admin July 7th, 2012

What does Art History Alive have to do with the economic crunch in the E.U.? A couple of things:

1. Because the exchange rate is the lowest it has been since 1997, we have chosen to pass that savings on to our clients?you! We have three AHA trips going to Italy this summer and fall, and the prices for these trips have come down significantly.

2.? The E.U. is teetering, tourism is down, and this reminded me of something. After the events of September 11, 2001, I clearly remember Mayor Giuliani on television asking folks to come to New York, and not to give way to fear by staying away.?Well, we listened, and one month after that terrible day, we packed up and headed to NYC for the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, wondering if the streets would be a bit empty. Quite the opposite! It was one of the largest crowds on record. Santa Claus is always the huge climax to the parade, riding the last float, but I had to cover my ears when the float that preceded Santa passed by. On that float were Mayor Giuliani, the Fire Commissioner, the Police Commissioner, some fire fighters and police officers, and the flag that flew at the World Trade Center site. We were so glad that we had gone to NYC and supported the city in that terrible time.

I feel a bit the same about the E.U. right now. AHA has so many friends in Italy and France who are suffering as their financial systems struggle. I think that it is safe to say that the E. U. needs our travel dollars more than anytime since post WWII, another terrible time for Europe.

In hopes of stimulating more of you to travel, I am lowering the prices on the upcoming AHA trips and designing personal itineraries for the friends and clients who cannot go with us, but will go on their own and want it to be the AHA style. We will create for you, a dream trip based on your desires and our experience. Infused in each itinerary is my enthusiasm and passion, which I cannot help.

Below are our AHA trips with reduced prices. Each one has been created with every detail considered, every lunch and dinner, every warm evening and cobblestoned alley. And now, we can use these to help our friends out of a very tough time, and see wondrous things at the same time.

MUSICA IN TUSCANY – CLOSED
A Castle Courtyard Concert, Hill Towns, and Rome
JULY 12 ? 18, 2012
Was $3,300. Now $2,900. Savings $400.00

ROME AND TUSCANY
A Colosseum and a Castle
SEPTEMBER 30 ? OCTOBER 8, 2012
Was $3,900. Now $3,400. Savings $500.00

GERMANY, ALONG THE ROMANTIC ROAD
Cathedrals, Castles, and a Concentration Camp
This itinerary is available for purchase. Call for pricing and your copy for travel at your convenience.

ROMA AMOR: ROME IS LOVE SPELLED BACKWARD
Judith Testa brings her book to life as she shares with us her Rome.
OCTOBER 10 ? 17, 2012
Was $4,100. Now $3,600. Savings $500.00

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admin January 18th, 2012

Ghosts of the Caesars, Evening, Roman Forum

There is an Italian expression, ?Roma, non basta una vita,? which means that for Rome, a lifetime is not enough life to really know her.

Not even close. But knowing Rome would be the destination and getting to know her, the journey. I never want my journey to end. I love this city with all my heart.

Why is it that of all of the wonderful places I have visited in my traveling life, Rome, above all others, gripped me, holds me, and haunts me?

I have wrestled with this question for twenty years. Friends do not understand why I keep returning when there is so much more ?out there? to see. They ask if I will guide a trip to Greece or Hong Kong. I smile, as I think about those amazing places and say, ?Maybe, someday.? But in my head I am saying, ?I don’t want to. I want to go back to Rome.? There is still, after countless visits, so much of Rome that I long to understand, be familiar with, and appreciate.

Maybe it can be explained this way. When I buy a car, I think it through, wrangle, and weigh every aspect and option, and by the time my decision is made, I am in love with it and drive it for years.?I’ve sort of sunk my teeth into it, very unlike the car buyer who enjoys flipping cars every couple of years. That is the kind of traveler that I have become as well. I am determined to catch the spirit of a place and sink my teeth in.? When I am not traveling I am reading, highlighting, margin noting, and learning more deeply about Rome. ? A list of destinations to see in this world and tick off could not be more unappealing to me.

However, it hasn’t always been that way.?In 1989, I was traveling around Europe with my list in hand, happily visiting Switzerland, Paris, Florence, all beautiful and stimulating, tick, tick, tick. Not sinking my teeth into any of them.?But then we arrived in Rome, and everything changed. Only this time, I was blindsided as I felt Rome sink her teeth into me! How?

