Context Tour Guides

Paul Bennett is an award-winning journalist who, for many years, was the Rome correspondent for Architectural Record and Architecture magazines. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, National Geographic Adventure, and Smithsonian magazines on such diverse topics as travel, archaeology, and technology. His article about sailing a small boat across the Atlantic for Adventure was selected for the 2006 Best American Travel Writing, while his feature story on underground Rome for National Geographic appeared in the 2007 Best American Science and Nature Writing. Paul is also the recipient of a Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing. With his wife, Lani Bevacqua, he founded Context in 2003 as an alternative travel solution for people desiring in-depth experiences. He holds a Master's degree in intellectual history from St. John's College and has authored several books on architecture, landscape, and urbanism. He and Lani have three daughters and currently live in Philadelphia, the home city of Context, although he spends considerable time on the road in each of the Context cities.

Caroline Goodson received her Ph.D. in art history and archaeology from Columbia and wrote her dissertation on 9th century architecture in Rome. She is currently working on interdisciplinary studies of archaeology, art history, and history. She is lecturer of medieval history at Birbeck College, University of London, but spends as much time as she can researching in Italy.

Darius Arya is a Roman archaeologist (Ph.D. UT Austin) who lives and resides in Rome, Italy. He is the co-founder and executive director of the American Institute for Roman Culture (www.romanculture.org), a 501c3 non profit organization which promotes and defends Rome's heritage through projects and unique teaching experiences for university-level students. He leads the archaeological projects, currently including the Villa delle Vignacce dig, and directs the program in archaeology and Roman civilization.

Yumna Masarwa received her Ph.D. in Art & Archaeology from Princeton University in 2006. She is currently teaching at Parsons-Paris and at the Council of International Educational Exchange (CIEE), Paris. Her courses include “Introduction to Art History,” "the Architecture of Paris from Roman Times until Nowadays," “Islamic Art and Architecture,” “Muslim Presence in Europe,” “Introduction to World Religions," and “The Children of Abraham.” Her research focuses on Byzantine and Islamic Art and Architecture, and deals with interdisciplinary studies of history, archaeology, architecture, religion and art.

Art historian Frank Dabell studied at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, and is a former fellow of the Metropolitan Museum of Art; he lectures for the museum throughout Europe. After many years in New York, he has returned to Rome, where he was raised, and is now on the art history faculty of Temple University Rome.

Jessica Dello Russo is an archaeologist and historian who has also worked as a docent for us in Rome. Born and raised in the historic North End of Boston, she followed the Bostonian cursus honorem of studies at Boston Latin School and Harvard before becoming a certified teacher and guide. She has collaborated with several local cultural institutions, including Historic Neighborhoods and the Boston Center for Jewish Heritage, on tours of historic sites. Deeply knowledgeable about the history of Boston, she possesses a teacher's gift for framing and contextualizing information. She loves exploring her native city in the company of her three-year-old son.

Janine's love of food can be dated to the tender age of three, when she deemed that Brie baguettes were her preferred snack of choice. While studying visual art and writing at the University of Pennsylvania, she also worked on the university magazine's Food and Drink section, and her passion for all three arts intensified during a semester spent in Rome. After completing her BA, she picked up for Europe again, this time heading to London. Janine received an MA from the Courtauld Institute of Art, specializing in food in early 20th century art movements. She continues to spend her time appreciating London's countless cultural offerings and debunking the myth that London is a culinary wasteland, and loves any opportunity to share her finds with others.

Elizabeth Lev has a degree in art history from the University of Chicago and is currently finishing her graduate work at the University of Bologna with a thesis on Baroque architecture. She is presently teaching Renaissance Art at John Cabot University, and Baroque Art & Architecture at the University of Duqusne, Rome Campus. Not only is she a licensed tour guide, but she is on the committee that licenses all tourist escorts.

Liz Brewster, a native of San Francisco, California holds degrees in
architecture from the University of California at Berkeley and the
University of Rome "La Sapienza" specializing in restoration and urban
design. She has been leading study walks for Context Rome since its earlier incarnation as Scala Reale and has lived in Rome since 1988 practicing architecture, researching design and lecturing at university study abroad programs.

Petulia Melideo has been with Context from the start. She is a native Roman who has lived extensively in the U.S., France and Great Britain. Petulia studied in the UK ( University of East Anglia) an Italy . She is passionate about all things, from fashion to food. She is an expert in Italian fashion and traditional crafts.

Tom Rankin came to Rome on a Fulbright Fellowship in 1991 after completing his architectural studies at Harvard. Tom was the founder of Scala Reale, an association of scholars leading small-group study walks that was acquired by Context in 2004. In 2002 he co-founded the American Institute for Roman Culture, for which he served as President, Board Member and Architecture Program Faculty until his resignation in 2008. Currently Tom is dedicating himself to the fields of cultural and environmental sustainability, architecture and design.

Katie Parla earned her B.A. in the History of Art from Yale where her studies focused on Roman art and archaeology, particularly the use of myths on carved sarcophagi. She holds a Master's degree in Cultura Gastronomica Italiana from the Unversita' degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata" and is a certified sommelier. She has written books for National Geographic, Rough Guides, Time Out, DK Eyewitness Guides, Insight Guides, Fodor's, and the Encyclopedia of Society and Culture in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Katie is also an urban speleologist for the city of Rome and has produced five episodes of the History Channel Series "Cities of the Underworld" in which she appeared as an expert on underground Rome, Palermo, and Naples.

Ara H. Merjian is the visiting assistant professor and Lauro de Bosis postdoctoral fellow in the department of romance languages and literatures at Harvard University for 2008-9, and assistant professor of Italian studies and art history at New York University. In addition to teaching on the centenary of the founding of Italian Futurism, he currently is finishing a book manuscript, "Urban Untimely Giorgio de Chirico and the Metaphysical City", which examines De Chirico's early metaphysical cityscapes in the light of Nietzschean philosophy. A former Fulbright scholar to Italy and a fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts of the National Gallery, Ara received his B.A. from Yale University and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He has taught at Berkeley and Stanford Universities and is a regular critic for Modern Painters, Artforum online, and Frieze. Ara has led walking seminars for Context since its earliest days in Rome and Paris.

Monica Vidoni was born in Venice to American parents. Raised mostly in the U.S, she has lived as an adult in the U.S., England, Hungary, Switzerland, and, of course, Italy. Monica holds undergraduate degrees in history from Kalamazoo College in Michigan and the London School of Economics. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D. from Stanford University in European history and has published books and articles on Venetian history. Her specialty is women's history; her book "Working Women of Early Modern Venice" (Johns Hopkins U.P.) examines the popular-class society in sixteenth-century Venice through parish records and witchcraft trial transcripts. After working as a tenured professor in America for several years, Monica moved back to Europe three years ago. She now lives in Venice full time with her Venetian husband and their daughters. Her cookbook, 'Venice, Food and Wine,' has recently been published and is available in bookstores and on Amazon.com.uk. Other current projects include a children's novel set in Renaissance Venice, and a study of the gambling habits of the poor in the Renaissance.

Originally from Canada, Anthony Majanlahti has been living and researching in Rome for several years. His first book, "The Families Who Made Rome" (London: Chatto & Windus, 2005), has recently been translated into Italian, and he is currently working on a brief guide to Rome under the Nazi occupation. Anthony is an urban historian who specializes in Rome throughout its history, with an emphasis on the early modern and modern periods.

Inge Hansen is a project director of the Butrint excavations in southern Albania. A native of Denmark, she has a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Edinburgh and has worked for many years with the British School in Rome on a variety of archaeological projects. Her specialization is classical art, in particular the art of the Roman Empire and the imaging of women in the ancient world.

Sara Magister has a master's in art history and a doctorate (PhD) in archaeology from the University of Rome. A native Roman, Sara has worked as the archaeological editor for the Italian national Encyclopedia. She also works as a consultant for the Vatican Museums and the former minister of culture, designing museum exhibitions and supporting the restoration of monuments with archive research. She is also currently working as a professor in an American University in Rome, teaching Baroque Art and Subjects and Symbols in Art. One of Sara's interests is the political use of ancient art during the Renaissance and Baroque and Pope Julius II's collection of ancient art, which forms the core of the Vatican's collection of ancient statuary.

Giovanna Terzulli is an art historian and Rome native. She has a Master's degree in art history from the University of Rome "La Sapienza," with a specialization in Modern and Medieval art. She works as an editorial consultant for a number of cultural organizations in Rome including the Superintendent of Archaeology of Rome. Giovanna is fluent in Italian (mother tongue), English, and French, and has a unique interest in Mannerism.

Maureen Fant, a classicist turned food writer, is a frequent contributor to the New York Times travel section and other periodicals. Her books, described at www.maureenbfant.com , include Trattorias of Rome, Florence, and Venice, Dictionary of Italian Cuisine (with Howard M. Isaacs), and the classic source book on women in the ancient world Women's Life in Greece and Rome (with Mary R. Lefkowitz), the third edition of which has just been published. She is also author of a cookbook on Rome for a Williams-Sonoma series. She holds an M.A. in classical studies from the University of Michigan and completed the coursework and exams there for the Ph.D. in classical archaeology.

Marialaura holds a Ph.D. in art history from the University of Naples and a master's in museology from the Ecole du Louvre in Paris. She is a native of Naples and speaks four languages fluently (Italian, English, French and German). Her specialty is 17th and 18th century art, but she is also an expert in the 19th century excavations of Pompeii and the archaeological museum of Naples. She divides her time between Paris and Naples.

Cecilia Martini has a master's degree in Medieval and Renaissance art from the University of Rome, "La Sapienza." Although her specialty is painting and decorative arts, she has a broad knowledge of the history of Rome, and leads many antiquity-themed itineraries. Cecilia works actively as a curator of exhibitions and lecturer and is a frequent consultant with the Galleria Colonna. She also has a specialized teaching degree, and works as a visiting professor in several art institutes.

Lucia Montuschi is a University of Florence Ph.D. art historian, who completed her thesis on Eastern art. She's worked in the many state museums of Florence, with a particular focus on art therapy. She's also taught for Pepperdine University and the International Art University. Currently, Lucia teaches Venetian art at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Florence. Lucia's a charming, extremely knowledgeable docent and a lover of ideas.

Jane Nyhan first came to Florence as an undergraduate art student at the Maryland Insitute of Art. She fell in love with the city, the region, and an Italian man; and returned soon after to continue her graduate studies at the University of Florence and settle. Jane spends a lot of her time outside of the city, leading groups on trekking holidays through Tuscany; and therefore has gained a broad knowledge not only of the art and artistic traditions of Tuscany but the entire cultural context of the region. She lives with her husband and their two children in the Mugello area north of Florence.

Fiorella Squillante holds a laurea (Bachelor's degree) in modern languages and is a specialist in art history and Neapolitan culture and art.
She works with the main museums of Naples as a member of the educational section and as a representative of the main painting galleries of Naples for foreign visitors.
She is the president of the cultural association "Fine Arts", which organizes exhibitions, meetings and cultural events in Naples and Lazio, talks with artists and contemporary art galleries owners, private viewings and themed routes in Naples and Campania, cocktails and visits to stately homes and accommodation in historical b&b or luxurious villas.

Heather Stimmler-Hall first came to Paris as a university student in 1995, and has been living and working in France as a journalist and travel writer ever since. She is the author of the "Paris & Ile-de-France Adventure Guide" and has had her articles published in magazines and newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic and China. She is always on the lookout for the city's hidden corners and insider information to put in her monthly Secrets of Paris Newsletter.

Olivia Ercoli is a native English speaker, a Rome
licensed guide, as well as an art historian and main contributor to the award-winning Eyewitness Guide to Rome. She currently teaches a course on Roman civilization at Lorenzo de Medici School in Rome, and has contributed to the National Geographic Lost Cities of the Ancient World. Olivia infuses her discussion of Rome with a sense of what it's like to grow up here and be Roman.

Born in Siena, Stella Soldani received her B.A. in humanities from the University of Siena and her MBA in tourism economics from Bocconi University in Milan. At the conclusion of her studies, Stella received an MPS grant to study art and anthropology in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Her interest in culture and art eventually led her back to Europe where she worked for Kult magazine (Milan) as a film critic covering the Berlin and Cannes film festivals. She is fluent in Italian, English, French, and Spanish. When she's not exploring the cultural treasures of Siena or leading one of Context Florence's itineraries in the countryside (she is a truffle hunter par excellent), Stella writes a regular column for the Chianti News. She's currently researching the use and development of the pilgrimage trail, the Via Francigena.

Gregory DiPippo, a native of Providence, R.I., studied classics in high school and as an undergraduate at McGill University. He has completed coursework for a Master's degree in theology at the Pontifical Institute for Patristic Studies, or "Augustinianum," in Rome and is currently waiting to take his comprehensives and defend his thesis on the church fathers. Gregory leads walks of the Vatican and other religious sites in Rome, but he is also a superb classicist and one of the few Context:Rome docents who can hold a conversation in Latin.

Andrea Viviani has a doctorate in linguistics from Roma Tre University in Rome. His dissertation deals with the relationship historical and linguistics between English and Italian. He conducts Italian Language Workshops for Context:Rome, and is equally able to give a lesson in how to speak read Italian as he is able to lead a provocative discussion of language history and cultural meaning.

Jane Zaloga is working on her dissertation for a Ph.D. in architectural history from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. She currently teaches art history and architectural history as an adjunct faculty member at Syracuse University and New York University. She has lived in Florence for ten years, and has a young daughter named Olivia.

Originally from England, Richard Bowen has lived in Rome for the last fourteen years. He holds a Master's degree in medieval and twentieth-century history from London University and, as this might suggest, has a broad-minded and synthetic approach to understanding Rome. Richard works quite frequently with institutional travel organizations, such as museums and church organizations, and as a result spends much of his time traveling all over Europe. He brings this cosmopolitan and pan-European experience to bear on his work with us in Rome, constantly making connections to other cities and countries in the course of his lectures and seminars.

Loukas has studied Architecture, History of Architecture and History of Art in the United States and in the UK, and has taught undergraduate courses for a number of years at Cambridge and Princeton. He was part of Context Rome for two years while conducting research in Rome. Currently living in the UK, he is completing his Ph.D. dissertation on a group of 16th c. Italian villas and their political significance, while freelancing in the architecture/construction and property industries.

Iris Mueller is a native of Germany. She has lived extensively in the U.S., where she received her Ph.D. in history from Yale University. Back in Europe since 2002, she studied Latin at the Universita' Gregoriana in Rome and, in 2003, moved to the Naples/Salerno area. Besides leading itineraries, she is working on Medieval manuscripts at the Naples National Library.

Maurizio Tocchioni studied architecture at the University of Florence. He led itineraries in Florence and Pisa for several years, before joining Context Florence. He is interested in the social and political realities behind art and architecture, and how one can use these as tool to understand culture.

Eve Straussman-Pflanzer is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts. She has worked as a research assistant and docent at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. She spent 2006 in Florence on a Rousseau fellowship researching the role of women in the Medici court and leading walks for Context Florence.

Dr. Sabina de Cavi is an art historian and freelance curator specializing in Renaissance and Baroque art and architecture, particularly in Italy and Spain. She studied at the University La Sapienza of Rome (BA and MA), and at Columbia University (Ph.D. class 2007), publishing her doctoral thesis in 2009 (Architecture and Royal Presence: Domenico and Giulio Cesare Fontana in Spanish Naples (1592-1627), Cambridge Scholars Press, UK). The recipient of pre and post-doctoral fellowships at the Istituto Italiano di Studi Storici Benedetto Croce in Naples, Columbia University, CASVA at the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome, and the Royal Flemish Academy for Science and the Arts in Brussels, she has published extensively on the Italian Broque, and curated an exhibition of eighteenth-century Neapolitan nativity scenes at the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth in 2008-09

Cornelia Danielson has a Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University and wrote her dissertation on Renaissance city planning. She is especially knowledgeable about Medici patronage. In addition to her research and teaching, Cornelia, a mother of a disabled child, runs an association dedicated to barrier-free travel in Florence and is author of "The Accessible Guide to Florence."

A former art teacher, Hilary Bockham has spent the last ten years designing major European art exhibitions of both contemporary and historical art. She has been a visiting lecturer at several U.K. design colleges and designed costumes for international theater troops.

Elisabeth Fuhrmann-Schembri has multiple advanced degrees in archaeology and classical studies. She has done studies in classical philology, specifically Latin, and ancient art history. A frequent lecturer and adjunct faculty at John Cabot University, Elisabeth is currently researching Etruscan cultures. She wrote her dissertation on Etruscan musical instruments and is an active member of Gruppo Archeologico del Territorio Cerite, a conservation organization in northern Lazio.

Ursula Hawlitschka has recently finished her Ph.D. in art history at Temple University, writing her dissertation on 20th century Italian artist Enzo Cucchi. Originally from Germany, Ursula has extensive experience as a curator of art and lecturer. She worked as a docent, giving on-site lectures, for Context Rome in its earlier incarnation as Scala Reale.

Lia recently completed her PhD in art history at the University of Chicago. She spent two years leading tours in Florence for Context while she conducted dissertation research. She has been the recipient of Kress and Mellon fellowships and has worked at museums in Chicago and New York. She currently works as a curatorial research assistant at an area museum and teaches art history at a local university. A resident of Astoria, Queens, Lia is excited about sharing her love of the art and culture of New York on her walks.

Jessica Stewart hails from Massachusetts and earned her B.A. in art history from Boston University. She got her first taste of Italian living during a semester exchange in Padova. She holds an M.A. in Renaissance studies from University College London, where her dissertation dealt with the development of Giulio Romano's early painting style in Rome. Her main areas of interest are Renaissance and Baroque painting and sculpture. She is the regional manager our Italian operations and pursues her avid photography hobby in her spare time.

Michael Herrman is a French-American architect who established a Paris-based architecture practice in 2005 after working in the studios of Arata Isozaki in Tokyo and Jean Nouvel in Paris (where he worked extensively on the Musée du Quai Branly). Herrman is the recipient of the Rome Prize in Architecture, a Fulbright Fellowship, a Graham Foundation Grant and other awards through which he produced projects and publications in cities in Asia, Europe, and America. He is the author three books, including “Hypercontextuality: the Architecture of Displacement and Placelessness” (CNR, 2009) and “City Walks Architecture: Paris” (Chronicle Books, 2010). After earning a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University and a Masters of Architecture degree from Princeton University, he received a PhD in Architecture awarded jointly from the Universities of Paris La Villette, Rome La Sapienza, and Seville. Concurrent with his architecture practice, Michael teaches for the Columbia University School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation’s New York / Paris Program.

Kristin Stasiowski is originally from Wellesley, MA and received her Ph.D. from Yale University in Italian Language and Literature in 2009. Her first taste of Italy came during a semester in Florence with the Georgetown University program at Villa Le Balze, where she developed her love of Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. After teaching Italian at Yale University, Kristin returned to Florence, where she is currently teaching for several American university programs including New York University and Kent State University.
In addition to leading walks for Context Florence, she regularly takes groups of students to Siena to participate in the Palio from the "inside" with the "Contrada dell'Onda," into which she was 'baptized' in June 2006.

