Page 8 - AAA Central Penn – AAA Now! – November/December 2017

AAA
TM
Italy With a Twist
Spice Up Your Vacation with Special Treats
By Craig Haberle, CTC
Whether your vacation in Italy is your first time there or a return visit, it will be filled with highlight after highlight. Each new, exciting experience on your own or during a tour adds more favorites and even greater enjoyment of this marvelous country, its culture and its people.
As you choose among the many classic and contemporary sites and sights of Italy deserving your attention while traveling around this masterpiece of the Mediterranean, consider how you can make each visit and tour even more special and memorable. Let’s take a look at how shaking some rare spices on the traditional recipe for travel in Italy can create exceptional treats on a vacation flavored with fantastico!
As the old saying goes, “When in Rome, do
as the Romans do”... and AAA adds, “but do it better.” Pass the long lines of waiting crowds with a professional guide who slips you through a VIP entrance for a tour of Vatican Museum, the Papal art collection, and the Sistine Chapel. Later, after the museum is closed, connect with curators who share with you their expertise on the priceless collections and host your private on-site dining in refined elegance amidst precious treasures, right in the Vatican.
Renaissance splendor runs rampant in the palaces and art museums of Florence. Your local art expert whisks you into the Accademia Gallery and presents an enriched perspective of Michelangelo’s iconic sculpture of David. Escape Renaissance overload and the throngs of tourists in town by traveling into Tuscany’s countryside to an oasis near the walled town of Monteriggioni where an elegant villa welcomes you for a two-night retreat.
Unwind with a glass of wine, relax in the shaded garden, or take a dip in the pool, all before dinner at your fabulous villa.
Standing tall above the Tuscan landscape
are medieval towers of the hilltop town of San Gimignano. Wind your way up cobblestone streets, perhaps with stops at enticing shops brimming with local handmade crafts, and continue on for a unique, refreshing treat. You have been invited to a tasting of the artisan gelatos of the maestro Sergio Dondoli, a world champion of frozen confections.
Not far from Italy’s most famous leaning tower at Pisa is the tree-lined Tuscan town of Lucca, where an aromatic visit at a traditional steam bakery indulges you with tastes of luscious loaves of sweet raisin anise bread, known locally as buccellato, but you will pronounce it “yummy.”
The Cinque Terre are five colorful villages that cling to the rugged coast of the Ligurian Riviera
and are wrapped by terraced hillsides. Dating from the 11th century, these villages are now protected within a National Park area and designated as
a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The narrow and winding local roads are not suitable for most cars or motor coaches, but trains do provide convenient access. However, the Cinque Terre are best appreciated and photographed when approached aboard your pleasant boat ride enjoyed with other wise travelers.
The Dolomites are an Italian territory of the
Alps and are especially popular with skiers,
hikers and photographers. Breathtaking views
in all directions – up, down, and all around – are presented on your cable car ride to one of the mountain peaks. Two nights in the premier
resort town of Cortina d’Ampezzo, host to the 1956 Winter Olympics, indulges you in the high life in Italian style.
Your route makes a dramatic descent through
the Dolomites right down to the Adriatic Sea on Italy’s northeast coast. Arrive in Venice as if you are a movie-star – aboard a private boat, motoring from the mainland across the lagoon, along the canals, and right to the door of your boutique hotel in this beloved city. Your guide links centuries of stories during visits that include the Bridge of Sighs, Doge’s Palace, and the Basilica and Piazza of San Marco. The Venetian Arts Center reveals the specialized skills required to handcraft glass, sew or weave lace, and build gondolas. A free day here affords you
the time to explore alleyways of tiny shops, grand museums of priceless art, and cafes with gelatos galore. Later, while gliding in a gondola along
quiet canals and under romantic bridges of Venice, reflect back on the many unusual and wonderful memories you have created while “spicing it up” throughout Italy.
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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017
Now!