One thing I am sure of is that there is more than one answer to this question. In Part 2 of ROME: Life Is Not Long Enough To Know All Of Rome, I will

My Happy Place

discuss a few, and maybe you will feel your reaction to a special place being described.

As a guest with Art History Alive, my intense passion for Rome and its living history, will be my gift to you. Travelers will have three opportunities to visit and get to know Rome with AHA in 2012.

Musica in Tuscany: July 12 ? 18, 2012, includes two days in Rome.

Rome and Tuscany: September 30 ? October 8, 2012, includes four full days in Rome.

Roma Amor: Rome Is Love Spelled Backward: October 10 ? 17, 2012, is a full week in Rome guided by Judith Testa, PhD, author of the book by the same name, and myself. A daring duo of like-minded pilgrims are we.

In Part Two of ROMA, I will also share news on a few of the fantastically characteristic boutique hotels that AHA now reserves for its guests?a converted cloister, quiet and tucked away, an 11^th-century tower, with one room on each of its five floors, and a pretty guest house gem on a quiet street near the Tiber River?all unique, pristine, and located in the historic center of this amazing city. I have visited each and every one of these hotels, plus many others that did not make the AHA list of preferred properties. Only the best for AHA guests?that is my promise.

Come experience Rome as part of a small group of other intellectually curious travelers. We would love to have you.

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admin August 30th, 2011

Evening in the Roman Forum

ITALY ? ROME AND TUSCANY: A Colosseum and a Castle
SEPTEMBER 30 – OCTOBER 8, 2012 ~ 9 DAYS ~ GROUP SIZE: 6 – 8
Price was: $3,900.00? Price now: $3,400

Savings: $500.00

NOTE: Below is a good example of just what travel is like with ART HISTORY ALIVE. If you find that this post does not pique your interest, then you may not be a good fit for AHA, but if you begin reading and find yourself wanting to read and learn more, it is ten times better when we are there.? Cynthia

Eventually, all roads should lead to the awesome city of Rome at least once in a lifetime. Jim and I have traveled far and wide in this world, but since our discovery of Italy in 1987, we return every chance we get. And in all of that little boot, Rome has the strongest draw for us.? Cumulatively, we have spent over 4 months in that city, and still we keep going back. Of everywhere we have been, Rome holds for us the richest and most stimulating bounty of art, history, architecture (which is an art), and culture, hands down.? And the people . . . . . . . !

• Why did Michelangelo sign only one piece of art and which one was it?
• Why is the almost 2000 year-old Pantheon in such perfect condition when buildings in the Forum of the same age are rubble?
• Why is St. Peter’s Basilica the most popular church in Rome, and the world, when Rome’s St. John Lateran was the first Christian church to be built?
• Where is the white travertine exterior that once covered the Colosseum walls?
• Where are the gilded bronze tiles that once covered the roof of the Pantheon?
• What did the terms Middle Ages and Dark Ages describe?

On warm evenings we will sit in outside caf?s on cobblestone alleys and watch the most interesting people in the world stroll by. We will shop, rest and overall, catch the Spirit of Rome which, you will want to take home with you.

Next it is off to the hills of Tuscany in our spacious, panoramic-windowed van toward the tiny hill town of Proceno, in southern Tuscany. However, on our way, we will drive up a hill to soaring Orvieto for a delicious lunch and the first of many an awe inspiring wander. No one actually knows the age of Orvieto, however we do know that around 750 B.C. the Etruscans thrived here, inheriting it from their Iron and Bronze Age ancestors. How exciting it is to visit a city that has survived for thousands of years, with its bustle interrupted only once, in the 14th century, by the Black Plague.? We will meander at our own pace through Orvieto‘s crown jewel, her Cathedral, with its brightly colored mosaic facade. Built over a mere 300 years, it holds precious art that I love to visit and share.

Forty minutes deeper into beautiful Tuscany and we will arrive at Castello di Proceno. This castle/fortress was built in the 11th century and has been creatively redesigned into several beautiful apartments. This is my favorite landing spot in all of Tuscany.

