I'm sorry I didn't get a post up yesterday afternoon, but I've been a bit distracted.  Packing really does take it out of you doesn't it!  However, I have pre-packed, unpacked and re-packed a few times now and despite the chaos you may see in the photo here I really do think I'm good to go.
We fly out on Monday night and will be in Venice on Tuesday, so it's all on now.  Keep checking this blog and our Facebook page to see how things are going with Spring in Northern Italy.

Photo from Wikipedia

Carved by Guiseppe Sanmartino, from a model made by Antonio Corradini, The Veiled Christ is one of the most famous sculptures in Italy.  Ever since it was finished in 1753 it has drawn travellers from far and wide to wonder at this depiction of Christ under the gauze like veil, with the instruments of his torture set at his feet. 

The Marquis de Sade praised “the folds, the finesse of the veil … the beauty and the regularity of the proportions”, and famous Venetian sculptor Antonio Canova tried to buy it, swearing that he would give ten years of his life to have created this incomparable masterpiece. 

Travel at Your Leisure are touring Naples and Amalfi for two weeks in September and will be visiting the tiny Chapel of Sansevero, where this sculpture is housed.  Book your tour now and you will have the opportunity to visit and learn more about this amazing work of art and much, much more about Amazing Amalfi.

OK, I'll admit I have shamelessly stolen this recipe from the Naples Unplugged website.  It's a Neapolitan cheesecake that looks and sounds amazing, and best of all, if you head to the shops now there's still time to make it for lunch tomorrow.  So come on, give it a try and let us know how you went.

If you don't have the time or energy to make this today (too busy at the beach perhaps), you might be able to find something like it Naples if you join Travel at Your Leisure's "Amazing Amalfi Tour" in September.  We still have places so book in now and get ready to learn about Neapolitan pastries and so much more ...

This month Gourmet Traveller has done a feature on Naples, which I think may have been inspired by our September 2015 “Amazing Amalfi" Tour.  
Katie Parla at GT is recommending Hotel Romeo (YES), a trip to Pompeii (YES) and also some "less touristy" places like Pozzuoli (YES) and the Phlegraean Fields (YES).   
She obviously didn’t have time for Capri, Casserta and Positano, but we do, so come on and book your “Amazing Amalfi" tour with Travel at Your Leisure and see all that Gourmet Traveller recommends and more …

It's only five weeks until we all head off for our "Spring In Northern Italy" Tour and the excitement is building. This means that our September Tour - "Amazing Amalfi" is getting closer too.  I know I've been writing about it each week, but I thought it was time to remind you about the full the itinerary.
We start in Naples for 5 nights to exploring the millennia of history it has to offer, as well as using it as a base to visit Pompeii and Capri.  Those two days almost sum up the whole history of this amazing region.    
From Naples we "go west" to immerse ourselves in more history and archaeology, staying 4 nights in Miseno.  We will have a ceramics class, take a boat to a beach restaurant, visit an active archaeological dig and ride bicycles around the grounds of Italy's very own Versailles.
Positano is next of course, toughing it out for 3 nights.   We will do a cooking class in Ravenna, have a drink at Villa Cimbrone, and we will have plenty of leisure time to take in the beaches, the shopping and the views. 
What more can I say except "book now to secure your place on Travel at Your Leisure's tour of Amalfi.  It's going to be Amazing".   For more details click on  the button below. 

I've just come back from a week in New Zealand, one of my absolute favourite places, but whilst there was caught off guard by a very simple question from a friend: "So tell me", she asked, "why do people want to travel with you, rather than just by themselves"?  We were at dinner, so I had plenty of time to explain what Travel at Your Leisure was all about - small groups, well organised slow travel, beautiful hotels, top quality guides and lots of time off along the way - but it set me thinking, how can I put all this in a couple of sentences?  
So here it is...

We organise and lead small group tours to Europe for people who enjoy slow paced travel.  
We offer quality guided activities and boutique accommodation, whilst allowing people time to breathe along the way.

So don't miss out, look at our tours now
travelatyourleisure.com.au

Whilst Milan and Rome may have stolen the Italian style awards you won’t have to leave Naples empty handed.  Just grab a taxi or jump on the Line 1 Metro to Piazza Dante and wander back down Via Toledo towards the harbour.  Spanish Viceroy Pedro Alverez de Toledo commissioned the street in 1536, so it is quite modern by Neopolitan standards.  These days the fading glory of the villas along this pretty tree lined boulevard is broken up by the shopfronts of local and international designers, not to mention Naples’ best gelateria.  

Keep walking along Via Toledo until you reach Piazza del Plebacito and if you haven’t seen or shopped enough by then, turn into Via Chiaia, which will most certainly finish you off.  You can goggle at Gucci and pop into Prada or if you’re not that brave check out the local more low key designers or the big international “high street” stores.  

Travel at Your Leisure’s Amazing Amalfi Tour - there’s something for everyone . 

Anacapri, at the base of Mount Solaro was the home of Swedish Physician Axel Munthe. In 1887 he bought the ruins of an ancient chapel, itself sitting atop the ruins of the villa of Emperor Tiberius and here he proceeded to build his dream home, Villa San Michele.   
The villa runs across many levels and is landscaped to perfection with beautiful gardens enhancing the views in every direction.  Munthe used the property to display his collection of ancient artefacts from around Italy and Egypt, including a granite sphinx in the garden, gazing out over the whole of Capri.  On his death he willed the property to the Swedish nation and it is still administered by a Swedish foundation. 
Travel at Your Leisure will be visiting this exquisite folly on our Amazing Amalfi Tour in September this year, so come join us and enjoy the tranquility that is Villa San Michele.

Known as Etrusci or Tusci by the ancient Romans and Tyrrhenoi by the Greeks, the Etruscan civilization is the name given to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy and Corsica, whose origins are lost in prehistory.  Their civilization was based both in the north beyond the Apennines and in Campania. Etruscan supremacy in Campania came to an end with the Samnite invasion in the latter half of the 5th century BC.


In September this year, Travel at Your Leisure’s tour of Amazing Amalfi will be spending a morning at Sessa Arunca, where ongoing archaeological excavations continue to uncover more and more fascinating Etruscan history.  We will be talking to the archaeologists working there and hearing first hand about the work that they do in uncovering and preserving this ancient site.