In Transit: Overnight flight crosses the Atlantic Ocean. Arrive in Catania, Sicily the following day

Note: Minimal exertion.

Arrive To: Transfer from Catania airport to hotel in Giardini Naxos. Notice imposing Mt. Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe

Lunch: Lunch at the hotel provided for travelers arriving by noon.

Afternoon: Settle in and relax before meeting for an informal gathering and reception to welcome you to Sicily. At the sea side resort you can walk along the rocky beach or wander around the main street of the seaside resort community.

Dinner: At hotel restaurant

Lodging: Hellenia Yachting Hotel

Meals Included: Lunch, Dinner

Note: Minimal exertion.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast in the hotel dining room

Morning: Staff discusses program schedules and introduces the lectures and trips. A short walk in the vicinity of the hotel points out banks, shops, pharmacies and markets. First of a series of lectures on Sicily’s history. Topics include the ancient Mediterranean colonizers--people from Greece, Phoenicia, Carthage and their impact on this area of Sicily.

Lunch: At hotel restaurant

Afternoon: Late afternoon walk takes you past the ruins of the original Greek settlement and into the main town of Naxos along the gulf.

Dinner: At hotel restaurant

Lodging: Hellenia Yachting Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: The 20 min. coach ride to the parking lot of Mt. Tauro still leaves a 400 yard walk up an inclined road. Once on top, the road is fairly level. The walk down to and up from the public garden requires some effort.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: The guided visit of Taormina, charming town on the crest of Mount Tauro, begins at the open air Greek theater. The location is optimal to view the expansive slopes of Mount Etna as its backdrop. The traffic-free streets of the town are lined with shops, boutiques and cafes. It has long been a resort destination for nobility, artists and actors.

Lunch: Lunch on your own. Variety of local restaurants and cafes to choose from

Afternoon: Free time to stroll, shop, or relax in the welcoming piazzas of Taormina. The public garden offers a splendid view of the coastlines below. The manicured garden has numerous flowering plants, bushes and trees. It is a good place for a picnic if you prefer. Mid afternoon coach to the hotel for a session on Sicilian Folklore and Traditions.

Dinner: At hotel restaurant

Lodging: Hellenia Yachting Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Minimal amount of walking, but the visit to the archaeological zone does involve walking

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: The visit to Tindari replaces the excursion across the Strait of Messina to Reggio Calabria. The Bronzi di Riace statues are being cleaned and restored. A laboratory and temporary exhibit have been set up at another site, but the viewing is limited by the position of the statues and the section undergoing restoration. Tindari is an archaeological site just west of Messina. It was an important Greek, then Roman city. A local guide leads the visit to the theater from where you can enjoy sweeping views of the sea below.

Lunch: Lunch at a local restaurant.

Afternoon: Guided visit of Messina. Notice the uniform early 20th century architecture resulting from the rebuilding following the disastrous 1908 earthquake that leveled the city. A brief stop at the main square in Messina where you can enjoy a Sicilian gelato or cannoli.

Dinner: At hotel restaurant

Evening: Take a final walk around town and pack for the following morning's transfer to Syracuse.

Lodging: Hellenia Yachting Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: The Island of Ortygia is closed to coach traffic; we will disembark on the mainland and walk to the hotel. Porterage service will bring the luggage to the hotel.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Coach along the coast through the city of Catania to Ortygia Island in Syracuse. Observe the change in perspective of the looming Mt. Etna.

Lunch: Lunch at an agriturismo, a working farm on the slopes of Mt. Etna. Visit the estate and the garden and orchards that thrive on the fertile volcanic soil and enjoy freshly prepared Sicilian dishes.

Afternoon: Check into the hotel on the island of Ortygia. Orientation walk explores the oldest part of the city of Syracuse. The Cathedral is a living example of the different cultures that colonized Sicily, each lending its own architectural style. The present Cathedral incorporates architectural elements from a 5th c. BCE temple to Athena. Twenty six of the temple's Doric columns are still in place.

Dinner: At hotel restaurant and free time to walk around the pedestrian friendly zone.

Lodging: Hotel Roma

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: The quarries served as a source of stone, and the descent is slight, but uneasy footing. Greek theaters are built using the slope of a hill. Ascent is a little steep, not unlike a modern stadium. You may rest on the stone benches.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Visit the Cathedral which was rebuilt in the 18th century with a distinctive Sicilian Baroque style when the ancient facade collapsed in an earthquake. Local artisan workshops, cafes and boutiques abound in Ortygia's pedestrian center of narrow streets and lively squares.