Once we check in and relax a bit, we will take a walk around town so that you can get your bearings. It isn’t difficult as it is tiny, but the views, in all directions are dreamlike, no, actually they are “calendarlike“. I will introduce you to Pucci and Giovanni, the owners of the castle, Roberto the grocer, where you can buy anything from locally made salami, to bedroom slippers, and Gianfranco, of Trattoria da Gianfranco. The castle will be our home for the next four days as we explore more picturesque hill towns and savor some of the most delicious food and wine you will have ever tasted.

On the list of must sees, in these first four days, are the cathedral of Sovana, that took so long to build that it actually spans two architectural periods. So, as we sit in the back of the church you will see that two of its three aisles are Romanesque and the third is Gothic. Amazing! The hill town hamlet of Pienza that was, luckily for us, caught in a time warp. During the first half of the 1400′s, Pope Pius II, responsible for the revitalization and redesigning of his beloved hometown, was called away to raise troops for a crusade to the Holy Land. He left a Papal Bull, in beautiful Latin, that stated nothing should be touched until his return. Unfortunately, in 1465 he died while away, and Pienza dutifully has left everything just as it was. Because of this, a visit to Pienza gives us a real time snapshot of Tuscan life in the 1400′s. Pienza was miraculously spared during World War II bombing raids, however the machine gun holes in the exterior side wall of the cathedral are a reminder of what happened here when both Germans and Americans took turns occupying Pienza and the surrounding towns. This is a fascinating area with lots to explore, learn and taste. Brunellos come from this region, as does a most delicious soft, not salty, pecorino cheese.

And who can be in this area and not visit the most haunting of all hill towns, Civita di Bagnoregio?

Not me! Civita sits a top a rock spur, built entirely of rock taken from the spur, it appears to be something organic that simply grew out of the mountain. However, because of earthquakes over the centuries much of the spur and city have dropped away, leaving Civita sitting like a diamond nestled in a round solitaire setting. There is one approach to the city, a walking bridge that spans the gorge that encircles Civita.

Often, in the morning, the city is engulfed in clouds or fog and it appears that the bridge leads to no where. Sometimes the fog fills just the gorge with Civita above as if floating in the sky. This is like nothing else you would have seen up to this point, and you will remember it always. Comfortable walking shoes, a camera, and a hefty appetite are a must for Civita da Bagnoregio.

Following our explorations of Tuscany we will say good bye to our castle and new friends, and head for Rome and flights home.

Physical Level: Moderate

Art History Alive will offer seven destinations in 2012! Great places to visit, more interesting things to learn, and very small groups. Over the next few weeks I will post a list of recommended reading and movies, destination specific, that will allow you to front load your travel experience.

You will notice that we have added an itinerary that includes my absolute favorite places in California.? If Europe is not on

your radar screen for this year, consider touring the best that California has to offer.? I am a fifth generation Californian and would love to show you around.? I think that you will agree, this is wonderful line up and I sincerely hope that you will share it with your friends and family.

We are very happy to announce:

• Early booking benefits
• Alumni discounts
• Refundable deposits

The NEW money saving opportunities are on the Specials and Discounts Page. These trips can fill up fast so early booking is important and saves you money.

All trips include: Hotels, all meals and house wines, (well, you don’t have to have wine with breakfast) ground transportation, museum admissions, and travel insurance.

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admin August 26th, 2011

Judith Testa At Her Best

October 10 – 17, 2012 ~ 8 Days?

Group Size: 6 – 8

Price was: $4,100.00? Price now: $3,600.00

Savings: $500.00

We are so very fortunate to have Judith Testa, in person, bringing her book to life in her beloved Rome.? I will be among the lucky travelers that will make up this group, as we gather around this fun and funny font of knowledge, and become friends.

Following post by Judith Testa:

There?s a saying, ?Roma, non basta una vita,? which means ?Rome, a lifetime is not enough.? But even if you don?t have a lifetime to devote to exploring the Eternal City, you can see and experience an amazing amount in a well-organized week, and that?s what Art History Alive promises you.
We?ll take in the astounding sweep of Rome?s art and history, from the emperor Augustus in the first century BC to his 20th-century wannabe, Mussolini. But don?t worry– we won?t rush you around the city all day, every day, merely glancing at monuments before hurrying on to yet another site. Instead, by carefully choosing sites near to one another, we can visit some of Rome?s best-known treasures as well as a couple of its lesser-known gems, and still have time for delicious meals and some hours on your own.
On the day of your arrival, you?ll no doubt want some fresh air and something wonderful to look at, so we?ll ascend the Gianicolo–Rome?s Janiculum Hill– to admire the Acqua Paola, a gorgeous Baroque fountain that overlooks a fabulous panorama of the city.
On subsequent days, we?ll visit the Ara Pacis, the altar dedicated to peace by Rome?s first emperor, Augustus, and then walk around a corner to view a piazza designed for Mussolini. We?ll visit the Pantheon, one of the greatest buildings in the world, once a temple to all the Roman gods and now a church, and just a few streets way, the Baroque church of Sant? Ignazio, with ceiling paintings that will truly blow you away.

