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Three Weeks Experiencing Classic ItalySunday, March 27Arrival Day: Arrive in Rome. Meet at hotel at 5pm for welcome reception and aperitif event. Monday, March 28Day 1: Walking tour of the heart of Rome. Start with a cappuccino on the Piazza Navona then experience the morning sun streaming in through the oculus of the Pantheon. We will walk along the Via del Corso to the Piazza del Popolo and then to the Piazza di Spagna. Window shop on the famous Via dei Condotti then climb the Spanish Steps to the Church of Trinita dei Monti and look down on the magnificence of Rome. Continue through narrow winding streets until we come to the Trevi Fountain. Walk around the Palazzo del Quirinale ending at Santa Maria Maggiore. Rest at a café and later join the group for a Roman dinner experience. Tuesday, March 29Day 2: Begin at the bridge to Castle St. Angelo with Bernini's angels, cross over and walk to the Vatican through the main entry with Bernini's saints overlooking the piazza from the colonnades on either side. Tour St. Peter's Basilica. In the center notice Bernini's Baldacchino. Walk around the perimeter and look at all the tombs. Climb the stairs to the top of the dome designed by Michelangelo and look at Rome and the backyard of the Vatican. Look at the brass markers in the central aisle of St. Peter's and read the names of the world's largest cathedrals. Read the list of all the Popes in the history of the Church. Afternoon includes a private tour of the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. The evening is free for your own exploration. Wednesday, March 30Day 3: Explore ancient Rome. Start at the Roman Forum and walk through the center of political, commercial and judicial life in ancient Rome passing the House of the Vestal Virgins, the Temple of Romulus, the Arch of Septimius Severus and many other monuments. See the Trajan Markets and tour the Colosseum and the Arch of Constantine. Climb to the top of Palatine hill and walk among the ruins of Iron Age huts with the tour ending at San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome's first Christian basilica built in the 4th century. Evening is free to stroll through the city and eat at your leisure. Thursday, March 31Day 4: Board an early morning train to Assisi to marvel at the magnificence of Giotto's frescoes in the Basilica of Saint Francis and explore the Chiesi Nuova where Saint Francis once lived and meditated. Pick your own place for a leisurely lunch in the piazza and stroll through the streets of Assisi. Late afternoon take a bus ride to the Medieval hilltop town of Gubbio with our own private driver. After checking into our luxury hotel we will meet for a group dinner that will give you a tasting of the local Umbrian cuisine. Friday, April 1Day 5: Discover the ceramics of Gubbio visiting the studio of La Mastro Giorgio. Find a charming place for a leisurely lunch, walk the twisting streets of this medieval town, marvel at the terracotta tiled houses and shop. Later join the passegiata followed by your own private quiet dinner. Spend the night again in Gubbio. Saturday, April 2Day 6: The morning is spent traveling through the countryside to Urbino. Explore the Ducal Palace built for Duke Federico da Montefeltro and walk up and down the hills through the tangled streets of Urbino. Visit the home of Urbino's famous son, Raphael. The night is spent in Urbino. Sunday, April 3Day 7: In the morning drive to Pesaro and board a train for Venice. Enjoy an Italian style picnic lunch on the train and marvel at the costal countryside. Arrive in Venice in the late afternoon, in time for an aperitif on the Piazza San Marco. Wander Venice as the sun goes down and the lights turn on. Put away your map. You can't get lost in Venice. Let your first impression of Venice be the enchantment of the evening light and sounds. Monday, April 4Day 8: The first day in Venice will have a tour starting in the Piazza San Marco and will include a tour of the Basilica of San Marco. We will look at the floor, the golden mosaics that adorn the walls and the dome. Climb the dome and see the 4 horses above the entrance up close. We will try to hear music inside. Mozart played there because the acoustics are perfect. The night lighting inside is magnificent. We will watch the Moors strike the bell above the clock tower and tour the Doge's Palace. We will walk across the Rialto Bridge and stop at the sides to look over the Grand Canal. We will visit Cannaregio and see where a third of the real Venetians live and walk through the Jewish Ghetto. It's ancient, beautiful and romantic. Tuesday, April 5Day 9: Another day in Venice we will spend the part of the day visiting a glass factory on the island of Murano and part looking everywhere for Venetian glass chandeliers. Some will be small jewels and some will be 20 feet tall. After a Gondola ride on the canals, we will share a group meal of Venetian specialties. Wednesday, April 6Day 10: This day we will contrast the old with the new. We will visit Peggy Guggenheim's collection of modern art at the Palazzo Vernier dei Leoni and see the Accademia's collection that spans medieval Byzantine through the Renaissance. Carpaccio's Legend of Saint Ursula is in the Accademia. Both are on the way to Santa Maria della Salute in Dorsoduro. Venice is a place to walk until you come to a dead end, find a bridge and cross it, continue walking. Eat when you are hungry wherever you find yourself. Spend the day making sure you have missed nothing in Venice. |
