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Italy...La Dolce Vita!

The sweet life it is!  A trip to Italy sometimes feels like traveling through a museum, and sometimes like living in a dream.  What other country has three cities as captivating and culturally important, and yet so utterly different, as Rome, Florence, and Venice?  You will have the opportunity to visit all three! 

With a history stretching from the dawn of time through the Roman Empire, the middle Ages, the Renaissance, and up to the new Europe...Italy offers it all!  You will find the Italian people warm and welcoming and ready to help ease you into la dolce vita!

Your Italian adventure begins as you depart your hometown and take an overnight flight across the Atlantic or in Rome where you join our group.

Sunday, September 3—Board your overnight transatlantic flight.

Monday - September 4 -- Arrive Rome!

Upon your arrival in Rome, Italy  you will join our group and know that this is a special trip when you see Rick, Ron and lots of old and soon to be new friends. You will realize that there is no better way to explore our world!  We will be met with a warm welcome from our tour director and will board the motorcoach for a transfer to our hotel.  After some time to rest and get settled in our rooms, we will meet for a night tour of Rome, including some of the city's fountains and majestic squares:  Piazza Barberini, Triton Fountain, Via Veneto, Villa Borghese, and Trevi Fountain. Our evening will finish with a meal in a typical Roman restaurant with wine and music included.  (D)

Tuesday - September 5 -- Rome - Florence

After a restful sleep and great breakfast we will take a tour of this Eternal City of Rome, where both glorious success and shameful defeat have left visible traces throughout. Sightseeing with your local guide starts with a visit to the VATICAN MUSEUMS  and SISTINE CHAPEL, world famous for Michelangelo's ceiling paintings and The Last Judgment.  Begin your visit with the Corte della Pigna where your expert guide will introduce you to the history and beauty of the Sistine Chapel.  As you continue your tour  you will see the hall featuring Greco-Roman sculptures, the Hall of Tapestries and the Maps  Gallery, a 120-foot long gallery, hung with interesting ancient maps.  The completion of the tour occurs in the Sistine Chapel, the Pope’s official private chapel where election conclaves are held. We will then continue on to monumental ST. PETER'S SQUARE and BASILICA.  From there we will proceed across the Tiber for a stroll along the Via Sacra in the ROMAN FORUM, where Roman Legions marched in triumph, and will finally visit the COLOSSEUM and hear about gladiatorial combats.  Its monumental size and grandeur as well as its practical and efficient organization for producing spectacles and controlling the large crowds make it one of the great architectural monuments achieved by the ancient Romans.  This afternoon we will travel on to Florence.  (BB, D)

Wednesday - September 6 — Florence

This morning we will enjoy a city sightseeing tour of Florence, a city of artistic wealth and beauty and the birthplace of the Renaissance!  Our guided sightseeing includes the magnificent CATHEDRAL, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Romanesque Baptistery of St. John with the exquisite bronze doors by Ghiberti (referred to as “The Gates of Paradise” by Michelangelo), and sculpture-studded Signoria Square.   Then visit the ACADEMIA MUSEUM, one of the best-known museums in Florence.  Founded in 1784, it hosts a collection of sculptures and paintings.  One of the most important works on display at the museum is “David” by Michelangelo (completed around 1504), and moved there in 1873.  The gallery is also home to another remarkable work by Michelangelo, the unfinished piece entitled “Slaves”, and there are large picture galleries as well as other works of sculpture to be seen.  The afternoon is free for independent sightseeing and browsing through the shops in Piazza Santa Croce.  Florentine leather goods and gold jewelry sold by the ounce are attractive buys.  After dinner with our group at the hotel we will have a great show by the Shaw Brothers!  (B, D)

Thursday - September 7 — Florence -- Siena & Chianti Excursion

Today we will travel west to the beautiful city of Pisa, with its Square of Miracles. It is a very compact city with many narrow streets, small markets, hidden treasures and a great ambience. We will also see the Leaning Tower, a dazzling elegant piece of architecture, 180 feet high and no less than 12 feet out of the perpendicular.  We will continue on to VERRAZZANO CASTLE and enjoy WINE TASTING and lunch and hear about the fine art of blending four types of grapes to obtain the famous Chianti Classico.

As we return to Florence notice the ocre or terracotta hue that the streets and roofs take when seen from the various panoramic view points above the city. Tonight you may want to try out one of Florence’s special restaurants for dinner on your own as we prepare to say goodbye to Florence.  (BB, L)

Friday, September 8 — Florence -- Venice Area

We depart Florence this morning and head north towards Lake Garda with spectacular countryside en route.  We will stop in Sirmione, where Catallus said the view was the most beautiful in the world and then will travel on towards Verona, famous for the Roman Arena and Juliet's balcony.  Our tour will then head east to Venice, a city of myth and magic, a city of indolence and pleasure, a world half real and half dream, attracting with its picturesque carnival, colorful pageants, musical festivals, theaters, gambling houses and visitors from all over the world. Upon arrival in Venice check into your hotel and enjoy some time to relax, settle in and do some exploring on your own before meeting our group for dinner.  This evening we will enjoy another great show by the Shaw Brothers!  (B, D)

Saturday, September 9 —Venice

It's really more like a marvelous film set than a real live city, with its criss-crossing canals, gondolas and water buses, arched bridges, palaces and little quiet piazzas.  Our included tour starts with a boat ride and is followed by a visit to ST. MARK'S BASILICA.  Admire the beautiful ‘Campanile’, it’s simple lines contrasting sharply with the sumptuous décor of the church and the Clock Tower whose famous ‘Moors’ have been striking the hours for over 500 years.  Next visit DOGES PALACE, or Palazzo Ducale, a Gothic palace, which was the residence of the Doge up until the fall of the Venetian Republic in I797.  Enjoy the splendid Renaissance paintings by Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto. Also watch Venetian glass blowers fashion their delicate objects as they did centuries ago.  Don't miss out on the optional gondola trip, gliding along the picturesque canals with a local troubadour to serenade you. Tonight we will enjoy dinner with the group in our hotel as we prepare to say Arrivederci to charming Italy. (B, D)

Sunday, September 10 -- We will transfer to the airport for our flight back to the U. S. with many fond memories of our time together. (B)

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