About Travel Insurance- Make sure you are protected

Incantato Tours strongly recommend getting travel insurance for your upcoming journey. Not only are you covered medically should anything happen when traveling, but with TravelGuard's policies, you also protect your investment should you have to cancel or interrupt the trip. Last not least, there is also coverage for delayed and lost luggage etc.
Here is a direct line to purchase travel insurance online and can you do so with your credit cards and also select the option that is best for you.



In the meantime, have a look at the most comprehensive coverage option The Protect Assist Gold below.

Protect Assist (Gold) -

Comprehensive Travel Protection for the World Traveler

Trip Cancellation JUST ADDED! - Trip Cancellation due to employment loss or layoff if employed with the same employer 1 year or longer Trip Interruption and Travel Delay Emergency Medical and Emergency Medical Transportation Baggage and Travel Document Protection Baggage Delay and Lost Baggage Tracking NEW - Cancel For Any Reason option now available NEW - Cancel For Work Reasons option now available NEW - Children age 17 and under covered at no additional cost IMPROVED -Trip Cancellation limit increased to $100,000 (from $15,000), IMPROVED - Trip Interruption coverage increased to 150% of Trip Cost IMPROVED - Travel Delay required hours reduced to 5 hours (from 12) ProtectAssist special features: Best coverage for Weather Related Cancellations Pre-existing Condition Exclusion Waiver* Default/Bankruptcy Protection* $50,000 Flight Accident Insurance* 24-Hour "LiveTravel" Travel Agency Emergency Cash Transfers Identity Theft Restoration

Comprehensive non-insurance travel services* automatically included with plan!With the ProtectAssist plan, every customer also has access to these valuable travel services when they travel:· Arrangements for last-minute flight changes· Hotel finder and reservations· Rental car reservations· Emergency medical assistance· BagTrak® -- lost baggage tracking· Pre-trip health and safety advisories· Live e-mail and phone messaging to family and friends· Cash transfers· Airport transportation· Golf course reservations· Event ticketing· Floral services· Identity Theft restorationBusiness Assistant* (available when Optional Cancel for Work Reasons coverage is purchased)

*Non-Insurance services are provided by AIG Travel Assist.

Eligibility
Citizenship: All Nationalities
Residency: United States
New York, Oregon, and Washington residence please call to purchase
Some rider options are not available and other restrictions may apply
Destination: Worldwide
Ages: All Ages
Max Trip Length: 365 Days

Intriguing Ireland – a first itinerary for the 2013 Greeley Chorale performance tour

Here is a first itinerary for the upcoming journey:

Day 1, Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Overnight flight to Ireland

Day 2, Thursday, May 30
Arrive Dublin Airport – Transfer to Belfast
After meeting your Incantato Tour Manager and driver at Dublin airport, your group continues by deluxe coach to Belfast – the heart of Northern Ireland. Enjoy and orientation tour and Irish food at the pub welcome dinner.

Day 3, Friday, May 31

Causeway Coast

The Giant’s Causeway is Ireland’s only World Heritage Site and there is so much to see when visiting this stretch of the North Antrim coast: sandy bays, craggy headlands and dramatic ruins. The really brave among you may want to take a walk on Carrick-a-rede Rope Bridge during this full day excursion with a traditional lunch in the fishing village of Ballintoy. Afternoon return to Belfast or stop in Donaghadee to meet with the Men’s Choir.

Day 4, Saturday, June 1

Belfast sightseeing and first concert

Travel back in time as you learn more about Belfast’s rich and turbulent history. You will see the Titanic Quarter and Museum, Queens University, the Botanic Gardens, as well as the famous Wall Murals in the Falls and Shankill areas. The afternoon is at leisure for individual exploring or to relax. Evening concert at a prime Belfast venue, possibly joined by the Donaghadee Men’s Choir.

Day 5, Sunday, June 2

Via Monasterboice to Waterford

Bid farewell to Northern Ireland as you travel to Waterford. En-route, stop at the ruins of Monasterboice (Irish: Mainistir Bhuithe), an early Christian settlement founded in the late 5^th century and important center of religion and learning. The site is most famous for its 10^th century high crosses regarded as the finest in the whole of Ireland: the crosses feature biblical carvings of both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible.

Day 6, Monday, June 3

Waterford Walking Tour and Concert

Embark on a tour of Ireland’s oldest city: Waterford. Present your next concert alone or with a local choir in one of the two beautiful venues.

Day 7, Tuesday, June 4

Leisure Day in Waterford

There is a lot to see and do in this welcoming water-front city. Your Incantato Tour Manager and coach are at the Greeley group’s disposal for activities in town or nearby. And the Waterford Crystal attraction is open, too!

Day 8, Wednesday, June 5

Scenic route to Killarney with stops

Experience the magnificent countryside and stunning grounds of Blarney Castle as you make your way further south to Killarney with stops en-route. Orientation tour upon arrival. May we recommend a horse drawn carriage ride through Muckross Gardens?

Day 9, Thursday, June 6

“Ring of Kerry” – Pub Concert

Encircling the Iveragh Peninsula, the “Ring of Kerry” is a must-do excursion. The captivating mountain and coastal scenery is dotted with slate-roofed fishing villages. Have fun at a private sheep herding demo. Upon return to Killarney, prepare for a fun music pub concert and dinner.