Thursday, April 7Day 11: Leave Venice in the early morning for a day long cruise on the Brenta Canal to visit Palladio's Villa Foscari then Villa Widmann. Stop for lunch in Mira then tour Villa Pisani before arriving in Padua in the evening. Pass through the different locks as the canal changes water level and enjoy cruising past all the different villas and villages that line the canal. Friday, April 8Day 12: This is the day to discover Padua. It is home to one of the oldest Universities in Europe, founded in 1222. The Palazzo del Bo has drawn scholars such as Dante, Galileo and Copernicus. We will see the 16th century anatomical theater and the lecturn where Galileo taught. St. Anthony's Basilica is a Byzantine masterpiece. The Scrovegni Chapel contains Giotto's frescoes that were painted between 1303 and 1305 and broke away from the Byzantine tradition to make him the father of the Renaissance. Saturday, April 9Day 13: We will board a train to Vicenza in the morning to walk through the city that represents Andrea Palladio's architecture more than any other. A highlight will be a tour of the Teatro Olimpico. After lunch we will take the train to Verona. In Verona we will see the Roman Arena where opera is still performed all summer and visit the Casa di Giulietta and the Casa di Romeo, the setting of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet based on the family rivalries of these two families of Verona. We will have a dinner in Verona tasting the specialties of the Veneto area and then return to Padua. Sunday, April 10Day 14: Padua is a city of many attractions and the morning is free to wander. In the afternoon we will board a train for Florence and join the Florentines for the evening passegiata. Monday, April 11Day 15: Florence is the city of Renaissance art. Prepare yourself to be overwhelmed by some of the greatest artwork ever produced. Michelangelo's David (the original) is in the Galleria dell Accademia along with the Prisoners. Fra Angelica's frescoes are in the convent of San Marco. The Uffizi has Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, Michelangelo's Holy Family, the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Da Vinci's Annunciation among others. The Palazzo Vecchio is still the town hall but Cosimo 1st made it spectacular in the mid 1500's. Michelangelo's first major work, Bacchus, is in the Bargello. We will explore all of these places during our stay in Florence. Tuesday, April 12Day 16: The Duomo, the Baptistry and the Campanile are breathtaking. The patterns in pink, white and green marble are incredible. San Lorenzo was the Medici family church and is filled with things. The Medici tombs have Michelangelo's Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk. The Ponte Vecchio is filled with jewelry stores when once it was only butcher shops. The gelato in Florence is the best in Italy. The evening passegiata along Via dei Calzaiuoli will put you in the center of everything every evening with everyone else in town. We will have a group dinner with a Florentine menu and then go out to taste more gelato. Wednesday, April 13Day 17: Board the train for Pisa in the morning at Santa Maria Novella and explore the Basilica, the Baptistry and the Leaning Tower. Another train will take us to Lucca for lunch and an afternoon of exploring the walled Medieval city. Lucca was founded by the Romans in 180 BC and the biggest reminder of this is the Piazza del Mercato which is surrounded by Medieval buildings studded with the stones of the original amphitheater and shaped like the original arena. Strolling along the ramparts, which were begun in 1500 and completed in 1645 is one of the special pleasures of visiting Lucca. We will return to Florence in time for you to choose your own special place for dinner. Thursday, April 14Day 18: Florence's history is so rich it can take weeks to see all of it. On the other side of the Arno is the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. The church of Santo Spirito was designed by Brunelleschi and begun in 1444. Brunelleschi is also responsible for the magnificent dome on the Duomo. We will explore as much as we can during the days we are in Florence. We will customize the sequence of things based upon the special interests of the members of the group. Florence is a treasure in itself and you can walk across it over and over again and always find something new to see, or rather something old that you missed before. Friday, April 15Day 19: In the morning a private driver will take us by bus to Siena to explore still another beautiful Tuscan city. We will explore the maze of narrow streets that surround the fan-shaped Piazza del Campo. It is the site of Tuscany's most celebrated festival, the Palio. It is a bareback horse race, first recorded in the 13th century, between the 17 contrade or districts, and is filled with pageantry. Sitting in the sun in the Campo you can imagine what is must be like with thousands of spectators crowded in to watch the race. In the afternoon we will proceed to San Gimignano to see the 13 towers that dominate the skyline and walk the narrow streets. We will finish with a dinner of Tuscan specialties and wine tasting before we return to Florence. Saturday, April 16Day 20: The last morning in Florence can be spent on last minute sights and last minute shopping. After lunch we will board a late afternoon train to Rome. Sunday, April 17Day 21: The last day in Rome is set aside for you to do as you please, to see that last sight or find that shop you didn't have time to stop in before. At dinnertime we will celebrate our journey with a special farewell dinner and share our favorite experiences. Monday, April 18Departure Day: Breakfast and goodbyes, then transfers to Fiumicino Airport and flights home. |
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