|
EUROPEAN HOLIDAY/MINNESOTA-STYLE 5 Days / April 21 Ireland, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Germany Day 1. Minnesota has a rich European heritage and we begin this tour with much anticipation of the attractions that we are sure to enjoy. Today we travel through northern Illinois, Iowa and on to our destination in Burnsville. We only unpack once – all four nights are at the same hotel! Lodging: Hampton Inn, Burnsville, MN (4 nights) Day 2. We have breakfast at the hotel this morning and every morning of our stay. Today, we visit Ireland and Sweden. This morning we have a guided “No Blarney Irish Tour”, followed by a stop at Irish on Grand, an authentic Irish gift shop. This afternoon concentrates on Sweden. We have a guided driving \ “Swedeland Tour” starting in Chisago City where the story of “The Emigrants” begins. We tour the Karl Oskar House in Lindstrom, the historic Glader Cemetery, the fictional burial site of Karl Oskar & Kristina, and drive on to Taylor Falls. You will see the beautiful St. Croix Valley where the emigrant party landed from their long journey; and, much more! There is an optional walking portion of this tour. If planning to do the walk, wear comfortable shoes. The walk is through the Angels Hill Historic District; however, we will also drive through this area. We tour the Chisago Lake Lutheran Church organized in 1854 by Swedish emigrants. We finish the day with an included dinner in Mendota. Day 3. This day concentrates on Czechoslovakia and begins with a guided tour of the St Wenceslaus Chapel and New Prague sites to include the town’s “well seum”. Our next experience is at Hilltop Hall for kolaches, Czech pork dumpling dinner, and, a wonderful variety show. This show features the McCrady family string players, a former Miss Czech USA pianist & vocalist, and John Grimm who is a song writer & vocalist. Next we tour Big Honza’s Museum of Unnatural History; what a trip! Here you will see unique, unusual and just plain weird items. We will also make a stop at Big Honza’s Malt Shoppe & Bunzo Factory. This evening we have two options for shopping, located just across the street from each other: IKEA Shopping Center (Swedish) or the Mall of America. Day 4. Today we visit Sweden again, Norway and Germany. The day begins with a tour of the famous American Swedish Institute with time to also explore the gift shop and bookstore. Swedish immigrant newspaper publisher Swan J. Turnblad became a millionaire, built a fairy tale “castle” in 1904, then gave it all away to create a museum of Swedish art, history and culture. A stop is also made at Scandia Bake Shop; bring your zip locks along to take some goodies home! This afternoon, we “spend time in Norway” at the Mindekirker Norwegian Church. Atour of the church sanctuary, description of stained glass windows, and a historic photo gallery is included. We also have a hardanger fiddle presentation to introduce the Norwegian-style instrument and demonstrate the playing style which has been very popular during the last centuries. In addition, a rosemaling demonstration introduces us to folk art rose painting. We then travel to New Ulm for a city tour which includes Gutentag Haus, a glockenspiel performance, and sites related to New Ulm’s German heritage – The Hermann Monument, German Park, The Heritage Tree, and other sites as time allows. This evening, we have dinner at The Kaiserhoff. Day 5. Following breakfast, we begin our journey home with a new understanding of the immigrants who settled this part of our great country and the rich heritage they have left to us. Included meals: 4 Breakfasts 1 Lunch 2 Dinners
Tour cost: $399. per Child/Teen $689. per person 4/room $729 per person 3/room $799 per person 2/room $939 Single
|