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Ciao!

Mi chiamo Stephanie

My name is Stephanie and this is my husband Bryan. We had an amazing time on our Italy Villages tour with our wonderful tour guide Tricia and our new Rick Steves famiglia.  We are excited to share our pictures and memories of our adventures with you.

Benvenuti!  

Welcome!

We started planning this trip in November of 2018.  Bryan and I and were looking forward to celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary and our 50th birthdays in 2019.  We both enjoy traveling and we have been to Europe on two family vacations.  We traveled with our two young daughters to Ireland and London in 2009 and Ireland and Paris in 2010.  We relied heavily on Rick Steves guide books for planning those trips and Rick's Europe through the Backdoor ideology is always in the back of my mind when we travel outside of the United States.  

 

I had the pleasure of traveling to Italy with my parents in September of 2018.  Bryan was not able to go on that trip so a friend of mine joined us.  Most of the planning for the trip was done on our own using the Rick Steves Italy book.  The book was helpful for hitting the highlights of each city, as we only had two days in each location.  When Bryan and I were deciding how to celebrate our upcoming anniversary and birthdays, I suggested that we should go to Italy.  I had fallen in love with the country, culture and the language and I was hoping he would enjoy the experience as much as I did. 

When we decided on Italy for our celebration trip, Bryan wanted to go with a tour company and I have always wanted to take a Rick Steves tour.  So we set the plan in motion by going through the list of many tour options for Italy and decided on the Village Italy in 14 days tour from September 23-October 6th, 2019.  A tour that highlighted the great food, wine and the culture of Italy sounded like the perfect way to celebrate our milestones.  

The description of the Village Italy in 14 days on ricksteves.com 

 

La dolce vita (the sweet life) describes the intimate magic of small town Italy. This tour — with a tasty focus on food, wine, and culture — helps you live it. Starting in elegant Padua, your Rick Steves' guide will take you through Italy's seductive countryside: artistic Ravenna, St. Francis' Assisi, medieval Siena, Puccini's Lucca, cliff-hugging Cinque Terre harbors, and off-the-beaten-path hill towns and vistas. You'll be rubbing elbows with Italian culture, learning about crafting pottery, cutting marble, cooking pasta, making wine — even hunting truffles. Join us for Village Italy in 14 Days!

The tour was set, flights were booked and because very little planning was needed, I put my energy into preparing for the trip by learning Italian.  I have enjoyed the challenge of learning the Italian language and was excited to try my new skills on our trip through the villages of Italy. 

Andiamo!

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