Art History Alive

arthisto February 8th, 2012

Yosemite Falls Reflected

Spring is waterfall season in Yosemite, when the snowmelt comes rushing over rock walls and races 3,000 feet straight down in a powerful ribbon to crash on the rocks below. Juxtaposed against the power and strength of water is the delicate wildflower season, a gorgeous time to be in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

AHA’s Gold Rush, Wines, and Yosemite, April 19 – 26, 2012, is a great 8-day getaway—from San Francisco to Carmel-by-the-Sea, with Yosemite as the ”jewel in the crown.” However, we are offering our guests the choice of an abbreviated version as well. For those who just can’t get away for a full 8 days but long to get up into the hills and stay in Yosemite, AHA is offering a 5-day, 4-night version. This “Sierra” version, April 19 – 23, 2012, will begin in San Francisco, followed by 2 days in Sonora, including a massage and facial, Murphy’s wine tasting, and, of course, Yosemite and the Ahwahnee.

I love this area, know it quite well, and enjoy sharing it. The links will take you to details and pricing.

Days 1 – 5: (Sierra) We will begin this trip at sea level in San Francisco, with all its culture and color, and then meander on to spend two days in the heart of the Gold Rush area in Sonora. While here, our guests will enjoy a European body massage and facial by leading professionals in the area. We will then go wine tasting in the adorable little town of Murphys, and finally make our way into Yosemite National Park, arguably one of the most beautiful places on earth. After checking in to the historic and very majestic Ahwahnee Hotel, we will explore the park and picnic along the way, just soaking in Yosemite.

Days 6 and 7: We will come full circle as the final two days of this itinerary find us back on the California coast in beautiful Carmel-by-the-Sea. Quaint as can be, with its storybook architecture, we will wander the streets, share some delicious meals, the fresh salt air, and prepare to return to life.

To sign up for Gold Rush, Wines, and Yosemite or Sierra, click here.

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arthisto September 1st, 2011

I Am Passionate About What I Do

Here are the deeply cultural, and beautiful tours that AHA will guide in 2012.  Lot’s of choices and gorgeous destinations.  This year we have deeper discounts for returning guests, early applications, and for bringing a friend.  Check out the Discounts page.  And don’t forget, a group of 4-6 friends or family that apply as a group, for any of the trips below, receive a private tour.

AHA is all about cultural immersion travel, and we love it when our guests return home enriched.  So, which culture would you like to take a dip into?

1. GOLD RUSH WINES AND YOSEMITE  April 19-26, 2012

2.  SARDEGNA: ANCIENT, WILD, SPECTACULAR, May 22-28, 2012

3.  PARIS 201: BEYOND THE EIFFEL TOWER, May 30 – June 5, 2012

4.  MUSICA IN TUSCANY: A CASTLE COURTYARD CONCERT, HILL TOWNS AND ROME, July 2012

5.  GERMANY: CASTLES, CATHEDRALS and a CONCENTRATION CAMP, October 1-8, 2012

6.  ROME AND TUSCANY: A COLOSSEUM AND A CASTLE, September 30 – October 8, 2012

7.  ROMA AMOR -  ROME IS LOVE SPELLED BACKWARD:  JUDITH TESTA BRINGS HER BOOK TO LIFE, October 10-17, 2012

A WORD ON WHAT’S NEW FOR 2012:

SARDEGNA – May 22-28, 2012

Hauntingly Beautiful Tuscany

This large island off the west coast of Italy has been a vacation favorite with Italians for eons.  The colorful grottoes, beautiful beaches, and unique history, a result of being located along the high traffic seaway of conquering civilizations through the centuries, makes Sardegna a culture in which you want to immerse yourself.

MUSICA IN TUSCANY - July 2012

AHA’s first summer tour!  Not only will we attend a music festival held in the courtyard of an 11th-century Italian castle, we will stay there as well.  This itinerary will also include meandering through some of the nearby hill towns of Tuscany, enjoying the cuisine and wines that this area is famous for, and it will end with two days in Rome.  Here is a perfect trip for the educators, administrators, and summer vacationers that have asked for a summer trip.  I was listening and look forward to sharing Tuscany and Rome with you.

GERMANY: CASTLES, CATHEDRALS and a CONCENTRATION CAMP, October 1-8, 2012

This trip will begin in the wine country of Bavaria and end in the mountains outside of Munich, Germany.  We will travel the gorgeous “Romantic Road” watching the hilltop castles go by, stopping along the way to explore and “get into” Germany.  But, by way of balance, we will also include, an important piece of history. We will visit Dachau, the infamous concentration camp museum, and Nurnberg.  This is an outstanding art history itinerary, with both treasures and tragedy.