Eowyn is originally from Santa Fe, New Mexico. She holds an MA in Art Conservation from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is specialized in the conservation and restoration of Italian Renaissance panel paintings. Her experience includes everything from the restoration of 2nd century frescoes to Baroque ceiling paintings, and she was awarded a Kress Fellowship in 2007 to conserve Florentine cassoni (15th century wedding chests) for the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Eowyn has taught Art History and Conservation at the American University in Rome and lectures on international conservation practices and ethics. She now divides her time between Rome and London and her expertise in art history, artistic materials, and painting techniques allows her to discuss the creation of artwork within Rome's Vatican Collections and Galleria Borghese, and London's National Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Patrizia Sfligiotti has a master's degree in Medieval archaeology and has studied at the Vatican and at the University of Aix-en-Provence. She was an excavator at the Crypta Balbi in the 1990s, arguably the most significant archaeological excavation in central Rome in the last century. She works for FAI - Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano (Italian National Trust) as Rome's cultural attaché. A dual citizen (USA and Italy), Patrizia is the author of the guidebook to Villa Gregoriana (Tivoli) and leads walks for us.

After having worked as a teacher in Switzerland for several years, Martin moved to Paris to study Art History at the Sorbonne. With a specialty in 19th century Art, he has worked as a curator assistant for
a number of major exhibitions, including the Louvre's show on Delacroix. Since 2006 Martin is responsible for the exhibitions in the Louvre and is working on several projects for the French and Italian Masters as well as contemporary art.

A native Parisian, Philippe has worked as a curator in many of Paris' top museums, including the Louvre, the Petit Palais, the National Gallery "Jeu de Paume", and in the French Academy at the Villa Medici in Rome. Fluent in Italian, Philippe spent many years dividing his time between Rome and Paris, developing a love for both cities. He is thus well positioned to discuss the history of Paris and French art within the context of the Italian Renaissance. Philippe has a Masters degree in art history and museum studies from the Ecole du Louvre and now works as a collection manager in the Louvre's decorative arts section.

Originally from the U.S., Anne Barbetti came to Florence many years ago to study art history at the University of Florence. She became enmeshed in a long-term project researching Renaissance and Baroque embroidered fabrics, during which she has personally uncovered many hitherto unknown collections of antique fabrics. She is currently working on a catalog and book based on this work.

Federico Poole holds a Ph.D. from the Oriental Institute in Naples. He has studied in Paris, Berlin, and Egypt. He was part of the team that set up the Egyptian section in the Naples Archaeological Museum and has written several articles on Egyptian objects found in Campania and the cult of Isis in Pompeii. He worked full-time for two years investigating Roman archaeological vestiges in the Phlegraean Fields. Today, he divides his time between archaeological tours, lecturing, English translation for archaeologists and museums, and research. Presently, Federico is a temporary professor of Egyptology at the "Orientale" university in Naples.

Robin Emlein is currently pursuing her Masters degree in museum studies at the Ecole du Louvre, writing her thesis on the sculptures in the gardens of Versailles and their restoration throughout the 20th century. She also holds undergraduate degrees in French and art history from the Ecole du Louvre and Wellesley College.

The daughter of a sculptor, Marie has been surrounded by art ever since she was born. A native Parisienne, she holds an undergraduate degree in history and art history, with a specialty in iconography and French paintings from the 16C to the 18C. She is now working on a Master's degree in Museology at the Ecole du Louvre, writing her thesis on the renovation of the Petit Palais Museum in Paris. Since she loves literature, ballets, theatre plays, operas, jazz clubs and classical concerts - she has been playing the piano for thirteen years - Paris and it's artistic life is a perfect fit.

Hector is a Scottish-born artist living in Florence, Italy, who began his training in 1985 under Leonard Pardon in London. In 1995, he specialized in the ancient art of fresco painting, participating in the leading course of its type in the world, at the Laboratorio Per a fresco Tintori in Vainella, Prato, Italy. Upon graduation, he moved to Florence where he further deepened his skills of the old technique of gilding, and in 1997 he returned to Vainella to further his studies of auxiliary tempera painting. His style has developed to include the complete spectrum of fresco and mural techniques from Roman fresco painting to early Renaissance and Baroque, as well as reinterpreting his expertise in a contemporary fashion. He has completed many works for private clients in Italy, Great Britain, Portugal and the U.S., and is a regular participant in International Competitions. In 2002 he was awarded the Silver Medal at the prestigious "Omaggio a Masaccio" in Valdarno.

Monica Shenouda completed her PhD (2009) in the History of Art and Architecture from the University of Virginia, specializing in the Italian Renaissance period. As a writer, she is interested in the literary culture of Florence in addition to the art and architecture. Before coming to Florence, Monica lived in Rome, Venice, New York City and Charlottesville, Virginia.

Elizabeth Ann Butler recently received her Masters degree in Florentine Renaissance Art from Syracuse University in Florence. Her interests include women's history, as well as women artists, particularly by women in convents. In addition to leading walks, she also lectures at various universities and institutions in Florence.

Originally from Siena, Luca Santiccioli has lived in Florence since college. Luca studied the history and restoration of monuments at the University of Florence and restoration of historical gardens and parks in Siena. Luca was also co-author of the "Guide to Villa Demidoff and the Pratolino Park." He has continued to study Florentine traditions, arts and crafts, collaborating with the Agency of Tourism on the initiative "Re-Discovering the craftsmen of the Oltrarno." Over the past 5 years, Luca has collaborated in several projects focused on the relationship between artisan skill and local traditional tastes in Tuscan food specialties.

Caroline left Rome to return to her native London 3 years ago. Having completed a Masters degree in Classics at Kings College London, she is now in the first year of her Ph.D., looking at Latin Inscriptions and the Grand Tour. Whilst much has been made of the sculptures brought back to England by the Grand Tourists of the 18th Century, little has been said about any inscriptions, or the tourist's reactions to them, so she is aiming to fill that gap! The project is closely connected with the British Museum, which is also conveniently one of her favourite London destinations. Following the completion of her Ph.D. Caroline hopes to return to Rome and continue her much missed Dolce Vita!

For Canadian born Elaine Polley, Paris was a case of love at first sight. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in Medieval Studies at Zurich University, where she is writing her dissertation on Arthurian literature. She also holds two Master's degrees (in French Literature and Medieval Studies), and spent years as a graduate student at the Sorbonne. As a result, Paris and its Middle Ages runs through Elaine's blood. When she's not holed up in a research library, one can find her exploring the Cluny, St. Germain des Pres, or any variety of other Medieval site in the city.

Lindsey is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University, where she specializes in the art and architecture of 16th- and 17th-century Europe, with particular emphasis on Italy. She has worked at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She just finished a fellowship sponsored by the Metropolitan Museum to conduct research for her dissertation on the Baroque painter and architect, Pietro da Cortona, in Rome. While in Rome she worked for Context Rome, winning acclaim for her teaching style and abilities.

Manu Radhakrishnan is a PhD candidate at Princeton in medieval European history. He spent 2006 in Rome researching his dissertation and working as a docent for Context Rome, where he was praised for his fantastic teaching style. He is currently in New York City, writing his dissertation, and leading walks to the Cloisters and other sites of religious art.

Scott Nethersole completed his doctoral research through the Courtauld Institute of Art on the subject of The Representation of Violence in Florence: from Uccello's Battles of San Romano to the Fall of the Republic (1512)'. Although a Renaissance specialist, his research interests are far wider and extend to include eighteenth-century decorative arts, and particularly furniture. He is a curator at the National Gallery.

Filippo Bartolotta, a wine journalist, holds an M.A. in Economics from the University of Florence and a Diploma from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust of London. Bartolotta teaches various aspects of wine at the University of Siena, writes for major European and American wine publications, and serves as one of Decanter Magazine's and IWCC's wine tasters. He is the editor of the English version of L'Espresso Italian Wine Guide and also owns his own company, Le Baccanti, which does various wine excursions and tastings in Tuscany.

Carolin C. Young, a lifelong foodie and Francophile, has been researching the history of artful dining since 1997. She holds a Royal Society of Arts Diploma from Christie's Education, London and is the author of Apples of Gold in Settings of Silver; Stories of Dinner as a Work of Art (2002, Simon & Schuster). A Trustee of the Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery, Young lectures widely and has created several historically inspired banquets and events, most notably for the Sotheby's Institute of Art in New York. A native New Yorker transplanted to Paris, she is currently writing an irreverent history of the fork and building a 10-ft. boiled egg inspired by Salvador Dali.

Valerie Romana Niemeyer received her B.A. degree with highest honors in art history and museology at the University of Florence, focusing on the Renaissance art market. Although German, Valerie was born and brought up in Rome, making her eager to build bridges across different cultures. Niemeyer also works for the educational department of the state museums in Florence. Her mission is to communicate art and culture as a means of understanding the visual signs that surround us.

Originally from Madrid, Almudena graduated in Art History in 1997 from Warwick University (B.A. Hons). Her first experience of Italy dates from 1996, as an undergraduate living and studying in Venice. Her interest in Italian art was further fueled during her Master's thesis, which dealt with the fourteenth century tomb of Rizzardo di Camino in Vittorio Veneto, and the course "Rome before Avignon." After completing the M.A. in art history at Warwick in 1999, she focused her doctoral research on the artistic patronage of Cardinal Gil de Albornoz in Spain and Italy in the fourteenth century. Throughout her Ph.D., Almudena traveled extensively around Italy and Spain, and lived in Rome for a year while collecting documentation kept at the Vatican archives. Her main interests lie in the history of the Church in the 1300s and the patronage of medieval fortresses, reliquaries, and textiles, as well as tomb sculpture. She has worked as a family art workshop docent at CaixaForum Madrid and teaches history of art to young children on a private basis. She has translated numerous academic articles, including articles on the architectural history of Toledo Cathedral. Currently, she works with the Association of Friends of the International Brigades translating interviews with veterans of the Spanish Civil War, an indispensable resource in our Civil War and Madrid after Franco walk. After living in Vicenza, Italy, Almu now splits her time between her native Madrid and Venice.

Lorraine Karafel is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, specializing in the art, architecture and social history of 16th-century Europe. She spent 2006 as a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy in Rome researching her dissertation on the painter Raphael and his designs for tapestries and interior decoration. Lorraine has taught at Rutgers University and Parsons School of Design in New York and Paris and has held curatorial and research positions at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where she currently works.

Vannella Carrelli Palombi has a Master's degree in modern and contemporary art from the University of Rome, "La Sapienza". She has been leading itineraries of every period of Roman history for twenty years. She is a guide at the Vatican Museums and has worked in many of Roman museums, such as the Borghese Gallery, Castel S. Angelo, Galleria Colonna, and Galleria Doria Pamphili. She has also worked in the didactic section of these museums and has a specialized teaching degree.

Sonia is currently working on her Ph.D. in art history and archaeology at Columbia University. She specializes in Greek art and archaeology, but also has a strong interest in Etruscan art. Sonia is a practicing archaeologist and has conducted archaeological fieldwork in Italy (Sicily and Tuscany) and Spain. She has taught at Barnard and Columbia and is writing her dissertation on Ampurias, a Greek settlement in Spain.

Susan Steer teaches for the University of Warwick's undergraduate and M.A. Venice programs. After graduating in the history of art and Italian in 1998, she took an M.A. concentrating on Venetian art and architecture, and in 2004 she completed her specialization in Venetian renaissance painting with a Ph.D. on the altarpieces of Bartolomeo Vivarini. Susan has taught undergraduate and life-long learning courses on subjects such as the altarpiece, Titian, and Venetian renaissance painting for the University of Bristol (UK). For the University of Glasgow, she has worked extensively as a researcher for the National Inventory of European Painting 1200-1900, the catalog of European paintings in museums in the UK which will be published on-line in 2008. Susan has also contributed articles to the Burlington Magazine and Artibus et Historiae. Susan met her Venetian husband Paolo in 1997 and they have since divided their time between homes in Venice and the UK.

Anne Patsch is an artist living and working in Berlin. She received her MFA from the Glasgow School of Art and regularly exhibits her work throughout the US and Europe. Her work can be found in public and private collections in the UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the US.

Anna Russakoff received her PhD in 2006 from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. A specialist in medieval art, she has published and presented numerous conference papers on illuminated manuscripts. She is preparing a book proposal based on her dissertation about representations of miraculous images of the Virgin Mary. She currently teaches at the American University of Paris. She is also an France Director of the International Medieval Society in Paris.

American-born Sharla arrived in Europe over twenty years ago with a love of Italy and two suitcases. A true foodie, she puts her pen where her mouth is, having published travel articles in La Cucina Italiana magazine ( USA version Dec 2010 issue and Jan/Feb 2011 issues) . She also has added a gig as regional editor with Unusual hotels of the World and her last scouting trip was to the arctic circle where she slept in a tree hotel, an ice hotel and a 747 plane turned hotel. Naturally, she is writing an article about the experience.

Sarah McDonald, an American from New York combines her passions in life: Art + Food. Her experience of 15 years researching Chinese Contemporary Art at the Galerie Orem in the Marais section of Paris led her to a nine month sprint at "Le Cordon Bleu" studying cuisine which enabled her to create her own' Label' with Incubator5066. You can visit her at www.incubator5066.com.

Riccardo Margheri, wine sommelier since 2002, has written for top wine publications as well as participated in tastings for the Espresso Wine Guide and the De Agostini Guida ai Vini Buoni d'Italia. Riccardo has also traveled extensively, tasting wines of many lands and adding to his already prestigious reputation.

Archeaologist Luke Lavan received his Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham. A specialist in late antiquity, he has published a number of important scholarly papers and been involved in countless digs throughout the Western Mediterranean region, including France.

A native of Canada, Lily studied art in Italy and then in Paris as part of her Fine Arts Degree. Her love of art and culture brought her back to Europe after graduation, and she has made the City of Light her home for the last ten years. Her varied professional experience includes working in museums and art galleries in Canada and France as well as teaching at the University of Paris and the French National Film School. Lily also manages to find the time to do some writing and translation work and mixed-media art projects.

In 2002, Sheila completed her Ph. D. in art history at Columbia University, with a specialization in Italian Baroque art. Her post-doctoral awards include fellowships at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Medici Archive Project in Florence. Many of her publications have examined Renaissance and Baroque art in light of such cultural factors as religion, science and medicine. She has also published on early pharmaceutical history, women artists in 18th-century Florence, and Pope Urban VIII Barberini. She is currently undertaking a documentary study of the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the Florentine archives.

Tim earned his undergraduate degree in studio art at DePauw University and his Master's of fine art in painting at Indiana University. Having lived in Rome since 1998, he presently paints in his studio near Campo de' Fiori and teaches courses in drawing and art history at the American University of Rome. His work has been shown in group exhibitions at several Rome galleries, including Gallerie Benucci and the La Porta Blu Gallery.

Louisa is an art historian who obtained her B.A. at the Courtauld Institute, where she specialized in Venetian art and the Italian medieval and Renaissance periods. In 2000, she earned her M.A. from the University of Warwick in Venetian Renaissance art, although she specialized particularly in medieval Venetian art and sculpture. She has worked as an English teacher to students of all ages, as well as a translator for cultural and artistic publications on historic and contemporary art in Venice, for institutions such as the Fondazione Querini Stampalia and the Island of San Servolo. She has also worked as a simultaneous translator for the Italian Military on cultural tours of Venice for English American delegations and aboard cultural cruise ships as a lecturer on Venetian art, architecture and history. She is a keen art lover and although untrained in contemporary art greatly enjoy following it through the Biennale and with temporary art exhibitions held in the city. Louisa is married to a Venetian and has two small daughters, Isabelle and Maddalena. Married to a "native" she has the opportunity to enjoy Venice from different perspectives: as a tourist and art lover and as a practical everyday Venetian (with the added bonus of having a private boat!).

Mario is a certified Italian Sommelier (AIS) and Master Cheese Taster (ONAF). His background also includes a degree in the Science of Food Production from the University of Bologna. Mario, a native of Milan, has lived in the Veneto for 35 years, and his grandmother was from the Cannaregio sestiere of Venice.

He is an experienced wine educator, and particularly enjoys the wine tasting seminars he regularly organizes for the U.S. diplomatic corps in Italy. In the past Mario led a seminar on Italian wine and food for the undergraduate students of Boston University studying in Padova. He also works as a travel consultant, specializing the wine and food of the Veneto, Friuli and Trentino Alto-Adige.

Mario lives in Padova with his wife, Rachel, a native of Ohio, and their two children. He can often be heard to say "A glass of wine is not merely something to drink, but a true reminder of our history, traditions and culture."

Since opening her own restoration workshop in 1986, Bettina Schindler has been able to focus on her specialty of restoring antiques in ivory, bone, mother-of-pearl, horn, wood and other natural materials. She has been featured in museums such as the Bargello and Museo degli Argenti in Pitti Palace, among others. Bettina has studied and taught at the Opificio delle Pietre Dure (State Institute for Restoration and Conservation), and teaches conservation and restoration for the Washington University in Saint Louis. Her workshop is situated in the San Niccolo neighborhood, in one of the most ancient constructions in town.

Elizabeth Janus is an independent art critic and curator of contemporary art exhibitions. After spending several years in the Department of 20th-Century Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where she lived for 13 years. Since the mid-1980s she has written essays and articles on Ghada Amer (2007 for MACRO, Rome), Matthew Barney, Vanessa Beecroft, Maurizio Cattelan, Cameron Jamie, Jasper Johns, Mike Kelley, Elke Krystufek, Moshekwa Langa, Pippilotti Rist, Fatimah Tuggar, Francesca Woodman, among others for major contemporary art magazines (Artforum, Flash Art, Frieze, Parkett) and for exhibition catalogues at European and American museums (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Roma; Fondation Cartier, Paris; Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf; Musee d'Art Contemporain, Bordeaux; Institute for Contemporary Art, London; Renaissance Society, Chicago). She has organized exhibitions of Francesca Woodman; Tony Oursler; The Drawings of Miriam Cahn, Marlene Dumas, Kiki Smith and Sue Williams; Ketty LaRocca; Kristin Lucas, among others, in Brussels, Geneva and Rome. A serious foodie since childhood, Elizabeth first studied German cooking in the kitchen of her Bavarian-born, Austrian-trained grandmother. In Swizerland she learned how to cook Swiss/French and northern Italian cuisine. In Rome she has studied Roman cookery at the Citta del Gusto (Gambero Rosso). She is also a regular at ‘Cucimondo’, an organization that brings together Romans with cooks from around the world (Nigeria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, China, Greece, etc.) to experience different cultures through the love of food.

Elizabeth Molina holds a B.A. in Art History and Education and an M.A. from the University of Massachusetts in Art History. She is primarily interested in literary depictions on domestic objects. She is currently involved in family and children programs at Palazzo Strozzi.

Ed Wouk is currently a doctoral candidate in the Fine Arts at Harvard
University. His area of focus is on the artistic relations between the Low
Countries and Italy in the Renaissance, and his dissertation focuses on the oeuvre of one of the foremost of these so-called "Fiamminghi a Roma." Ed is a native New Yorker and has studied and taught New York history extensively. He's also lived extensively in Belgium and the Netherlands and is equally conversant in
the art and theory of the Renaissance and Baroque periods in the North and in Italy.

Eric studied historical linguistics and ancient Indo-European languages Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, and Latin at Rice University and the University of Pennsylvania. He then spent his twenties traveling around Europe, seeing historical, beautiful and interesting places and things, and learning modern languages. He came to Rome in November 2004. After a year learning Italian and studying Latin with the great Vatican Latinist Reginald Foster, he enrolled in the graduate program at the Augustinianum, the pontifical institute for the study of the Church Fathers. He received his Licenza (equivalent to an M.A.) in February 2009 and is now pursuing a doctorate in medieval philosophy, science, and culture at the University of Salerno.