Prosciutto and Melon - A delicious work of art

We?ll also go inside the Colosseum, the huge arena where gladiators and wild animals once fought for the entertainment of the Roman populace. And rather than tramping through the Roman Forum, the seat of the ancient Roman government, we?ll view it from the summit of the Capitoline Hill– the latter re-designed by Michelangelo, and a superb example of High Renaissance city planning.
A visit to the small but interestingly decorated catacombs of St. Priscilla, a site few tourists succeed in finding, will acquaint you with the world of early Christianity as seen through a subterranean ?city of the dead.? Medieval Rome will be right on our doorstep, in the form of the church of S. Maria in Trastevere, according to some, the earliest Christian site in Rome, and housing marvelous mosaics and other works of art from various periods.
No visit to Rome would be complete without seeing St. Peter?s, the epitome of High Renaissance grandeur and Baroque splendor. A visit to the Vatican Museums will end in the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo?s ceiling paintings provide one of the most unforgettable experiences in a city full of peak experiences.

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admin August 15th, 2011

Perfect Proceno Taken From the Castle Tower

Hello Everyone and a special hello to the Art History Alive fans that are educators, administrators and summer vacationers.? This post is all about YOU!? First, let me say THANK YOU? for all that you do, everyday, after school and weekends too.? I have watched my sister work very hard for thirty years.

AHA has quite a few followers that can only vacation in the summer, and they remind me of that fact rather often, as typically I do not plan trips for that time of year.? The trouble is I really don’t care for Europe in the summer for obvious reasons.? So, my attitude, when asked when I will plan a trip for summertime, has always been sort of yeah . . .? but no.

Then, this morning I had a brainstorm, just after receiving my invitation to the annual summer music festival at our castle in southern Tuscany, Castello di Proceno.? The music festival has always sounded wonderful to me, but being that it was in the summer . . . . . see where I am going with this???

But, I have changed my mind, because I can.? So, this is it.? Castle in Tuscany, in July, with a two day concert series performed in the courtyard of the 11th century castle, dressed to the nines, we will nibble on Tuscan treats, sip champagne, and gorgeous local? wines.? Guests come from all over the area to enjoy the beautiful music in this setting, and we will have our rooms in the same!? Anticipating that some of you will not have been to Italy before, and would want to see more than this “ultimate cultural immersion” music festival will provide, I will add to the mix, a few Tuscan hill towns and a day or two in Rome before flying home.

Rome!

This is just an FYI so that you can start planning.? Around September 1, 2011, I will post the entire line up of trips for 2012.? This is just one of the six or seven that we, at AHA, have been working on very hard.? The details of this trip will be posted then; dates, duration and price.? I can tell you now that the group size will be a maximum of 6.? I want to keep this pretty private.? Proceno is tiny,? in a time warp and I don’t want to infringe on that, so we will keep our foot print very small.? In fact, the precious time warp is why I chose this little hamlet in the first place.? Can you imagine the acoustics in this stone hill town?

And then we will go to ROME!

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admin September 20th, 2010

Facebook me!

I came to Italy for the art, history, ancient architecture, scenic beauty, food, wine, hill towns, landscapes, and loving it all, I return for Rome.

Why does one place reach out and hug you, and others simply don’t?? No one really knows, and further, who cares, it just happens.? However, when it happens, it is very personal, and at the same time, very intimate.? For some it’s a sandy beached island, a mountain perch, an almost silent lake, the sidewalks of Paris, Vienna, or among the Giant Sequoias, here in California.? But when it happens, you know it.

