Tonight is a Magical Night In Pisa…..This is the best week of the year to be in Pisa, Italy. Tonight Pisa will celebrate the “Luminara di San Ranieri.”
Each year on June 16th buildings, bridges, towers and churches along the entire Pisan riverfront are illuminated by small glass-enclosed candles - some say over 120,000! The reflection off the water is magical. This tremendous effort dates back to 1688 as the citizens of Pisa come together to celebrate their patron saint.
Around 10 PM the city will erupt in a wonderful fireworks display…...Tomorrow crowds will line the river to cheer their district teams on for the 2 km boat race down the Arno River with a pole climb at the end to crown the winning neighborhood rowers.

It will be all about the beer in Munich, Germany when at noon on September 19th on center stage at the 10,000 person Schottenhamel tent, the Mayor of Munich will tap the first keg of beer opening the Octoberfest celebration. The party will run through October 4th. This year Munich expects to welcome over 1.5 million visitors for Octoberfest. This year there will be 14 awesome beer tents, a wine tent and 19 smaller venues.
We are booking clients to Munich and are still finding good accommodations, air and activities. Please give us a call for more information. Don’t delay!

Meet The Copper Master of Montepulciano

When we design your trip to Italy, we outfit you with ideas and plans that will give you the best opportunity to experience Italian life at your own pace and to gain understanding through the eyes of real Italians and artisans.
Thursday is market day in the Umbrian hill-top town of Montepulciano. As you walk up Via del Poliziano from the parking lot outside of the town walls, on right will be Via dell’Opio nel Corso. As you pass shops and markets you’ll see at #64 the Bottega del Rame with its horde of wonderful handcrafted artful copper works and premium culinary products that are cherished by master chefs around the world.

Further up the hill at Via del Teatro 4 you’ll find the workshop of the coppermaster himself, Cesare Mazzetti, a third-generation coppersmith. Drop in on Signore Mazzetti and you’ll be treated to a personal tour of his workshop and museum that will leave you overwhelmed with his passion for and love of the ancient art of copper.

Live music in Italy isn’t all opera. Music lovers of all stripes will be heading to Italy this summer for live concerts, some under the stars, featuring top international performers. In Perugia the annual Umbria Jazz Festival will be drawing the world’s top talent as well as several USA college jazz group s [more about that later this week]
Here are a few of the live concerts scheduled for Italy in July:

July 1: Bob Dylan, Lucca
July 2: Bob Dylan, Turin
July 3: Toto: Milan
July 5: Toto, Rome
July 10: Billy Idol, Lucca
July 10: Burt Bacharach, Pescara
July 11: Elton John, Lucca
July 11: Burt Bacharach, Rome
July 12: Elton John, Rome
July 12: George Benson, Milan
July 13: Burt Bacharach, Tortona
July 15: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, Perugia – Umbria Jazz
July 18: Incognito: Perugia – Umbria Jazz
July 19: Toto, Taormina
July 20: Santana, Verona
July 21: Sting, Barolo
July 21: Santana: Pistoia
July 24: Sting, Pistoia
July 26: Lenny Kravitz, Lucca
July 27: Lenny Kravitz, Rome
July 27 Patti Smith, Collegno
July 28: Patti Smith, Gardone
July 28: Snoop Dog and Marcus Miller, Lucca
July 29: Lenny Kravitz, Padua

Lucca, located in Tuscany northeast of Pisa, still maintains its charming medieval character with its 16th century enclosing city walls and a traffic-free interior. This fascinating and beautiful city will thrill you with its stunning sights, music, shopping and architecture - with some buildings dating back to the 6th and 8th centuries. There are plenty of places to eat and drink and some beautiful apartments and hotels to stay in. Lucca is small enough to easily get around. You’ll enjoy roaming its maze of narrow streets. These cobbled streets are traffic free but full of people on bicycles. The city walls are over two and a half miles around and wide enough at the top for bicycles and a picnic.

Lucca’s population of 84,000 is actually more than that of central Venice.

Each July Lucca comes alive with the Lucca Music Festival. This year the month-long celebration will host Elton John, Los Lobos, Bob Dylan, Lauryn Hill, Billy Idol, Snoop Dogg and more.

If your music tastes are more into opera and the classics, head to Church of San Giovanni for the Puccini International Permanent Festival. From March 31st to October 31st you’ll find evening concerts there nightly at 7pm. Each evening concert features a different cast of international singers and musicians.

Lucca is an easy day trip from Florence. The 1 hour, 19 minute train ride will cost you about $10 each way.