An Italian Experience for Independent Women

 **  example - subject to change

Day 1: Saturday:

Leave Adelaide for Rome:

ROME:    Hotel Marcella Royal

Day 2: Sunday:

Welcome Lunch with wine on the rooftop terrace

• Basic Italian Lesson will be conducted on the rooftop over lunch
• Orientation walk of our area with Penny: Wander around Rome, coffee in Campo Fiori
  
• Dinner that evening at Piazza Navona, by the fountains

Day 3: Monday:

9.30 – 12.30 First half day Secret Rome walk personalised walk with Ginevra- we take a walk through ancient Rome

• lunch at Hostaria Costanza (set in the ancient theatre of Pompey)
• Afternoon free
• Dinner – your choice  La Lampada ( famous for its truffle dishes)

Day 4: Tuesday:

Morning free- time to relax in your own way

• Lunch – you choose
• 5pm -8.30pm: Secret Rome walk We get right away from the tourist hotspots with Ginevra- see some of the places in her book and. An early evening visit to Ginevra’s uncle’s Palazzo Colonna A real treat!
• 8.30pm -Dinner -  Café Paris, on the via Veneto ( we indulge in La Dolce Vita!)

Day 5: Wednesday:

POMPEII with our own guide - back to AD 79 and the day time stood still

• 7.25 am -We take the train south – collected by mini bus
• Guided Tour- all day
  
• Lunch – your choice at Amalfi – where we can wander the tiny streets and see the stamp of this once great sea power.
• 5.10 fast train return to Rome
• 7.30pm -Dinner– Vincenzo’s on our return

Day 6: Thursday: 

8.30 -12.30 -Vatican museums with Ginevra–

Full morning (see the treasures of the Vatican museums and the Sistine chapel, the famous Bernini royal staircase, as well as St Peters Basilica)

• Fabulous lunch at Casa Bleve
  
• Afternoon free  
• Dinner –your choice

VENICE:    Hotel Ala

Day 7: Friday:    

First class Eurostar train to Venice

• Transfer to Hotel by private water taxi
  
• Coffee on Piazza San Marco
• Orientation walk with Penny, maybe a ride on gondola to get our bearings, take in the city as it is meant to be.
• Leisure time before dinner
• 6-7pm -Art Historian Talk on the history of Venice and its treasures from Cristina
• 8pm -Dinner - Ristorante Masaniello -

 
Day 8: Saturday:     

Morning free to sleep in, wander the narrow streets

• Lunch your choice
• 2-5pm First part of our Walks inside Venice with Sara. (We visit the Doges Palace, Bridge of Sighs, the Basilica of Saint Mark and learn more about the Piazza San Marco)
• Dinner near la Fenice
  
• 8.30pm -Opera – Barber of Seville at the Palazzo Barbaringo- Minotto on the Grand Canal

Day 9: Sunday:  

• Optional --Trip to Burano island - small canals and different life style on the lagoon. (Lace making was the principal cottage industry here- an almost disappeared craft).
• OR Rest of day at leisure
• Return to hotel for afternoon at leisure
• Catch the water bus - Dinner in the Rialto district – near to the concert venue
  
• Evening Concert - Quattro Stagione by Musica Veneziani to follow dinner -
  

Day 10: Monday:  

• 8.30 – 12.30pm -Second part of Walks Inside Venice with Roberta. Includes Bevilacqua fabric makers, boat trip to Murano and Seguso Glass makers. Return by private water taxi.
• After lunch   – at leisure - time to explore the glass, paper, jewellery & antique shops in our vicinity or sleep in the sun on the rooftop or people–watch in one of the piazzas nearby
• 7.30pm -Dinner at Al Ponte ( local favourite place)

Day 11: Tuesday:    

• 8.30 – 12 noon -Final of our guided walks -We visit the Mondo Nuovo mask makers, a gondola maker and the Museum of Costume with Sara
• Lunch – your choice
• Tour of La Fenice Opera House We learn about this famous theatre and the rebuilding following fires in the last decade
• 7.30pm – meet in lobby for Farewell to Venezia Dinner  at Il Sempione 
  

TUSCANY:    Villa Pitiana    

Day 12: Wednesday:   

Mid – morning -Train from Venice to Florence. Lunch in the dining car.