Damien Delille works at the National Institute of Art History (I.N.H.A., Paris) as an Assistant researcher on the "History of fashion and costume". He is currently leading a Ph.D dissertation on the late XIXth century in Art History and the crisis of masculinity. Interested in identity, gender and political issues, he is active in the French contemporary art and fashion worlds writing critics for magazines. He earned a Master in Fine Art and Art History in Aix-en-Provence (South of France) and San Francisco and he has worked on several exhibitions (cultural program of Fondation de France). He tries to deal with different ways of transmitting art with a critical sense.

A native of Canada, Tamara came to Venice in 1993 to organize her country's participation at the Visual Arts Biennale, and discovered something completely unrelated: the world of wine. She took courses to become a professional Sommelier, and now conducts wine-tastings and tours, in addition to her continued work for Canada. Prestigious past clients include the Gran Caffè Quadri and the Culinary Institute of America, as well as countless individuals whom she has brought closer to this fascinating and timeless subject. Having made this enticing libation her new life's focus, Tamara is presently studying approaches on how to best match wine and contemporary art...

Rosa's love affair with French food began at age four, when her family spent a year in Paris. In 1995 she moved to Paris from Canada and spent nine months as an interpreter at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. She now makes her living writing about restaurants for magazines and guidebooks, designing custom food itineraries for visitors to Paris, and teaching cooking in Nice. Rosa has published two cookbooks in French, Petites recettes pour grandir and La cuisine des paresseuses (both with Marabout). She also has a food blog, www.rosajackson.blogspot.com.

A native of Murano, Andrea is an accomplished musician and composer with a Master's degree in the humanities from Venice's Ca' Foscari University. In 1992 he founded the Joy Singers, a well-known Venetian gospel choir, which has won international acclaim, and is the artistic director of the Venice Gospel Festival. For years he has collaborated with schools in Venice and the Veneto in order to promote gospel music to Italian youths.

Originally from London, Jane graduated in zoology in 1988 from Oxford University. After a brief spell in the City she began her postgraduate studies at Imperial College Centre for Environmental Technology (London) and subsequently won a research scholarship to the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei in Milan. Her research has broadened from methods for valuing non-market goods, which is crucial to the development of environmental policies, to improving the connections between the scientific and policy making spheres, including the public understanding of science. She worked on a number of projects supported by the European Commission and for the Italian National Research Council to survey research efforts on climate change. Since marrying a Venetian, Jane's interest in sustainable development has concentrated on unraveling the key issues central to the safeguarding of Venice, from the physical, ecological, and socio-economic standpoints. Since 2001, her work has been supported by the Venice in Peril Fund as the Venice research fellow of a Cambridge University project which aims to crystallize our knowledge of the main issues, processes and trends in Venice which affect the long term survival of the city and its unique heritage. She is co-author of The Science of Saving Venice (Umberto Allemandi, 2004).

Rachel Erdman has been living in the Veneto since 1994 and is originally from Ohio. While working for the Boston University study abroad program in Padova and Venice for many years, she especially enjoyed sharing her love of all things Italian with students and visiting faculty. She now works as a travel consultant specializing in personalized travel throughout Italy. As a lover of food and wine, she is fulfilling a dream to become an Italian sommelier. She has also coordinated private cooking courses in the Colli Euganei for the Abano Ritz Grand Hotel with an emphasis on Mediterranean and Veneto cuisine. Rachel holds a B.A. from Boston University in international relations and it was during her studies that she first developed a passion for foreign language and culture. She lives in Padova with husband Mario and two children.

Sean Forester is a painter, poet, and lecturer based in Florence. Originally from San Francisco, he has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John's College. The St. John's "Great Books Program", a study of the Western classics using Socratic inquiry, provides an ideal background for understanding Dante, Leonardo, and other Florentine masters. A Rotary Scholar, Sean received his M.A. in English Literature from Cambridge University before coming to Florence five years ago. He is Director of Art History and Humanities at the Florence Academy of Art where he studies old master techniques of oil painting. Sean draws upon his experience as an artist and writer when leading walking seminars for Context.

Philip Ditchfield has been working in Rome as a historical archaeologist for the last fourteen years. Trained as a byzantinist, he has excavated on numerous sites in England, Greece, Cyprus and Italy. During his doctorate at the Sorbonne, he specialized in the material culture of southern Italy during the Middle Ages. His nine hundred page encyclopedia, entitled Culture Matérielle Médiévale has been hailed as a classic in its field, bringing to light hundreds of previously unknown words and terms in medieval Latin and Greek that pertain to everyday household objects and paraphernalia.

Sarah holds a Masters degree in Italian Studies from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in History from the University of Sydney. The subject of her doctoral thesis was sport and gender in Fascist Italy. She has lived and studied in Rome, Pisa, Bologna and Macerata. She has broad interests in history, contemporary Italian culture and politics, and art. Sarah has settled permanently in Rome since returning to Italy in 2007 as a fellow at the British School at Rome.

Charlotte Lacaze fell in love with Paris when she was a high school student, and made it her home in 1978 after having earned a Ph.D. at the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. She has taught art history in New York City, Florence and for many years in Paris where she has just become professor emerita of The American University in Paris. A medievalist by training, she has also taught ancient art, introduced a course on the urban history of Paris and led many study trips for students and adults in France and elsewhere in Europe. Her enthusiasm for Paris and its treasures has never flagged.

Ethan Greenbaum received his MFA in painting from Yale University. He is a working artist who exhibits his work regularly in New York and abroad. He is a co-founder and frequent contributor to The Highlights (www.thehighlights.org), a website devoted to artist writings and projects. Ethan teaches art, design and art history at various universities in New York and the surrounding area including the Pratt Institute and Tyler school of Art. He also regularly leads tours in the Chelsea gallery district for Columbia University students. He is a recipient of the Barry Schactman Painting Prize and the Edward Albee Foundation Residency. Ethan lives and works in Brooklyn.

A gap year working in the frenetic world of women's fashion in Milan prepared Prue well for an undergraduate degree in Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University, where she used linguistic flourish and copious coffees to confront courses in French and Italian art, literature, history and culture. Her final year topics reflected her lifelong love of Dante and Renaissance Italian art and literature. Prue spent her year abroad studying the history of Renaissance Venetian art at Ca' Foscari University, during which time she wrote a dissertation on the erotic dialogues of Pietro Aretino. She recently a Master's degree in the History of Renaissance Design and Material Culture taught at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal College of Art in London. Her research has focused on fashion, the domestic interior and the decorative arts in Renaissance Venice. Her dissertation is on doors and door furniture from this period. Prue worked for three summers as a registered tour guide of the mosaics in St Mark's Basilica in Venice and for the last four years has led cultural tours around Europe for American students. She has been accepted in Warwick University's PhD program and will return to Venice in 2009 to begin her research.

Seungjung Kim is currently working on her Ph.D. in art history and archaeology at Columbia University, where her area of expertise is Greek art. She has extensive experience as an archaeologist in the field, working in Sicily, and as a researcher and teacher at such institutions as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Barnard College, and the University of Virginia. Originally from Seoul, Korea, Seungjung also holds a doctorate in astrophysics from Princeton University.

Michael Mulryan completed his PhD thesis at UCL and has lived in London for nearly ten years. He has taught at Royal Holloway and University College London. Michael specialises in late antique Rome but is interested in ancient and medieval urbanism in general, and the transition between the two. He is currently involved in a dig at Ostia, the ancient port of Rome. As part of his research he studied at the British School at Rome. Michael thinks London is one of the greatest cities in the world, but thinks the Luftwaffe and post-war architects have a lot to answer for.

Imogen Aylen is a south Londoner born and bred, who loves exploring her home city and never ceases to be amazed by the new and unexpected it offers up year upon year. A graduate in Italian literature from the University of Oxford, she spent several years working in Rome as a journalist, during which time she met the Context team. She now lives in London and works on a variety of projects, including magazine editing, PR consultancy and volunteering for an urban regeneration charity thinktank. As well as taking some of our city walks, Imogen is collaborating with Context Travel to raise the company’s profile in the UK media and beyond.

Sarah Ciacci has lived and worked in London all her life, but pops over to Rome fairly often. After completing her MA in History of Art at University College London, specialising in late 19th Century French Painting and mid 20th Century Art, she has worked in the contemporary art world in both London and Rome. Sarah is passionate about London, a fabulously rich, diverse and multi-layered city and for the past three years has been learning the skill of guiding London and telling its 2,000 year old story - spanning its history, culture, and the famous personalities who have lived here.

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Linda first came to Rome as an
undergraduate to study fine arts and art history. To learn more about artistic techniques, Linda participated in art conservation
internships in Chicago, IL, and Lugano, Switzerland. Dreams of being an archaeologist led Linda to excavate at Pompeii, the Roman Forum, and Etruscan sites in Tuscany. She received an M.A. in Classical Roman Art and PhD in 16th and 17th century Italian art at USC in Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, Linda also worked as a researcher and educator at the J. Paul Getty Museum. Her love of archaeology, Renaissance sculpture, and visiting the sacred sites of Rome inspired her PhD dissertation about physical forms of devotion shown towards objects in Roman churches, including the famous “Mouth of Truth,” at S. Maria in Cosmedin, Michelangelo’s Christ sculpture in S. Maria sopra Minerva, and the bronze S. Peter statue in S. Peter’s Basilica. Linda received fellowships to support her travels and research, including ones from the Dorot Foundation, the American Academy in Rome, the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, and the American Association of University Women. She is currently continuing her research on St. Peter’s Basilica, collecting of antiquities, and the reception of Michelangelo. When not leading people through the museums and churches of Rome for Context, Linda also teaches for study abroad programs in Rome. In her free time, she enjoys exploring the countryside of Italy on the back of her husband’s motorcycle, combing the vintage markets for unusual beautiful things, colloborating with her artist husband, cooking Mexican food for her Italian and American ex-pat friends, and taking advantage of the great music scene found in Rome and other parts of Italy.

Page Knox is a Ph.D. candidate in the art history department at Columbia University, specializing in late-nineteenth century American painting. She is currently finishing her dissertation on the relationship between print media and the rise of aestheticism in America during the Gilded Age. Page has worked at the Yale British Art Center and taught at Columbia and Barnard Colleges. She is also involved with a number of art institutions in Greenwich, Connecticut where she resides with her family.

The daughter of two expatriate Americans, Rebecca Cavanaugh was born and raised in London. She fell in love with Paris as a teenager, later cultivating her passion for French culture through a study abroad program as an undergraduate art student at Skidmore College. Rebecca fulfilled her dream of moving back to the City of Light in 2007, where she has been conducting research for her Master's thesis in inter-war French decorative arts and design. A freelance writer, budding design educator, and amateur jazz singer, Rebecca received her Master's degree from New York's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in partnership with Parsons the New School for Design, in spring 2008.

Native Parisian Philippe Engammare's love affair with food and cooking began when he was six years old. By the time he was eight, he was preparing entire meals for an eight-person family. Today he runs a catering and teaching organization called "Paris Chef" and leads market walks and other culinary programs for Context. As a rule, Philippe does all of his food shopping exclusively on bicycle at his neighborhood stores and markets.
Visit his website at www.parischef.fr

Carol received her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College and holds M.A. degrees in Italian literature from the University of Toronto, where she has taught, and in art history from Boston University. Her academic career has concentrated in the Italian Renaissance, and her studies have spanned from Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio to the Renaissance pastoral genre and decorative arts. She is currently pursuing post-graduate coursework in art history at Harvard University, and is examining the sacred and secular dimensions of the pastoral and its realizations in written and visual form. She is a visiting fellow at the Massachusetts Center for Renaissance Studies in Amherst, Mass, where she has given lectures and participated in conferences. Over the past three years she has also studied and worked in Florence, Italy, with the Lorenzo de'Medici School, participating in a variety of laboratory and fieldwork restoration projects throughout Tuscany. Through her affiliation with the Lorenzo de'Medici School's Restoration Department Carol has treated numerous paintings, frescoes, and gilded objects, and has worked on-site at locations such as Villa il Farneto in Vicchio and Santa Maria Castagnolo in Florence.

Camille Labro is a Franco-American who has spent her life between France and the United States. She was born in Berkeley, California, where she became a member of the Chez Panisse family. She was raised in Provence, then spent ten years in New York (working as a correspondent for French Vogue) before returning to Paris. In addition to her career in the French media (magazines as well as TV and radio), she has contributed to the Slow Food Guidebook and the Insight Guide's Food Guide to Paris, and has worked as a food editor for the Paris Times, Biba, and the Lifestyle supplements of La Tribune. She's also the author of the guidebook New York Confidential (Assouline, 1999) and is currently working on a culinary documentary for TV, and a cookbook, about her mum's Provencal cuisine. A gourmet and home cook as well, she's dedicated to making the best and purest food with local, seasonal produce.

A native Parisian, Laure-Caroline Semmer, completed her PhD at the Sorbonne, with a focus on Paul Cezanne, and other impressionists, on which subjects she has published three books; Lire la peinture de Cezanne (Larousse 2006) and Les oeuvres de l'Impressionnisme (Larousse 2007), l'Art Abstrait (Larousse, 2010), in addition to contributing to various French publications on art history. She currently teaches art history at the Sorbonne University, the University of Connecticut study abroad program and also fine arts at the Ecole de Communication Visuelle. Laure-Caroline is extremely passionate about art and art history, and tries to convey this passion in the people she teaches.

After completing a master's degree in art history at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, Rosie worked in the field of museum education for eight years. Here she was able to escape teaching with slides in a dark classroom, and had the opportunity to teach in galleries in front of the art works and found not only was it a better experience for her, but also a richer experience for the students. A few
years ago she returned to school to pursue a PhD. in art history at Temple University in Philadelphia. She teaches Italian Renaissance and Baroque art history and is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Context in both Rome and New York and teach in the churches and galleries where many of the great works of art of her favorite periods are found.

Susan Taylor Leduc received her PhD in art history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. After working for the Center for Advanced Studies in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. she moved to Paris and has worked as a professor, freelance curator and tour guide. As an independent scholar she has studied the gardens of Versailles in the eighteenth century and the interconnections between gardens and gastronomy. Susan was also European curator for the Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary (2006-2007) and the NOMA commemoration of the Louisiana Purchase for the exhibition Jefferson's America and Napoleon's France in 2004.

Jennifer Huxta is a photographer and field poet. Originally from Pennsylvania, Jennifer has lived in Paris for 5 years, teaching photography with Oxbridge Academic Programs, organizing several Maine Photographic Workshops overseas programs, and working as a translator for journalists on reportage in France. She currently divides her time between Paris and Philadelphia.

A French-American Parisienne, Aimee Froom received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. A curator and an art historian, she is a specialist of Islamic art whose interests range from French Impressionism to the history of St Germain des Pres. Before moving to Paris, Aimee was for years curator at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, a fellow at the Metropolitan Museum and a visiting professor at Brown University and the Bard Graduate Center for the Decorative Arts. In Paris, she is sourcing objects in French national collections for an exhibition on gift-giving to take place at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 2010 and has lectured at the Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris. She takes the Eurostar several times a semester to lecture in London for the Victoria and Albert Museum. Her book on the Persian ceramics collection at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco will be published in fall 2008.

Sudi Pigott is a vastly experienced, highly opinionated food writer and restaurant critic who is passionately obsessed with the discriminatingly greedy pleasures of good eating and is carving a distinctive niche as the arbiter of better foodie values and as a forward food-trend spotter.

Sudi's culinary antennae are invariably on full alert whether writing about culinary trends; the best and rarest ingredients; artisan producers; specialist shops; chefs and restaurants from the startlingly avant-garde to the deeply comforting; exploring gastro-destinations both well-loved favourites and those in the vanguard; or delving into culinary history.
Sudi writes regularly for The Financial Times How to Spend It magazine, Time Magazine, The Saturday Telegraph Magazine, Metro, Delicious, Food & Travel, Departures, BA High Life and Easy Jet in-flight magazines.

Elizabeth Thompson Colleary holds master's degrees in art history and art education and has taught art history and museum education courses at the College of New Rochelle for twenty-eight years. At present she also works as a consultant to the Edward and Josephine Nivison Hopper Research Collection, housed in the library at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. She brought in foundation funding to create the Research Collection in 2001 and has worked on archivally re-housing the Hopper papers and cataloguing all of Jo’s work at the museum since then. She also conducted interviews with Hopper family friends in Florida for an oral history project undertaken by the Whitney, and her commentary on the Hopper marriage was included on the Audio Guide created for the installation of Hopper’s work in the recent Full House 75th anniversary exhibition at the Whitney.

Thompson Colleary has also curated numerous exhibitions and published articles on women artists, most recently an article on some newly discovered works by Jo Hopper in the Spring 2004 edition of the Woman's Art Journal. After locating Jo’s work in 2000 she helped to organize an exhibit of her watercolors at the Truro Historical Museum and arranged for her work to be included in the Thoroughly Modern, “New Women” Art Students of Robert Henri exhibition held at the Brigham Young University Museum of Art in 2005, and the Edward Hopper in Charleston exhibition at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, SC in 2006, where she also took part in a panel discussion entitled “Partners in Art: The Creative Relationship” about two-artist marriages. Thompson Colleary is in the process of writing two books, one on Edward Hopper’s depictions of women and another about Jo, her art, and the Hopper marriage.

Cathy Kaufman is a trained chef and food historian with extensive experience in the food world in New York and beyond. After working as an attorney in New York for more than a decade, Cathy gained multiple degrees in cooking from Peter Kump's New York Cooking School and the School for American Chefs at Beringer Vineyards, California. She has worked in catering and restaurants in New York, and has been on the faculty at the Institute of Culinary Education. Since the late 1990s, she has written and taught extensively on the history of cuisine, including numerous articles for the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery. She is senior editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America and author of the recently published Cooking in Ancient Civilizations (Greenwood Press).

Francesca Barberini is an art historian with a degree in modern and contemporary art from the University of Rome, "La Sapienza". She specializes in the art and culture of the Baroque period, a subject on which she has published several essays. She is a licensed guide and leads itineraries all over Rome, a city she truly loves. She has worked for many Roman museums, such as Galleria Doria Pamphili, Galleria Colonna, Galleria Spada, Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Barberini and the Corsini Gallery.

Alexandra Massini is a native Roman who studied Art History at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, where she obtained her B.A. and M.A. degrees with double distinction. She has worked at Sotheby's Auctioneers in Rome (Old master paintings and drawings) and the Thyssen Museum in Madrid. More recently she has written for Blue Guides and published her own guidebook to Rome.
She has been invited as guest lecturer and study leader for various European and North American institutions such as the National Trust U.S., the Chrysler Museum of Art, and a number of international universities. Since 2005 she has been teaching for American study programs such as Rutgers and Vanderbilt Universities in Florence, CET in Siena, and Richmond University and CEA in Rome. Her fields of specialization include Roman Imperial Art, 14C art in Tuscany, Italian Renaissance Art, Michelangelo, the History of Sculpture, Baroque art in Rome.
She is fluent in five languages including German and Italian (bilingual from birth), English, Spanish and French. In Rome, where she lives, she collaborates with the Colonna and Doria Pamphilj galleries and, as a licensed guide, conducts specialized visits for various cultural institutions.

