Europe: On the trail of Kafka’s love life

Franz Kafka hardly conjures a light, romantic image. But a summer tour of Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic highlights the love affair between the author and the little-known Dora Diamant.

The story unfolds in the streets of Prague, Czech Republic, where the German author was born, moves to the Jewish Quarter of Krakow, Poland, where Diamant organized plays and ends in Berlin, where the couple lived the Bohemian life in the early 1920s.

Kathi Diamant (no relation), who wrote the book “Kafka’s Last Love” and heads the Kafka Project at San Diego State University, leads the Magical Mystery Literary History Tour that includes meeting with Kafka scholars and descendants of Dora Diamont too. Proceeds from the trip support the nonprofit Kafka Project, which seeks to recover lost letters, journals and notebooks by the author.

Date: The trip runs from June 29-July 8.

Price: $3,690 per person, based on double occupancy; single supplement, $985. It includes hotels for nine nights, daily breakfast, five dinners and five lunches, sightseeing tours, local guides in each city, ground transportation, airport transfers and more. Airfare is not included; add on three nights in Prague before the trip for an extra price.

Contact: Magical Mystery Literary History Tour, call (619) 528-1108 or email kdiamant@mail.sdsu.edu