THE TOUR INCLUDES: - Top category seats for 4 performances as listed (including 2 at la Scala) - 7 nights accommodations at luxury hotels in the city centres (Florence: Hotel Montebello Splendid; Turin: Grand Hotel Sitea; Milan: Grand Hotel et de Milan) - Full breakfast daily, 3 lunches and 2 dinners - 5 private guided tours, including the most important historical and architectural sites, galleries and museums - private Airport-Hotel transfers as well as private luxury coach transfers between cities - tour direction by an Aria Tours director - an Aria Tours handbook containing travel info, performance synopses and a detailed daily itinerary Cost: $5675 US Single Supplement: $1050 US Deposit: $2500 Balance due: November 23, 2007

OPTIONS FLIGHTS Inbound flights should be booked to Florence, with returns from Milan. 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) on the published tour dates. 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.

Avoiding Italy's summer heat and tourist horde is always a plus, and this itinerary offers an excellent winter getaway for lovers of opera, art and Italian cuisine at its finest. We offer excellent private touring that gives you the highlights in each city as well as the hidden gems. The hotels are all superb, selected for their quality, character and ideal locations. We manage to take in a great deal while maintaining a comfortable pace, with plenty of leisure time. And of course, you will have the opportunity to attend the most revered of all opera houses, Teatro alla Scala, where we enjoy top category seats for two performances (one of them a première).

Florentia ("the florid") was the name given by the Romans to this small settlement located at the foot of the ancient Etruscan Fiesole and founded in the first century BC. Despite the internal struggles, first between rival families and then between the Guelfs (loyal to the Pope) and the Ghibellines (loyal to the Emperor), Florence did flourish, from the thirteenth century onward, as a city of art, culture and international trade. It reached its zenith in the fifteenth century under the Signoria of Cosimo and Lorenzo de Medici. Today, Florence is the guardian of an exceptional art heritage, which we will explore in detail. We will also attend a performance of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, a fitting honour for his 150th birth year, at Teatro Comunale.

Turin is an interesting and often overlooked city in the Piemonte region, situated on the mighty River Po in the far northwest of Italy, and surrounded by stunning alpine scenery. The attractive Baroque town centre is cosmopolitan and gracious, with an atmosphere that is calmer than most Italian cities. From its elegant arcaded streets (perfect for all-weather shopping and strolling), Baroque and Art Nouveau cafés and architecture, abundant and noble equestrian statues of Savoy princes, and important galleries and museums, there is much to explore. For years Turin was synonymous with car giant FIAT, which was founded here in 1899 - however the city’s origins go back much further. Julius Caesar’s Quadrilatero Romano (Roman Quarter) can still be seen and is now abuzz with trendy restaurants. By the early Middle Ages the powerful Savoy dynasty had taken control - leaving a legacy of lavish palaces. After unification, Turin was the first capital of Italy, an honor it held for just four years. The symbol of the city is the Mole Antonelliana, an eye-catching dome, while its most famous relic is the Holy Shroud, thought by some to be the cloth that wrapped Christ’s body after the crucifixion. It still attracts thousands of pilgrims. Other visitors come to shop under the city’s elegant porticoes, or try some of the local gastronomic specialties such as Lavazza coffee, Gianduja (hazelnut chocolate) and Vermouth. We attend a performance of Verdi's Rigoletto at Teatro Regio.

It is somewhat forgotten that the wealthiest and most powerful territory in medieval and Renaissance Italy was the Duchy of Milan, and its metropolis was probably the largest city in Europe. A testament to the esteem it enjoyed is that Leonardo da Vinci chose to spend much of is working life here rather than in other Italian cities which are now more commonly associated with artistic achievement. Founded in the seventh century BC by Celts, the city, then known as Mediolanum (‘mid-plain’), was first sacked by the Goths in the 600s (AD), then by Barbarossa in 1157 and finally by the Allies in World War II, when over a quarter of the city was flattened. Milan successively reinvented herself under French, Spanish and then Austrian rulers from 1499 until the reunification of Italy in 1870. It is a miracle that so many historic treasures still exist, including Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper, which survived a direct hit in World War II. The Milanesi’s appreciation of tradition includes a singular respect for religion; they even pay a special tax towards the Cathedral maintenance. It is therefore fitting that the city’s enduring symbol is the gilded statue of the Virgin, on top of the Cathedral (Il Duomo). We will attend two performances—Donizetti's Maria Stuarda and Franco Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac (the première featuring Plácido Domingo in the title role)—at the incomparable Teatro alla Scala.

THE ITINERARY

Wednesday, January 23...Departures
Individual departures for Italy.

Thursday, January 24...Arrivals in Florence
Excellent flight itineraries are available for under $600 US (as of July, 2007) from North America to Florence with one stop in either Rome or Paris. Upon arrival in Florence you will be met and transferred to the Hotel Montebello Splendid, our historic 5-star hotel in the Old Town. The afternoon is at leisure to settle in and rest. This evening we gather in the hotel lobby for introductions, after which we retire to the hotel's Ristorante Capriccio for a Welcome Dinner.

