Hi from Rick: Amalfi Dazzles, Day and Night
Dear Traveler,
I'm in Italy this week, enjoying a perfect spring. This morning, at a scenic pullout along the corkscrew Amalfi coast road, I stopped with my film crew to survey the magnificent view...an unending row of jagged peaks rising out of a turquoise-teal sea...each decorated with necklaces of exotic towns and fertile lemon groves. Today the medieval watch towers, once an essential warning system against Turkish pirates now house nightclubs and hotels.
Here along the stretch of coastline that gave birth to Sofia Loren and pizza, where organized crime still rules a few neighborhoods and far-out designer sunglasses decorate bald heads, the streets are routinely packed at midnight. It's just another night in a life-long celebration of Mediterranean culture...a world away from my hometown, where everyone I know is indoors after sundown, calmly watching TV.
Feel like getting out? This month we're featuring Italy in our online Tour News, with an inside look at our six Italy itineraries (many with seats still available for 2006), raves about our Italy guides, and tour members' most Itali-magical moments.
Even though we've already filled a record number of tours this year, we have lots of seats still available — but they're spread across so many departures that it may be hard to find them. In this month's Tour News we'll show you an online short-cut through the clutter to connect you with the right tour at the right time — including discounted tours. We'll also bring you up to date on protests in France, the facts about bird flu, and give you a sneak peek at our soon-to-be announced 2007 tour program.
No, you don't need to shave your head, wear cool shades, and stay up all night to enjoy Italy. But it's fun to know that someone is.
Happy Travels,
Rick