TOUR 1: Private customized multi-generational family tour to Paris, Venice and Rome from April 1 to April 11

Dinner at Casse Noix, near the Eiffel Tower....one of the best local places to eat The Swaine family

Private guided walking tour of Paris

In front of Notre Dame.....and we also visited the Louvre

Time for hot chocolate at Angelina

Hotel Kette Venice

Hotel Room at Hotel Kette, Venice. Looking out of the window you look down into one of the smaller canals and see the gondolas pass by.

My view over the canal from the room

Walking tour with Cinzia

Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs

MADE FROM PORPHYRY, A RARE rock with a regal purple-red hue, this statue memorializes a strange political period in Roman history. Take a closer look, and you’ll realize one of the figure’s missing limbs also hints at its pre-Venetian past. Dated to around 300 AD, the statue shows four emperors from Rome’s brief tetrarchy, which saw the empire ruled by four people: two senior Augusti and two junior Caesars. An Augustus teamed up with a Caesar to rule the Eastern half of the empire while the other two took control of the West. With its faded features, it’s clear the old sculpture group has spent many, many years exposed to the elements. The Portrait of the Four Tetrarchs originally stood in Constantinople, the capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire, for almost 1,000 years. It was stolen by the Venetians when they sacked the city in the early 13th century during the Fourth Crusade. When the Venetian raiders ripped the artwork from its original post, they accidentally broke a foot off one of the emperors. The limb remained lost until the 1960s, when it was discovered during an archaeological excavation in Istanbul. The Venetians brought the rest of the statue—sans the broken foot—back with them to Venice, where it has guarded a corner of St. Mark’s Basilica since the Middle Ages. The sculpture is among the large amount of spolia, pieces taken from other structures, adorning Venetian buildings.

Viewpoint from Church of San Giorgio Maggiore

San Giorgio Maggiore (San Zorzi Mazor in Venetian) is a 16th-century Benedictine church on the island of the same name in Venice, northern Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio, and built between 1566 and 1610. San Giorgio Maggiore is one of the most photographed basilicas in Venice. The travellers standing in Piazza San Marco looking over the canal will be stunned by the temple’s façade with the gondolas swaying in the Lagoon in front of it. The construction of the Basilica was completed in 1576 and the architect, Andrea Palladio, also designed the neighbouring church, Il Redentore. To get a superb view of Venice, we recommend climbing to the top of the Basilica’s Campanile (Campanile di San Giorgio Maggiore). It is almost as high as the Campanile di San Marco and you won’t have to worry about climbing the stairs, since you can only access the observation deck by elevator.

Ristorante "Al Giardinetto da Severino" in Castello

Ponte dei Pugni in Dorsoduro In the 17th century, autumn in Venice was fighting season. For many reasons, be they clashing romantic interests or trade squabbles, men would meet on neighbourhood bridges in order to settle the issue with their fists. These fisticuffs weren’t approved by the law enforcement, but they were deemed much better than the sharpened stick fights that were the norm previously. The most famous of these bridges was Ponte dei Pugni, near Campo Santa Barnaba in Dorsoduro. Today four white marble footprints mark the position from where the fighters would begin.

CANTINE DEL VINO GIÀ SCHIAVI

Traditional bacaro looks, great selection of cichetti and wines and beautiful position make this a favorite of the locals in the Dorsoduro district.

Dinner at All' Amarone Vineria

Out for drinks with friends in Venice at Teamo Wine Bar then off with other friends to the Lido for dinner