A Pilgrimage to
WORLD YOUTH DAY 2011 - MADRID, SPAIN
DESIGNED AND OPERATED BY CLUB EUROPA
11 Days including WYD 2011 plus Segovia and Avila
 We have designed this tour for groups, who do not have enough time for a longer journey, or those who are on a comparatively tight budget.
This 11 day tour includes excursions to major pilgrimage sites such as the Cathedral in Segovia (the last Gothic cathedral built in Spain, consecrated in 1768), as well as San Lorenzo de El Escorial and the Shrine of St Theresa of Avila. Our experienced local guides will help you and your youth group enjoy the beauty, tradition and uniqueness of these sites.
Madrid, Segovia and Avila...
Day 1 - Aug 12 - Friday
Overnight transatlantic flight from the United States to Spain
(inflight meals)
Day 2 - Aug 13 - Saturday
ARRIVAL at MADRID > SEGOVIA / AVILA Area
 Arrival at Madrid Barajas Airport MAD and "meet and greet" by your multilingual CLUB EUROPA escort. (Time will be allowed at the airport to exchange money.) Private deluxe motorcoach for drive to SEGOVIA / AVILA (60 miles / 1.5 hours)
In case of early arrival: a light lunch snack (soft drink, croissant, sandwich) will be included. Orientation meeting with escort Check-in at hotel, time to relax and unwind. Dinner at hotel or local restaurant (included)
Overnight / SEGOVIA – AVILA Area
Day 3 - Aug 14 - Sunday
SEGOVIA and AVILA
TIME FOR ATTENDANCE OF SUNDAY MASS WILL BE ALLOWED
After breakfast: sightseeing in Segovia with local, licensed guide.
Lunch in Segovia is on your own.
After lunch: long distance coach for drive to AVILA (40 miles / 1 hrs)
Upon arrival: sightseeing in Avila with local, licensed guide.
Return to hotel in the early evening
Dinner at hotel or local restaurant (included).
Overnight / SEGOVIA – AVILA Area
Day 4 - Aug 15 - Monday
SEGOVIA > MADRID
Breakfast at hotel
After breakfast: departure for Madrid.
En route: stop at El Escorial, in the Guadarrama Mountains, 40 miles northwest of Madrid.
Entrance fee to the Monasterio de San Lorenzo de El Escorial is included.
Lunch is on own Continuation to Madrid – check-in at hotel.
Dinner at hotel or local restaurant (included).
Overnight / MADRID
 Days 5-11 - Aug 16 -21 Tuesday - Sunday
WORLD YOUTH DAY SESSIONS AND FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES
Theme: "Rooted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith" (cf Col 2:7).
These days are kept free for the actual WORLD YOUTH DAY activities, beginning with the registration and opening Mass on August 16th, ending with final Mass in the presence of the Holy Father on August 21st. Daily breakfast at your hotel is included.
Day 5 - Aug 16 - Tuesday
MADRID
Breakfast at hotel
REGISTRATION DAY for World Youth Day
Lunch is on own
Afternoon: Opening Mass of Welcome with Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, the Archbishop of Madrid.
Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD “package”
Overnight / MADRID
Day 6 - Aug 17 - Wednesday
MADRID
Breakfast at hotel
The day is dedicated to World Youth Day activities
Lunch is on own
Morning: Catechesis, WYD Activities
Evening: Festivities and Holy Mass
Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD “package”
Overnight / MADRID
 Day 7 - Aug 18 - Thursday
MADRID
Breakfast at hotel
The day is dedicated to World Youth Day activities
Lunch is on own
Morning: Catechesis and Holy Mass
Afternoon: Welcoming Ceremony with the Holy Father
Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD “package”
Overnight / MADRID
Day 8 - Aug 19 - Friday
MADRID
Breakfast at hotel
The day is dedicated to World Youth Day activities
Lunch is on own
Morning: Catechesis and Holy Mass
Evening: Way of the Cross
Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD “package”
Overnight / MADRID
Day 9 - Aug 20 - Saturday
MADRID
Breakfast at hotel
The day is dedicated to World Youth Day activities
Lunch is on own
Pilgrimage Walk and Overnight Vigil with the Holy Father
Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD “package”
Overnight / MADRID
Day 10 - Aug 21 - Sunday
MADRID
Breakfast at hotel
The day is dedicated to World Youth Day activities
Lunch is on own
Morning: Concluding Mass with the Holy Father and Eucharist takes place in Madrid at "Cuatro Vientos."
Dinner is on own or comes with your WYD “package”
Overnight / MADRID
Day 11 - Aug 22 - Monday
RETURN TO THE U.S.
Breakfast at hotel (in case of early departure this may not be a ‘full’ breakfast).
Services of private motor coach for transfer from hotel to Madrid Barajas Airport. Club Europa assistant for transfer and check-in
Return flight to the United States (inflight meals).
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Madrid, Segovia and Avila...
