Itinerary

Sweet n Sour Cross

Prepare for an amazing journey beginning with the spiritual welcome of the Taizé community in France before being immersed into the Days in the Diocese encounter in Spain. What better preparation for our WYD week in Madrid with the youth of the world in the company of Pope Benedict XVI.

There are 2 packages available.

Package 1 - AUD$4840 AUD$4490 (indicative)
Depart from Melbourne for the full itinerary and return direct to home city in Australia.

• Interstate pilgrims will organise flights into Melbourne

Package 2 - Contact Adrian Leung (cccaustralia.wyd@gmail.com or 0433 344 822) for price.
Join the team at Paris for the full itinerary ending in Madrid.

• Recommended for international participants

Taizé, France

BLD refers to Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner respectively

Day 1: Friday 5 August 2011 - Interstate participants arrive at Melbourne

Day 2: Saturday 6 August 2011 - Fly Australia To France

Days 3-7: Sun 7—Thu 11 August - Arrive Paris To Taizé Community

Upon arrival into Paris we will join our coach and transfer to the Cathedral of Notre Dame where we will celebrate Mass on arrival. Following this we will continue on an orientation tour of the city including a visit to the impressive Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

We then continue on to Taizé, the tiny hillside community in which young people from all over the world are drawn. Pope John Paul II referred to it as 'that little springtime'.

Our days in Taizé will help us to view our daily life in the light of the Gospel: praying together three times a day, reflecting on the wellsprings of the faith and working for others.

Pilgrims join in a common weekly programme of prayer meetings, discussion groups and meals. This will be an amazing opportunity to see communion with God in prayer, singing, silence and reflection. It can be possible to rediscover an inner peace, a meaning to life and a new motivation.

Experiencing this simple life shared with others will remind us too that daily life is the place where Christ is waiting for us. The music of Taizé reflects a deeply prayerful, intimate and yet communal nature, sung mostly unaccompanied. Through these chant based melodies and lyrics, each person is invited to a journey of trust, hope and reconciliation.

Taizé Pilgrimage - 5 nights (Simple BLD daily)

Barcolona, Spain

BLD refers to Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner respectively

Day 8: Friday 12 August - Taizé To Barcelona

After our final Mass this morning we set off for Lyon airport for our flight to Barcelona.

Barcelona is a city synonymous with art, culture and faith. Experience the cultural canvas that underpinned many of Picasso's artworks and view the unique and colourful architecture of Gaudi dispersed throughout the city, including the famous unfinished La Sagrada Familia Church.

After our arrival we will be met and taken by coach to our host parish community for the Days in the Diocese encounter. Here we will be welcomed and enter into a colourful programme of festival, faith and fellowship.

Days in the Diocese - 3 nights host stay - (Simple B,L,D daily)

Days 8-10: Fri 12—Sun 14 - Days In The Diocese / 3 Nights

All across Spain, parishes and communities will embrace the youth of the world in an amazing expression of Christian hospitality. These days of preparation will be an opportunity to experience the people of the Barcelona Diocese with their deep traditions and spiritual heritage. It will be a time of cultural exchange, dialogue, worship and celebration as we gather and prepare for the great WYD week that will follow.

Montserrat & Manresa, Spain

BLD refers to Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner respectively

Day 11: Monday 15 August - via Montserrat And Manresa

This morning we leave Barcelona and travel north to Montserrat, one of the most popular pilgrimage destinations in Spain. Seemingly hanging on to the cliffs of the rugged mountain not far from Barcelona, the renowned eleventh-century sanctuary of Our Lady of Montserrat lies at the top of a 4000 foot high mountain. The shrine is home to a twelfth-century miraculous statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, lovingly known as the "Black Madonna", which lies in the Santa Cova or Holy Cave. Here too St Ignatius kept vigil with a coarse sackcloth and a pilgrim staff. The spirit of Montserrat is a unique blend of the mountain, the sanctuary, and the life of monasticism.

