With all due respect to travel agents around the world, I am not an agent.  I can’t book you a Disney cruise, I can’t find you the best room at the Sandals resort in Jamaica, I don’t have a storefront where you can come in and book airline tickets for your upcoming weekend getaway.   What I can do is tell you about the best place in Rome for a coffee when you get off the plane, jet-lagged and bleary-eyed from your overnight flight.  I can tell you where best to find a gorgeous piece of jewelry for your daughter who would not be happy to receive another t-shirt. I will get you the best guide in Venice, a guide who will impart incredible knowledge and enhance your Italian experience in ways you never dreamed possible. I can arrange a hot air balloon ride over the Tuscan hills, a private viewing of Saint Mark’s Basilica or the Sistine Chapel, a fabulous cooking class with an Italian mamma.  And I will honestly tell you what is not worth your time. Because I know Italy. I mean, I REALLY know Italy.

 

 

Italy is not a job for me, it’s a passion.  I went to Italy for the first time when I was 19 years old  – I didn’t speak a word of the language and had no idea what I was in for.   I was prepared for anything but never imagined that I would fall so in love with a country  – its beauty, its history, its people, its food.  I became somewhat obsessed, much as one would with a new love interest.  I thought about Italy constantly.  I read Italian books, poems, newspapers, watched Italian movies, poured through cookbooks for new Italian recipes and more than anything I schemed about how I could make it back to that beautiful country again.   I feel so lucky that it all fell into place.  A summer of study in Rome, a semester in Florence, a summer stint as an English tutor for an Italian family and then a job as a group leader throughout the country.  There was no better way to get to know Italy.  I was a sponge and did everything I could to learn and explore every corner of the peninsula.  My suitcase was always ridiculously heavy with guidebooks and beautiful books by literary greats (what I would have given for an iPad in those days!). The beauty of discovering Italy, is that the discovery never ends.  Every time I go to Italy I find something new – a reopened museum, an exciting exhibit, a fabulous restaurant.   The research is grueling but for you, my dear friends, I will suffer through.

I am your concierge, your personal stylist, your guru, your muse and your guardian angel. When I design a trip it is more than an itinerary on a piece of paper. It is a creation made with 25 years of love and dedication to what I think is the most beautiful country in the world. My clients are the beneficiaries of that passion and they return from their trips just as transformed as I was when I first stepped foot in Rome 25 years ago. I am not a travel agent.  I am much, much more.

7 thoughts on “Looking for a Travel Agent? Sorry, I’m Not Your Gal

    1. Grazie mille Margaret! I loved sharing a glass of wine with you all at the rooftop bar in Florence. What fabulous memories!

  1. Hah! So you’ve been hounded by people wanting you to make air reservations, too! I’m envious that you are able to do what you do and thank you for doing all that you’ve already done. With my little apartment in Sulmona now, I hope to have a base for more Italian travel and, if I’m really lucky,to be able to spend 4 – 6 months there in another 2 or 3 years. Finger crossed!

    1. Thank you for the wonderful comment Linda! It is I who is envious of you with an apartment in Sulmona – what a dream! Do keep me up to date on all of your adventures! Ciao bella

Comments are closed.

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This