of Modern Germany, and his Jew, Bleichroder (brief discussion).
• Visit the 1936 Olympic Games stadium: Putting Symbols to Use.
• Break for lunch on own.
• Visit the "Places of Remembrance" Art in Public Space Memorial in the Bavarian Quarter, addressing the almost-forgotten history of this neighborhood, where Albert Einstein and Hannah Arendt once lived.
• Visit the exhibition devoted to the residents of Schoneberg at the Municipal Hall: “We Are All Berliners!”
• Free to explore or return to the hotel.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Eight: Wednesday
THE BEAST LET LOOSE: NAZI BERLIN

• Breakfast at the hotel and introduction to the morning: The Thousand Year Reich
• Drive to the Reich Ministry of Aviation and other Nazi-era buildings along Wilhelmstrasse.
• Visit the Topography of Terror Museum.
• Study Session: What to Remember? How to Remember?
• Visit the Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe and the commemorative spots devoted to the Roma and Sinti, and to the Homosexuals.
• Break for lunch on own.

BERLIN DIVIDED AND REUNITED

• Visit Brandenburg Gate
• Walls That Divided: Visit the Berlin Wall Museum and Memorial.
• Dinner on own and evening at leisure.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Nine: Thursday
TAKING STOCK

• Breakfast at the hotel.
• Introduction to the day:Looking Back
• How Do We Educate? A special session with the educational staff of the Wannsee Conference Educational and Memorial Site.
• The Ongoing Construction of Memory: a visit to Gleis 17 (Track 17), the main deportation site for Berlin Jews during the Holocaust, located in Grunewald.
• Boxed lunch en route.
• Heart of the New Germany: The Reichstag and new Government Center.
• What Lessons do Germans Take from their Past? Meet with an organization involved in refugee assistance or co-existence dialogue or a scholar of contemporary Germany society.
• Group Session: What Lessons do WE Take from our Encounters?
• Farewell dinner.

Overnight: Berlin

Day Ten: Friday
RETURN HOME or remain in Berlin for AJC Global Forum,  starting Sunday, June 14th.

• Breakfast at the hotel and check out as per individual schedules.
• Transfer on own to Berlin International Airport or continue with private travel plans or with the AJC pre-conference plans.

Note: Itinerary subject to change. Museum visits and personal shopping time may be disrupted due to unforeseen circumstances or the many religious, state and local holidays locally observed in the destinations being visited.

Day 1-3: Grand Majestic Plaza

Day 4-9: Titanic Gerdarmenmarket Berlin

Flight Arrangements

We will be pleased to assist you in any and all flight arrangements, including additional travel plans, through our partners at Gil Travel. Please contact Fred Bomze (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 215-568-6655 x 244) with your flight requests.

Need to Know

• Group rates are per person based on double occupancy and a minimum of 20 full paying participants per bus. Should the number of participants drop below the minimum listed above, we will adjust the cost of the trip to reflect the additional expense of operating the program.
• Tour prices are per person in U.S. dollars. All hotel accommodations, motor coach transportation, special dinners, sightseeing, admissions, luggage handling and the services of local guides, drivers, and the tour guide/educator are included.
• Hotel Accommodations: The tour price includes all hotel accommodations, in hotel rooms with private baths. Our standard is to provide the best available hotels while considering value. Although the level of the accommodations may differ slightly from hotel to hotel, we are committed to your comfort. Two-bed rooms are reserved in most hotels. Triples are two-bed rooms with a rollaway cot where available and are not recommended when considering the comfort of those in the room. King-size beds are not available in most hotels; what is considered king-size usually consists of two single beds pushed together and made up separately, but with one headboard. Some two-bed rooms may have two twin - not full- or queen-size - beds.
• Meals are included as specified in the itinerary. In travel beyond Israel, all group meals are kosher. Participants can order additional kosher meals at prices set by our local agents.
• All trips are conducted by a Melton educator who remains with the group throughout the tour.
• Gratuities Included: All gratuities for restaurant staff are included.
• Baggage: The Travel Agent and/or Tour Operator, shall not be held responsible for any damage to or loss of luggage/personal items. All damage/loss must be reported at time of incident and documented in writing by local authorities for submission to the insurance company. With regard to airline baggage allowance, different carriers have different regulations for business and coach, please check with your individual carrier with regard to permitted number of pieces, weights and dimensions. The tour operator is not responsible for fees levied by any air carrier for the transport of personal belongings of any kind.

Not Included

• Airfare to the tour departure point and from the tour ending point is not included.
• Transfers from / to the airport.
• Personal Expenses: All personal expenses such as: laundry, valet service, cables, telephone calls and postage are not included.
• Guide and Driver Gratuities.

Additional Information

• Airline Security Measures: In the U.S., you must provide identification in the form of a passport at the time of airport check-in for travel to international destinations. Your passport name must match the name on your tour reservation and airline ticket or you may be denied boarding.
• If you are traveling from an airport outside the jurisdiction of the U.S, you will need to determine what travel documentation and identification is required for that particular airport.
• Due to heightened security regulations, certain items such as a metal nail file, pocketknife, cigarette lighter or tweezers, and some liquid, gel, or aerosol items may not be permitted in your carry-on luggage. Please call your airline prior to departure to obtain current information on non-permissible carry-on items and recommended airport check-in times. You may also wish to visit the Transportation Security Administration website at www.tsa.gov to obtain more information on acceptable identity documentation and prohibited luggage items.
• Holidays and Museum Closures - Museum visits and personal shopping time may be disrupted due to unforeseen circumstances or the many religious, state and local holidays locally observed in the destinations being visited.
• Photography During Tours: We will occasionally use photographs taken by fellow guests or your trip director for promotional purposes. If you prefer that your photo not be used in any marketing activities, please notify us at the start of your tour.

We strongly recommend that comprehensive health coverage and trip cancellation insurance be purchased.

Gil Travel recommends RoamRight Travel Insurance. Consider travel protection for:

• Trip Cancellation
• Trip Interruption
• Emergency Medical Expenses
• Emergency Evacuation/Repatriation of Remains
• Trip Delay
• Baggage & Personal Effects
• Baggage Delay and more…

For more information on the available plans or to enroll, visit RoamRight Travel Insurance or contact RoamRight at 1-866-891-6614 and reference Gil Travel.

Please Note: To be eligible for the waiver of pre-existing medical condition exclusion, the protection plan must be purchased within 21 days from the time you make your initial trip deposit, the entire non-refundable amount of the trip must be insured, and you must be medically able to travel at the time the premium is paid. However, the travel protection plan itself can be purchased any time prior to departure.