May Tour News
Hi from Rick: We ♥ Italy
Last month, after a "welcome to Italy" dinner in Rome, I strolled over to Piazza Navona — just to cap a lovely day at one of my favorite spots to savor the Eternal City. The square — long and oblong, still shaped like an ancient chariot-race course — is a joyful jumble of statues, obelisks, and domes towering over passeggiata strollers; street artists wowing onlookers with tourist portraits, the pop of a cork signaling a fountain-side prosecco; and locals seeing how much love they can pack onto a Vespa. I was impressed by how, frankly, normal the piazza felt…and how enduring my love for Italy remains.
But this year, our tour sales to Italy are a bit slow. With the death of Pope Francis and hubbub surrounding his funeral, the conclave, and the election of Pope Leo XIV — all in the same year when the Vatican had already invited Catholics from around the globe to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee — people are wondering is the Eternal City simply too jammed this year to enjoy? I was just there — and the answer is "no"… Read more