Arrive Florence where we meet Stefano our driver, then on to the villa for afternoon tea

• Visit to the famous wine cellar with wine and oil tastings 
• Leisure time at the villa
• Meet in the lounge for cocktails
• Welcome Dinner in the villa dining room

Day 13: Thursday:

Day trip

• 9am – 5pm -We tour in a leisurely manner around Tuscany and Chianti – visit Greve, The Badia di Passignano, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Montefiorale
  
• Lunch at own cost
• Dinner at the Villa
  

Day 14: Friday:    

• 10.00am -Cooking class at the Villa Pitiana - culminating in lunch
  
• Afternoon free
• Dinner in Florence near the theatre
• Concert – Michael Buble at the Nelson Mandella stadium

FLORENCE:    Hotel Tornabuoni Beacci

Day 15: Saturday:   

Transfer to Florence

• 12.30pm -Lunch on the rooftop upon arrival
  
• Orientation walk of Florence with Penny - getting our bearings
• Browsing the leather markets, the tassel shops and the glove makers
• Visit to Ferragamo shoe museum ( see the shoes specially made for Audrey Hepburn, shoes from Hollywood movies etc…)
• *??*Evening concert at tiny St Mark’s English church in Florence  (** if not available – similar concert & venue)
• Dinner – you choose, after concert

Day 16: Sunday

• Morning at leisure

• After lunch, we drive up to the Piazza Michelangelo where we can see all over Florence. Visit the old suburb of San Niccolo as we walk back down the hill to the Santa Croce and Michelangelo’s tomb. 
• Visit to the Scuola di Cuoio ( school of leather ),
• 7.00pm-Dinner at sunset – Golden view - overlooking the Ponte Vecchio

Day 17: Monday:    

• Morning at leisure. 

• Lunch - own arrangements

• 1.30 – 5.30 pm - Artisans walking tour – with Elena -afternoon (we meet the mosaic makers, the gilders and silver smiths, paper makers, are taken to the atelier of an exclusive perfumiere)
• 6 -7pm -Before dinner - Art Historian Talk : art in Florence -what you will see at the Uffizi etc.
• 8pm -Dinner at Paoli Restaurant. ( vaulted ceilings, 400 y/old frescoes on the walls and a fabulous menu)

Day 18: Tuesday:   

Walking tour of Florence

• 9 – 12.30pm –with Paola -(Statue of David, truffle & cheese tastings at the wonderful Mercato Centrale, Duomo, Piazza Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza Repubblica – stop for gelato) 
• Lunch on walk
• Rest of afternoon at leisure, until..
• 4pm – 6pm Visit the Uffizi Gallery with Emma, skim past the crowds…
• 8pm -Dinner –at Gilda’s (where everything is gilded!)

Day 19: Wednesday:   

Taste of Tuscany Villa Lunch

• 11am -3.00pm -relax and eat al fresco at the Medici villa in the hills above Florence -featured in films Room with a View and Lunch with Mussolini.)
• Rest of day free
• Dinner –your choice

ROME:

Day 20: Thursday:

Transfer to Rome by Eurostar train

• Arrive at lunch time for last day in Rome
• Maybe a trip to Galleria Borghese
• Time for last minute shopping or looking
• Farewell to Rome – dinner on Piazza Farnese
  

Day 21: 

Leave Rome for Adelaide

Day 22:

Arrive ADELAIDE

(Tour cost includes: all flights, 2 meals/day, single accommodation, entrance fees, train fares, guides, special event tickets, art historian talks, transfers & tips

– you pay only for your own drinks.

NB** Sometimes we may take a taxi when feet get tired – approx cost €2 p/p ( 4 in a taxi)