I know most of you are independent travelers but I have to tell you about a <BR>group tour I just took. In June, I took a 10-day food, wine and art history <BR>tour of Italy. We traveled from Rome through the countrysides of Umbria and <BR>Tuscany and finished in Florence. In each region, we had a cooking class <BR>and/or wine tastings. The restaurants and hotels were small and virtually <BR>unknown. Half of our classes were in Italian but our guide translated <BR>everything. I could never have planned this trip without speaking Italian <BR>and spending years locating these sites to visit. The company, Art <BR>Connections, is small and specializes in Italy. They use their personal <BR>contacts to get you into museums, galleries and cooking schools that we <BR>couldn't have otherwise seen. I had never taken a group tour before and was <BR>skeptical at first, but I left feeling as though I had visited a friend in <BR>Italy instead being pushed around on a group tour. Their Web site is <BR>located at www.art-connections.com <BR>

Sounds like a great time. If I were going to take a tour this is the type I would take. How many peopl were in the group? How were the meals, as this is so often the biggest negative of group tours?

There were 10 people in our group. The food was AMAZING! 5 course meals at small very authentic restaurants. The wines were paired perfectly with the food.

Hi DG, Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but your post sounded alot like spam and got me curious. Now your e-mail add. swiftassociates, there seems to be a company that's calls itself Swift & Associates..."Executive Search Consultants" with "Meet the Headhunters" and "implementing the executive search strategies in the retail, investment, manufacturing, and legal professions" located in Portland, ME. The "art-connections" company is located in Cape Elizabeth, ME which seems to be just south of Portland, ME. I was just wondering if there is a connection with this company and the travel company located ~7mi away. Your term "but I have to to you about" is so stereotypical of spam posts that try to sound sincere that I just had to ask. BTW hope I'm wrong. Regards, Walter <BR>

Walter, sorry the technological age has made you so cynical. Art <BR>Connections is a local company. Most of their clients are from Maine. <BR>Thought I would just spread the word... <BR>

Yes, DG I must admit I'm cynical. The tour sounds wonderful food, wine, art history and small groups. But being a New Englander it just seems odd that a *small* NE city has such a *speciality* tour package for mostly locals. In NY, LA, SF, etc I could see they would have no problems getting clients for their tour. So are you saying you work for Swift & Associates (Portland, ME) and they are not your clients or friends at "art-connections" just a company you used to travel to Italy with? If so, I apologize for basing my post on coincidence and conjecture and will accept any flames. Regards, Walter <BR>p.s. Sorry but your post sounded like spam and that is why I checked it out.