Join us for this magnificent trip through the Italy.  Space is limited.  For more information or to book this trip, please call Jen Schuller at Hiram College at 1-800-705-5050.  You may also contact The Olive Odyssey directly.

Day One

The beautiful city of Venice is the start of our odyssey.

Join us in our centrally located hotel as we sip some Prosecco and taste test some of Italy's favorite olives. After introductions we will take a leisurely glide by gondola to our first dinner together.

We have a special trattoria picked out for you!

Day Two

We head out early for our walk of historic Venice. We will start at the Basilica di San Marco where we will beat the crowds to see this magnificent church. After that we will take our time visiting the Palazzo Ducale. Following that we will wend our way through the streets of Venice on our way to the Rialto Bridge, and the famous Rialto fish and produce market. We will eat lunch together as the locals do; chicchetti (sumptuous small plates) and local wine.

After lunch you will be free to explore on your own or sit at a sidewalk cafe and people watch. Dinner on your own with recommendations from us.

Day Three

We say goodbye to Venice after breakfast today. We will have a ferry ride up the canal to our waiting bus on the outskirts of town. We are off to Modena, famous for Ferrari cars, the birthplace of Luciano Pavarotti, and of course balsamic vinegar. We will stop by a local producer to sample not only the vinegar, but also the local cheeses, prosciutto, and wine. We will break for lunch and dine together at a local trattoria, where you can watch the locals on their daily errands.

We'll end the day in Bologna, famous for its culinary delights. You can taste these delights at dinner on your own, at any of several great ristorantes right outside of our hotel.

Day Four

We'll spend the day in Bologna. We will join a local guided walk that will take us on a highlight tour of this medieval city.

After lunch on your own, you can catch up on your rest or further explore the city. Be ready in the afternoon as a local chef gives us a lesson on making the local pasta-Tortelli and Tortelloni. We will make these delicious dishes and then sit down and eat them for our dinner. We will also enjoy some local wines and toast to another wonderful day!

Day Five

We leave Bologna early and travel to a co-op producing one of the finest olive oils in this part of Italy. We will tour their production facilities and have a taste testing. We have a special lunch planned at an "out-of-the-way" spot for you.

After lunch we have a spectacular drive into Florence, arguably one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. After checking into our hotel, you are free to roam this Renaissance city.

We will meet later and walk to dinner together.

Day Six

We will leave early this morning for our tour of the Galleria della Accademia, where we will see renowned works of art, such as Michelangelo's David. After our visit we will continue through the historic part of the city ending up at the Duomo. If you have the stamina you can climb to the top! Lunch is on your own.

After lunch we will gather and walk to the Uffizzi Gallery, home to some of the most spectacular paintings in the world. You can enjoy dinner on your own at any number of sidewalk trattorias or pizzarias

Day Seven

We'll leave the city of Florence today for rural Tuscany. Here we take the back roads through the Chianti region. We will take our time wandering through the towns of Greve and San Gimignano sampling wines, olives and olive oils. We'll pick out some great cafes for lunch, which will be on your own. This evening we have a special hotel picked out for you. We'll stay in a converted Tuscan estate where we will have a special meal together.

Day Eight

We stay in enchanting Tuscany today at our estate. You can have some time to swim in the pool, lounge around, read a book or join us for some trail walking. Either way we will all meet in the evening for a special dinner.

Day Nine

One of the most enchanting cities of Italy is our first stop this morning: Siena. We will visit one of the finest squares of Italy, the Piazza del Campo. Here we will visit the Palazzo Pubblico and the il Campo. We'll stop in the famous wine region of Montepulciano, for a wine tasting and lunch at a winery of a local family.

After lunch we make our way south to Rome, capital of Italy and perhaps its most famous city. After we check into our hotel in the center of the city, we'll have a few recommendations for you for some of the best places in Rome for dinner. Be sure to follow up with some of the best gelato in the world!

Day Ten

We start out visiting one of the best preserved and most impressive monuments in Rome, the Pantheon. On the way we will visit the Campo Difiore market and see how the locals do Rome. Afterwards we will have a great walk through the city to the Coliseum and Palatine Hill. We will take our time exploring the monument, so iconic to Rome. Lunch will be on your own.

Afterwards you can take your time to explore parts of Rome that interest you; Vatican City and Museum, which houses The Sistine Chapel, The Spanish Steps, or the Galleria Borghese, it is your choice. We will be there to help facilitate. A special farewell dinner is planned tonight!

Day Eleven

After breakfast together we will say goodbye. For those of you returning to Venice, our train will leave right after breakfast. If you would like to stay in Rome it is up to you. Either way we will say Arrivederci!

Tour Cost: $3,599

Price includes all hotels, meals where indicated, and entrance to historic sites where noted. Also included is bus transportation starting after day one and train transportation from Rome back to Venice on the last day of tour.

Deposit for this tour is $1,000 and is payable to Hiram College by May 30, 2011. Final payment of $2,599 is due by June 30, 2011.

This tour is limited to 20 people (not including tour leaders). Trip cancellation policy is available from Hiram College.

Who are your leaders?

Manolis is our true Greek on this trip. A native of Greece, he lived 12 years in Ohio before returning to his homeland and living on the Island of Evia.

He has worked as a tour leader in Greece and the rest of Europe for 12 years. He also leads tours for The Olive Odyssey Cruise the Greek Islands and The Olive Odyssey Greece.

He looks forward to showing you a country he loves!

Manolis's wife, Patricia, is co-founder of The Olive Orchard and a resident of Greece. She lives on the Island of Evia with her husband and has had 12 years experience working as a tour leader in Greece and the rest of Europe.

She looks forward to showing you her favorite places and making Italy come alive. Her Grandma Besozzi would be proud! (Hiram Alumni 1984)

Our philosophy about tours

We are here to show you unique aspects of Greece and its culture. We like to run our tours as if you were are our friends and we are hosting you. That means that we are here to help you. If your luggage is lost (let's hope not!) we can get on the phone and help track it. If you need a special item from the pharmacy we can assist you. If you want more of a special dish that we are having for dinner, just ask us, we will get you more.

We want you to have a pleasant experience. We will help you with your luggage, but you will be responsible for getting it to your room and back to specific loading points (therefore be forewarned about over-packing! We have checklists to help you).

We take care of all the details, so that all you have to worry about are what goodies you might like to take home with you, or what time breakfast is!

We will be there to facilitate your enjoyment of the trip. However, please be warned: This is not a packaged bus tour! We will be traveling on a bus to get us from one point to another, but you will not hear us on the microphone pointing out obscure landmarks so that we can hear our own voices. You will be well informed, we will brief you either the night before or in the morning as to what to expect.

Greece is a country with a history so rich that no one can get it all in one trip. It has been our experience that people can only absorb so much. So we will give you brief highlights and insider recommendations on what to see at each site, but we will set you free to explore it on your own.

If you want to absorb every fact in each museum it is up to you. If you want to photograph the unique way the sunlight catches the Corinthian columns, you can. We feel it is too overbearing to drag everyone through a long-winded two-hour lecture at each site. You will get far more out of it in your own way! Therefore we do not go around each archaeological site as a group.

Additionally, singles are welcome.  If you find yourself without a traveling companion this is a great way to travel within a group. You will be teamed up with another single (of the same sex) for room accommodations. On nights when dinner might be on your own, we won't let you be!

Copyright 2009-10 The Olive Odyssey. All rights reserved.
Photos by P. Igyarto. B Igyarto, P. Hajifotiou, S. Kluchar, D. Haskett, P. Haskett, R. Cushman, J. Cushman