All of your personnel were great
Mr. Cordovani,
Thank you for putting together a wonderful tour for us.
All of your personnel were great. Our driver, Alessandra, was always on time or early, pleasant and professional, and a good driver. He was not very talkative, but that was OK, as we soon had our guides. Stefania was a delight – outgoing, informative, attentive to our moods and preferences, and helpful in all things, big and small. My wife got along especially well with her. Manuela was also an excellent guide in Verona, with not only the usual tour information, but also lots of local knowledge, and she was well versed in her Shakespeare knowledge.
(...)
The hotels were all very good. Before the tour, when I received the booking confirmations, I looked each one up on the internet and was not very impressed. But, when we arrived at each one, I quickly changed my opinion. I found them all to be lovely – well located, clean, comfortable, and well run. (I decided that the hotels need to hire better photographers and website managers, as their websites do not do them justice.)
We liked Lake Maggiore a lot. The Borromeo islands were wonderful.
Lake Como is very beautiful, but we actually liked Maggiore better, as there was more to see and do. Usually, we would go out for dinner in the evening, rather than eat at the hotel. But, that was more complicated at Como because there was nothing within walking distance. However, we were a little tired at that point, so we decided to eat at the hotel restaurant. We had the most wonderful romantic dinner on the outside terrace, overlooking the lake. It was a bit expensive, but well worth it.
We enjoyed the Brunelli winery tour, and I bought some wine to be shipped home. I would have enjoyed the winery tour more if it had been in the afternoon, rather than at 11 AM, but I understand that the timing of the travel to Verona dictated that. My only “complaint” is that the winery was so modern it could have been one of the wineries here in California, rather than a centuries old operation. But, we liked the wines, and the owner’s niece Vittoria was a good guide, even taking us into the cellar to show us wine bottled and hand labelled by her grandmother.
We also enjoyed Verona a lot. It is a charming city, and very walkable. We are both big fans of Shakespeare, so it was special for us, even though the Julia balcony seems tacky and not authentic. We enjoyed the dinner that you arranged for us at the local restaurant. It was a bit hard to find, due to the small twisting streets that change name every block, but it was well worth the effort. I think we were the only non-locals there.
On our extra day in Verona, we got to see Carmen at L’Arena! That was a treat. The production used the large stage to good effect, with about 100 people on stage in the village scenes. Three men on horseback rode around the stage in one scene. Quite a spectacle. We only saw the first act. The start was delayed to about 9:30 due to rain, and by the intermission it was after 11 PM (late for us) and we were wet, so we left. But, we found a cool wine bar a block away, to wrap up a fun evening.
We are very happy that we booked our tour with you and your company. It made that part of our trip to Italy easy and fun. Thank you for everything.
Heidi & Charles - United States (October 2021)