Francecsa studied foreign languages at Ca' Foscari University, Venice (including modules in comparative and Venetian history of art), and graduated with a dissertation in English Renaissance literature in 2002. She recently completed her Ph.D. at the same university in English Restoration theater.
She has been lived in Venice since 1995, but also spent two years in England, where she studied history of art at Warwick University and taught Italian language and literature at Downe House School, Berkshire. She has always been deeply interested in Venice, its art and history, and worked as a registered guide of the mosaics in St. Mark's Basilica for two years.

Alexandra Leaf is a culinary historian and cookbook author. She writes for a variety of publications including The Philadelphia Daily News, Gastronomica and Country Living and most recently SAVEUR. She has been featured on radio and television, including NPR and CNN, and in such print media as The New York Times, Food and Wine, and Travel and Leisure.

Alexandra is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier International; is a board member of The New York Food Museum; and is former chair of Culinary Historians of New York. Alexandra holds a Masters' degree in Comparative Literature from NYU and speaks fluent French and Italian. In 1992, she was awarded a Soros Foundation Teaching Fellowship and in 2002 was cited for her outstanding contribution to the James Beard Foundation. Her award-winning (IACP) cookbook "Van Gogh's Table at the Auberge Ravoux" (Artisan Books, 2001) has just been reissued in paperback. In 2002, the French edition of the book was published by Hoebecke. Alexandra's first book, "The Impressionists' Table: Recipes and Gastronomy of 19th Century France" was published in 1994 by Rizzoli International.
Alexandra is a well-known expert on chocolate and is the principal organizer of the 92nd St. Y's annual World Chocolate Extravaganza. She lectures around the country on the history, manufacture and appreciation of fine chocolate. In addition, she teaches tasting classes at the Institute for Culinary Education and at the 92nd St. Y in New York City where she resides.

Claire Karaz has dual degrees in English (University of Michigan) and Medieval Art History (University of Rome, "La Sapienza"). She lived in Rome for a decade where she taught art history at Trinity College and study abroad programs for other American universities. She has lived in Istanbul for the last twelve years. She is presently an adjunct faculty at Yeditepe University and freelance translator. Originally from Washington, DC, Claire is very interested in social history. She is the author of Topkapı Palace: Inside and Out, published by Citlembik (Istanbul, 2004).

Nigel Cliff is a historian, biographer and critic. He has a BA and MA from the University of Oxford, where he was awarded a double First class degree in English and the Beddington Prize for English Literature. He is a former film and theatre critic for the London Times and writer for The Economist. His first book, The Shakespeare Riots, was published in 2007 by Random House and was a finalist for the National Award for Arts Writing. He makes his home in London, but as a longtime aficionado of all things Italian, he is researching and writing part of his new book in Rome.

Miru Kim is a New York-based artist who has explored various urban ruins such as abandoned subway stations, tunnels, sewers, catacombs, factories, hospitals, and shipyards. She was featured as one of the America's Best and Brightest 2007 in Esquire magazine. Her work has appeared in various other media such as The New York Times, The Financial Times, Time Out New York, The Korea Daily, La Stampa, JoongAng Daily, Dong-A Daily, HDNet TV, ProSieben, New York Times Upfront, Yen Magazine, AnimalNewYork.com, Gothamist.com, and in many shows in NYC and Berlin.
Miru was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts in 1981 but was raised in Seoul, Korea. She moved back to Massachusetts in 1995 to attend Phillips Academy in Andover, and moved to New York City in 1999 to attend Columbia University. In 2006, she received an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute. She is also the founder of Naked City Arts, LLC, which is dedicated to helping other young artists and bringing art to the Lower Manhattan.

Luca Zaggia is a geologist who has been working for the last 15 years as a coastal oceanographer for the National Research Council of Italy, Institute of Marine Science, Venice. His research has been focused on many aspects of the management of the lagoon ecosystem, from the assessment of contamination in the water and sediments of the city canal network prior to dredging to the monitoring of the input of freshwater and contaminants from the tributaries of the drainage basin. More recently, with his staff of technicians, he has been involved in studies on the hydrodynamics and transport of sediments in the tidal channel and shallow water areas of the lagoon, as well as the monitoring of the environmental effects of the works for the protection of Venice and its lagoon from floods. In cooperation with European and American institutions he is also working on research focused on the determination of submarine groundwater input in lagoons and coastal areas.

Ceylan Zere was born and raised in Istanbul and has spent much of her life wandering through its maze busy streets and alleys. With a background in engineering, she possesses a good knowledge of the city's built environment. Ceylan spent many years in the United States, and although she continues traveling her deep love is for Istanbul in particular, its traditions, lives, characters, and the stories of two great Empires that made the city their capital over the last 2000 years. A licensed guide for Turkey, Ceylan spend much of the year leading expeditions to archeological sites along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts of Turkey. She is the co-author of Turkey Guide: Confluence of Civilizations, written for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Gina Tringali recently obtained a Master's in food and wine history at the Universita' degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata while working for Context Travel Rome. Gina earned her MBA at NYU and worked in financial services in Boston, New York, and London before moving into the food and tourism industry. In 2006, she worked for the Craft family of restaurants in NYC in business development & marketing and spent some time in the kitchen before relocating to Rome in 2007.

Matico Josephson has been a student of New York's built environment for as long as he can remember, and an explorer of the city's nooks and crannies for even longer. His curiosity has found an outlet in the History of Architecture, in which he has recently been pursuing a Ph.D. at NYU's Institute of Fine Arts. He will prepare a dissertation on modern architecture in Spain.

After traveling extensively through Europe, Linda arrived in Florence to study Italian at the Institute of Dante Alighieri. Her love for the city led her to remain and continue studies as a certified guide.
She has worked throughout Italy, specializing in active, gourmet excursions and organizing trips in Sicily, Puglia, Umbria, Veneto and Tuscany. She also has completed her second level sommelier certification with the AIS Association of Italian Sommeliers.

Max Vetter is a Vienna-bred historian/art historian with a special interest in the social context of art and architecture. Having landed in Istanbul a couple of years ago, not without several detours, he there conducts research on the architectural history of the Ottoman Empire and teaches at one of the many Istanbul universities. Max is an active participant in international conferences and author of a number of articles in specialist journals. He is also eager to explore and share the treasures of Istanbul "off the beaten track", which linger behind many a corner in this overwhelming urban site.

Moses Gates is an Urban Planner working in housing, transportation, and demography of New York. He holds a Masters in Urban Planning from Hunter College, and has been giving tours of the hidden and unknown spaces of New York since 2003. His love of the hidden and unknown aspects of cities has lead him from the rooftops of Sao Paulo to the sewers of Rome.

Ken Ovitz holds multiple degrees and certificates in culinary history and food preparation from The New School University, The Institute of Culinary Education, and the State of New York. He is an expert on Jewish cuisine and religious feasts, and has written numerous articles for the Jewish Voice Newspaper and contributed scholarly papers on the history of Jewish cuisine, the seder, and kosher rules at a variety of conferences.

Daniela del Balzo was born in Naples, but has lived in Rome for many years. She has a Master's degree in marketing from Cornell University. Daniela's Italian Cooking School was established in New York in 1980 in cooperation with the CIGA International hotel chain, when she was called to organize Italian business lunches and dinners for American travel agents, fashion stylists, and managers of the hotel chain.
She abandoned a successful twenty-year career in marketing with Alitalia Airlines to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a chef. She continued her studies at the renowned Italian Cooking School Gambero Rosso, the French Culinary Arts School & Le Cordon Bleu, and the International Cooking School of Naples. Daniela was recently featured in the Finnish Mondo magazine, in the travel guide, "100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go" by Susan Van Allen, and on the BBC special "Rhodes Across Italy", hosted by top British chef, Gary Rhodes.
DANIELA's Cooking School, is the brand name of her in-home catering and personal chef services. Being a chef has granted her the luxury of doing what she loves most: creating!

Numbered among the city's contagious enthusiasts, Valentina is also a native Roman who trained as a classical archaeologist at the University of Rome, "La Sapienza", before joining the University of Pennsylvania's graduate group of art & archaeology in the Mediterranean world. At present, she is conducting her doctoral research on the Capitolium, one of ancient Rome's most sacred and civically significant hills, which today exhibits Michelangelo's urban marvel. Valentina has written and published on a variety of topics spanning the ancient, early modern, and modern periods, including: papal designs to re-purpose the Baths of Diocletian, Etruscan forgeries from the nineteenth-century, Italian legislation on the protection of cultural patrimony, and Mussolini's imperial models for Fascist Rome. Valentina possesses years of experience engaging University of California students in the discovery of Italy's multi-layered past in Florence, Rome, and Pompeii.

EY Zipris holds dual Masters degrees in education and museum anthropology from Teacher's College and Columbia respectively. She currently works at the City Museum of New York, and thus has deep and broad knowledge of the city and its history.

Becky earned her Master's degree in urban history from the University of Leicester, UK where she wrote her thesis on nineteenth-century city planning and its social implications, research that now informs her wanderings through New York. A freelance writer and researcher, she has contributed to publications like Time Out New York and The Boston Globe.

Selin Rozanes is a native of Istanbul. After a career in the travel and hospitality industries, she returned to her Sephardic Istanbuli roots and began designing and leading culinary itineraries and Turkish cooking classes in Istanbul, including programs on Sephardic cuisine. A self-taught chef and gastronomically inquisitive person, Selin has lead many culinary walks and tours and lectured widely on food. She is a member of Slow Food and the International Culinary Tourism Association. She speaks English, Turkish, and French.

Isabella is an art historian who specializes in the study of historic clothing and textiles. She has lectured extensively both in Italy, where she also taught History of Dress at the Universities of Udine and Padua, as well as in the UK and US. She has published several essays on such topics as Venetian textiles and lace and is currently working on a publication about the dress of Venetian nuns from the 15th to the 18th century. She currently lives in Venice where she works as curator of the Rubelli Historical Collection and Archives.

James Barron, a private art dealer, writes for publications as diverse as Glamour, The Paris Review, and Garden Design.

Hansel Hernandez-Navarro is an architectural conservator specializing in cultural resource management and the preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings and monuments. Over the years, Hansel has gained extensive experience through a variety of projects involving the preservation and conservation of historic and cultural resources. He has done site conservation work in the US, Italy, India, and Portugal. Hansel has also had various research and writing roles at the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles,
the World Monuments Fund, and the Museum of the City of New York. Hansel received his Master's in historic preservation from Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He is also active in the documentation and preservation of buildings of the modern movement.

Michelle Cianfaglione received her undergraduate degree in architecture from the University at Buffalo and her masters in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. During her education, she traveled extensively through Italy and Japan studying art and architecture. She is a third generation New Yorker who lives and breathes the culture of the city. Michelle is a published artist, avid photographer, and a member of Design in 5, which is affiliated with the Architectural League of New York. She began her career at Studio Daniel Libeskind and is currently teaching architecture at the New York Institute of Technology while practicing architecture here in NYC.

Noah Chasin earned his Ph.D. in art history from the Graduate School of the City University of New York (CUNY), writing his dissertation on 1950s architecture. He is currently an assistant professor of art history at Bard College and has been on the faculty at Columbia, Parsons, and other universities. Noah has researched and written extensively on modern architecture, including the buildings and urban environment of New York, which serves as an open-air classroom for many of his lectures.

Marie has always been passionate about food and wine. After obtaining a Master's in Wine she worked for a while in the wine industry in France and in the US. Upon returning to France she decided to pursue her love of food by studying under various high-level and even Michelin-starred Parisian chefs. In 2008, she created Kitchen Barn (www.kitchenbarn.com), a chef-at-home and catering company. Open-minded, she loves to mix various food influences. She is always looking for new tastes and new flavors to create perfect pairings. Farmers' markets, restaurants and walks are some of the good ways for her to find inspiration. And a simple stroll in Paris might turn into a real trip; a voyage of the senses.

Courtney LaRuffa holds a B.A. in architectural history from the University of Virginia and a Master's of architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked as professional architect in Philadelphia for many years and been involved in the design and construction process for many buildings in the city. Courtney has also worked in cultural resource management and as a historian for the Fairmount Park Commission where she did research on historic structures within Philadelphia's park system.

A native of Philadelphia, Tim Hayburn has long loved the history of his hometown. He formerly served as a tour guide in historic Philadelphia. Tim recently completed his doctorate in colonial American history with a focus on capital punishment in 18th century Pennsylvania from Lehigh University. Tim teaches US History at several of the area colleges.

Bernard Zirnheld moved to Paris from the United States to write his doctoral dissertation on the architecture and planning of the Rue Reaumur. The project explores the aftermath of Haussmannization during the Belle Epoque, a period in which Parisians devised new design strategies to approximate the picturesque neighborhoods they had lost to urban renewal. Bernie is a Ph.D. candidate in art history at Yale University with undergraduate studies in French literature and architectural design. A committed generalist, he is as eager to talk painting as he is to explore the city's monuments. His strong preparation in French visual and architectural production encompasses the entire sweep of modern history; from the introduction of Renaissance ideals under Francois Premier to twentieth-century avant-gardes. Sharing the sights of Paris with visitors both keeps him on his intellectual toes and reinvigorates his enthusiasm for a city that continues to fascinate him.

Dena Ferrara earned her Master's of Art in Museum Education at the University of the Arts and her undergraduate degree in American History from LaSalle University both located in Philadelphia. She has worked at with several museums and historical societies in the greater-Philadelphia area in education and curatorial departments. She has a broad background in history and experience teaching, and particularly enjoys studying scientists of 18th century America and Philadelphia colonial history.

Justina's master's degree in early American material culture from the Winterthur Program at the University of Delaware complements well her interest and love of sharing Philadelphia with visitors. At the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she works as Site Manager for Mount Pleasant and Cedar Grove, two historic homes in Fairmount Park administered by the Museum. She also designs programs and trains guides to share the Museums' collections with the public. Working with Museum curators, preservation professionals, and other stakeholders, she advocates for public access to and interest in local historic sites.

Marie Theres Berger is a painter who has made Paris her home since more then two decades. She works in her studio in Montmartre and shows her paintings in galleries in Europe and the United States. She studied history at the University of Cologne, Germany and painting at the Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia Pa. before she came to Paris to study art history at the Ecole de Louvre. Her knowledge of art history is enhanced by her practical painting experience. Beyond a purely academic approach this enables her to convey the emotional dimension of the artwork and to focus attention on the act of creation. She loves to share her passion for art and painting and is fascinated by the 19th century artistic heritage of Paris, it's art movements and urbanism.

Katie Wood received her B.A. from Smith College and her Master's from the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware. She is currently completing her Ph.D. at Delaware with a focus on 18th and 19th century American art and architecture. In addition to her work with some of the top institutions in Philadelphia and Washington, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the American Philosophical Society, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum she has a strong interest in maritime studies, vernacular architecture, and Roman art.

A native Parisian, Juliette Gitel-Lassabliere started her career at Unifrance Films International before entering into Fashion field which she has always been passionate about. After university degrees in Economics and Sociology and a Marketing-Sales MBA, she has since 2003 worked for worldwide trend agencies; Promostyl, Peclers and NellyRodi. Specialising in trend research, she has developed marketing programs and creative workshops for many Fashion and Beauty brands including luxury ones. Her special interest is upcoming trends, talents and products. She also loves shopping especially in her city, Paris.

Nenette Luarca-Shoaf holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of Southern California and an M.A. in the Humanities from the University of Chicago. She spent four years designing and conducting programs for adult audiences at the Art Institute of Chicago, and has also worked with the education departments of the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Delaware, where she specializes in nineteenth-century American art and visual culture, and has recently been awarded fellowships from the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the American Antiquarian Society.

Originally from Genoa, Erika moved to Venice ten years ago to study Oriental languages at Ca' Foscari University, where she graduated with a thesis on Japanese art and architecture. She has a keen interest in the art and history of Venice and worked for some important cultural institutions, such as the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, where she was in charge of special events, and the National Oriental Museum at Ca' Pesaro, where she studied and cataloged part of the collection. Her time at the Guggenheim collection sharpened her knowledge of contemporary art, which she continues to study. She is now a licensed tourist guide of the city of Venice.

Originally from Venetian mainland, Matteo Gabbrielli has lived in several different countries, which sparked his interest in art history and archaeology. He holds a B.A. in Cultural Goods Preservation and an M.A. in Archaeology from the Università Ca' Foscari – Venezia. He specialized in Islamic Archaeology with a thesis on Medieval Egyptian ceramic, focusing on the shards found at the Italian – Egyptian Center for Restoration and Archaeology (CIERA) in Cairo. Matteo chose to specialize in Islamic Archaeology, due to his personal passion and curiosity for the Islamic World: this particular interest was developed after several travels and stays in different Middle Eastern countries.
He works as a freelancer archaeologist following projects in different locations of the Veneto and also teaches history courses in local schools. In addition, he continues a close collaboration with the CIERA where he is involved in the direction of archaeological excavations.

Zeynep Cetrez is a social historian who has studied the diverse populations of Ottoman Turkey and has a special interest in the Jewish neighborhoods of Istanbul. With a masters in history from Sabanci University, Zeynep is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at Rice University.

Fotini Tyrovouzi is an archaeologist who has worked with the Acropolis Museum for many years and has extensive experience with the antiquities of Athens and Greece at large. She did her graduate work in classical archaeology and Byzantine art and history at the Free University in Berlin. She also studied at the University of Maryland and spent one year of high school in the United States. Fotini possesses deep knowledge and understanding of the patrimony of her native city and often works for the Greek Foreign Ministry leading diplomats around Athens.

Barbra discovered her love of food when what was supposed to be a year off before graduate school turned into a decade of dessert making, first in Colorado and then New York City, where she worked at the restaurants Washington Park, Prune, and Cookshop, among others. Many trips and countless meals later, she's now a freelance writer living in Paris. She is a regular contributor to Girls' Guide to Paris, publishes her own blog (www.barbraaustin.com), and is the assistant editor for www.parisbymouth.com

Sue King was born a Londoner and has lived in several other cities including Seoul, Berlin and Washington DC. Since returning to London, she has spent the last three years studying its art, architecture, literature and history.
Sue holds a research MPhil in History of Art from the Barber Institute, Birmingham University and has specialist knowledge of Victorian Britain through her study of its painting and literature. Her thesis, on symbolism in Victorian Art, focused on the work of the Pre-Raphaelites and she has also made studies in 20th Century American art.
Sue is fascinated by London's history and is most interested in the artists and writers who have helped to define it. She loves to recount stories of their lives and works, and their connections with each other and the city.

Jose Grave de Peralta brings an unusual combination of theoretical knowledge and practice to his walks. A professional fine artist and graduate of St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, known for its unique Great Books curriculum in classical liberal arts and philosophy, Jose knows how to “read” the almost forgotten language of the Greek and Roman mythology embedded in the art and architecture of Rome. His studies of Plato's dialogue, TIMAEUS, for example, open up dimensions of Raphael's School of Athens fresco and of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling frescoes otherwise unsuspected by visitors to these two sites. In addition, his own native Cuban background and master's degree in Spanish literature from the University of Delaware in Newark give his walks a Latin American flair and sense of humor that can be most welcome elements. Jose also studied fresco painting, history, and restoration at the Spinelli Institute of Art and Art Restoration, in Florence, and has been teaching freehand drawing in Rome, ever since he came to the city in August 2008 with the graduate students of the University of Miami School of Architecture.

