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| Day 1 |
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Depart US
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Depart on your flight to Rome.
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| Day 2 |
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Arrive Rome * Hotel check-in * Guided walk to Piazza Navona, Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain
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Arrive at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) Airport. Your guide will meet you and accompany you via private coach to your hotel in the heart of Rome. You will have the afternoon to unpack, rest and begin to acquaint yourself with this magnificent city. Your hotel is within easy walking distance of the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain and, across the Tiber, the Trastevere neighborhood and the Vatican. Before dinner, enjoy a walk through Rome with your guide; then stop for dinner at as restaurant near your hotel. D Hotel Ponte Sisto (4-star)
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| Day 3 |
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ANCIENT ROME * COLOSSEUM
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Enjoy a tour of Ancient Rome* with a specialist guide. Your tour includes a visit to the Colosseum, the massive amphitheater that the Emperor Vespasian commissioned in 72 AD. Besides its renown as the site of gladiatorial combat, it is also a feat of engineering on which arenas and stadiums have been modeled for 2,000 years. Have lunch at a nearby restaurant. In the afternoon enjoy exploring Rome’s squares, churches, antiquities and shops on your own, or choose an optional wine tasting at a local enoteca. In the evening, join the group and your guide for a pizza dinner, Roman style. B/L/D Hotel Ponte Sisto (4-star)
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| Day 4 |
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Vatican City - Vatican Museums * Sistine Chapel * St. Peter's Basilica * Villa Borghese * Home-hosted Dinner
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After breakfast, board your coach for the Vatican* to visit the famed Vatican Museums. Your guided tour includes a visit to the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo’s great paintings of scenes from the Book of Genesis cover the ceiling. You will also see the magnificent Raphael rooms, which in the 16th century were part of the Papal apartments, and St. Peter’s Basilica, where Bernini’s bronze canopy covers the high altar, and Michelangelo’s Pietà is placed to the right of the entrance.
After your visit to the Vatican, have lunch at a restaurant in the area and some time at leisure to see more of Rome on your own. You could visit the Villa Borghese and Gardens, where the Museum houses wonderful marble sculptures by Bernini and paintings by Caravaggio, Titian and Raphael. The Church of Santa Maria Maggiore is known for its splendid interior. The 16th-century Farnese Gardens atop the Palatine Hill overlook the Forum and the Colosseum. Your guide will be glad to suggest other activities and sites that suit your particular interests. Tonight, join your group for dinner with an Italian family. B/L/D Hotel Ponte Sisto (4-star) |
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| Day 5 |
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ASSISI * FLORENCE
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Enjoy a leisurely breakfast before leaving for Florence. Traveling through Umbria, the “green heart of Italy,” stop in Assisi,* the home of the beloved St. Francis and of St. Clare. Visit the 13th-century Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi, which was built shortly after St. Francis was canonized. Within it, despite losses in the 1997 earthquake, are beautiful frescoes by Giotto and Cimabue. Continue through the Tuscan hills to Florence, check in at your hotel, which is in an 18th-century palazzo overlooking the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, and enjoy dinner this evening at a nearby restaurant. B/D Hotel Benivieni (4-star)
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| Day 6 |
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FLORENCE * PALAZZO VECCHIO
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Have a guided tour of the historic center of Florence,* starting at the Accademia to admire Michelangelo’s famed sculpture of David. At the nearby Piazza del Duomo, visit the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, crowned by Brunelleschi’s immense dome and flanked by Giotto’s Bell Tower. At the Baptistry, admire Ghiberti’s famous bronze Gates of Paradise, rescued from the floods of 1966. Stoll through the Piazza della Signoria, past the Palazzo Vecchio and onto the colorful square in front of the Church of Santa Croce, noted for works by such masters as Giotto, Donatello and della Robbia. Michelangelo, Galileo, and other Florentine luminaries are buried at Santa Croce.
