Down to one more day. I can definitely feel the excitement from the texts and emails I am getting from my travelers. So today is about tying up loose ends and getting packed (yes I wait until the last minute).
The whole thing becomes sort of a dream in that today I will be frantically jumping from item to item, project to project, making sure everything gets done or properly delegated and saying my good byes to my employees, clients and most importantly my family. Then tomorrow we will get with our group and head across the pond whereby on Thursday we will be in one of the most beautiful and architecturally significant places on earth - Florence, Italy, home of the Renaissance.
I always feel so much excitement combined with trepidation when doing this trip in that it is great to experience this wonderful corner of the world yet I constantly worry about the happiness and comfort of my travelers. This is our 8th tour and each trip is filled with so many stories and sites so here we go again! We will be setting dates for next year's trip as we have received overwhelming interest for Italy Trip 2011!
Here is our agenda and we will attempt to update the blog each day depending on internet access as we will be in some remote spots:
Wednesday September 1st - Fly to Florence
Thursday September 2nd - Arrive in Florence
Friday September 3rd - Day in Florence - Walking tour of the City & dinner at Villa San Michele http://www.villasanmichele.com/web/ovil/villa_san_michele.jsp
Saturday September 4th - Morning in Florence then on to the Prada Outlet and then to our Country Houses in Umbria with a welcome dinner prepared by our private chef.
Sunday September 5th - Brunch at the Villa Piazanno in Tuscany http://www.villadipiazzano.com/ then onto Arrezzo for the Antique Fair. Dinner in Cortona.
Monday September 6th - Cama Deruta ceramic studio tour, Perugia, Assisi and dinner in Assisi. http://www.camaderuta.com/
Tuesday September 7th - Wine Tour of Tuscany - Montepulciano, Pienza, and Montalcino, 7 course meal at Mimmi's.
Wednesday September 8th - Farmer's Market in Umbertide, Tour of Architectural Antiques Yard - Lacole, and our cooking class in the Country Houses.
Thursday September 9th - Tour Sienna
Friday September 10th - Drive to Rome with a stop in Orvieto for lunch.
Saturday September 11th - A day in Rome
Sunday September 12th - Fly back to Phoenix
Yes - its a full schedule and I'll need a vacation after my vacation!
