On Friday, the 18th, we departed Rome about 8:30 heading for Orvieto. At Orvieto, we visited the Duomo of Orvieto, a Romanesque-Gothic cathedral built over a span of 300 years. We explored the town and met for lunch at Trattoria La Grotto. After lunch, we departed for Perugia driving through wine-producing regions of Umbria.

Arrived at our hotel around 4:30; the hotel is called Alla Posta Dei Donini and is two renovated villas dating back to the 17th century. We attended a private recital in the music room; it was a trio who played piano, violin, and sang. Excellent performance! Dinner was in the hotel dining room with Rich, Susan, Armanda, Scott, Ginni, and myself.

Saturday we toured the well-preserved medieval hillside town of Assisi. It has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its significant art and architecture. We was given a guided tour of the Basilica of St. Francis and the historic center of Assisi.

Ginni, Linda, and I found a place where we ordered pizza and wine for our lunch. We took a leisurely stroll toward our meeting point, stopping and browsing in various stores. Upon return to our hotel, we got ready for a private wine tasting featuring locally produced Umbrian wine. Dinner was in the dining room with Gary, Cathy, Armanda, Scott, and ourselves.

The day of the 20th started with our checking out of our hotel and traveling through the rolling Tuscan landscapes, stopping in the country village of San Gimignano. We had about 2 hours of free time so we wandered through various shops, stopping to purchase our favorite Italian pastime of gelato. Lunch at at a restaurant that had a beautiful view of the Tuscan countryside. Time get away from us so we only had time to eat part of our lunch, asking for take out for the rest. Drove for a few more hours and arrived in Viareggio and our hotel for the night, Hotel Principe di Piedmonte.   After arriving to our room, we took a walk along the promenade in the seaside resort town with the Mediterranean providing miles of beach front. In the evening, we met up with Nancy, Jeff, Pam, Bob, Lynn, and David for dinner in the hotel dining room at 7:30.

Monday, the 21st, started with our checking out and on the bus by 8:30. We arrived in La Spezia which has a port for our start off point for Cinque Terre. It was a beautiful morning and, fortunately, the weather permitted us to cruise along the Italian Rivera for great views of the coast en route to the village of Vernazza for free time. Cinque Terre was only accessible by sea for hundreds of years; there are five fishing villages nestled between the Mediterranean blue water and rugged coastline. Upon arrival at Vernazza, we wandered some of the side streets with our guide and then broke off for some shopping and lunch at a restaurant where Anna had made us reservations.

We took the train back to La Spezia and boarded our coach for the journey to Florence. Arrived in Florence shortly before 5:00, checked into the Hotel Brunelleschi for a three-night stay. Anna walked us to nearly Ristorante II Caminetto where Nancy, Jeff, Amanda Scott, Gary, Kathy, and ourselves had 7:00 reservations. Walked back to the hotel after dinner and retired for the evening.

We rose around 7:00 on Tuesday morning so we could have coffee and breakfast before attending an art lecture within our hotel; the guest presenter gave an excellent briefing about Florence’s Renaissance period. We were joined by local guides who walked us through central Florence, with rain pouring down, on our way to Accademia where there are collections of works by many great artists of the 14th and 15th century along with Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of David. The sculpture of David is amazing; 17 feet tall and weight of 9 tons because it is all marble. Our guide directed out of the museum and pointed out other points of interest in the area.

After our guide departed, Anna walked those of us who choose to another square where there are many leather, jewelry, and souvenir shops along with restaurants. Ginni and I choose a restaurant within the square and had an enjoyable lunch. We wandered our way back to the hotel and prepared for a wine-tasting reception hosted by Salvatore Ferragamo at 4:45. The wife of Salvatore Ferragamo, Jr. greeted us at the door of their boutique; she gave us a description of the Ferragamo family success and explained various shoes that were displayed. We walked to a close by hotel owned by the family and had a delightful reception filled with nibbles and wine.

Wednesday, the 23rd, we were greeted in the lobby by a local guide who walked us to the Uffizi Gallery. Originally a suite of offices, it was first used to display the Medici family’s private art treasurers in 1581 which makes it the oldest art gallery in the world. We sawed works of the Italian Renaissance which included Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Michangelo’s The Holy Family, Bellini’s Allegory and Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch.

The afternoon was spent exploring; Ginni and I headed across one of the walking bridges on our way to explore their botanical gardens. After lunch, we continued on our journey but turned back because it started to rain. That evening we had dinner at the Ristorante Paoli.

We were leaving Florence on Thursday heading to Venice. After luggage was picked up and we had breakfast, we went by minivan to the train station for a two hour train ride to Venice. Arrived at Venezia Santa Lucia train station around 12:20. We took water taxis to our hotel for the next two nights called Bauer Hotel. After storing our hand carries, we had lunch on the hotel’s open terrace. A local guide met us for a guided tour of St. Mark’s Square and the Doge’s Palace. Another overwhelming experience with lots of people.

Back at the hotel, we were given a key to our room where we relaxed and changed for the evening’s farewell dinner at Antico Martini. Our dinner companions were Amanda, Scott, and Anna.

Friday, the 25th, was a lazy morning of getting ready for the day. We had breakfast around 8:30 and met up with the rest of the group at 9:45 for a walk with Anna to a glass blowing factory where we were given a demonstration of this amazing art. We browsed through the various showrooms and both of us did purchase an item. We wandered back to the central square but there were so many people that we decided to take the hotel shuttle to another island across from Venice where we found a delightful, quiet place for lunch. Back in Venice, we got ready for the evening gondola ride, farewell reception at the hotel, and visit to Basilica of St. Mark.

The tour will end tomorrow morning and we will be departing to Milan.  NOTE: My thanks to Jeff for supplying his pictures of the tour; as you will find out in my week 3 post, my pictures would become unavailable.