A Southern Californian by birth if not necessarily by inclination, Julian has spent much of his life living and traveling abroad from Tubingen and Berlin to Paris and London, Thessaloniki and Istanbul to Colima and Dar es Salaam. He received his BA in Renaissance literature and art history from Columbia University, and is currently writing his Master's dissertation at the Warburg Institute, London, on the medieval texts and visual sources which contributed to that masterpiece of Italian poetry and culture, Dante's Divine Comedy. (Beware, he is prone to spontaneous recitations.) His art historical interests range from Italo-Byzantine collaborations to the history of western connoisseurship, while his literary passions take him from Renaissance poetry in French, English, and Italian to contemporary verse in the same languages (and back again).

Bill Bautz worked for several decades on Wall Street, designing and implementing computer trading systems to support the operations of banks, brokerage houses and stock exchanges both within the US and internationally. He held senior technology management positions with Shearson Lehman Brothers, American Express Bank, and the New York Stock Exchange. A consultant with the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, Bill currently works providing assistance to the financial institutions in Egypt and Iraq. He holds a graduate degree from Yale University.

Alessandro Celani is an archaeologist and art historian. He studied Greek and Roman Archaeology with Mario Torelli and Filippo Coarelli. He has published his undergraduate dissertation on “Greek works of art in the age of Augustus,” as well as a number of articles on Greek and Roman art. An expert in cultures and civilizations of the Mediterranean, Alessandro has travelled from Morocco to Iran, participated in excavations programs in Southern Italy and Greece, and lived in Athens for a long period. He collaborated with travel magazines, published a guide book of the Greek Islands and is now publishing his PhD dissertation on Hellenistic Sculpture of Rome and Central Italy. A booklet of photos and short poems by him was recently published with the title “Diario mediterraneo” (Mediterranean Journal). He gives tours in Umbria, Rome and Italy, lectures for public and private associations, and leads archaeological travels to Greece, Turkey, Libia and North Africa. He teaches archaeology and art history in American and Canadian universities in Rome, Tuscany and Perugia. He has two children, Sofia and Dario, and recently opened a B&B in Umbria.

Jim came to art history relatively late. After training at RADA and working as an actor and musician in theatre and television for over a decade, he arrived at the Courtauld Institute of Art where he took a BA, MA and PhD, writing his doctoral thesis on Donatello. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Courtauld, teaching and writing on the materials, processes and surfaces of sculpture, especially painted stone and wood. In January 2012 he takes up a Research Fellowship in the institute's Conservation Department to undertake research on sculpture during the English reformation and revolution. Jim is a Londoner, a dad and a cyclist, and would usually rather be at Lord's, watching the cricket.

Elisa Decker has worked as an artist in Greenwich Village for several decades. In addition to showing her work in galleries throughout the city and the recipient of many prestigious fellowships, Elisa writes for Art in America.

Simona has a strong passion for art and the meaning of visual arts, and strongly believes in the added value that history of culture and art gives to individual life and this is why she loves to share knowledge and curiosities with other people. Specialized in Italian Renaissance Art, she studied both in Venice and in Rome, where she had her PhD in History of Art with a thesis on the “Ara Pacis Augustae”. She is actually living in the university city of Cambridge, where she teaches History of Art; she knows London auction houses, museums and its artistic treasures like a real local.

Meg Zimbeck came to Paris for a job in public health but developed an "un"healthy addiction to the city's food and wine. That obsession has been channeled through her fingertips and into more than 500 articles about eating and drinking in Paris. Now a full-time food and travel writer, Meg's words can be found in publications like the Wall Street Journal, Budget Travel and GEO as well as uppity urban guides like BlackBook and Gridskipper. Paris has been her home for more than five years.

Philippa is an Oxford educated historian with specialist training in Art History. A qualified teacher with over 15 years experience as a resident guide and teacher at Dulwich Picture Gallery. For the last two years she has been on an intensive course learning about this great city. A Londoner all her adult life, she enjoys all aspects of the city, from the architecture to the food markets, from the parks and riverside walks to the galleries and city churches. Her particular interests are the quirkier, less well-known places which only a long standing Londoner gets to know.

Rachael Goldman holds degrees from Rutgers University, Sotheby's Institute of Art, and City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center in Classics and Art History. Rachel is currently working on a manuscript that deals with the social and cultural constructions of color in the Rome Republican and Imperial periods. She has studied at the American Academy in Rome in 2007 and has won fellowships from the New York Classical Club, the College Art Association, and the Archaeological Institute of American. Prof. Goldman is published in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review and the Journal of Decorative Arts of the Bard Graduate Center.

Sophie came to Paris looking for an adventure. Originally intending to stay for six months, she is still here over two years later. She did her BA in English Literature and History at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and recently completed an MA in Paris Studies at the University of London in Paris. She specialized in the history and culture of 19th and 20th century Paris and wrote her MA thesis on the relationship between Paris and Algeria, focussing on the cultural representation of 17th October 1961. She is passionate about literature, cinema and art, but is always hoping to improve her knowledge of less familiar subjects. Paris inspires endless curiosity and inspiration in Sophie, and it is a pleasure for her to be able to share these sentiments with others.

Linda is an art historian, specialist of early Renaissance Tuscan painting and sculpture. She received her Ph.d. from Pisa University and has recently been a research fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Gabrielle MonDesire first lived in France on a semester abroad in the Southeastern city of Grenoble. She earned her B.A. in French and Francophone Literature from Swarthmore College. In 2006, she decided to pursue a lifelong dream - she moved to Paris to study French cuisine. In 2007, she enrolled in the Ecole Superieur de Cuisine Francaise's passion sucre-sale course, earning a certificate in French pastry in 2008. Gabrielle has interned at some of Paris' finest restaurants, including Le Plaza Athenee, Le Meurice, Jean-Georges Vongerichten's Market, and the Musee du Quai Branly's Les Ombres.

Claire Barliant is a Brooklyn-based freelance critic and writer whose work has appeared in numerous publications including Afterall, Art in America, Artforum, Bookforum, and Time Out New York, and in books on the artists Inigo Manglano-Ovalle and Ann Lislegaard. She is formerly an associate editor of Artforum and an editor of Modern Painters, where she was executive editor from 2007 to 2009.

Ivana Jevtic teaches Byzantine studies at Isik University and is a senior research fellow at Koc University in Istanbul. Originally from Serbia, Ivana did her Ph.D. work at the Sorbonne in Paris, focusing on 13th century mural painting. Ivana is a gifted teacher with an interest in all aspects of medieval culture and the Byzantine empire in Istanbul.

Andrew Kranis is a LEED-accredited architect who came to Rome as a Fellow of the American Academy. He has remained in Rome to teach architecture and to research ecology and urbanism, in support of sustainable design projects such as his "Green Piazza" proposal for Rome. He has a varied background in design and historic preservation, including masonry conservation of landmark buildings in New York City and retail design for Whole Foods Market. Earlier in his career he worked as a theater director and as design manager for Japanese dance troupes touring in North America and Europe. He holds a Masters in Architecture from Columbia University and a B.A. from Duke University.
He is a native of New York City.

Suna Cagaptay is an architectural historian and archaeologist teaching in the School of Art and Design at Bahcesehir University. With a strong background in Byzantine and early Ottoman periods, she is well-equipped to examine and introduce the landmarks and built environments in the city, Suna holds BA and MA degrees in Archaeology and History of Art from Bilkent University and a PhD in the Architectural History, Theory, and Criticism program at the University of Illinois in 2007. After several years of living, studying, and teaching in Illinois, D.C., and Arizona, Suna is happy to be back in Istanbul, the city with which she fell in love when she had first visited as a 9- year girl for the first time. Currently, she conducts archaeological surveys in Bursa, the first capital of the Ottomans and publishes on the transition from Byzantine to the Ottoman in Asia Minor and the Balkans.

After a career as an educator in the United States, Ann Marie Mershon relocated to Istanbul several years ago. After a stint at the Koc School she has recently taken a position at Robert College. Her keen passion for history and cultural exploration led her co-author a major guidebook to the bazaars of Istanbul.

Nicole Griggs is currently a Ph.D student studying Gothic Architecture at Columbia University with a focus on early gothic structures and applications of new media and technologies. Her interest are in tectonic expression and spatial formation as well as social and cultural history. She received her Master's Degree and MPhil from Columbia University and her Bachelor's degree from Barnard College. Before joining the PhD program at Columbia she worked in media production in both creative and management positions. She also held a curatorial assistant position at the New Orleans Museum of Art for the Raised to the Trade: Creole Building Arts of New Orleans exhibit.

Born on Ile de la Cite 33 years ago, Cedrik really discovered Paris as a Sorbonne student, tracking the favorite spots of American writers, from Hemingway's Ritz to Faulkner's Luxembourg. With a Master's degree in American Literature and a two-year seminar in Theology & Philosophy from Institut Catholique de Paris, Cedrik has traveled around the world from India to South Africa, from Northern Canada to China's great wall or to Indonesia's coral reefs. A journalist and documentary filmmaker and has also worked closely with his family's cultural association leading cultural walks on Parisian history and society. Specialized in Bohemian artistic Paris, American poets, dancers and jazz, Cedrik loves sharing the unique aspects of the City of Light.

A native of London, but originally Italian, Daniela holds an MA degree in art history from La Sapienza University in Rome, with a specialization in comparative art. After obtaining a second MA in museum management in the faculty of architecture at the same university, she has worked for many years as a curator for the Umberto Mastroianni Foundation, collaborating with various artists. A certified translator, who works often for art editors, and a licensed Rome guide, Daniela's work encompasses various fields of the art world. A lover of “the south” and of Ancient Roman and Baroque art, especially Sicilian, she also has a passion for cinema, music, and literature.

Born and raised abroad, mostly in Asia, Lorraine discovered Paris intimately while studying art history at Ecole du Louvre, a school which holds most of its classes directly in museums and monuments. After several years spent in NYC, getting her Master's degree in Modern Art at Columbia University and working at the Guggenheim Museum, she returned to her adopted city in 2008 to start a PhD. Currently specializing in the history of photography and visual culture, active member of the Laboratoire d'histoire visuelle contemporaine, Lorraine also works as a freelance art critic, teaches art history, and nurtures a few artistic projects of her own.

Lawrence travelled and excavated extensively in Israel, Jordan and Egypt before attending the University of Durham where he studied archaeology. He specialised in ancient human remains during his Masters' at Liverpool University Medical School, followed by a year of travel and excavation in the UK and Africa. He won a scholarship to attend University College London, where he wrote his Doctorate on ancient populations of the Western Mediterranean basin and the Canary Islands. He currently lectures at Birkbeck College, University of London, and is guest lecturer at the University of Lima. He carries out research at London's Natural History Museum and spends several months each year working on a major archaeological project in Peru. He is also connected with excavations in Egypt, Bolivia, California, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Spain, where he works with a forensic unit recovering the fallen from the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War. He has a special interest in African art, and has undertaken various collecting trips as well as acting as a consultant to various galleries and private collectors. In addition to his research, he has interests in the classical world, ancient Assyria, geology, palaeontology, twentieth century art history and the history of London.

Livia Galante obtained a degree in Archaeology at the University of Rome, "La Sapienza" and has a Master's degree in the History and Conservation of Cultural Heritage from the University “Roma Tre”. Her main field of interest is Ancient Roman topography, as well as early Christian architecture. A Rome licensed guide and a native Roman, she is very enthusiastic in sharing the deep love and knowledge she has for the Eternal City with guests coming from abroad.

Kelly Bourni holds a Master's degree in modern letters from the Sorbonne and a certificate in archaeology from the National School in Athens. She has deep experience leading individuals and groups through the monuments of her hometown. In addition to her years of experience on site in Athens, Kelly has also undergone training in interpretation and museum education at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA in New York City and in cultural heritage management at the University of Paris IX. A gifted teacher, Kelly has guided a wide range of visitors to Athens, from members of the International Olympic Committee to heads of state and diplomats.

Vicky Kynourgiopoulou is an archaeologist and heritage management consultant who has worked on numerous digs throughout Europe and North Africa for such NGOs as ICCROM and UNESCO. She holds a Ph.D. in archaeology, architectural history and urban planning and has taught at a range of universities. She is currently heading up a program in heritage management at CEA's Rome campus.

Kevin Childs has worked as a publisher, an actor and a research consultant. Having gained a first class degree in English Literature at Oxford and an MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, he has completed a PhD at the Courtauld examining the ways in which Michelangelo influenced the art of his contemporaries. Although his heart is in the Renaissance, his interests range from Greek and Roman classical literature to the art of twentieth-century Mexico. Kevin has lived in London for over 20 years and has a great passion for the city, its history and all that it currently offers. He has also spent extended periods of time in Italy, Greece, Turkey, Mexico, Egypt and Morocco. He writes regularly on art and travel.

Ebru has a background in journalism and was many years a writer for a variety of Turkish magazines, including Gezi National Geographic Traveler. She has also served as an arts editor at a local publication. A native of Istanbul and a licensed guide, she has a broad range of knowledge, and is extremely interested in art and aesthetics and translating the details of the Istanbul street experience for visitors.

Roman by birth, Gastone is fascinated by all aspects of history and feels that walking around a city is our opportunity to bring that history to life. During the 1960's, Gastone studied architecture at La Sapienza University in Rome, and after moving to London in the '70s, trained as a Blue Badge Guide where he had the wonderful challenge of telling the story of London. Recently, Gastone has returned home to tell the story of Rome's past and enjoys giving insight into all that made Rome so great then, and so relevant now.

Haluk Cetinkaya is an archaeologist and scholar of Byzantine history. He holds a Ph.D. in Byzantine studies from the University of Istanbul and is a member of the archaeology faculty at Mimar University. Haluk serves as an advisor to many significant digs and restoration projects in Istanbul and Kosovo, and has lectured at universities around the world. He is considered an expert on the Hagia Sofia and was involved in a major television program about that structure. Haluk has a warm, inviting teaching style coupled with a deep knowledge and passion for late Roman and Byzantine culture in Istanbul.

Beth Edelstein is an Assistant Conservator in the Department of Objects Conservation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, currently working on the reinstallation of the Islamic Art galleries. She received a master\'s degree in art history and art conservation in 2003 from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center, and was an Andrew W. Mellon Fellow at the Cloisters from 2003-2005. She is also co-proprietor of SBE Conservation, LLC, a private objects conservation studio, which is overseeing the restoration of the murals and other historic decorative elements of the Stanton Street Synagogue.

Born in London, Ruth has also lived in Israel for many years.
She trained at the Rubin Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, where she studied Voice and Piano and received a degree in performance in both instruments.
She is also a qualified Music teacher and for many years taught Music to children and adults of all ages.
Returning to London in 2000, Ruth undertook a number of intensive courses learning about the History of this great City which she loves.

Ruth has a particular interest in Jewish London and loves taking people round the atmospheric markets, little alleyways and old synagogues bringing the sometimes turbulent history of the old Jewish quarter to life.
She also has a keen interest in the Artistic and Musical history of London and has created walks which illustrate the musical and artistic diversity of this city through Handel and Jimmy Hendrix, to 2000 year old Roman archeology and 21st C modern art.

Janet Cavallero has lived between Rome and America while working on her dissertation for Columbia University on photography in Italy under Fascism. Before that, she did a stint as an editor for an arts
publication in Chicago, and before that, as a painter, she taught
painting and drawing in art schools and art departments in the Boston area. Her specialization in Modern Italy addresses the effects on Italians of living with history while defining themselves as “modern,” so she has become familiar with Rome's many pasts and their expression through art and architecture. She is now based in Rome where, among other things, she sings in a Gospel Choir.

Eleonora Baldwin is an American born, Italian raised food and wine enthusiast, home cook, freelance writer, prolific blogger and wanderlust addict.
Her graphic design studies at Rome's Istituto Europeo di Design led to a ten-year collaboration as art director in both Rome and Los Angeles. Eventually, her career organically evolved in the film business where she has since been employed as assistant director and script supervisor on international productions shot all over the globe.
Now Eleonora divides her time between food and travel writing and designing custom food holidays in Italy. She is the author/editor of four popular websites, where she reviews restaurants, provides a useful resource for parents traveling with kids in Rome, captures the Eternal City's essence in her photos, and writes about Italian cuisine. Her topics range from family recipes, to food history, gastronomic tradition, and how Italians forage, shop, cook, eat, praise and appreciate food.
Drawing on her local insight and gourmand expertise, Eleonora is also a contributor with several online publications; she hosts a wine column and a weekly segment on two popular web magazines; provided content for numerous Rome city guides, and has also appeared in worthy food and travel online platforms with numerous stories and interviews.
Eleonora lives in Rome with her 5 year-old son. She is currently editing her manuscript about authentic Italian cookery art and lifestyle, and systematically eating her way towards perfecting the ultimate homemade pizza bianca recipe.

Carole Woodall has been exploring and studying Istanbul for nearly two decades with a specific interest in cultural and sensory urban environments. As a historian of the late-Ottoman and Turkish Republican periods, her specific research interests focus on the nightlife of 1920s Istanbul. Initially moving to Istanbul in 1991 from the US, she pursued an M.A. in History from Istanbul's Bogazici University focusing on Seljuk and late-Byzantine history. Later, she finished a Ph.D. in Middle East and Islamic Studies/History from New York University, and presently is a faculty member in the Dept. of History and Women's and Ethnic Studies program at the University of Colorado. Carole actively participates in international workshops, conferences, and has published widely. She is currently working on a forthcoming manuscript on decadent nightlife in 1920s Beyoglu. Her favorite activity is roaming the streets of this vibrant city at all hours of the day and night.

Oliver Thring was born in Switzerland and lived in Boston, MA before his family settled in Edinburgh, Scotland. He graduated from Oxford University with a first class degree in English Literature, and now spends his time writing for a variety of national publications on a number of subjects – particularly food, drink and travel. His food blog is one of the most successful in the UK. Oliver is passionate about London, having lived in and experienced the city for the last five years.

Catherine Haas worked five years as a curator at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal, the city architecture center of Paris. After more than 30 exhibitions and publications on city planning and contemporary architecture, she has acquired an intimate knowledge of the architectural history of the city from its medieval core to 19th century passages to contemporary projects. She holds a MA in Cultural Heritage Studies from the University College London, as well as an engineering degree in architecture from the RWTH in Aachen, Germany. Born in Berlin, raised in Belgium, and schooled in Germany and England, Catherine has worked in France, Ireland, and more recently the United States where she worked for the SFMOMA and led a seminar on exhibition design at the California College of Arts.

An architect by training, Aylin studied conservation of historic structures in Turkey, Italy and the UK. She practiced architectural conservation for 13 years in her own office. She later became the manager of 'Turkey, Cultural Heritage Project' conducted by The Ministry of Culture and World Bank. Eventually, her passion for food and travel led her to write on food. Since 2003 she has written a weekly food column at Cumhuriyet, a prestigious national daily. She contributes to various food magazines and was a Jury member of the Slow Food Award 2000-2003. She contributes to Terra Madre and Presidia projects as the leader of the Ankara Convivium. Aylin consults for Channel 4 and appeared in the Istanbul episode of ‘Food Lover's Guide to the Planet, a documentary by Gourmet, broadcast by National Geographic TV. Aylin won the Sophie Coe award on food history in 2008 by her article "Poppy: Potent yet Frail" presented previously at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery where she’s become a regular presenter. Lately she contributed to the Food Cultures of the Word Encyclopedia entry on Turkey and is the curator of the Culinary Culture Section of Princess Islands’ City Museum,. She is happy to unite her expertise in archaeology and art history from her previous career with her unbounded interest in food culture.

