Airlines Travel Club; the tracks you make with us, are the ones you'll remember!
Airlines Travel Club
Harry Sulley
2760 Carousel Cresent
Suite 411
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K1T 2N4
Telephone:
(613) 521-3091
Fax:
(613) 521-3377
E-mail:
harry@airlinestravelclub.com
Latest News
September 16th, 2008 - We're back!
We have just returned from our very successful Tour of Tuscany IV and V. Our trip began, as usual in the eternal city of Rome where we spent about three days discovering new places to see and explore. Then, it was on to the ancient Roman port of Ostia Antica which is located just outside the city near the airport. Although we had used Ostia Antica as a stop-over to Tuscany many times before it was not until this trip that we actually took the time to see the ruins of the original homes and streets of this ancient, but little-known, area. With its glorious seacoast location it did not take us long to understand why the Roman elite liked to spend their summers here. If you should find yourself stranded at FCO sometime, be sure and call our friend Piero Lazzaro, a retired Alitalia employee who, with his wife, Gabriella, operates a B&B just 10 minutes from the airport. At this writing, he charges only Euro 68, for a double room and will pick you up at the airport for a nominal charge. You can email him at pierolazzarox@tim.it, phone 39 06 565 1477. Another friend who runs a B&B not far from the airport is Antonio, contact rome.airport@timcal.it, phone 39 347 737 1006.
On arrival Tuscany and our beautiful Castel Porrona, we were again met by ‘big Sergio’ who, as always, had the wine prepared. He supplied all the ‘Montecucu’ we could consume along with the meats and cheeses of the area of Maremma. The same evening we were able to attend an authentic Italian wedding which was being held at the Castel - fireworks and all!! The wine was flowing and it was party time ‘till 0300 that morning- just a taste of things to come!!
A very special treat was awaiting us with the arrival of world-famous ‘Wolfram Schmitt-Leonardy and the Roden String Quartet’ direct from a tour of major European cities. Imagine if you can a beautiful evening in Monte Amiata while sipping your wine and enjoying the music of Brahms, Beethoven and Mozart with the magnificent scenery of Tuscany below. What sites, what sounds!!........Bella…Bella. The ensemble also performed a COMPLIMENTARY special evening concert for our group at the Castel - we were late for dinner that evening but it was worth it.
During the following week we toured the areas around Tuscany which have become very familiar to most of us. This time we visited the ‘Isola del Giglio’, just off the coast of San Stafano, (about a 1 ½ hours by ferry) where the awesome seafood restaurants were awaiting.
The weather was amazingly warm- high 30s C., and we spent many evenings sitting in the courtyard or lounging on our patios just revisiting the day’s events. We had forty people in our group this year and you may read some of their comments further on in this webpage
I’m seriously entertaining the idea of another trip to the Castel in the spring of 2009 so, if you’re interested, contact me ASAP. It’s becoming very difficult to acquire space, especially at these low rates. Next stop Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and the Yangtze River Cruise, China in November. Come join us if you can. Best regards… Harry.
