April 2 (From Wikipedia with photos by European Focus) The Roman Forum (Latin: Forum Romanum, Italian: Foro Romano) is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the […]
Category Archives: Italy Tours
Italy Tours
Rome The Eternal City
April 1 Our current guests Rick and Linda Skauge from Calgary enjoy their first full day of seeing the sights and experiencing Rome at their own pace during their European Focus tour. Follow along as we travel from Rome to Umbria and on to Tuscany and finally, Venice.
There’s no traffic in Rome these days
March 31 With fuel prices at an astounding $9 per gallon for unleaded, slightly less for diesel, the Romans are leaving their cars parked and taking public transportation. What used to be a white knuckle drive into the heart of Rome from the airport is now a breeze, with very few vehicles on the road […]
Tour Opportunities for October
March 5, 2012 European Focus founder and guide James Derheim is available during the beautiful month of October, a perfect time to explore most of central and southern Europe. October is prime season and is usually booked far in advance. The days are mild and the kids are all back in school with no major […]
Postcard from the Sudtirol
The ancient village was razed to the ground to make way for a large reservoir. All that remains of the 13th century church is the tower, poking up like a ghostly reminder from the waters.
Eating Gelato in the 1600s?
We were stunned the other day when we noticed this relief of what we are certain is a young woman enjoying an ice cream cone on one of the support pillars of the Doges Palace, Venice. We wondered if it was pistachio or cherry?
Visiting a glass factory on the island of Murano, Italy
Dennis and Melissa Cain of Rockwall, Texas wanted to purchase a piece of glass art from the gallery of Murano Vitrum in the San Marco district of Venice. They’d spotted a beautiful piece on a stroll the evening before, and we returned on Friday, July 15 for a closer look. We met salesman Ivan Liguori. […]
Civita di Bagnoregio
This lost village on a high, crumbling hilltop was founded by Etruscans over twenty-five hundred years ago, but has seen its population dwindle to just fifteen residents over the course of the 20th century. Cività was the birthplace of Saint Bonaventure, who died in 1274. The location of his boyhood house has long since fallen […]