MAIN Czech Republic MILTENBERG RIVER WÜRZBURG PRAGUE RÜDESHEIM BAMBERG HEIDELBERG NUREMBERG SPEYER MAINDANUBE CANAL REGENSBURG RHINE STRASBOURG RIVER DANUBE RIVER to the Germany PragueA DAnube, M Ain & Rhine Swiss RiveR c RAlpsuise France BASEL ZÜRICH aboard the Royal Crown • October 12–26, 2017 AIR INTERLAKEN CRUISE Switzerland LAND Dear Members and Friends, Romantic Old World villages, medieval city centers, picturesque winding rivers, forests and vineyards ablaze with autumn colors, and vibrant cities emblematic of a rapidly transforming Europe comprise the cultural and historical threads of a memorable journey from the Czech Republic, through Germany and France, and ending in Switzerland. This unique itinerary is bookended by two fascinating destinations—Prague, the historic capital of Bohemia, and the spectacularly beautiful Swiss Alps. Connecting them is a scenic journey from Regensburg to Basel aboard the intimate Royal Crown riverboat along three rivers—the Danube, Main, and Rhine—as well as a transit through the Main-Danube Canal. Marvel at the rebirth of Prague since the fall of the Iron Curtain; enjoy the charm of historic castles; visit six UNESCO World Heritage sites, including the Upper Middle Rhine Valley; sample world-class regional wines; and ponder the future ramifications of decisions made by the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Our privately chartered home for eight nights is the 90-passenger Royal Crown riverboat, just over half the size of most riverboats in the region and outfitted with elegant public areas and staterooms, perfect complements to the refined cuisine and friendly, attentive service designed to enhance your river cruise experience. Since we are sharing this adventure with travelers from Harvard, Stanford, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, I encourage you to reserve your space now. Sincerely, Lisa Hill Manager of Travel & Special Programs Santa Barbara Museum of Art MAIN Czech Republic MILTENBERG RIVER WÜRZBURG PRAGUE RÜDESHEIM BAMBERG HEIDELBERG NUREMBERG SPEYER MAINDANUBE CANAL REGENSBURG RHINE STRASBOURG RIVER DANUBE CoveR: visit Basel’s picturesque RIVER old Town, where the spires of Münster France Germany Cathedral rise above the Rhine River. ThIS page: Regensburg’s Dom St. Peter BASEL towers over the city, whose medieval center ZÜRICH is a UNeSCo World heritage site. Back CoveR: view the Swiss Alps’ eiger, AIR Mönch, and Jungfrau peaks from the kleine INTERLAKEN CRUISE Scheidegg cog railway station at Switzerland LAND an elevation of 6,762 feet. Study Leader Educated at Yale (BA 1958) and Harvard (MA 1959; PhD 1963), ThoMAs W. siMons, JR., is currently a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. During a 35-year U.S. Foreign Service career, he specialized in East-West relations, serving in Poland, the USSR, Romania, and Washington, D.C. During the 1990s Simons was U.S. Ambassador to Poland, Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union, and U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan. He is the author of dozens of articles on Central and East European history and politics, and four books, including his most recent, Eurasia’s New Frontiers: Young States, Old Societies, Open Futures. for information or to reserve space, please contact the Santa Barbara Museum of Art at (805) 884-6436 or [email protected] PRAgUe AMorbach ABBey StrasboURg CANAlS Itinerary walking tour that showcases walls, stroll along Golden Lane Tuesday, October 17 six centuries of architectural a charmingly quaint street that Nuremberg Thursday, October 12 th & Friday, October 13 styles lining cobbled streets, dates back to the 15 century. The second-largest city in Home b Prague, an intricately decorated Inside the 11 historic houses Bavaria, Nuremberg is a Czech Republic astronomical clock, and that line the lane are period treasure of medieval culture, Depart home on an overnight the iconic pointed spires of scenes depicting the life of the as evidenced in its historic flight to Prague. Upon arrival, Tyn Cathedral. Also visit goldsmiths and other artisans monuments, Gothic churches, the haunting Old Jewish who once lived and worked and elegant patrician houses. check in to the hotel. This th evening gather for a festive Cemetery and the 13 -century here; the upper levels contain A city tour includes the welcome reception and dinner at Old-New Synagogue within a medieval armory and courthouse where the Nazi war Lobkowicz Palace, an impressive Prague’s Jewish Quarter, part textile displays. crimes trials were held, and the of Old Town. INTeRCoNTINental hoTel PRAgUe (B,l) parade grounds where many Renaissance chateau perched INTeRCoNTINental hoTel PRAgUe (B) high above the river. of the Nazi Party rallies took INTeRCoNTINental hoTel PRAgUe (R,D) Monday, October 16 place during World War II. Sunday, October 15 Prague b Royal CRown (B,l,D) Prague Regensburg, Germany Saturday, October 14 Prague Visit the magnificent Strahov Originally a Celtic colony, Wednesday, October 