After lunch at a nearby restaurant, you have the afternoon free to stroll along the Arno, shop for gold or leather goods, or visit more of the historic art-filled churches. B/L Hotel Benivieni (4-star) |
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| Day 7 |
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RENAISSANCE FLORENCE * UFIZZI GALLERY
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This morning hear a talk on Florence in the Renaissance, when the arts flourished in an atmosphere of humanist “rebirth” fueled by a revival of Greek and Roman learning, and supported by the prosperity of the Florentine city-state. Enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before your guided visit to the Uffizi Gallery, which holds one of the world’s greatest collections of Renaissance art. See the Botticelli gallery, with the recently restored Birth of Venus and La Primavera, or “Spring,” and other selected galleries in this renowned collection. Have dinner tonight in a typical Tuscan restaurant. B/L/D Hotel Benivieni (4-star)
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| Day 8 |
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SIENA (OPTIONAL) OR DAY AT LEISURE IN FLORENCE
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You may choose to have a full day in Florence to explore its Renaissance gems independently, or you may join an optional tour through the Tuscan countryside to two ancient walled cities. The tour will leave after breakfast for Siena, the great rival of Florence in the late Middle Ages. Have a guided walking tour of the area around the Piazza del Campo, where the annual Palio is held, and through the ancient streets that surround it. The tour includes a visit to the Romanesque Cathedral, where you will find a Medieval labyrinth and frescoes, bas-reliefs and other works by renowned Renaissance artists. Have lunch in Siena before continuing to the golden walled town of San Gimignano,* whose hilltop setting is dominated by its 15 Medieval towers. Return to Florence and choose a restaurant for dinner on your own. B Hotel Benivieni (4-star)
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| Day 9 |
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PADUA * VENICE
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On your way to Venice today, stop in Padua to visit the Basilica of Saint Anthony, which holds splendid works of art including a bronze Madonna with Child, six statues of saints, and four reliefs of episodes from St. Anthony’s life, all by Donatello. After a light lunch on your own, continue to Venice,* the “Queen of the Adriatic.” Check into your hotel, which is located near the Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge, near the charming area called “Strada Nuova.” Enjoy dinner in a nearby restaurant this evening. B/D Hotel Metropole (4-star)
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| Day 10 |
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ST. MARK'S SQUARE * DOGE'S PALACE
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After breakfast begin a guided tour of this unique city built over canals and bridges. Visit the great Byzantine St. Mark’s Basilica, decorated with marble plundered from cities conquered by the once-powerful Venetians. Its Byzantine play and rich mosaics remind the visitor that Venice, at the head of the Adriatic, was once Europe’s “Gateway to the East.” Continue to the Doge’s Palace, resplendent with works by great masters such as Veronese, Titian and Tintoretto. Following lunch at a local restaurant, enjoy the afternoon at leisure to explore your personal interests in Venice. You might ride the vaporetto for a fine view of the palazzi along the Grand Canal, take a gondola ride, or simply stroll through the byways and along the canals. Stop for dinner on your own, perhaps at an outdoor restaurant in one of the square. B/L Hotel Metropole (4-star)) |
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| Day 11 |
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VIVALDI * FAREWELL DINNER
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Hear a talk on the life and music of composer Antonio Vivaldi. Known as the “Red Priest” for his red hair, he composed and taught at the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for the non-familial daughters of noblemen. For these young women, many of them talented and accomplished, Vivaldi wrote concertos and other music, instrumental and vocal. Much of it was presented at the Church of la Pietà, where concerts of Vivaldi’s music are still given today. After the talk you will visit the Church of La Pietà, where wealthy Venetian nobles and merchants used to gather to hear his latest compositions. Then enjoy some time at leisure to see more of Venice. Gather in the evening for your Farewell Dinner in a restaurant. B/D Hotel Metropole (4-star)
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| Day 12 |
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DEPART VENICE * ARRIVE US OR CONTINUE ONTO VENICE, VERSALIA & LAKE MAGGIORE
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After breakfast, leave by private motor launch for Venice’s Marco Polo Airport and your return flight to the U.S. B
or Continue onto the Venice, Versalia & Lake Maggiore
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