Anestis Vasilakeris is a professor of Byzantine studies at Bogazici University in Istanbul. He holds a Ph.D. in Byzantine history.

Tricia Hastings was born in Boston and raised in Connecticut. She received a BA in French at Tufts University and a MA in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University. Tricia spent ten years in London traveling in Italy, France and Belgium for an international bank. While in London, she began taking art courses offered at Christie's as well as seminars in local museums. After a few years in Greenwich, CT and in Baltimore, MD working for consulting firms, she returned to Boston. In 2006, Tricia joined the Museum of Fine Arts where she conducts tours of the collections in both English and French. Like her favorite expatriate artist, John Singer Sargent, Tricia enjoys playing tennis in her free time.

Nikitas Palantzas, was born in Greece and studied social sciences in Athens. He has carried out fieldwork research in Istanbul and he completed his PhD in Social Anthropology at the University of Bristol, UK where he had been teaching for two years at the department of Archaelogy and Anthropology. Nikitas has also been a visiting lecturer at a number of universities in Europe, worked in a variety of research programs, and presented his work in international academic conferences. His academic interests focus on the historical connection between Turkey and Europe, especially as this is depicted in Istanbul with its temporal role as a cosmopolitan city, from the Ottoman Period until today. He is also interested in the history and the social and cultural life of Beyoğlu, which was the field of his ethnographic research.

Valentina Di Napoli received her undergraduate degree in classics from the University of Naples, her Masters in classical archaeology from the Italian Archaeological School at Athens, and completed her Ph.D. in classical archaeology at the University of Athens, with a specialization in Hellenistic and Roman sculpture. She participated in many excavation programs in Greece and Italy and collaborated as a consultant with several museums and institutions in Athens. Valentina is the correspondent from Greece for the Italian monthly periodical “Archeo”, teaches ancient Greek art & archaeology in an American university in Athens. She also works at the Swiss School of Archaeology. Valentina has published specialized reviews several articles about the art and archaeology of ancient Greece, and is now completing her first book, “Theatres of Roman Greece.”

Andrew Magnes is an Architect and Artist. He has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drawing from the University of Florida and a Master of Architecture degree from New School University, Parsons School of Design. After working for several New York Based architecture firms, he founded his own practice, amProjects, in 2007. Andrew is particularly interested in how cultural and social shifts redefine architectural and urban form. In the Fall of 2011, he will be teaching Architecture at SUNY Orange.

No biography information for Jon Harper.

Elisabetta is a native Roman with a PhD in Classical Archaeology. After obtaining her degree in Roman archaeology, she completed a Masters about Roman Provinces and an Italian-French Ph.D about the archaeology of sacred spaces and rituals in Eastern Greece during Greek and Roman times. Since 1995 she has taken part in archaeological excavations in Rome, South Italy, Sicily, Turkey and Greece. She has been awarded with German, French and British post-lauream and post-doctoral Research Fellowships, spending time in the different countries. For the past four years she has been a visiting professor at the University of Brittany and currently she is lecturer for American colleges in Rome and for an Italian university, where she teaches Masters and Monuments of Rome and Greek and Roman Archaeology and History of Art. She has authored several scientific papers, participated in international conferences, and has curated an exhibition in Rome. She is currently working toward the publication of her dissertation. Since 2001 she has worked on didactic projects and guiding in Rome and in the Middle East, where she worked as Archaeological Tour guide in Lybia, Syria, and Israel.

Andrea Van Houtven received her Ph.D. in art history at the University of Maryland. Her dissertation was on the relationship between art and humanism at the Spanish court in the early 17th century, which inevitably led her to Madrid. She has lived in Madrid for 12 years where she has been teaching art history and art-related courses at various universities and private centers. She also participates in special events at the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

Pianist/Composer/Educator Jason Domnarski has been an active member of the New York City music scene for several years, performing in many of the citys top clubs, including the Blue Note, Jazz Standard and Joe's Pub. When not performing with his own group, JDT, or with other projects, Jason maintains a busy teaching schedule, organizing lectures on jazz history and running the Park Slope Rock School, which he founded in 2008 in Brooklyn, NY. A graduate of Skidmore College, Jason studied and performed in Paris during a semester abroad in 2002 and now divides his time between Paris and New York City.

Georgia Sermamoglou-Soulmaidi was born in Athens, Greece. She studied Greek philology at the University of Athens, majoring in classical literature and minoring in linguistics and Byzantine and modern Greek literature. She has a Master’s degree in classics from the University of Virginia, where she wrote her thesis on the poetry of Ovid. She has taught Greek and Latin, as well as classes on Greek mythology and Roman civilization. She is currently working on a dissertation on Plato’s philosophy.

Having lived in Greece and London, Arzu Toramon is a native of Istanbul. She is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of Istanbul in Byzantine studies, where she is researching Byzantine frescoes and mosaics.

Eugene studied at Oxford University and the Courtauld Institute and is currently completing his PhD at the University of Reading, looking at the history of Rome under fascism. While his research has focused most recently on urban design and planning of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, he maintains diverse interests in art and architectural history, from Renaissance self-portraiture to futurist aesthetics, and in the modern history of Italy.

After receiving her undergraduate degree in art history from Swarthmore College, Lauren pursued a master’s in architectural history from the Courtauld Institute in London, where she focused on the urban development of Renaissance Rome. She is currently close to completing her doctorate at the Institute of Fine Arts, and is writing her dissertation on the architecture and urbanism of banks in early modern Italy. Her enjoyment of architectural history budded while working for Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, a Philadelphia based firm. Lauren loves exploring New York City’s countless cultural treasures. She has taught courses on the architectural history of the city, and has recently helped to landmark some of the city’s monuments.

Originally from Vail, Colorado, Hilary Haakenson first toured the calli of Venice as an undergraduate studying abroad. Yet, over the last eight years, the art and architecture of Venice have repeatedly drawn her back to the Serenissima. She earned a dual degree in art history and fine arts from Boston College and with the help of a Fulbright Fellowship, she is now working towards completing her PhD on the medieval art and cartography of Venice and its rival Maritime Republics, Genoa and Pisa. Her research allows her to study first hand art and architecture that reveals the relationship between Venice and the East, the self-representation of Venice’s early oligarchic government, and the production in Venice of many of the earliest nautical maps of the Mediterranean.

Jennifer Abadi wrote and illustrated her cookbook-memoir, A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma’s Fritzie’s Kitchen (now in its third printing in paperback), and currently assists others in writing and preserving their own family recipes. Four years ago she created “The Traveling Palate,” a monthly event where guests enjoy a series of food demos and tastings while learning about less-common cuisines and cultures in an intimate café setting. Jennifer teaches in such professional cooking schools in New York City as The Jewish Community Center (JCC), the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), and the Natural Gourmet (beginning fall 2010), as well as privately in individual homes. Her area of expertise covers a range of cuisines, such as Syrian, Indian, Moroccan, Iraqi, Egyptian, Yemenite, Persian, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, and Turkish, all of which she can customize to your needs. Jennifer is also an active member of The New York Women’s Culinary Alliance as well as ChefsLine.com, MyFoodMyHealth.com, and Cookstr.com. She has done food demonstrations on NBC, ABC, and Fox 5 News, as well as been interviewed by such radio on stations as “Awake, Alive, and Jewish,” and “Radio Sefarad: The English Corner,” in Spain.

Sarah Lohman has over a decade of museum experience with a specific focus on culinary history. Currently, she is an educator at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, and also works as a freelance curator, consulting with historical institutions to create public programs focused on food. Dubbed an "historic gastronomist," Lohman recreates historic recipes as a way to make a personal connection with the past. She chronicles her explorations in culinary history on her blog, FourPoundsFlour.com, and her work has been featured in publications as diverse as Edible Manhattan and NHK Japanese Public Television.

Alex R. Goldfeld is a public historian and the author of The North End: A Brief History of Boston’s Oldest Neighborhood. He has been creating and leading tours of Boston’s historic neighborhoods since 2000. In addition to guiding tours, Alex also served as Director of Operations at Boston’s Museum of African American History. He spent four years there overseeing the visitor experience, managing the historic sites, and facilitating tours of the Black Heritage Trail. An expert in the social history of Boston, Alex lives with his family in the North End, where he is both President and Historian of the North End Historical Society.

Jennifer Young received her B.A. in Jewish studies from McGill University in Montreal, and her M.A. in cultural anthropology from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. She is currently a PhD candidate in Jewish history at New York University. Her dissertation focuses on the Jewish labor movement and inter-ethnic activism during the New Deal era. She has traveled extensively studying Yiddish language and culture, from Lithuania to Tel Aviv. She also enjoys exploring northern Manhattan's Washington Heights, where she lives.

Alexander got a First in Modern History at Oxford and retains an abiding passion for the subject. He has lived and worked – mainly in publishing – in France for over twenty years, first in Paris and now in Normandy, where he is carrying out an eco-friendly restoration on his old fisherman’s cottage in Port-en-Bessin. This small fishing port, noted for its scallops, is situated on the coast just 10 km north of the medieval splendours of Bayeux, and is tucked into the cliffs which separate the sites of the American and British D-Day landing beaches. His knowledge of the Normandy landings is enhanced by the fact that his father was a member of the British commando unit which liberated his adopted town in June ’44, and indeed Alexander has recently published a book on the very subject. His love for the region also led him to study to qualify as an official Regional Guide, and sharing his enthusiasm for Normandy and its long history has become something of a vocation.

Maggie Fleming received her Diplôme de Sommellerie from Le Cordon Bleu Paris in May 2010, and holds the advanced level certification with distinction from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust in London. While a student at Le Cordon Bleu, she completed a sommelier internship at the historic Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent. Prior to studying wine Maggie worked at Artists Rights Society in New York City. She has a BA in Classics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and studied Art History and Archaeology at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Maggie also spent a college semester studying in Athens and participated in the American Academy in Rome's Summer Program in Archaeology in 2005.

Clare has lived and worked in London for over 25 years. After graduating with a Degree in Geography and a Masters Degree in Environmental Planning from Nottingham University, she worked as a town planner and urban designer in one of the most dynamic, diverse and probably most challenging cities on earth - London! Employed in both the public and the private sector, she specialised in regeneration policy guidance and the conservation and renewal of protected buildings and historic areas in several of London’s Boroughs. Before starting a family in the 1990’s, she travelled extensively throughout Africa and Madagascar, working as a volunteer on several self-help community projects.

She has spent two years training to guide around London and now has the pleasure of telling London’s fascinating planning and architectural story to visitors, bringing her own personal insight into many of the city’s landmarks!

Wayne Curtis is a contributing editor at both Preservation magazine (National Trust for Historic Preservation) and The Atlantic. He's written about historic architecture, travel, and preservation for more than a decade, and his stories have appeared in American Scholar, New York Times, Canadian Geographic, Men's Journal, Saveur, American Heritage, Smithsonian, American Archeology, Architect, and on the radio show This American Life. He's the author of And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails, and has written a column about cocktail history and culture for The Atlantic since 2008. He moved to New Orleans in 2006.

Diane Kochilas is an internationally known food writer and food consultant. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, Gourmet, Saveur, and Food & Wine. In Greece, she is the weekly food columnist and restaurant critic for the country’s largest newspaper, Ta Nea. Diane has written 17 books in both English and Greek on Greek and Mediterrranean cuisine, including the award-winning The Glorious Foods of Greece. She is the owner of the Glorious Greek Kitchen cooking school on the island of Ikaria and she is consulting chef and partner at New York’s Pylos restaurant, one of the top-rated Greek restaurants in the city as well as consulting chef at Avli Restaurant in Chicago.

Roman native Sabrina Pietrobono is a Classical and Christian Archaeologist with advanced degrees from the University of Rome, Pontifical Institute of Christian Archaeology, Italian Institute for Paleographic, Diplomatic and Archival Studies, and University of L'Aquila, where she completed her doctorate in Medieval Archaeology in 2008. In addition to excavating many ancient sites in France and Italy, Sabrina has served as the Scientific Director of an Italian museum. She is the author of two books and many
articles and conference papers about her topographical research in Central Italy, and is currently writing a book on Italian castles while perfecting her knowledge of English and English culture in the U.K.

American ex-patriot, TyLean, began a career in the music business at the age of 16. Determined to run her own record label, she studied business and recording engineering in addition to earning a BA in music from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvana. She has released three solo albums on her own Bast Records label and toured America, Canada, Europe and the UK. TyLean immigrated to the United Kingdom in 2007 to earn her Master's degree in Music Composition for Film and Television from The University of Bristol. She eventually made London her home, where she is active in the live music scene. When TyLean is not on tour, she is researching for her PhD in Music with a focus on the economics and infrastructure of the independent music business.

Originally from Canada, Ayla moved to the UK in 2003 after completing her History of Art BA at the University of Victoria. She subsequently wrote her PhD on Victorian architecture at the Courtauld Institute of Art, where she also obtained her MA. She has studied theology at Oxford University and is currently researching the connections between art and faith in British culture. Since 2008 she has been a Visiting Lecturer at the Courtauld, where she teaches undergraduate courses on nineteenth-century art and architecture. Ayla lectures widely and has given talks and tours for the V&A, the Courtauld Gallery, RIBA, and Love Art London (for whom she once gave a tour of Hyde Park in a fetching false mustache). Fond of tea, philosophy, climbing, singing and taking in all that London’s art scene has to offer, Ayla is also a freelance historic buildings researcher, writer and curator.

Olivia Powell is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University. Her dissertation—a marriage between her background in dance and her love of Italian art—studies the relationship between painting and performance in fifteenth-century Florence. At Columbia, she has taught “Masterpieces of Western Art,” as well as “Dance and the Early Modern Artist”—an undergraduate course of her own design. Olivia has also held an adjunct position at Parsons the New School for Design, and an internship at the Morgan Library. In addition to the Italian Renaissance, Olivia maintains an active interest in the arts of Africa. Her M.Phil degree was awarded with a minor in this field, and in 2007 she co-curated Primitivism Revisited: After the End of an Idea at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York City. Olivia is the recipient of fellowships from the Jacob K. Javits Foundation and Columbia University. In her free time, she can be found taking ballet classes at studios throughout the city.

Since 2009, Katherine has been lucky enough to call Paris home. A PhD candidate at the University of Virginia, she first arrived in the city to conduct dissertation research on an exchange with the École normale supérieure. With the support of the Kress Foundation, she plans to complete her study of late medieval and early Renaissance Parisian art over the next two years. Interested in the art of various periods and regions – from early German printmaking and Flemish tapestries to South Asian art and the School of Paris – she is excited to be able to share her passion as a docent for Context Travel.

Brought up within sight of London's Roman walls, Agnes then strayed north of Hadrian's Wall to Edinburgh University. After graduating with an M.A. in Architectural History, with a specific focus on the Early Renaissance, she came to Rome drawn by warmer climes, ruins, and the prospect of a Vespa. Eleven years, and one Roman husband, later she's still here. As well as being a licenced guide for the City and Province of Rome, she contributes to numerous guide books, and every so often translates academic art historical and archeological papers from Italian to English.

No biography information for Jessica Stewart.

Patricia Rucidlo has a master’s degree in Italian Renaissance history from Cornell University, and another in Italian Renaissance art history from Syracuse University; both of her theses were on Florentine topics. She also writes about Florence, Tuscany, and Emilia-Romagna for a popular guide book, has led wine tours in Chianti, and has cooked in several Florentine trattorie. She lives in the Tuscan countryside with her husband and six dogs.

Gabriel Wick is a landscape architect and has a small consultancy specialized in the restoration and interpretation of historic gardens and landscapes. He is doing his doctorate through the University of London – Queen Mary on progressivism and the designed landscape in pre-Revolutionary France. He grew up in both England and the US, and studied architectural and urban history at NYU’s Gallatin School. He did a masters in landscape architecture at UC Berkeley, and a second masters on the conservation of historic gardens at the architecture school of Versailles (ÉNSA-V). He has been in Paris for just a little under five years and is only ever leaving feet-first.

Richard E. Ocejo earned his doctorate in Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center and joined the faculty in fall 2009. His primary research looks at the interrelationship between urban change and the nighttime economy, with a specific focus on issues such as gentrification and urban growth policies, through the analytical lenses of nightlife scenes. He is currently researching a book on the development of contemporary cultural movements, focusing on the cocktail movement with the aim of identifying patterns of cultural production and consumption, as well as new forms of work in the postindustrial economy.

A Montreal native now based in New York, Chantal Martineau is a freelance writer specializing in food, wine, spirits, travel, and culture. During a three-year stint in London, she edited the travel section of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin.net, and since then has contributed to such titles as Saveur, The Atlantic, The New York Times, Redbook, Wine Enthusiast, Decanter, Imbibe and The Globe and Mail. In 2009, she starred in the Travel Channel's Confessions of a Travel Writer and, in 2010, published Knack Calorie Counter Cookbook. She is currently at work on a book about the evolution of tequila from local agricultural product to luxury good.

Ilona Gajor is an art historian with a focus on contemporary art, art collecting, and the role of art in urban society. She holds a Master's in art history from the University of Warsaw and has worked in a variety of modern and contemporary art museums and galleries. She worked on the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw architectural competition, and is a founder of Collect Berlin. Ilona also has a deep interest in urban planning and architecture, and has led numerous tours and lecture events on Berlin architecture. A native of Poland, she has lived in Berlin for many years.

Michelle Cheng is the co-founder of the popular culinary website Chouxettes. A historian by training, she earned her Master's degree from New York University's Institute of Fine Arts with a special interest in decorative arts. Michelle has worked in numerous galleries in New York City.

Originally from Seattle, Washington, Emily first came to Rome on a study-abroad trip during her undergraduate studies in 2003. During this trip she was particularly overwhelmed by the magnificence of the ceiling frescoes in the Palazzo Barberini, and upon return to the University of Washington she decided to switch majors to art history. Since her initial visit to Rome she has done everything possible to return to the city that she now calls the love of her life. She is currently an art history graduate student at Rutgers University in New Jersey, writing her dissertation on the astronomical ceiling fresco in the Sala Bologna in the Vatican Palace, and contextualizing it within the broader framework of art and astronomy/astrology in Renaissance Italy. She has been researching and writing in Rome since October 2009, and while not working on her dissertation she can likely be found in Curva Sud at the Stadio Olimpico furiously supporting Italy’s best soccer team, AS Roma.

Christina Benedict originates from East-Berlin and studied cultural sciences with a focus on cultural history and comparative social science, particularly phenomenons of urban development.

Kathryn holds a Master's Degree in social history with a focus on gastronomy. She enjoys sharing her knowledge of the city with its visitors. She is also a sommelier.

No biography information for Katerina Tavri.

Katie Johnson, a native Midwesterner, fell in love with the Middle East more than a decade ago and has been working on archaeological projects throughout the Middle East and the Balkans ever since. She has MAs in Middle East History and Islamic Archaeology (University of Chicago) and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Ottoman Archaeology at the University of Chicago. Presently, she teaches at Istanbul Bilgi University, but she has also been involved with numerous cultural, historical, and archaeological projects in Turkey and the greater Islamic world. She has several published articles and has given numerous guest lectures and conference talks. She researches the influence of empire on material culture and examines the physical expression of identity in urban settings. Her knowledge of and interest in history and modern culture and politics allow her to talk about many aspects of Istanbul, from the ancient to the modern.