18 Bamberg Discover the fairy tale–like Library for a private tour of Regensburg later became a setting of Prague’s Old Town, the collection of original prints fortress guarding the northern Enjoy a morning tour of a UNESCO World and manuscripts. Continue frontier of the Danube. The Bamberg, a UNESCO World to Prague Castle, a royal city is home to Dom St. Peter, Heritage site and perhaps the Heritage site, th during a residence as far back as the 10 one of the most impressive most perfect of all ancient guided century and still the seat of the cathedrals in Bavaria and a German cities, with hills, Czech government. Its walls fine example of Gothic style, canals, and splendid examples encompass Renaissance-era St. with medieval stained-glass of Baroque and Gothic Vitus Cathedral, an imposing windows. Enjoy a tour through architecture. Visit the Altes structure that incorporates the old medieval quarter Rathaus (old town hall), a a unique mix of Gothic and with its narrow streets and picturesque mixture of rustic Baroque elements, and the intimate squares lined with half-timbering and rococo Old Royal Palace, one of the medieval buildings, followed elegance perched on a tiny oldest parts of the castle, with by a performance by the island in the Pegnitz River; its elongated throne room Domspatzen Quartet. Embark and the city’s great cathedral, and soaring Vladislav Hall, the Royal Crown and begin featuring some of the most once the site of coronation your river cruise by transiting remarkable sculptures in banquets and indoor jousting the Main-Danube Canal. Germany. Enjoy a private tournaments. Still within the Royal CRown (B,l,D) concert before rejoining the ship and cruising to Würzburg. Royal CRown (B,l,D) StrasboURg CANAlS WüRzBURg ReSIDeNz Thursday, October 19 cruising, arrive in Rüdesheim Monday, October 23 cultural center, Basel is home to Würzburg on the Rhine, a winemaking Strasbourg, France Switzerland’s oldest university, Rising high above the Main town in the Rhine Gorge Like many of the Alsace where the German philosopher River, the Würzburg Residenz (Upper Middle Rhine Valley) region’s border cities, Strasbourg Friedrich Nietzsche taught. After Palace is one of the most UNESCO World Heritage has changed hands several lunch, transfer by motor coach to stunning baroque buildings in site. Enjoy a visit to Schloss times between France and Interlaken, the main gateway to southern Germany. In the 16th Vollrads, a castle and wine Germany. Today, the city, the mountains and lakes of the century, this medieval castle was estate that has been making which is the capital of Alsace Bernese Oberland region of the converted into a magnificent wine for more than 800 years. and seat of the European Swiss Alps. palace with five grand halls, 300 Ten to 15 different wines are Parliament, reflects both cultures vICToRIA-JUNgfrau gRAND hoTel & Spa (B,l) bedrooms, a mirrored gallery, made from the single grape linguistically, architecturally, and a glorious, recently restored variety, Reisling, grown in and gastronomically. Strasbourg Wednesday, October 25 ceiling fresco by Giovanni this unique Rheingau terroir, features a historic, UNESCO Interlaken Tiepolo. Enjoy a guided tour of a blend of climate, soil type, World Heritage–designated city the palace, followed by a private geomorphology, and other center with 16th-century half- Board a cog railway for the tasting of Franconian wines in plants in the area. timbered houses and a Gothic spectacular ascent to the Kleine the atmospheric, candlelit wine Royal CRown (B,l,D) cathedral built of red sandstone. Scheidegg Station with views cellar. Royal CRown (B,l,D) Visit the European Parliament of the famous Eiger North Sunday, October 22 for a specially arranged tour and Wall, as well as the Mönch and Friday, October 20 Heidelberg & Speyer a guest lecture on European Jungfrau peaks. This evening Miltenberg This morning take a guided affairs. Then board small boats enjoy a special farewell dinner. vICToRIA-JUNgfrau gRAND Miltenberg’s strategic location walking tour along the and meander along the canals hoTel & Spa (B,D) on the Main River allowed it winding baroque-style lanes of of Strasbourg’s “Petite France,” to develop into an important Heidelberg’s Old Town, home as the former tanners’ and Thursday, October 26 trading center in medieval to a number of great poets and fishmongers’ districts are known. Interlaken b Zurich b times. This morning enjoy a academics, world-famous castle Royal CRown (B,l,D) Home walking tour of Miltenberg’s ruins, and Germany’s oldest After breakfast, transfer to the picturesque half-timbered university, which dates back to Tuesday, October 24 Zurich airport for flights home. (B) houses, followed by an organ 1386. Continue to Speyer to Basel, Switzerland concert in nearby Amorbach’s visit its acclaimed Romanesque Disembark in Basel for a Benedictine Abbey church. cathedral, whose monumental walking tour of its medieval Old Return to the Royal Crown for crypt was the chosen burial Town.