 Day
1 Travel to Florence |
| Embark
on your overnight flight to Florence, Italy. [In-flight Meals] |
|
| Day
2 Arrival in Florence and Welcome Dinner |
| Arrive
at Hotel Carolus*, a beautiful neo-classical palazzo, located
in the historic city center of Florence, close to the Accademia
and the Duomo. Join us for a welcome cocktail where we will
meet our tour director and fellow USC travelers before we’re
off to our dinner of pure Italian delights at Il Latini. Once
the stables of L.B. Alberti’s masterpiece palace, the
Latini family’s restaurant and winery offers the original
flavors of Tuscany. [C,D] |
|
| Day
3 Florence City Tour |
| Today
our local art historian will show us the wonders of Florence,
“Art Capital of the World” and birthplace of Michelangelo.
See the Gates of Paradise, Giotto’s Bell Tower, Santa
Croce and Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. Our tour will end
at the Uffizi Galleries where you may want to spend this free
afternoon familiarizing yourself with works of Giotto, Botticelli,
Raphael or Da Vinci. A leisure evening is the perfect time to
sample Italian delicacies at one of the many local trattorias.
[B] |
|
| Day
4 Optional Excursion to Siena and San Gimignano & Cooking
Class |
| Enjoy
a day at leisure or join our optional excursion to San Gimignano
and Siena today. Upon arrival in Siena, our local art historian
will provide an overview of the city, spread over the beautiful
red clay hills from which the color “burnt sienna”
gets its name. See the striking Piazza del Campo, site of the
famous “Palio” horse race. After our tour, there
is time for lunch on your own and shopping. In the afternoon,
we’ll wind our way through the rolling hills and vineyards
of the Chianti region to the medieval town of San Gimignano,
a rose-colored hilltop village surrounded by well-preserved
ramparts and fortress towers. ‘Tea with Mussolini’
was filmed here. We continue our journey to ‘Il Vivaio.”
The owners of Il Latini restaurant have invited us for our first
cooking lesson and dinner at their private vineyard and villa.
[B] |
|
| Day
5 Florence * Cooking Class |
| Be
prepared for another day sampling the delights of Tuscan cuisine
and magnificent art treasures. Late morning, we visit Forno
Verrazzano Bakery and sample many varieties of delicious Focaccia
bread dipped in olive oil, slices of red tomato loaded down
by fresh mozzarella cheese, basil and sun-cured olives. Afterwards
spend free time seeing the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens or
the Accademia with Michelangelo’s famous statue of David.
Later this afternoon we visit Ristorante Vecchia Firenze for
our cooking class and balsamic vinegar tasting. [B,L] |
|
| Day
6 Optional Excursion to Greve and the Castle of Verrazzano |
|
After breakfast we travel to the heart of
Tuscany to visit the picturesque town of Greve. We have time
to sample wine and olive oil at world famous Antica Macelleria
Falorni, before we head to one of the finest restaurants in
Tuscany: Da Verrazzano. We will have a private tour and wine
tasting at the 16th-century castle of Verrazzano Vineyards
before lunch is served on the terrace overlooking the town
square. Let “La Cucina Toscana” stimulate your
senses. Back in Florence tonight, we gather for our Italian
farewell dinner. [B,D]
|
|
| Day
7 Travel Home |
| Our
land travel ends with breakfast this morning. Arrivederci Tuscany!
With Italian memories to last a lifetime, we board our jet bound
for home. [B] |
| |