Departing Montserrat we travel to nearby Manresa, where St Ignatius came on retreat for eleven months between 1522 and 1523. Each day he spent seven hours in prayer in a cave and then helped the sick in the village with the time he had left over. Here too Ignatius began to develop the method for seeking God's will and where he wrote his renowned Spiritual Exercises. We come as pilgrims to this amazing place with St Ignatius and pray in the actual cave where his life and spirituality developed.

We will then transfer back to the airport for our flight to Madrid.

On arrival we will join the streams of young pilgrims converging today on the World Youth Day host city and our long-awaited meeting with the youth of the world and Pope Benedict XVI.

Madrid, Spain

BLD refers to Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner respectively

WORLD YOUTH DAY - MADRID (7 NIGHTS)

Upon our arrival in Spain's capital, we will be welcomed and ushered to the nearby registration point before being transferred by coach to our place of accommodation.

At this point we will receive our WYD pilgrim's bag containing the WYD handbook, tourist guide, pilgrim pass, transport card and all the information you need to get around Madrid and participate in WYD events.

Madrid 7 nights (Simple B,L,D daily)

Day 12: Tuesday 16 August - Official Opening Mass of Welcome

The city of Madrid has some amazing sites and attractions and it will be alive with hundreds of thousands of young people who have come for this great event.

Days 13-15: Wed 17—Fri 19 August - Catechesis & Youth Festival

For three days at hundreds of venues spread across the city, small groups will gather to talk about faith and celebrate their journey which has brought them to this moment.

There will be opportunities for Catechesis in the mornings, Daily Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The Youth Festival will bring music, dance and dramatic performances from around the world to small and large stadiums across the city.

On Thursday afternoon, we will celebrate the Pope's arrival as we welcome him in a huge celebration which will live long in our memories.

Friday will be the focus on the moving Way of the Cross when young pilgrims will contemplate the reality of the Passion of the Christ.

Day 16: Saturday 20 August - Pilgrimage Walk to WYD Vigil & Sleepout

Today will begin the mass mobilization of pilgrims along set walking paths through the city as they converge on the huge designated outdoor site chosen for the historic WYD gathering here in Madrid. An afternoon of concerts, performances, and song will unfold as we await the arrival of the Holy Father.

Evening Vigil:

This begins the main event! Millions of young people together with the Pope - an evening of unforgettable atmosphere. The celebrations continue all night as we share in a global sleep-out under the stars.

Day 17: Sunday 21 August - XXVI World Youth Day

As the sun rises we'll share in Morning Prayer, breakfast and the climactic.
WYD Papal Mass with the youth of the world.

The Holy Father will give us his special message and blessing. Time then to say goodbye as the Pope sends us forth and out to every tribe and nation of the world.

Day 18: Monday 22 August - Depart Madrid

Today we transfer to Madrid airport for our homebound flight connections to Australia.

Day 19/20: Wednesday 24 August - Arrive Australia

General Price Inclusions

• Return international economy class airfare from Australia
• Internal European flights if applicable
• All prepaid airport taxes, charges and fuel levies (subject to variation)
• Accommodation throughout mostly in multi-share lodgings, hostels or university residences on touring programme and retreat days outside Madrid and Diocesan stay
• Breakfasts and dinners daily on touring programme (meals in Madrid included as part of your WYD11 registration package, unless otherwise indicated)
• Hosted accommodation and meal option during Days in the Diocese (DID) programme
• Transfers, touring and airport transfers as required in deluxe air-conditioned coaches
• Sightseeing excursions with entrance fees and local guides as listed
• Services of a local multi-lingual escort for touring programme and coach transfers (not included during WYD week or Days in the Diocese)
• Tips and gratuities for drivers and guides on tour
• Full services of a Harvest Leadership Support Team during WYD week in Madrid
• Soft foam slab mattress in WYD simple accommodation (including delivery and disposal)
• WYD week registration package including:
  • Harvest's management of group registration processes with WYD Madrid
  • simple school style accommodation (in classrooms, halls, parish centres etc) with simple breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
  • public transportation pass during WYD week (Tuesday to Sunday)
  • free entrance to all WYD cultural activities (concerts, exhibits, museum visits etc)
  • priority access to all areas reserved for WYD participants
  • WYD pilgrim's backpack including Madrid guidebook and feature inclusions