Paula's Tour Talk

Top 5 Tips for a Great Trip to Italy

Spring 2010: Tuscan Treasures

I can't wait to board the plane that will take me to Milan for Living La Dolce Vita tour to Milan, Lake Como and Venice in a little over a month. But I'm also excited about the next trip after that.

 Tuscan Treasures: April 18-27, 2009 is a fabulous tour and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, too.

This tour is going to be filmed by Carol Carini, videographer and owner of Billabong Studios and Billabong TV. You won't even know she is filming and the raw footage will be turned into a series of half hour segments for a food and travel pilot.

The potential exposure for you and your business is huge!

And there's more. Sandra Levitin, owner of the online magazine Kalon Women will be joining us, and several other high-powered savvy women are checking their calendars and hoping to come along, too.

Because of the filming and the networking, our accountant tells us that this tour could be partially tax deductible for business owners.  How's that for a bonus?

Tuscan Treasures is a 10 day tour, based in this beautiful hotel in Florence. Unpack once and relax. 

We'll fully explore this amazing Renaissance gem and its art treasures--with plenty of time for shopping and exploring too.

We'll also enjoy a hands-on cooking class in a villa outside the city, day trip to Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, and tiny Montereggione, and much more.

Spring is a lovely time to visit Tuscany: the weather is mild, flowers are blooming, and menus feature fresh spring specialties like Pasta Primavera.

If you've been dreaming of Italy and would like to see it in the company of savvy, interesting women, this tour is for you.

I'd love to have you join us and be part of the filming, too.

This tour is strictly limited to 12 tour members, and I expect it to fill up fast.

Avoid disappointment and sign up now for this unique combination of pleasure and business.

You can see the full itinerary and all the details here.

Married With Luggage

Betsy Talbot, author of the excellent blog Married With Luggage, just named Paula's Tour Talk as one of her 5 favorite travel blogs. I am thrilled to hear this.

I also encourage you to take a look at Married With Luggage which is Betsy's fascinating chronicle of getting ready for taking a year off to travel the world with her husband, Warren.

Not only is it an interesting story,but Betsy shares all kinds of tips and insights--like how to pare down and de-clutter, how to create a calendar on Google that works for you, product reviews, and much more.

I have lots of new material to write about, and will be back to regular postings now that my life has calmed down a bit.

I am looking forward to the Living La Dolce Vita tour to Milan, Lake Como, and Venice this October, and will be writing about those magical places, too.

Books Set in Florence and Venice

Thanks to author Michelle Lovric (more on her latest novel soon), I found a marvelous website: Fictional Cities.

Here, Jeff Cotton provides A-Z lists of novels set in Venice, Florence, and London. He offers clever, pithy, and short reviews of many of the books, too.  (Set off by itself,there's also a relatively new section on Berlin).

But that's not all. You will also find  a smattering of non-fiction books and a longer list of films.

Each city has its "extras" too. In the Venice section, Cotton gives you comics, and lovely pages on Vivaldi, and Venice and Cats, for instance. London offers bits on Cakes and also Postcodes.  And more.

It's a wonderful and beautiful site (he's also a website designer), simple and easy to navigate, ornamented with photos and art.

It's also a marvelously personal and eccentric work of love. Be sure to check out his Me page if, as he says "you're curious."

Can you tell I am completely delighted with this website? Check it out, I bet you will love it too.