ROMA AMOR: ROME IS LOVE SPELLED BACKWARD – October 10-17, 2012

This tour, focusing on Rome and Rome alone, will be based on my favorite book on the Eternal City, Rome is Love Spelled Backward. And amazingly, for the fortunate guests that sign on, the author, Judith Testa, will guide this tour!  I will be there, too, listening and learning from AHA’s own art history consultant and professor, as she deftly paints, for us, a picture of ancient Rome.  How fortunate are we!

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arthisto October 25th, 2010

Four Friends, Yosemite National Park

First of all, let me say thank you, thank you, thank you, to my Art History Alive guests!  Jill, Katherine and Marty, you are wonderful!  Wow, did we ever have fun!  I live here, designed this itinerary and it was eye-candy overload, even for me!  It also amazes me how like-minded strangers can come together on an AHA trip, and within two days are exchanging book titles, email addresses, sharing recipes, and desserts.

Beginning with the fab lunch at House of Nanking in San Francisco, and the fortune cookie factory, the die was cast for this trip.  From the message/facials and wine tasting in Sonora and Murphy’s to the views from the picture windows in our Ahwahnee guest rooms of Yosemite Falls and Half Dome, taking in picnics to prime rib dinners, we still found time to do a little shopping and enjoyed each other so much.  Guests returned home with pretty new bracelets, earrings, and of course, shoes, plus cameras full of images.  One day we began with a late and lingering breakfast in the very beautiful and gracious Ahwahnee dining room, and ended with dinner in the oh so Californian In and Out Burger, Merced.  One end of the spectrum to the other.

Big Sur and Carmel were the icing on the cake, and where Katherine and Jill had to be dragged away with promises of returning.  Thank you ladies, I had a wonderful time.  And here is to being together again in Tuscany and Rome in June!

Thank you to The Gunn House in Sonora.  Shirley, Emma, and Tiffany, spoiled us tremendously, and I am still dreaming about that pink grapefruit cake, Shirley, and looking forward to our return.  To Gail Warren and Toni Burrell for the wonderful and relaxing spa treatments in Sonora, that my guests loved and raved about, to Sewell Hatcher at Hatcher Wines in Murphy’s, for making delicious wine and the tasting so fun.

On this trip, California is the shining star, what a magnificent state!

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arthisto October 14th, 2010

In San Francisco with guests from the east coast.  We  scored a perfectly warm and sunny day.

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arthisto June 3rd, 2010

Royal Hawaiian Gardens

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ALOHA CALIFORNIA

OCTOBER 15 – 22, 2011 ~ 8 DAYS ~ GROUP SIZE: 6

PRICE PER PERSON: $3,175.00

Just back from 5 gorgeous days of research and development in Honolulu. Based on my findings below, AHA will offer an itinerary called “Aloha California”  October 15-22, 2011. It will consist of 3 days in beautiful San Francisco and 4 days in Hawaii. More details on this MEW itinerary below FINDINGS.

FINDINGS:

For me, the key to Waikiki is simple, it is all about the genteel pink oasis called The Royal Hawaiian.  We approached the hotel along the very glitzy Kalakaua Avenue lined on both sides like Rodeo Drive. With Coach, Fendi, Cartier, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Bahama and more, all in attendance.  Carefully, our car turned right and ambled down a long driveway, leaving the shopping center far behind us.  The first thing I noticed, after the gorgeous pink stucco facade, was the quiet!  Then the orchid leis put around our necks.
The hotel has recently undergone a huge refurbish and I was so fearful that it’s old word charm and peace would somehow have been sold to the highest bidder.  Not so, not so.  The gorgeous sweeping gardens still wrap around the low slung hotel with its spacious open verandas that  insist  you sit down, unwind and let the warm Trade Winds lull you.

ITINERARY:

Chinatown Dragon, San Francisco

Day 1 through 3 will be spent in and around San Francisco.  The colorful streets of its huge Chinatown, to beautiful Union Square, a boat ride and guided tour of the haunting Alcatraz, and a walk through the enormous and majestic Redwood trees in the Muir Woods.  We will drive across the famous Golden Gate and down the “crookedest street in the world”, Lombard Street, and finish up at the Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel, which is really fun!

Day 4 we will catch our morning flights to gorgeous Hawaii.  Arriving at he Royal Hawaiian about lunch time, we will check into our rooms and start to really unwind.  The balance of this day is for laying around and enjoying the huge gardens.

Days 5 through 7 will be mostly pure relaxation either on the beach and in the warm water waves, around the pool, in the spa, or shopping.  One of these three days will include a trip to the world famous Polynesian Cultural Center for a day wandering among the various villages of the Polynesian peoples.  Characteristic foods, native music and dance abound.  This is my little injection of art and history into this itinerary, and it is fascinating.

Day 8 – Flights home from Hawaii.

If this sounds lovely to you, start thinking about Aloha California with AHA, October 15 – 22, 2011.

Fragrant Plumaria, Hawaii

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