After about 48? hours in Rome,? I felt a sense of sinking into it, a yearn to get lost in it.? Not in the great sites, suddenly the Colosseum and the Forum jumped into the back seat, I wanted to be on a back street in a nondescript neighborhood.?? I didn’t want to stand out, but quite the opposite, I wanted to blend in, fit, smear into Rome. Recognize the feeling?

Frances Mayes feels about Tuscany, as I do about Rome.? She describes it this way.? “. . . the place took hold of me and shaped me in its image.”? Exactly.

Unbelievable Dinner with Roman Friends

“I wanted an aperture, an opportunity to merge with something limitless.”? I didn’t know that I did, but boy, did I.

And finally, “? . . . something that takes you out of yourself also restores you to yourself with a greater freedom.”? This last quote touches on what many travelers who fall in love with a place refer to as ” I felt like I was home.”? I love the way that Rome swoops me out of myself, fills me to the brim, and returns a wiser, more humbled me. However, when I am in Rome and wandering, I feel small as the enormity of all that Rome has been, is and will be, surrounds me. How could I not want a repeat of that thrill ride?

Through the ages, Rome has gathered many, many lovers, I am only one, but that’s OK, I can share. ? When I arrive we have such a joyous reunion, Rome is all decked out and gives me her full attention.? Below are some thoughts by a few of her other lovers:

Barbara Gruzzuti Harrison (1934-2002) – “I am happy here; when I or others have bruised my life, I close my eyes against the hurt and think of Rome: as possibility and hope. . . The world is lovable when the world is Rome. . . For the rest of my life I will love Rome and think better of my life having known Rome.”

Johann Goethe (1749-1832) – In Rome you learn to. . . . “See with an eye that can feel, feel with a hand that can see.”

Henry James (1843-1916) – At nineteen years old, “I went reeling and moaning thro’ the streets, in a fever of enjoyment.”? Fifty years later – “No one who has ever loved Rome, as Rome could be loved in youth, wants to stop loving her.”

H. V. Morton (1892-1979) – “I looked down with gratitude upon the city where I had learnt many things; but one does not say goodbye to Rome.”

Judith Testa – (During my first visit) . . .”A strange energy surged through me, a passion for the place which has never faded but only increased with each subsequent visit.? Whenever I return to Rome, I experience that same anticipation, energy, and excitement.”

Jim Quist – “I love Rome simply because it’s Italian.”

Why is Rome so magnetic?? Could it be the magnificent art, layered history, delicious food, warm Italians, winding alleys, underground shrines, alongside, or often times under, haute couture,? 400 churches, one 2,000 years old?? Yes, and what about the churches, where most of the art resides?? Isn’t Rome considered the very heart of Christendom? Maybe it is the endless stories about the lives of the the artists that, through the ages, arrived in Rome from all over Italy, to contribute to its greatness in painting, architecture, sculpture, mosaic, bronze, and on and on.? The personalities, the conflicts, the rivalries.? When you know what Michelangelo said just after beginning the Moses, or how he managed to get his Pieta into St. Peter’s without permission, all while standing in front of the masterpieces, Rome elevates, moves, enriches, empowers, and becomes magnetic.

Perhaps you have never experienced a “passion blow”, and wonder how? you sink deeply into a place, and catch its spirit?? These are requisites for AHA guests, and I have never had a complaint.

• Front Loading.? Before departure, study your destination and the things that you will see.? A good travel guide can do nicely, but be sure that it has photos.? I have traveled for years without front loading, but never more.? Your knowledge will afford a wonderful feeling of familiarity and understanding upon recognition of a painting, a cafe, or street corner, that you have read about.? With a smile you can say to yourself, ” I know this place.”? Great rush.
• Pace is very important.? You cannot be rushing, so you need time in one place.? Give yourself at least four full days.? Then quietly observe everything around you, from the art to the shoe styles.? Coats, ties, skin, and faces.
• Fight the urge to make a list of must sees, that you then focus on.? When you get home, it shouldn’t be about the places that you saw, it should be about what you have learned and felt.? If your memories of Rome sound like this, ” Big bustling city, full of traffic and noise”, than you have missed it, and you should consider a return trip. Thankfully, Rome is endless, immortal and forgiving.

I will be in Rome guiding AHA’s? After twenty years, just writing those words, “I will be in Rome”, puts a smile on my face and pulls at my heart.? I would love to share it with you.

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