Friday, January 25...Florence
After breakfast we gather in the hotel lobby and depart on a private guided walking tour of Florence. In the morning, we visit the important sites in the city centre: Santa Trinita, Ponte Vecchio, Orsanmichele, Piazza della Signoria, the Piazza Duomo, the Baptistery and the Giotto Bell Tower. We will also visit the Franciscan Church of Santa Croce, where the tombs of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo and Rossini are located. Lunch is included at Ristorante La Giostra, a hidden gem featuring Tuscan specialties. In the afternoon, by special appointment, we visit the Uffizi Gallery, home of the largest collection of Italian and Florentine art in the world, and doubtless one of the great art experiences anywhere. Among the highlights are Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo da Vinci’s Adoration of the Magi, Michelangelo’s Tondo Doni, Masolini and Masaccio’s Holy Family with Saint Anne, Mary and Jesus, Raphael’s Pope Leo X and Madonna, Titian’s Venus of Urbino and Eleanora de Gonzaga delle Rovere, Giotto’s Madonna with Baby Jesus, Saints and Angels and Lippi’s Coronation of the Virgin. This evening we make the very short walk to the Teatro Comunale for Puccini's Madama Butterfly. Roberto Rizzi-Brignoli conducts a cast that includes Amarilli Nizza, Francesca Franci, Aquiles Machado and Miguel Odena.

Saturday, January 26...Florence — Turin
After checking out of the hotel, we depart early by private coach for Turin, stopping first at the Accademia for a brief viewing of Michelangelo's colossal David and the four unfinished Prisoners intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II. David was commissioned in 1501 by the Cathedral Works Committee (Opera Del Duomo). At the age of 26, Michelangelo was given a leftover block of marble that came from the mountains of Carrara, one which had previously been worked on by various other artists. The piece was intended as a monumental work, a testimony to the city's republican pride, not one for close confinement, but was moved to the Accademia in 1873 (from outside the Palazzo Vecchio, where a replica now stands ) to protect it from the ravages of time and the weather. After the tour, we leave Florence, travelling much of the way along the magnificent Ligurian Coast. We make brief stops in Pisa to see the famous leaning tower, and in Lucca to visit the place where Puccini was born 150 years before. We enjoy lunch (included) at Ristorante Giglio in Lucca. After another brief stop in Genoa, we arrive in Turin early evening and check in to our deluxe rooms at the excellent Grand Hotel Sitea, in the heart of the Old Town. The evening is at leisure.

Sunday, January 27...Turin
Enjoy the morning at leisure in Turin. Late afternoon we gather and walk to a matinée performance of Verdi's Rigoletto at Teatro Regio. Renato Palumbo conducts a cast that includes Roberto Frontali, Inva Mula, Roberto Saccà, Riccardo Zanellato and Sandra Pacheco Quintero. Following the performance, the evening is at leisure.

Monday, January 28...Turin
This morning we meet for a private guided tour of the city, including the Duomo San Giovanni, the Sanctuario della Consolata, the Palazzo Reale and the San Lorenzo Church. The Church of San Lorenzo was begun by Guarino Guarini in 1668 for the Theatine Order, of which he was a member. The plan is remarkable for its curved bays pressing into the central domed space, but the dome itself is even more remarkable. It is a masterpiece of ingenious construction—the ribs actually carry the lantern above them, which produces dramatic contrasts of light and shade. This evening we include dinner at the superb Neuv Caval 'd Brons near the hotel, on the Piazza San Carlo.

Tuesday, January 29...Turin — Milan
After breakfast we check out early and depart by private coach across the Piemonte to Milan. We first make a detour to one of the strangest sights of the region, the Sacra di San Michele, a medieval religious complex piled onto the summit of Monte Pirchiriano. Founded in the 10th century, added to over the centuries and restored after an earthquake in 1885, the main church dates back to 12th and 13th centuries. Among the intriguing features are the 'Staircase of the Dead', lined with tombs of monks, and the Portal of the Zodiac, carved c.1120 with Biblical scenes and the signs of the zodiac. After the visit, we stop for lunch before continuing our journey.

Upon arrival in Milan, we check in at the landmark Grand Hotel et de Milan, our 5-star deluxe hotel, steps from la Scala. The Grand was Verdi's city home from 1872 until his death in 1901. In the afternoon, we have made arrangements for those wishing to tour the collection at the Pinacoteca di Brera to do so at their leisure (entrance is included). Milan's most outstanding museum, Brera is recognized as one of the major art collections in the world. It was initially founded by the Habsburgs in the late 18th century, as a small collection of paintings, sculptures and plaster copies to be used by the Accademia's student body. The collections of the Brera, much of which exists here as a result of Napoleon's looting, are particularly important in understanding the history of visual art in Northern Italy between the 14th and 18th centuries. There are also excellent examples of Renaissance works, and famous, if not numerous, paintings by other Italian and foreign Old Masters. You may also choose to take the afternoon at leisure. This evening we make the short pilgrimage to Teatro alla Scala for the première of a Francesca Zambello production of Franco Alfano's Cyrano de Bergerac. Patrick Fournillier conducts a cast that includes Plácido Domingo, Sondra Radvanovsky, Pietro Spagnoli, Simone Alberghini, Germán Villar and Carmelo Corrado Caruso.

Wednesday, January 30...Milan
This morning we meet for a guided city tour (private), stopping first at the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie to view da Vinci's The Last Supper. We then spectacular marble Gothic Duomo, the early medieval church of Sant’Ambrogio, with a very rich treasury, S. Satiro, a jewel of the early Renaissance, the vast and imposing Castello Sforzesco, and the Casa di Riposo, the final resting place of Giuseppe Verdi. Afterward, we enjoy an unforgettable lunch at the magnificent Ristorante Don Carlos in our hotel. This evening we walk once again to the Teatro alla Scala for a Pier Luigi Pizzi production of Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. Antonino Fogliari conducts. The cast includes Anna Caterina Antonacci / Maria Pia Piscitelli and Mariella Devia / Irina Lungu.

Thursday, June 31...Departures
Group departure to Malpensa and Linate is included.