Tours led by experts.

I had a wonderful morning with Helen. This tour is a 'backstage pass' into the studios and lives of Florence's Master artists. I was particularly moved by the story of Giulianno Ricci (https://www.instagram.com/giulianoricchijewelry/?hl=en) an older gentleman, whose exquisite work earned him commissions from Valentino, Gucci, Dior, Ferragamo, Dolce & Gabbana, US Presidents, royalty, and others. I was captivated as he (and his lovely wife Maria, and even the dog Pearl) shared his life's work, including intricately designed gold and silver boxes, picture frames, card holders, jewelry, tableware, and so forth. Giuliano demonstrated the time-consuming and highly skilled process behind each piece. He will retire in a couple of months, and that will mark the end of an era. Fortunately, the business will continue, as another customer was equally enchanted upon visiting the studio. When the younger man learned that, upon retiring, the Master intended to throw away the many moulds that produced a lifetime of treasures, he couldn't accept it and proposed learning the craft instead. There is no shortage of work. The business routinely turns away large commissions because it operates at capacity. Hundreds of historic intricate designs need to be brought back into circulation. There is much to do, and thankfully, the story will now continue. Helen is an accomplished and lovely guide. She was warmly welcomed into each studio, knows a lot about art processes as a university professor of art, and could fill in any details missed because of the language barrier. I highly recommend this experience with her.

Our Hakone Day Trip from Tokyo with Angel as our guide was a great day. Angel was a wonderful tour guide; he was so knowledgeable about Japan’s history and the region we were visiting. He was so enthusiastic about sharing his stories with us. Although Mt. Fuji did not cooperate and was not visible on the day we were there, Angel kept pointing out to us where we could’ve had views of it. And he assured us that it is far more normal to have a day that Mt. Fuji is not visible than to have a day when the weather is clear enough to view it. He took us for a delicious Japanese lunch during the day. It was a day full of all kinds of transportation: the bullet train, another train, a ropeway gondola, a funicular, a boat, a bus and another bullet train. We thoroughly enjoyed the 10 hour tour with Angel.

The Hiroshima Day Trip from Kyoto: Memory and Peace Tour with Marc was one of the highlights of our Japan trip. The 12 hour day seemed to fly by. Marc was a very knowledgeable tour guide who covered a difficult, emotional subject with care and compassion. He was able to give us an extremely large amount of information about the history, the science, the culture, and the journey towards peace that is Hiroshima today. Walking through Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and ringing the Bell of Peace was both moving and uplifting. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is so well done; we could have spent far more time there if time had allowed it. Visiting Miyajima Island and Itsukushima Shrine was a beautiful way to end our visit to Hiroshima. We will remember our day in Hiroshima for years to come and Marc helped build this memory for us.