ART HISTORY ALIVES DESIGNS A NEW ITINERARY
arthisto September 4th, 2009
Taking a break
AHA is developing a wonderful new itinerary for 2011, Lake Como and Northern Tuscany. The design is a good one, blending lakeside lounging with a Swiss Alp backdrop, and cobblestone hilltowns, art, history, and culture. Nice combo.
Art History Alive, that would be my husband Jim and myself, will spend three weeks in Italy, this fall, on what we like to call a research and development trip. We love this part of the job!
Research and development are really key to AHA. We never take guests to a place that we are not completely familiar with. To accomplish this, about one year in advance, we design a new itinerary, do tons of research, and then take it on the road. (Oh well, somebodys’ gotta do it.) Because the area is often new to us, we are in new and different hotels, trying as many restaurants as possible, driving the roads, and wandering the alleyways. We search out and visit the artwork we’ve researched, logging miles and shortcuts, and finding the smoothest routes from A to B, B to C, etc., all the while taking copious notes. Those notes, our leg work and taste buds eventually develop into a new itinerary for our guests.
Two of the hotels, in which we have chosen to stay this time, are Hotel Imperiale, on the lake, and La Bandita, in Tuscany. However, we have others that we will be visiting, while in both areas. All of this so that we can offer a new Italian itinerary that will take guests to a gorgeous part of Italy, where they will sleep in a place that has its own historical significance, and where they can trust they will enjoy the most delicious food the area has to offer. In an effort to leave nothing to chance, we will have tried them all, well, . . . not all.
By the time we return home to California, we will have a new trip developed, and have, after all, spent three weeks together in some of our favorite places.
- Cremona – Home to several original Stradivari violins
- Florence – To see Cimabue’s Crucifix
- Proceno – To visit our lovely friends and their castle
- Roma – Our favorite city and more wonderful friends
- Sorrento – Because we can
- Herculaneum – A seaside town and buried treasure, that did not survive the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD
I will look forward to posting on our travel discoveries when I return. Until then, I am off to buy some elastic waisted slacks.
Chow, oops, I mean Ciao.