We signed up for a UT Flying Longhorns trip to an agriturismo in northern Italy presented by Orbridge starting June 13, 2015 with an extension to Venice. We flew in early on June 4th via United (great service, by the way) to Venice, staying the arrival night (a late afternoon arrival) in the outlying area of Venice at the Titian Hotel. The next morning we took a train from Venice to Verona and rented a car for the rest of the “on our own” portion of the trip. Rental in Verona was chosen because that’s where we would meet the UT group.

After negotiating Italy own our own for 9 days, it was great to turn the reins over to the tour group and Chiara (KEY-ara) our wonderful guide for this taste of northern Italy. It was really a dining and drinking taste of the area as there were many wine tasting events, both at meals and at wineries. It was a small group, six couples, David and Sue, Lucy and Jim, Carol and Brant, Rena and Roger, Barbara and Roy, and ourselves. Three couples were a day late (thanks, United!) and missed the first day which was Verona. The trip was characterized by the great group, long leisurely evening meals of three hours with great wines at the agriturismo’s restaurant, remarkable Italian food, and the great selection of events by Chiara. Well done!