Segovia is Spain and Castile at its best - twisting alleyways, the highest concentration of Romanesque churches in all of Europe, pedestrian streets where no cars are allowed, the aroma of roast suckling pig around every corner - all surrounded by the city's medieval wall which itself is bordered by two rivers and an extensive green-belt park with miles of shaded walks. On the north-west extreme of the wall is the famous Alcazar castle, source of inspiration to Walt Disney, and where Queen Isabel promised Columbus the financial backing he needed to discover America. On the south-east extreme is the world renowned Roman Aqueduct, the largest and best preserved of its kind anywhere, which served as the mintmark on all coins struck in the city from 1455 to 1864. The tallest building in Segovia is still the 16th-century cathedral, a prominent landmark as one approaches from any direction.
Avila
A unique feature of Avila are its medieval walls, almost intact and forming an impressive monument, rectangular in shape, with a perimeter of almost two miles, some over seven feet high and six feet wide. The walls are reinforced by stout turrets at intervals of roughly nine feet, ninety of them altogether, and the most important of them is the one called "Cimorro" or Cathedral apse. It has nine gates, each of them open between strong turrets, among which the most monumental are the ones called the ‘Gates of San Vicente and the Alcázar’ Inside the South Wall, on Calle Dama, the Convento de Santa Teresa was founded in the 17th century on the site of the saint’s birthplace. Teresa’s famous written account of an ecstatic vision in which an angel pierced her heart would influence many baroque artists, most famously the Italian sculptor Giovanni Bernini.
The Cathedral, Romanesque and Gothic, is both a church and a fortress built into the city’s defensive enclosure. The Church of San Pedro is one of the finest examples of the Romanesque style, the evolution of which culminates in the Basilica of San Vicente, a monument representative of the transition to the Gothic, between the 12th and 14th centuries. The Virgin of la Soterraña is venerated in the crypt.
St Teresa of Avila
St. Teresa of Jesus was born on March 28th 1515 in Avila. After her parents she was called Ceped. When she was 14 years of age her mother died and her father placed her with the Augustine Sisters for education. She entered the Carmelite convent in 1536, but at first suffered a bout of sicknesses and interior struggles. In 1557 she decided to rule out anything from her life, that would withdraw her from the Lord in any way. She started a life of deep interior prayer. At that time she was longing for the return to the original rules with severe seclusion.
After establishing the first reformed Carmelite Convent in 1562, she formed further such convents. When she met St. John of the Cross, she suggested to start reforming the monasteries. Her writings became a school of deep prayer. She died on October 4, 1582. In 1622 she was beatified and in 1970 together with St. Catherine of Siena declared a ‘Doctor of the Church’.
El Escorial
El Escorial, or by its full name Monasterio de San Lorenzo del Escorial, is one of the most impressive buildings in Spain. It was built by Felipe II, to celebrate his victory over the French in 1557. San Lorenzo de El Escorial, 32 miles from Madrid by road and 3,000 ft. above sea level, is one of the former royal residences and in this case owes its universal fame to the famous Monastery which was built in there by King Felipe II. The renowned Monastery of San Lorenzo el Real gives an overall impression of grandeur and austerity that has never been equaled. Its design is the work of Juan Bautista from Toledo and of Juan de Herrera. On the facade of the Basilica, there are the statues of six kings of Judah (Josaphat, Hezequah, David, Solomon, Josiah and Manasseh), which were carried out by the sculptor from Toledo, Juan Bautista Monegro, who also created the main entrance to San Lorenzo.
Not content with building the "eighth wonder of the world", the King took over large tracts of land in its surroundings to build the Royal Woods of San Lorenzo, in the clearings of which magnificent buildings were constructed. Afterwards, during the reign of Carlos III, the "Casita del Príncipe" was built, which is a marvelous casino-cum-museum, as well as the House of the "Infante", which lies in a splendid place. The reconstruction of the Theatre of El Coliseo of Carlos III, one of the oldest stages in Europe, has given new life to the cultural trends in the city.
A few miles from El Escorial, in a wild valley of the Guadarrama Sierra, on top of the ridge called La Nava, sits the monument of La Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos (Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen), whose the silhouette is an unmistakable granite cross, 450 ft high and 46m long at the cross piece. It was built as a mausoleum for the soldiers who fell during the Civil War.
Cathedral Nuestra Senora de la Almudena
The site on which Almudena Cathedral now stands was originally occupied by Madrid's first mosque, then by a church dedicated to one of Madrid's patron saints, Santa María de la Almudena. In 1868, Madrid received permission from the archbishop of Toledo to construct a new church dedicated to the Virgin of Almudena. Construction began in 1883 based on a Neo-Gothic design. The first part to be completed was the crypt, which today still retains the 16th-century image of Madrid's patroness the Virgen de la Almudena. Construction on the cathedral progressed slowly and came to a complete halt during the civil war of the 1930s. The process was picked up again in 1944, when a new architect introduced a Neoclassical style that would match the Royal Palace next door. Almudena Cathedral was completed in 1993 and consecrated by Pope John Paul II that same year; a statue of the pope in front of the cathedral commemorates the occasion.
These historical areas stand as foundation stones of the faith and truth for youth and elder alike.
Young Christians from around the world will be welcomed to Madrid Spain, in August 2011 for the 21th World Youth Day. They will participate in various papal activities and gatherings carrying on the special tradition in celebration of universal faith and fellowship.
Club Europa invites you and your youth group to participate in this wonderful pilgrimage.