Day 10, Friday, June 7

Adare – Glenstale Abbey – Dublin

Next stops en-route to Dublin are the historic village of Adare and Glenstal Abbey where you will hear the monks sing a Gregorian Chant. Afternoon arrival in the Irish capital city for an orientation tour followed by check-in and evening at leisure.

Day 11, Saturday, June 8

Dublin sightseeing – Lunchtime Concert

Your full-day tour of Ireland’s capital city includes Dublin’s famous Georgian Squares, St. Stephen’s Green, as well as Trinity College and the Book of Kells Exhibition. Your lunchtime concert at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is confirmed. A fun farewell show dinner concludes the day.

Day 12, Sunday, June 9

Return flight home or continue on extension tour

Depending on your schedule, part of the group will be boarding the transfer to Dublin airport for the first set of return flights home. The remaining part of the group may embark on the optional extension tour which includes trips to Galway and the Aran Islands, as well as more time in Dublin. 

Lunchtime concert at St. Patrick's Cathedral is confirmed for Saturday, June 8

What better way to end the Greeley Chorale's 2013 Performance Tour than with a lunchtime recital at the beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin, the largest church in Ireland, on Saturday, June 8th?

Built in honour of Ireland’s patron saint, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral stands adjacent to the famous well where tradition has it Saint Patrick baptized converts on his visit to Dublin. A church was built on this site in 1191 and in 1991 they celebrated 800 years of worship. The present building dates from 1220 and throuhout the years it has been extended again and again.
Today, the Cathedral is the National Cathedral for the Church of Ireland (Anglican). The basis of the present building was built between 1191 and 1270, though little now remains of the earliest work beyond the Baptistry. Much of the work was overseen by Henry of London, a friend of the King of England and signatory of the Magna Carta, who wa
s also involved in the construction of Dublin's city walls and Dublin Castle. The tower (Minot's Tower) and west nave were rebuilt between 1362 and 1370, following a fire. In 1560, one of Dublin's first public clocks was erected in "St. Patrick's Steeple".
Throughout its long history the cathedral has contributed much to Irish life, and one key aspect of this relates to the writer and satirist Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver's Travels, who was Dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745. Swift took a great interest in the building, its services and music and in what would now be called social welfare, funding an almshouse for poor women and Saint Patrick's Hospital.
The Choir School, which was founded in 1432, supplied many of its members to take part in the very first performance of Handel's Messiah in 1742. It continues and although originally all-male, now also admits girls; a Cathedral Girls' Choir was founded in 2000 and sings once or twice a week. The Organ of St. Patrick's Cathedral is one of the largest in Ireland with over 4,000 pipes. Parts of it date from a Renatus Harris instrument of 1695. It was restored in the 1890s and in 1963.

The Irish and their love for traditional food

When asked about Irish food, almost every response will include two things – Irish Stew and Corned Beef with Cabbage. And almost every visitor to Ireland is surprised to find that neither is featured all that commonly on restaurant menus!

In fact, corned beef is not traditionally Irish at all – but Bacon and Cabbage is. This is also true for Irish stew, which has been recognized as the national dish for at least two centuries. A poem from the early 1800s praised Irish stew for satisfying the hunger of anyone who ate it:

Then hurrah for an Irish Stew 
That will stick to your belly like glue.

That isn’t to say that such dishes are no longer eaten, they are, but they are homely dishes, served to family, rather than ones which would be chosen on an evening out. And so their appearance on a restaurant menu is a rarity.

Most traditional Irish foods use simple, basic and fresh ingredients. Many have been given a modern twist by a new generation of chefs or incorporated into dishes that better suit the tastes of a more widely travelled population.

Irish traditional cuisine is a peasant cuisine and food in a poor household is never wasted. There is nothing that illustrates this so well as the pig. Few ordinary Irish households in the past would have eaten beef – this was a food for the rich – but many kept a pig and it is said that they ate every part of it except for the grunt. Crubeens or pig trotters, tripe (pigs stomach) and drisheen (a blood sausage) were all popular dishes and are still eaten in parts of the country, notably Cork.

Irish people are still extremely fond of their fried breakfast, which always includes pork sausages, bacon rashers and black pudding (another type of blood sausage). In addition to that, breakfast is rather elaborate and typically includes orange juice, porridge, cereals, eggs, the traditional soda brown bread, toast, as well as tea.

 

When talking about Irish food, it is impossible to go without mentioning the potato. They are eaten boiled, mashed, fried, chipped and baked, mixed with cabbage or scallions to make colcannon or champ, made into potato cakes and used to top pies and thicken soups or stews. It’s common to find potatoes cooked two ways on the same dinner plate. It’s not all about dinner either. The food that Irish people miss most when they are overseas is Tayto, an Irish brand of potato crisps. Irish people are very fussy about their potatoes. Typically a supermarket will stock at least 5 or 6 different varieties, often many more, with the varieties changing depending on the season and each suited to a particular method of cooking.

Of all foods, the humble spud is certainly the most traditional. The Irish may not be dependent on them in the way they were in the past but there are a lot of Irish people for whom a dinner without potatoes is not a dinner at all.