THE TOUR INCLUDES: - Top Category seats for 6 performances (as listed) at the Sarasota Opera - 5 nights in deluxe accommodations (deluxe rooms, water view) at the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota - Full breakfast daily, 2 lunches, 2 dinners - Private guided tours of the Ringling Museum of Art, Cà d'Zan Mansion and the Sarasota Opera House - Private airport-hotel transfers - Tour Direction by an Aria Tours representative - A comprehensive Tour Guidebook, with travel and performance info and a detailed daily itinerary Cost: $3875 US Single Supplement: $725 US Deposit: $1500 US Balance due: December 25, 2008

OPTIONS FLIGHTS We will be happy to make any flight arrangements, including reward travel with your preferred carrier, for $75 per person. AIRPORT-HOTEL TRANSFERS We include airport-hotel transfers (group) from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport on the published tour dates. Inbound flight should be booked for mid-afternoon arrival on March 18. Transfers are not included for early arrivals or extended stays, although we can easily make these arrangements for you. TOUR ADDITIONS The itinerary can be customized to meet your needs and desires. Please call us to discuss any changes or amendments you wish to make. INSURANCE We strongly recommend that all tour members purchase cancellation insurance upon registration. We can assist you with this, though you are welcome to purchase a policy at your own discretion. If you would like information on the policies offered by our supplier, please contact us for details, or click HERE for an insurance brochure and application.

Winters can be long in snowy climes, and often the only cure is to escape to the Sunny South. All the better if this sojourn happens to include one of the most unique and enjoyable opera experiences in North America. Our days in Sarasota will be spent soaking up the sun and sea air, enjoying the views of Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, and touring the most significant cultural sights in the area. Our nights will be filled with the strains of Puccini, Verdi, Donizetti and Mascagni, and will see us retire to luxurious rooms, with spectacular views, in the city’s finest hotel.

Sarasota is idyllically set on the Gulf Coast, and includes a chain of long, narrow barrier islands with more than forty miles of gloriously white beaches. To the south, Siesta Key is a residential enclave popular with artisans and writers, and is home to the popular Siesta Village. Shielded from the Gulf by Lido Key is St. Armands Key, one of Florida's quaintest shopping and dining districts, while adjacent Longboat Key is one of the country's swankest islands.

Sarasota is one of Florida's cultural centers, home to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the FSU Center for the Performing Arts (home of the annual Asolo Theatre Festival), and of course, the Sarasota Opera. Sarasota Opera continues to offer outstanding productions true to the vision of the composers whose works it presents. Reviews of the newly-restored Sarasota Opera House lead us to believe that 2009 will be a superb experience in every way. "With the dimensions of the Opera House, which almost guarantee an engaging experience between audience and singers, and DeRenzi's full throttle approach to each work, whether he's conducting it or not, a dull performance at the Sarasota Opera is hard to come by." — OPERA NEWS

THE ITINERARY

Wednesday, March 18
Arrivals in Sarasota and transfers (included) from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport to the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota, our luxury accommodation in the heart of the city, with rooms overlooking Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The afternoon is at leisure for relaxation and exploration. A private shuttle is available every half hour (on the hour) to take us to the hotel’s private beach, located on the beautiful white sand beaches of Lido Key. There is also a Gulf-front heated swimming pool and Jacuzzi, the Beach Club Grill and Lido Key Tiki Bar. This evening we gather in the hotel lobby for introductions and a Welcome Dinner in the hotel's 4-Diamond Vernona Restaurant. Noted for its superb regional organic cuisine, Vernona was recently named best restaurant in Florida by Florida International magazine.

Thursday, March 19
Following breakfast, included daily at the hotel, we gather for a guided walking tour of Sarasota and the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Selby Gardens is perhaps best known for its living collection of more than 6,000 orchids. The 9.5-acre bay-front property is an open-air and under-glass museum of more than 20,000 colorful plants. Seven greenhouses are the heart of botanical research and plant identification, for which Selby Gardens is internationally recognized. Also on the grounds is the former Christy Payne Mansion, a unique example of eclectic Southern Colonial architecture. The Mansion, on the National Register of Historic Places, is the home to ever-changing botanical art and photography exhibits. Following the tour, the afternoon is at leisure. This evening, we gather in the hotel lobby and depart for the Sarasota Opera and our first performance, Verdi’s Don Carlos (French version).

Friday, March 20
Late morning we offer an Opera House tour, a 90-minute behind-the-scenes exploration of the newly renovated Opera House. We then attend the Scenes at Noon concert in the Peterson Great Room of the Opera House complex. This is a very popular event which gives the Sarasota Opera apprentice artists (many of whom are talented graduates of university and conservatory music programs, on the brink of their careers) an opportunity to shine. Afterward we enjoy lunch at the legendary Columbia Restaurant in St. Armand’s Circle on Lido Key. Sarasota’s oldest restaurant, the Columbia has an atmosphere of timeless elegance, and is home to some of the best Cuban food north of Havana. In the evening, we meet once again in the hotel lobby and depart for the Sarasota Opera and a performance of Puccini’s Tosca. This Stephanie Sundine production is conducted by Sarasota Opera Artistic Director Victor DeRenzi.

Saturday, March 21
Following a morning at leisure, we transfer to the Sarasota Opera for a matinée performance of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love). Afterward, we enjoy early dinner at the award-winning and consistently excellent Bijou Café, near the Opera House. We then return for our second performance of the day, Mascagni's L'amico Fritz.

Sunday, March 22
Late morning, we gather in the hotel lobby and depart by private coach for a guided tour of the Ringling Museum of Art and Cà d'Zan Mansion. In the 1920s, John Ringling became a regular at the New York and London auctions, where he purchased important works by Titian, Veronese, Rubens, Hals, and Velazquez. Ringling also acquired important decorative arts and a collection of Cypriot, Greek and Roman antiquities from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today, the Museum of Art displays European, American, and Asian works of art in its permanent collection galleries. The collection of Old Master paintings, highlighted by the Baroque period of the 17th century, is among the finest in the country. Completed in 1926 by architect Dwight James Baum as the “dreamhome” of John and Mable Ringling, Cà d'Zan would soon become the epicenter of cultural life in Sarasota, evoking the Venetian Gothic palaces admired by the Ringlings. Lavish parties were held with orchestras serenading guests from the Ringling yacht off shore. Following our tour, lunch is included at the Treviso Restaurant inside the gallery. This evening, we gather for a Farewell Reception before transferring to the opera house for our final performance of the tour, a special Artists’ Concert (programme tba).

Monday, March 23
Following breakfast, check out of the Ritz-Carlton and transfer (included) to Sarasota Bradenton International Airport for departing flights.