VENICE '25

ITINERARY (subject to change):

MON. JAN 6 - Depart USA for Milan (MXP) 

TUES. JAN 7 - Arrive Milan (8:00 AM - 11:00 AM), chartered bus to Venice (incl, 3 hrs, 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM); settle into accommodations (Hotel La Fenice et des Artistes, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM); informal exploration of Venice (4:00 - 6:00 PM, incl. a likely group visit to Ponte de Rialto, Libreria Acqua Alta, a famous Venice bookstore, and Piazza San Marco); Group Dinner @ Alla conchiglia (6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, incl, serving the best pizza in Venice for 25 years), group canal bar crawl (7:30 PM to 9:30 PM).

Liberia Acqua Alta, labeled the "most beautiful bookstore in the world."

 WEDS. JAN 8 - Hotel Breakfast (incl, 9:00 AM); Workshop @ HQ (10:30 AM - 1:30 PM); Free Time/Lunch (1:30 PM - 6 PM; suggested Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs, St Mark's Campanile); Group Dinner (incl, 6 - 7:30); Dave Rudden Lecture & Group Reading @ HQ (7:30 - 9:00 PM)

Doge's Palace, the very symbol of Venice and a masterpiece of Gothic architecture.

THURS. JAN 9 -  Hotel breakfast (incl. 9:00 AM); Workshop (10:30 AM - 1:30 PM); Free Time/Lunch/One-on-Ones w. Dave Rudden (1:30 PM - 5:30 PM); Group  Dinner (incl. 5:30 PM  - 7:00 PM); Venice Murder, Mystery, and Ghost Tour (incl. 8:00 - 10:00 PM)

The darker side of the city. Tales of torture, murder, and intrigue.

FRI. JAN 10 -  Hotel breakfast (incl, 9:00 AM), Vaporetto to Murano & Burano (incl., 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM; free time on each island; independent lunch in Murano); Group Dinner (incl, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM); Group Reading (8:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Murano and Burano, two of the most beautiful islands near Venice

SAT. JAN 11 -  Hotel breakfast (incl, 9:00 AM); Workshop (10:30 AM - 1:30 PM); Independent Lunch (1:30 PM - 3:00 PM); visit to Caffè Florian (3:00 PM, opulent 300 year-old-cafe, regular hangout of Hemingway, Carlo Goldoni, Goethe,  Casanova, Lord Byron, Marcel Proust, and Charles Dickens; cappuccino is exorbitant but incl); Group Dinner (incl, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM); Group Reading (8:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

Neo-Baroque splendor at Cafe Florian, an iconic, opulent 300-year-old-cafe.

SUN. JAN 12 - Hotel breakfast (incl. 9:00 PM); Free Time/One-on-ones (10:00 AM - 1:00 PM) chartered bus to Milan/one-on-ones w. Dave Rudden (incl., 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM); check-in at Agriturismo La Garzonera, a family-run farm in the Italian countryside (but only ten minutes from the airport) that raises Shetland ponies and produces honey, small fruits, jams and organic vegetables). Group dinner (incl., 5:30 - 7:00 PM), final group reading (7:00 PM - 9:30 PM)

MON. JAN 13 - Group breakfast (incl., 6:30 AM - 7:30 AM), shuttle departs for MXP airport (incl. 7:30 AM).

INCLUDED: Chartered ground transportation to/from Venice. Airport Shuttle to MXP (Mon. Jan 13). All accommodations. Breakfast (6). Dinner (6). Vaporetto to/from Murano & Burano. Pricey cappuccino at Caffe Florian (but worth it!). Ghost tour in Venice.

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Workshop HQ at 5826 Cannaregi.

All workshops, dinners, lectures, and readings are at Workshop HQ (pictured above), a large palazzo at 5826 Cannaregi, a thirteen minute walk along the Grand Canal from your hotel. 

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Hotel La Fenice et Des Artiste near Piazza San Marco.

Participants will be staying in twin rooms w. private bathrooms at Hotel La Fenice et Des Artistes (pictured above), a Three Star Superior Hotel near Piazza San Marco. Rooms have views over a "charming Venetian square or small, traditional canal where you can watch the gondolas pass by."

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Agriturismo La Garzonera,a family-run farm in the Italian countryside 

 

Our final night in Italy we'll stay at Agriturismo La Garzonera, a family-run farm in the Italian countryside (but only ten minutes from the airport) that raises Shetland ponies and produces honey, small fruits, jams and organic vegetables). We'll have dinner there, as well as breakfast the next day.