Now THAT’S a caprese. The problem with reading posts like this…that looks really tasty, I’m pretty hungry, and there’s an eight hour plane ride between me and that.
Timmelsjoch Pass, between Italy and Austria
Just love the feel of this old shed up in the mountains.
Venezia
Love this shot. Great color juxtapositions are a Venice trademark. Come back to this spot on a rainy day and the perspective and experience will be entirely different and in a very dramatic way. It’s pretty crowded in this area in the summer time, but we’ll typically walk past it several times on various outings during a three or four night tour of Venice which gives you a chance to see it from various perspectives.
Driving Fast In Italy
If you haven’t seen this episode of Top Gear, you should. The Gallardo is magical. The roads in Italy aren’t nearly as bumpy as James May would have you think (at least not in my experience). The drive to Switzerland from Italy? Heaven on earth.
If you’d like a driving tour of the Lake Region and the mountains, it’s certainly something we can arrange (the Gallardo will make it a bit costly however). Want to add some culture to your Italian driving experience? A couple nights in Como and Sirmione to relax? Right in our core expertise.
We can also do biking and motorcycling tours in Italy as well (inquire via our website or email).
Spring Has Sprung at Sassi Italy Tours World HQ
Our weeping cherry is blossoming in its typically lovely fashion, and it’s warm. Time for some spring travel to Italy! As mentioned earlier there are still some deals to grab this season if you act soon, so if you’re on the fence let us know and we’ll see what’s available, but for the most part we’re recommending fall departures at the moment.
More Italy Financial News
Will be interesting to see how this pans out and what effect it has on exchange rates. We’ve been holding fast at around $1.30 per euro for a while now–and obviously it’d be nice if your US dollars went a bit further in the Eurozone.
Madonna di Campiglio
I first went here in 1989 with my dad. I was 14…and utterly unable to appreciate it properly at the time. Nowadays I watch the Top Gear guys zipping Italian sports cars around the mountain passes in northern Italy and it reminds me of what a stunning place it is, and why it’s on my list of places to go see again soon.
A good friend of our family from Brescia was originally from the area and had a cabin on a hillside looking out at the Dolomites off in the distance. I remember thinking it felt out of the way and without the things of interest to a 14 year old American, but it’s precisely these out of the way places that make Italy so amazing–and as adults we should seek out! It’s not a place commonly found on a tour itinerary, but if you want to experience the Italian Alps (and you should!) we can definitely help you get there. You’ll need to rent a car, but it’s worth the expense.
Pinocchio and Pizza
Another great post. So true about La Cucina Povera–so many of the best dishes are peasant inspired recipes rooted not just in tradition, but necessity. If we would all be a bit more considerate to the Earth by not wasting food!
I would rather eat a fresh baked piece of bread than just about anything. To tell the truth, I could eat an entire loaf if left to my vices. For Italian bread lovers there is focaccia, ciabatta, pizza. FCP. I love it all. Italian rustic bread with olives and rosemary, bring it on. In Florence I was first introduced to Ribollita, day old bread covered in a tuscan vegetable soup (reboiled day old soup). Italy is famous for using day old bread/ no salt bread, in their dishes and I was curious about this. In one of the most popular places for cuisine on earth, recipes have developed from a history of malnutrition and hunger. During the war, the working class lived on what they could gain from their meager rations and gather from the land.
The cookbook, Cucina Povera, by Pamela Sheldon Johns, tells the story of…
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Yeah, He’s Been At This A While
It’s no exaggeration: when Doug’s in Venice, Italian people ask *HIM* for directions. He’s got that kind of expertise. Here’s a great shot of him with a group of students in San Marco in 1992; he’s being guiding people through Italy longer than many readers have been alive.
It’s hard to put into words, but I’ll try–if you travel to Italy and don’t avail yourself of the opportunity to have Doug guide you, it’s a shame, as you’re missing out on something special. There’s no amount of browsing TripAdvisor.com and reading Frommers and blogs like this one that can serve as a substitute for his insights. Don’t miss out!
Deals on Tours
Ordinarily we’re pretty picky about where we’ll have our customers stay. We’d rather ask you to spend a bit more money to stay in a hotel we trust, as the risk in lodging guests in questionable accommodations or places far from the attractions we’d ordinarily include on a tour just isn’t worth it. But we’re willing to do the research and dig for low cost accommodations for clients who have limited budgets or want to go in high-demand times of year with the caveat that they be willing and prepared to take cabs or other ground transport to get to the sites they want to see instead of walking as we’d normally do.
And sometimes it really makes for a compelling offer. We lined up something for a client today that would be three nights Venice, two Florence, and three in Rome this June for $2750 a person including airfare, trains, hotels, museum and historical site admissions, private tours with Doug Sassi, shuttles, taxis, etc. This was based on a really cheap flight I found out of JFK; depending on your airfare your cost might be different, and you can source your own flight if you like.
We only have a couple slots available as we strictly cap group size, so if you want to go the last week of June bear that in mind, but we can probably strike the same deal for the week before or the week after.
This is an unheard of good deal. Let me know if you want to jump on it or want to know which attractions it includes (there are tons, too many to list here). This isn’t something we generally do, but once in a while when hotel availability is tight and costs are squeezing clients we’ll try to pass things like this along.
Sassi Italy Tours 