Heribert is a native Berliner whose background cultural anthropology and deep love of the city makes him the consummate companion to learning adventures in this city.

Born in Birmingham, the city once known as 'The Workshop of the World', Alice came to London following an undergraduate degree at Hertford College, University of Oxford. She received an MA in European Studies from University College London and has completed a PhD on Modernism at the London Consortium, where her research explores the links between material architecture and the architecture of the mind. She is also extremely interested in the post-war housing projects designed and built in the capital during the 1950s and 1960s - and is lucky enough to have lived in one. A Teaching Fellow at Birkbeck, University of London, and an occasional lecturer on 'The City' course at the Centre for European Studies, UCL, Alice is ever eager to step out into the city and learn from its spaces directly.

Elisabeth Everitt took a degree in Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University. She was at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for ten years in London, in the course of which she was posted to Helsinki (Finland), Nicosia (Cyprus) and New Delhi (India). She has lived and worked briefly in France and Germany and for longer in Vienna and Belgrade.
More recently she has trained as a Blue Badge Tour Guide in Cambridge, where much of her experience has been guiding in the Fitzwilliam Museum. She studied History of Art at Anglia Ruskin University on Landscape Painting. Her interests have always been history, and art and buildings, places and people

Lauren Golden has been teaching on and off in Italy for 15 years before finally following her soul and moving to Rome. She holds an MA that explored Raphael as an architect and the significance of fantasia in the Renaissance and a PhD concerning the role of the imagination, human evolution and neuroscience developing the concept of 'Neuroarthistory'. She has taught and lectured at the University of East Anglia, the Norwich School of Art & Design, Mount Holyoke College (USA), has worked for the Getty Grant Programme and now teaches a summer program in Rome for Iowa State University. Originally having a passion for Renaissance Rome, its art and architecture and Papal patronage, she now feels that her love for the city has resulted in becoming a small walking encyclopedia with a particular ardour for Borromini. Her publications include Raphael and the Villa Farnesina and she was the editor for 'Raising the Eyebrow'. At present she is writing two books: one on Raphael and the other of her experiences in and knowledge of Rome.

William studied history and art history at Bristol University and did his MA at the Sainsbury Centre for the Visual arts at the University of East Anglia Norwich, specialising in Westminster Abbey. He taught history to university entrance for ten years before marrying and settling in France where he set up his own tour guide business based in Caen Normandy. In 1991 he became a nationally accredited Guide-conférencier des Monuments Historiques et des Sites, and a Guide-Interprète régional. Since 1994 he has written nine guide books for Pitkin Guides and the French publisher Pro Libris, all on the theme of D-Day and the battle of Normandy: these are sold in English and in French throughout the region and in every museum related to 1944. He has given lectures on Silver Seas cruises and the Silver Cloud II. Off season he teaches English to engineers and lawyers at the University of Caen - and writes. Since 2002 he has been the President of the Franco-British Association in Caen, the city where he intends to age gracefully.

Avgi was born in Cairo but raised in Athens. An archaeology major at the University of Athens, she is also a licensed guide for the city and possesses both a deep and broad knowledge of the cultural history of her native city. Avgi has extensive experience as a teacher and has worked with both children and adults in on-site learning, using the city of Athens as an open air textbook.

No biography information for Melanie Micir.

Vassilios is a historian who taught for many years in local schools in Athens. He earned a degree in archaeology from the University of Athens, but has done specialized research in the history of the Orthodox Church, Byzantine studies, and modern Greek history. Vassilios is a gifted teacher with extensive on-site experience with adults, children, and families.

Leda Costaki is an archaeologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. She is an active member of the American School for Classical Studies Athens and has extensive experience on digs throughout Greece. Dr. Costaki possesses a specialized expertise in walls and Greek road systems and infrastructure.

Julie McGinnis holds a B.A. in Art and Archaeology, with minors in American Studies and French Literature, from Princeton University, as well as an M.A. in Art History from the University of Delaware. She is currently a Ph.D. student in Art History at Temple University, with a focus on American art and architecture of the nineteenth century. Julie has worked with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Frick Collection, ART+AUCTION magazine, ARTINFO.com and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. An avid traveler, she has taught in France as well as the US, and has written extensively on public art in Philadelphia.

Meisha Hunter is an architectural historian and a historic preservationist. She studied Classical History and Art & Architectural History at Queens’ University in Kingston Ontario, received her M.A. in Art History from Rutgers University, and pursued post-graduate studies in historic preservation at Columbia University. In 2007, she was awarded the Rome Prize in Historic Preservation from the American Academy in Rome, where her research focused on the construction history, water management, and stewardship of a still-active, 21km long, 2000 year old aqueduct. Her research and collaborative projects focus on historic waterworks infrastructure, and her writing has been
included in publications of the American Academy in Rome, the Ename Center for Public Archaeology and Heritage Presentation, Fang Duff Kahn, the International Council on Monuments and Sites, and the University of Delaware Press. She has lectured in Canada, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands, as well as the United States., and has travelled throughout Europe, as well as regions of North Africa, and the Middle East in pursuit of ancient Roman aqueducts. Her photographs have been exhibited in Florence and Rome. A native Canadian, she currently lives and works in New York City.
Ms. Hunter’s project in Rome focused on the stewardship of the Aquedotto Vergine, a 2000 year old, 21km long, gravity fed aqueduct, still in active use within Rome’s water distribution system. Subsequently, Ms. Hunter completed a post-graduate certificate program in historic preservation at Columbia and prepared a thesis entitled “Stewardship and Sustainability of Historic Waterworks Infrastructure: New York and Rome.” Since 2003, her research, travel and writing has centered on articulating a preservation voice in the future stewardship of historic aqueducts.

Maggie is a Bristol and Oxford educated Modern Languages graduate with a Master’s Degree from Edinburgh. Before becoming a professional Scottish Tourist Guide she taught , mainly Literature, in a variety of educational establishments in England and Scotland as well as organising voluntary work placements in Romania and Hungary. She has lived in Edinburgh for most of her life and is very familiar with its history, architecture and art. Through her family she has close associations with Museums and Galleries and enjoys showing guests round this wonderful city with its wealth of architectural detail, mysterious mediaeval passageways and glorious vistas.

Catherine Kluger is the founder of Tartes Kluger, a renowned savory and sweet tart bakery in Paris. After giving up her career as a lawyer, Catherine turned to her love of gastronomy. In addition to writing several cookbooks, Catherine is also often featured on French TV and media for her inventive cuisine.

Susan's first profession was teaching, having studied English Literature and Art at the prestigious Homerton College in Cambridge. She also holds the Institute of Linguists Diploma in French. Her interests are strongly in history and architecture but science is on an equal footing because of all the fascinating scientific connections in Cambridge.
Susan is a holder of the coveted Cambridge Blue Badge for tourist guiding. She trained as a guide in 1998. Her guiding qualifications also include nearby Bury St Edmunds and Ely Cathedral.

Rebekah Junkermeier received her B.A. in early Christianity at Dartmouth College and her Master's in Early Christianity and New Testament Studies at Harvard Divinity School, specializing in early Christian and Roman archaeology. She has lived and taught in Turkey and has spent the past year on the James B. Reynolds Fellowship studying the catacombs and Roman history here in Rome.

Australian born, her love for European history, art and languages was born at seventeen, when on a study abroad program for a year in Belgium. Freya has an undergraduate degree from Sydney University with a double major in History of Art and French, during which she also spent a semester at the Sorbonne University in Paris on university scholarship. A further post-graduate scholarship to study Italian and undertake art history research took her to Florence, where she fell in love with all things Italian and decided to stay. Freya is currently finishing her Master's in Renaissance art history, concentrating on Venice and Florence, through Warwick University, England.

After many years working in book publishing, Sarah Christie is now a travel writer and photographer with a particular interest in food. Born and raised in London, she has also lived in Germany and recently in the United States, where she discovered the true meaning of long distances and big weather. A foodie for as long as she can remember, and a passionate cook, she loves to discover a culture through its food and sees it as one of the great ways to get the heart of a place. After several years in the US, she returned to her native London, and is constantly rediscovering the many people, places and foods, old and new, that make this city great.

British born, educated and now having lived permanently in Barcelona for the past three years, Alan Warren ‘s expertise and knowledge on the International Brigades and the Spanish Civil War is now much sought after by historians and visitors curious to understand this confusing yet fascinating period of Spanish hidden history in the beautiful Spanish landscape. As a publisher specialising in books on the International Brigades and able to study the literature, archives and photographic collections of this period of history in Spain and abroad his research has helped to extensively expand the current corpus of knowledge of the conflict. His guided tours of the War throughout different parts of Spain are much sought after. Television and filmwork also now take an ever-increasing proportion of this enjoyable work.

Tom Diemer is a seasoned political journalist who has worked for many years in Washington, DC. His many journalistic credits include Washington bureau chief and columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and faculty lecturer at the Medill School of Journalism's Washington Program. Most recently Tom has served as a columnist at Politics Daily. He is the author of two books, the most recent being "Fighting the Unbeatable Foe,'' a biography of Howard Metzenbaum.

Vincent Martin has a background in both food and wine. Starting his career as a chef, Vincent decided to pursue his love of wine becoming a professional sommelier. He has worked as the sommelier at some o of Paris's best restaurants and has his own wine celler tucked under a hidden medieval garden in the 5th arrondissement of Paris.

Sevil as a licensed guide for Turkey has been guiding and exploring Istanbul since 1992. In Sevil's opinion, Istanbul is a perfect location for capturing the beauty, mysticism and harmony of east and west cultures where the ancient and modern continue to melt in the same pot. Yet, one can still taste the differences and similarities reflected by historical monuments, modern art works, and contemporary culture. Sevil loves to share her knowledge of this magnificent city. She studied linguistics, archaeology and history of art as an undergraduate. Having completed a Masters degree in archaeology and history of art, she is currently writing her dissertation for a Ph.D. in history of art at Istanbul Technical University and working as a part-time teacher at Isik University. She loves to research and write and do yoga in her spare time.

No biography information for Rebecca Magniant.

Currently a history graduate student at the University of California Irvine, Kate moved to Paris last year for a Fulbright Fellowship. She fell in love with the city and refused to leave. She and is currently finishing up her PhD thesis entitled The Sexual Revolution of 1789: Married Nuns in the French Revolution.” She teaches courses on religious history, the history of Paris, Women in European history, and Ancien Regime Europe. In between trips to the library Kate can be found enjoying the gastronomic pleasures of France.

Viv has a degree in English Language and Medieval Literature from Durham University. She spends part of each year in France, but for the past 25years London has been home. Following two years of intense training she qualified as a Blue Badge Guide, coming top in her year. She is also a specialist City of London Guide and is accredited to guide the Venues for 2012 in anticipation of the 'Greatest Show on Earth' coming to London next year!
She particularly enjoys giving individuals and families in-depth tours of London focusing as much on the hidden and unfamiliar as the well-known - she concentrates as much on the here-and-now as the past. The City's fringes - Bankside and Spitalfields - hold as much appeal as Westminster and St James's. She enjoys sharing her enthusiasm for London's C18 and C19 history and her detailed knowledge of the city's royal connections. She has a particular interest in the great aristocratic landholdings of London, and has created walks around the 'villages' of London such as Chelsea, Bloomsbury and Spitalfields.
Viv also works as a volunteer marshal, or 'Green Gown' at Westminster Abbey.

Teresa came to Italy 10 years ago to connect with long lost Italian relatives, and has made Rome her new home. While she stayed to complete her Masters degree in Art History, she considers herself a student of everything beautiful that Italy has to offer. Her primary work has been in guided tours, translating her experiences as an American living abroad, and as a scholar of Italian art, to visitors of Rome and Vatican City. In addition to her work as a docent/guide, she has done extensive work in oral history and digital technology, using a digital database system to record oral histories. Her most recent project was involvement in an Italian book publication about the history of Italian women and women of the Catholic Church. She hopes to not only share her experiences with you, but that the experience is reciprocal. She would like to see Rome through your eyes and therefore reveal personal meaning to the many layers of Rome.

Ester Scoditti is an archaeologist and earned her degree from the University of Rome La Sapienza with a dissertation on the town of Medieval Cori, in southern Lazio. Her studies and work experience have always focused on classical and medieval topography.
Over the years she has been part of the faculty of John Cabot University in Rome where she has delivered lectures on the Monuments of Classical and Medieval Rome. For the past six years she has also taught at Tor vergata University in Rome as part of the Archaeology and Art History faculty. Her publications include articles on Medieval Cori published by the Papers of British Archaeology and various archaeological and church themes published by the magazines such as Roma Comune and Chiesa Oggi architettura e comunicazione.
She has participated in excavations in Italy, France and England with the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Aosta, Merton College at Oxford, the Museum of London and the British School of Rome. She wrote a guide to the Roman Forum for the research and educational department of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma, for whom she has also conducted tours for schools, cultural associations and political representatives.

Michelle Proietti earned her M.A. in political science at the University of North Carolina and has held positions in several international organizations on both sides of the Atlantic. She has resided in Madrid where she works as a teacher for the last 18 months. Michelle has a wide knowledge of Madrid, her history, and contemporary life and culture.

Pier Paolo Racioppi has a doctorate (Ph.D) in Art History from the University of Roma TRE. He also earned a higher degree in the History of Medieval and Modern Art at University “Sapienza”. Winner of the Accademia di San Luca scholarship in 1997, he conducted research in the United States on Academies and Collections in early Nineteenth Century America. Since 1998 he has collaborated with the ONG Museum With No Frontiers (editor of the Italian edition of the catalogues Islamic Art in the Mediterranean, and of the Italian section of the website Discover Islamic Art and Discover Baroque Art). Since 2003 he has taught art history at IES Study Abroad (Rome). He has published several articles in specialized art history journals, exhibition catalogues and in the Treccani Encyclopedia. His fields of specialization are museology, eighteenth century art and politics, history of art criticism.

Erica is finishing her Master of Arts in City & Regional Planning at Cornell University. Her thesis focuses on sustainability, resilience & the changing and current public perceptions of the planning of the L'Eixample district in Barcelona. As a result, she's logged dozens of interviews with local residents and experts. She has been an avid explorer of all parts of Barcelona for about a year now, gaining a deep understanding of its history, architecture and city planning.

Francesca grew up in West Wales, but coming from a long line of Londoners she soon found herself living and studying in the capital. She completed both her BA and MA at the Courtauld Institute of Art, specialising in Aesthetic Movement art and interiors. Whilst studying, she kept herself busy running the family events programme at Westminster Abbey and managing interns from inner city schools at Dulwich Picture Gallery. After graduating in 2008, she went to work at the Royal Academy of Arts organising visits to historical properties and collections in and around London. She currently works as a freelance gallery educator at various London galleries and locations whilst studying for her diploma in interior design at the KLC School of Design. She lives in Borough with a ‘knowledge boy’ and a small whippet.

Liz Tunick is a Fellow at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. where she works in the French Paintings Department. She has held positions at Christie's in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and most recently at the Clark Art Institute. Liz holds a Master's degree in Art History from Williams College where she focused on 19th-century French art. A native of New York City, Liz has spent time working and studying in Toulouse and Paris and received her B.A. from Dartmouth College.

No biography information for Lorenza Berini.

Alice was born and grew up in Edinburgh against a backdrop of Edinburgh Castle and Arthur's Seat. A member of the Scottish Tourist Guides Association, Alice gained her "Blue Badge" following training through the Association and the University of Edinburgh. Her main interests are Scottish history and literature. She also remain a practising registered nurse.

Anaïs Grateau has pursued all her studies at the Ecole du Louvre, where she majored in Modern and Contemporary art and graduated with honors. She has worked in many cultural institutions, in Paris (Centre Georges Pompidou, Maison Européenne de la Photographie) and in Montreal (Musée du Château Ramezay). In 2010, she worked for the Saint-Etienne International Design Biennial. As the assistant to the general curator, she followed up the artistic content of each exhibition and coordinated the catalogue of the whole event. She is now considering a thesis at the Sorbonne and working with young artists. Living in Paris for 10 years, she knows everything about the city, its museums and monuments but also its special lifestyle.

No biography information for Charlotte Delano.

Norbert Figueroa received his Bachelor in Environmental Design degree and Master in Architecture degree from the University of Puerto Rico. He began his career in Puerto Rico and soon after that explored the architectural scene of New York City - currently working as a Licensed Architect at Studio V Architecture. Over the years, Norbert has gained extensive experience through a variety of projects involving urban design and historic conservation, among others. He is also a travel writer, focused on adventure travel and architectural cultures from different parts of the world.

Boston-based independent curator, Judith Hoos Fox, works with Orlando-based Ginger Gregg Duggan under the moniker c2 (curatorsquared), to develop exhibitions of international, cross-media contemporary art and design that explore current issues in culture. Current projects include Passing Time, to open at Wesleyan University CT in early 2012 and LUCY+JORGE ORTA/collaboration for Tufts University Art Gallery. Fox, who holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College and the University of Minnesota, was curator at the Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College from 1988-2002. She has held visiting curatorial positions at the Harvard Art Museums and the Krannert Art Museum, University of Illinois.

Judy emerged from a family of social scientists ready to the read the signs of the culture from its art rather than from statistics. This was not, however, immediately apparent to her, explaining her undergraduate degree in sociology. From a two-year apprenticeship at Walker Art Center, she absorbed a standard that has shaped her subsequent thirty plus years of curatorial work in both college and public museums. Judy is based in Boston, where she and architect husband Charlie raised their now west coast based daughter. She is ready to jump on a plane to experience all the art she can to strengthen and create c2 projects.

Ismini Miliaresis is a PhD candidate at the University of Virginia in the Classical Art and Archaeology Program, and she is currently residing in Rome to complete her dissertation work. As both an archaeologist and a civil engineer, her studies focus on the heating systems of ancient Roman baths at Ostia. She grew up in Naples, but went to an American school, so she speaks both English and Italian fluently. Ismini has traveled extensively through large parts of the Roman Empire, and she is excited to share her knowledge with visitors of all ages.

Elizabeth has a lifelong love of history. She studied for her degree in Medieval and Modern History at Birmingham University before qualifying as a teacher of history. She taught in schools for eight years and then moved to The National Archives as an education officer where she conducted research into the collection of government documents and helped to ‘bring history to life’ for visiting students on a range of topics including the Tudor Monarchy, the Suffragette movement and Crime in Victorian London (using the case of Jack the Ripper).
Elizabeth has recently completed her MA in Victorian Studies at Birkbeck, University of London, focusing on social conflict and social reform in nineteenth century London. The Victorian art world was also an area of research.
She currently works in the education team at Westminster Abbey and lives in north London.

A Barcelona native, Esther grew up cooking with her mother and grandmother. Their love of Catalan traditions and using local ingredients laid the basis for her very sophisticated knowledge of Catalan cuisine. Having studied business administration and marketing on the university level, Esther has traveled extensively, giving her a very good sense of the comparisons between cuisines and traditions. When not leading walks for Context, she can be found in Barcelona’s restaurants and markets.

