I have just returned from a week in Milan, Verona, the Italian Alps and Venice, where I was fortunate to stay in luxurious hotels, eat their fabulous food and enjoy some very special sites. The trip was expertly hosted and planned through J H Travel Marketing and IDI Travel, and was an experience I’ll never forget.
While many of our corporate clients visit Milan, I would recommend this city for your vacation travel as well. The city is fashionable, easily walkable, and the hotels are amazing (though expensive). My favorite hotel was The Bulgari, which is a beautiful property within walking distance of all of the sites and shopping, but on a quiet side street.
I am a spa kind of person, and I had a wonderful mini-massage given by the Spa Director that was the perfect cure for a jet-lagged person. I easily fell asleep in their waiting area prior to the treatment, as it was a beautiful and restful place to relax and enjoy my surroundings.
And the food!!! The chef created a dessert I have never tasted before with individual profitures, each stuffed with something fantastic (like chocolate, fruit and cream) and drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces. Our meal started at 9pm and didn’t end until nearly midnight, with several courses of special dishes from a great chef.
We had a very special private visit to see “The Last Supper” – just 12 of us in a huge room, where we were able to view the painting from different points of view. From the back of the room, this magnificent work of art almost seemed like it was painted in 3D. This is a must when you’re in Milan, and I would recommend including this great city on your trip to Italy.
I also enjoyed our visits to the Four Seasons, the Park Hyatt and the Armani. Our lunch at the Armani included “rooster”, which was delicious. The hotel itself is very much like an Armani suit: slick, cool, and mostly shades of grey. For my taste, I like a warmer feeling in a hotel, but they were very gracious. All of our hotels were 4 and 5 star, but there are some wonderful less expensive and charming hotels all over Northern Italy as well.
Our next stop was Verona, and the lovely Palazzo Victoria Hotel. Verona is a gem of a city with both fashionable high end shops and reasonably priced ones, plus a charming small open market place in the main square. One of my favorite meals here was an egg over a cream sauce combination that many people thought was one of the best dishes on the trip. We had a great walking tour that included the Arena di Verona, built in AD30, which is the coliseum famous for presenting large-scale and imaginative opera performances.
(One thing we learned on this trip is that we should have all brought hair conditioner. While the hotels all provided lotions, shampoo, and bath gel, only one gave us hair conditioner, so a word to the wise!)
A tour and wine tasting at a small, family-owned vineyard with a charcuterie dinner (cold cuts, bread and fine cheeses) in the Valpolicella region was a wonderful change from the many risottos and four course meals we had already had along the way.
With stops in Trento and the German-Italian town of Bolzano as interesting visits along the way, we made our way to the Italian Alps and the Rosa Alpina Hotel & Spa, a family owned hotel. While wildflowers and spring blossoms were predicted, we were greeted with snow flurries and white capped mountains. It was beautiful and the Lodge was warm and welcoming.
On the first night, we were greeted in the kitchen to sample appetizers from their 2 Michelin Star chef, which was a treat that started this culinary leg of our tour. One extra special treat was “The Deer”, their legendary close of the ski season party. This all night event welcomed more than 400 people, with 3 bands and the most amazing delicacies imaginable. The food was prepared by 5 chefs, two of whom had 2 Michelin stars, and one with 1 star. The ravioli (my main choice) was amazing and the chefs were warm and friendly. Everyone enjoyed their tastings and fabulous desserts. This was quite the night to remember.
We stopped at the San Lorenzo Lodge for lunch and a tour, and this was also a unique experience. This private lodge may be rented out for up to 10 people, and includes a spa, a golf tee-off area, several bedrooms and a private chef. Needless to say, that was another fine meal that took hours to eat.
From there, our final destination was Venice, where we said goodbye to our wonderful drivers and hello to the Bauer Palazzo Hotel. This hotel was in a great location, just a 3 minute walk from Piazza San Marco. A really wonderful private visit to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco was another trip highlight. This building houses a great art collection, and the rooms are huge with high ceilings covered with artwork.
And, we ate fantastic food in Venice, including lunch in the kitchen with the chef preparing our meal at the newly re-opened Gritti Palace, a great 5 star luxury hotel with panoramic views of the city from its rooftop. Our final night’s dinner was hosted by Hotel Cipriani, whose charming Deputy Manager entertained us through our sumptuous meal, with probably the best fish I’ve ever had. Each hotel we visited created works of art out of their delicious desserts and presented us with pre-printed menus of what we were going to experience.
Our final night brought us an adventure: an Aqua Alta (high water) through the streets of Venice. We returned to the dock from our dinner, and turned a corner to see water rushing towards us. Going back a street, we cut through a hotel and found the street lined with 6 foot long tables which we had to climb on to avoid the water. The tables efficiently led us all the way back to our hotel! That was quite a way to end the trip.
Flying home, I had the exceptional experience of travelling first class on British Airways, thanks to a mileage ticket. Their airport lounge, lie flat seats, individualized service, gourmet food, and flight attendants helped make this quite a trip to remember.
I would highly recommend adding a visit to Northern Italy to your list of future destinations you’d like to visit. The people, history, hotels, food and scenery make it a very memorable experience.
By: Vicki Daly-Redholtz
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