Adam Zucker is an artist, curator, and arts writer who lives and works in New York City. He received his B.A. in art and multimedia from the University of New Haven and is completing his Masters in Art History and Museum Studies at the City College of New York. As an artist, he has exhibited his art in galleries across the East Coast and has been featured in several publications, catalogs and journals. His writing has been published in Sculpture Magazine, and online at Berkshire Fine Arts. As an independent curator he is a founding member of a curatorial collective called et al Projects where he works with contemporary artists to create multi-disciplinary events and exhibitions. He is curating a museum exhibition on a group of renowned American Figurative Expressionists in Provincetown Massachusetts in 2013. Adam was born in New York City and enjoys the excitement and fast pace of one of the greatest art scenes in the world.

Ron Cohen worked for 25 years with United Press International and 15 years with Gannett News Service, serving as executive editor of both. Now retired, he has lived in the Washington D.C. area for 40 years. Ron, a graduate of the University of Illinois college of journalism, also earned a master's degree from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. He has covered 18 national political conventions and every presidential campaign from 1968 through 2000; the impeachment proceedings against Presidents Nixon and Clinton; the Apollo space program; and virtually every major news event of the latter part of the 20th century. His book, "Down to the Wire: UPI's Fight for Survival," was chosen the best business book of 1990 by Business Week magazine and won, among other national awards, the Society of Professional Journalists gold medal for outstanding journalism history. Ron was named best news editor in Washington and one of the top 50 journalists by Washingtonian Magazine. He lives in Potomac, MD., with his wife of 50 years, Jill. They have two grown daughters, one of whom is a professor in San Francisco, the other a renown musician/composer in Israel.

Tara Stevens is a culinary writer in Barcelona whose popular column in the local Metropolitan newspaper chronicles the ins and outs of the city's exciting gastronomic scene. A longtime resident of the city, Stevens has covered the full spectrum of culinary news in Barcelona for such publications as Conde Nast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, the Guardian, and numerous guidebooks. She currently splits her time between Fez, Morocco, where she is starting a gastronomic retreat for chefs and keen home cooks, and Barcelona.

A native of Barcelona, Biel Heredero is currently studying art history at the University of Barcelona where he is writing his thesis on Catalan artists.

Renee is currently a Ph.D. candidate in classical art and archaeology program at the University of Virginia. Although her dissertation focuses on the images of women in the archaic and classical Greek world, she is also interested in the material remains from various other time periods, including Minoan, Mycenaean, Geometric, Hellenistic, and Roman. As a classical archaeologist, Renee has excavated at the Bronze Age site of Mycenae; and she spent two summers excavating in the Athenian Agora with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. As one can only learn so much from books and two-dimensional photographs, Renee has found that her most rewarding teaching experiences have been leading students in museums and on-site.

No biography information for Jacqueline Burns.

Having earned his Master’s degree in History and Philosophy at the CUNY Graduate Center, Daniel London continues his pursuit of the urban past through intensive research into the following questions: How have cities been built, experienced and imagined by different social groups across time? How have these understandings conflicted or converged with each other? And finally, how have these discussions and debates impacted the city we see today? He is currently teaching a course on American Urban History, working at the Museum of the City of New York, and is planning his dissertation on public space in early-twentieth century New York.

Cesare Massimo has a Masters in the History of Art from the University of Cambridge, where he specialized in Renaissance, painting, sculpture and architecture in Rome as well as the way the Grand Tour shaped the imagination of the English gentleman. During a studentship at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection of modern art in Venice, Cesare developed an interest for giving in guided tours. As a member of one of Rome's oldest families, Cesare enjoys bringing the history and art of the city to life during his walking seminars.

With over twenty years of experience managing projects and processes that enhance the public realm, Patrice has led strategic initiatives in Boston’s public and non-profit sectors including master planning, park design and green infrastructure development, community outreach, advocacy, policy, and cultural landscape research and restoration. Patrice received a Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design where she focused her studies on the evolution of the American landscape and garden design history. This fall she is teaching a course on Twentieth-Century Urban Open spaces in Boston highlighting many of the projects she contributed to including the Central Artery/Rose Kennedy Greenway, Copley and Post Office Squares, HarborWalk and the Charles River Basin.

Iveta Slavkova was born in Sofia, Bulgaria, to the family of French culture lovers and always dreamt of living in Paris where she came to study Art History in 1999. In 2006, she defended a PhD at the Sorbonne treating of the European avant-garde around World War I. Since then, she has been teaching in French and English at the Sorbonne, Sciences Po, the University of Nanterre, the National Institute of Patrimony and the international program of Trinity College (Hartford). She has published many articles and is preparing a book, an adapted version of her PhD to be published in 2012. A passionate museum goer and city stroller, she likes sharing the more or less known charms and secrets of Parisian museums and places (Montmartre, Montparnasse, Pere Lachaise) where she has guided many students and visitors alike.

After her degree in law at the Università degli studi of Rome, Daniela became a certified sommelier through AIS, one of most important international wine association and then continued her studies by with several wine master’s degrees in France. In 2006 and 2007 she worked for AIS as a commissioner during diploma exams. In 2008 she started to work as a writer and wine taster with Edizioni Estemporanee, an Italian wine publisher, and she began manage Comptoir de France (two French wine shops in Rome and Milan). In addition to her work with Context, Daniela is currently teaching the Wines of France for the Saint Louis de France Cultural Institute in Rome, leading wine tastings for a variety of organizations, and still working for Edizioni Estemporanee and managing the Comptoir de France society.

Davide Calenda was born in Venice he graduated from Ca' Foscari University with a degree focusing on the history of architecture and medieval history. After a specialization course on Innovative Tourism Marketing he started his interests on sustainable tourism. He also has a special research interest on Venetian military architecture an military art theory. As a coordinator of an European NGO he organized cultural seminars in many of the European universities. He also spent time teaching the history of Italian art at the University of Turku in Finland. A passion for Venice has brought him back to his home base in order to transform successfully his cultural interests into a profession and also to apply concepts of sustainable tourism crucial for preserving his fragile city.

No biography information for Nadia Mazzon.

Suzan Kalayci's historical scholarship on Istanbul is far ranging, encompassing Ottoman and modern history and topics as diverse as book collecting, exile, and women's studies. She is a graduate student at Bogazaci University and a frequent lecturer. A docent for the Istanbul Biennale, Suzan has a particular interest and knowledge of the city's contemporary art scene. And, as a dual citizen (German-Turkish) who grew up in Istanbul, she is also an incomparable companion on Pamuk-like adventures through Beyoglu and other parts of the city.

Originally from Springfield, MO, Jasmine discovered her passion for art history when she left home for college. A study abroad trip to Rome, Florence, and Venice solidified her love for Italy, and especially all things Rome. She moved to Colorado to obtain her Master's Degree, specializing in the Italian Baroque, and then moved to Philadelphia to pursue her Ph.D. at Temple University. Several years and brief visits later, Jasmine now lives in Rome to research and write her dissertation on the Roman Forum. Rather than focusing on antiquity, she is interested in the urban situation of the site in the seventeenth century and how the Church developed it as both a sacred and civic centerpiece of the Baroque city.

Ines Racknitz is a German scholar of Chinese history, teaching, lecturing, and researching on modern Chinese history from the 19th century to the present. She currently holds a lectureship at Nanjing University in the department of history where she continues to write on the political and cultural landscape of 19th century China. She also continues her studies on the European settlements in 19th century China.

No biography information for Sally Davies.

Joanne took her MA at the Courtauld Institute on Gothic architecture before completing her Doctoral thesis on Venetian church interiors in 2009 at the University of Warwick. She has since received post-doctoral fellowships from the Institute of Advanced Study at Warwick, Society of Renaissance Studies and British School at Rome. Joanne has also worked for The Art Newspaper and the Warburg Institute Library. She has lived in Venice on several occasions, and is currently conducting research on aspects of Venetian art and architecture during the Renaissance.

Alberto Serino is an expert on Neapolitan life, culture and history. After a decade of experience as a swimming coach, in contact with international level athletes, in 2007 he began working with the cultural association Fine Arts as a tour guide on Naples, Capri, Amalfi Coast, Ischia and Procida.
He also leads small groups through unusual itineraries away from the crowds on Capri and Amalfi Coast.
He has developed over the years a great passion for the local cuisine and now organizes cooking classes and tours related to food and wine of Campania region.
In his spare time he likes to share cycling rides with like-minded followers to discover the typical places of historical and scenic interest.

Roberta obtained a degree in Archaeology at the University of Suor Orsola Benincasa in Naples and specialized in Cultural Heritage Conservation at postgraduate level. She is a licensed guide for the Campania region and has been involved in Cultural Heritage accessibility and mobility programmes.

Born and raised under the shade of Brunelleschi’s magnificent dome in Florence, Siro belongs to an important Tuscan family of art nouveau artists. After a diploma in ceramic decoration obtained in 2000, he has worked in a typical Florentine workshop. He received his B.A. degree at the Università di Firenze and in 2008 published his research about the Richard-Ginori porcelain production for the vice-king of Egypt commissioned for the celebrations of the opening of the Suez Canal. In order to share his passion and love for art, culture and the Florentine lifestyle Siro is professionally trained as a tour guide for Florence.

Yasmin has always had a fascination for food, wine and French culture. After studying French literature at Reed College Oregon, she came to France to study oenology at the University of Dijon (Burgundy). Passionate about the process of making wine she did an internship and work experience at the Chateau Juge (Bordeaux region / Cadillac) and followed wine tasting courses with Steven Spurrier. Yasmin equally works as a musician, songwriter and performer in the music scene of Paris. She believes that wine and music actually have a lot in common!

Santiago (Santi) Mercader is an art historian who is currently writing his doctoral dissertation on Barcelona's cathedral during the Baroque period. He is widely published in Italian, Spanish, and English and in a broad range of academic periodicals, and has taught numerous classes on Renaissance and Baroque art history, Spanish painting, urbanism and architecture, and such artists as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. He currently works as an associate professor of art history at the University of Barcelona. In addition to teaching and writing, Santi has worked as a researcher for a well-known antiques dealer in Barcelona and as a lecturer on Gaudi, Domenech I Montaner, and other modernists in Barcelona.

Peter Hibbard is a well-known scholar of Chinese history who has made his home in Shanghai for many years. A noted author of books on the Bund and International Settlement, Peter is also responsible for re-forming the Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai and serves as that organization's director. A trained town planner and sociologist, Peter focuses his attention on the social history of Shanghai—and China, generally—as expressed through the built environment.

Stephen Roy Smith is the gallery manager at Pearl Lam Galleries, a leading art gallery in Shanghai featuring works from contemporary Chinese artists. He holds a Master's degree in East Asian art and an MBA and has an expertise in Buddhist iconography. With an in-depth understanding of China's 5,000 year history of artistic expression, Stephen has a unique perspective on how Shanghai is reinterpreting its traditions and how art and religion is expressing the dynamic changes taking place in China today.

Andrew Field is a modern Chinese historian who has taught, lectured, and written widely about China on multiple continents. Having earned his Ph.D. in East Asian languages and culture, Field currently teaches in the history department at New York University's Shanghai campus, including a course on "nightlife cultures" in major cities worldwide. Field is also the author of Shanghai's Dancing World, a history of cabaret culture in China from the 1920s forward.

Born in Madrid, Miguel Fregosi has spent many years moving between the Spanish capital and Paris working in the fashion world as a business consultant. When he settled in Madrid permanently, Fregosi became fascinated with Flamenco and began taking dancing lessons with the master Maruja Palacios at Amor de dios, one of Madrid's top Flamenco schools. Fregosi has also studied under Miguel Cañas at Jerez de la Forntera with Antonio El Pipa. As an insider who came to Flamenco from the outside, Miguel is uniquely qualified to explain Flamenco and other Spanish cultural forms.

Erik Thaddeus Walters completed undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in the USA and Italy in Classics, Philosophy, and Theology including studies in Patristic Sciences, Archaeology, Art History, and the conservation and legislation of cultural patrimony. He earned his PhD at the Institut für Klassische Philologie, Mittel- und Neulatein of the University of Vienna (Austria) in 2010. In addition to over a dozen years of experience as a licensed guide of the ancient Roman necropolis beneath St. Peter's Basilica, he is currently adjunct assistant professor of Classics, History, and Religious Studies at John Cabot University in Rome. His most recent book publication is "Unitas" in Latin Antiquity: Four Centuries of Continuity (Peter Lang Verlag 2011). Current research interests include a re-examination of the 4th century CE transformation of the holy Pagan into the wholly Christian Roman Empire and the 15th century's re-emergence of the Roman Papacy and the Porcari Family's attempt to check papal economic and political domination.

Erica earned her Bachelor's of Art in History of Art from the University of Pennsylvania and participated in a Master’s painting program from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Her professional career began with curatorial positions at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection (Venice) and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions-- with a stint as executive assistant for an A-list actor, giving her access to the proverbial front row in the world of fashion. In 2003, she began a full-time freelance writing career focusing on art, culture and fashion and traveling between Europe, South East Asia and USA. She is an editor and contributor to several online and print publications; has also appeared in several news stories and interviews as Rome expert. She is author of Insight Guide Rome Select and city editor for Luxe City Guide Rome since its first volume where she has been the tour de force for finding Rome's latest and contemporary fashion and cultural trends.

Originally from Germany, Mattias Niedenfuehr has lived in Beijing since 2004 teaching economics and history at the European Center for Chinese Studies at Peking University. Mattias' interests and knowledge are wide ranging. He wrote his dissertation on the portrayal of leadership figures in Chinese soap operas; and he spends a good amount of time traveling the country with students to learn more about China's minority populations. He is keenly interested in the rapidly disappearing traditions of village life in Beijing's hutongs.

Mia Feng is a Ph.D. candidate at the history department of New York University and is currently completing his dissertation entitled "Popular Education, Everyday Life, and the Making of Mass Politics in China, 1927-1937." A native of China, she is a specialist in modern Chinese history.

Lee Ambrozy holds a Master's degree in art history from Beijing's Central Academy of Fine arts. Originally from the U.S. but living in Beijing since 2004, Lee has worked extensively as an art translator and includes among her credits Ai Weiwei’s Blog (March 2011), published by MIT Press, and Artforum's Chinese language website. With her broad background in history and the arts, Lee leads in-depth walks of Beijing's contemporary arts scene as well as such rich, iconic areas of the city as Tiannamen Square.

Grant Rosenberg has worked as a journalist and videographer for Time magazine's Paris bureau as well as other media, often writing about French cinema. He was also a reviewer of French films for Screen International. Originally from Chicago, Grant has a bachelor's degree in film from the University of Iowa and has been living in Paris since 2001.

Although trained as an architect Nikitas Patiniotis lives and breathes Greek cuisine. Beginning at an early age on weekly treks to the Athenian markets with his two grandmothers, Nikitas has surrounded himself with skilled home-cooking and the specialty foods of Greece throughout his life. He has been conducting tours in his hometown for many years: What started as walks with friends from abroad in the late 1970’s has now morphed into critically acclaimed culinary adventures in Athens' central market. Nikitas' walks are equally focused on food as on the people and city that produce it, a rare, insider's insight into the food culture of this incredible city.

No biography information for Matthew Seeley.

Alexandra holds an M.S. in Agriculture, Food and Environment from Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and a BS in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University. She is a researcher, cook, nutritionist and writer, currently researching on Chinese food policy and agriculture production. She has previously written and researched on issues related to food security, sustainable agriculture and social and environmental justice for NGOs and think tanks such as the Worldwatch Institute and the Small Planet Institute, where she is currently a Fellow at Large. In 2010, as one of the authors of a publication for Slow Food International, she was invited to Turin, Italy, where she was able to taste and learn about specialty foods produced in various regions of Italy. Her understanding of the food culture and immigrant community of New York comes from her grandparents, who came to New York 50 years ago and were very active in the Chinatown community and restaurant business. Alexandra currently lives in Manhattan.

David Pistrang grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts, and holds a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Tufts University. In 2010, he completed a Masters degree in the Anthropology of Food at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London, where he focused his dissertation on the impact of tourism on local cuisine in China. His research and professional interests include food tourism, Chinese cuisine, education, and cross-cultural experiential learning. David has worked in the gourmet food world, as well as the online food world, and has led educational tours in China and South America. David loves exploring different Boston neighborhoods and trying new foods wherever he goes, and is excited to be able to share his love for Boston's history and culinary treasures.

Jeremiah Jenne grew up in Atkinson, NH and is a doctoral candidate at UC Davis, currently in Beijing researching colonial resistance and
collective violence in 19th-century China. He is the Associate
Director for China Studies at the IES Abroad Beijing Center, where he also teaches history and philosophy. In his spare time, Jeremiah runs the Chinese history site Jottings from the Granite Studio, has written for the China Beat and the online edition of the Atlantic Monthly. He has contributed essays to two books, The Insider’s Guide to Beijing, 2009 Edition and China in 2008: A Year of Great Significance, and has been interviewed by NPR, The Christian Science Monitor, Radio Free Asia, China Radio International, and New Hampshire Public Radio. He and his wife live in the Dongcheng district of Beijing.

No biography information for Rachel Ropeik.

Molly holds a Master’s degree in Italian Literature from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she completed her Ph.D. coursework and exams with a specialization in Renaissance and Early Modern periods. She spent a year in Venice as an undergraduate while at the University of California-Santa Cruz and worked in Siena after for two years for the University of California Education Abroad Program. She later went to graduate school and, after finishing her studies in Madison, found herself back in Venice once again for another year, this time doing archival research for her doctoral dissertation. She has remained in Italy ever since, has taught courses in Renaissance history in Florence and is a licensed tour guide of Florence and its province.

Luke's love of China and things Chinese stems from a childhood visit to a Terracotta Warrior exhibition in his native Britain. Travel in China as a teenager persuaded Luke to follow his interest further. He went on to gain a 1st class honors degree in Modern and Classical Chinese from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London, and was then awarded a scholarship to remain at SOAS for an MA in Sinology, where he honed his knowledge of the classical language and early imperial Chinese history. Upon graduation, Luke moved to Beijing where he worked in editing and translation. Before too long, however, the lure of academic research proved too much and he enrolled on the Ph.D. program in Ming and Qing history at Beijing Normal University. Luke has published research in both English and Chinese, and when not in the library can be found out and about exploring Beijing, the city he is delighted to call a home away from home.

Alessandra Marchetti is a native Florentine. She received her Masters degree from the University of East Anglia in the UK, and has been lecturing and guiding in Florence for nearly ten years. She lived many years in the United States before returning to Florence and her little house in Settignano that was once owned by Michelangelo.

Carlo Micio is a licensed guide for the city of Rome with a strong background in the city's political history. He oversees many of our activities. He also plays (drummer) in a number of Rome bands.

Italo Ongaro is native of the island of Murano and, for the last decade, has been working for the University Ca' Foscari of Venice as the head scientific glassblower. In addition, he works closely with the department of environmental science and the department of chemistry as the captain of a 25-foot research vessel. This vessel is partially owned by the Veneto Region's Meteorological headquarters, with which he participates. His knowledge of the Venetian lagoon is extensive, as he frequently traverses the lagoon on research projects. He currently lives in Mestre.

Eleni Dimitrakopolou is a licensed guide for the city of Athens.

Yiouli was born in Athens and lives in the city with her family. She studied history and archaeology in the University of Athens, and became a licensed guide for the city of Athens in 2005.

Vanda Refene is a licensed guide for the city of Athens and a trained historian who often accompanies our groups in the city, providing additional information about Athens, Greece, and cultural patrimony.