Lunch: Lunch at the hotel.

Afternoon: Guided visit to the Archaeological zone in Syracuse, including the Greek theater and the Paradise Quarry, where 7,000 Athenian soldiers were imprisoned. The Greek theater, carved out of the rocky hillside in the 5th century BCE, was one of the most important theaters in the ancient world.

Dinner: Dinner on your own.

Lodging: Hotel Roma

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: The main road in Buscemi traverses a low hill, but streets leading up or down require a little effort.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Step back in time to visit Buscemi, a typical Sicilian town of a century ago, depopulated by emigration. A local escort lead us through the streets, where we visit houses, shops and grape and olive presses of the previous centuries, complete with furnishings of the period. Contrast the foreman's house from that of the day laborer.

Lunch: Enjoy lunch at Ristorante Giannavi in the hills above Syracuse.

Afternoon: Free Afternoon.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Hotel Roma

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Standing while learning about archaeological items on display in the museum. In Noto a short, easy walk brings you to the center of town.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Expert-led visit to the Archaeological Museum in Syracuse. The collection includes artifacts of the Greeks, Romans and early Christians who settled in Sicily. Coach to Ispica through olive orchards.

Lunch: Lunch at Agriturismo Mastri San Basilio, a working farm in the countryside that produces olive oil, almonds and other produce.

Afternoon: Coach to Noto. Rebuilt after a devastating earthquake in 1693, the town finely represents the rich architectural and artistic achievement of the late Sicilian Baroque style. The town center is closed to automobile traffic.

Dinner: Dinner at hotel restaurant and pack for the next day's departure.

Lodging: Hotel Roma

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: The walk around the Roman villa is not strenuous

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: A coach ride across the island

Lunch: Lunch at Ristorante La Coccinella in the town of Piazza Armerina, site of the Roman villa.

Afternoon: Piazza Armerina is a small, non-descript town outside of which were discovered, by pure chance, the ruins of a private Roman villa containing a most extensive and impressive series of floor mosaics. The guide will lead us through the villa and explain the meaning and significance of the mosaics, as well as give the most recent theories of the who the owner was. Arrival at hotel in Palermo.

Dinner: At hotel restaurant

Lodging: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Walking in the pedestrian only area of Palermo.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Learn about Sicily's role in the birth of the modern Italian republic. After a break, board a coach to the outskirts of Palermo for a home visit and savory lunch.

Lunch: Sample Sicilian dishes at the home of a gracious family.

Afternoon: Coach to Palermo center for an expert-led visit of the Palatine Chapel, covered from floor to ceiling with mosaics commissioned in the 12th century. The visit continues to the church of St. John of the Hermits, and La Martorana, originally commissioned by a Greek Orthodox admiral in 1140.

Dinner: Dinner on your own

Lodging: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Form and Function of Cathedrals / Market Walk / Origins and Reach of the Mafia

Note: Walking on uneven pavements in the pedestrian only market area of Palermo

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: An illustrated lecture on how and why cathedrals were built as places of worship. After a break, an expert-led walk through the lively markets of Palermo.

Lunch: Lunch on your own. The guide will point out lunch places that are favorites with market vendors and shoppers.

Afternoon: Free time early afternoon to explore the city of Palermo at your own pace. Late afternoon session at the hotel; a local expert describes the reach of organized crime in Sicily today and traces the origins of Mafia organized crime to the early 18th c. when displaced peasants faced the loss of feudal common rights and turned to banditry.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel.

Lodging: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: Some uneven pavements in the city.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Learn about Sicily's role in the birth of the modern Italian republic. After a break a session on the lives and works of Sicilian writers. In the early 1900s, Luigi Pirandello created characters whose self identities are transformed by their perception of events.

Lunch: Lunch on your own.

Afternoon: Expert-led visit. The folk museum displays simple and elaborate puppets from Sicily's tradition of street theater. Video installations of marionette performances add to the interest of the small and easy to visit museum.

Dinner: Dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Evening: Enjoy a music recital. The venue and program will be announced on site. Note that the date of the performance may change.

Lodging: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Note: The walk up to the hill town of Erice through the ancient gate is somewhat steep, similar to Taormina

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Guided visit to Erice, an ancient mountain-top city reputedly established by Elymian refugees from the fall of Troy. Eryx, the founding king, introduced the worship of Aphrodite to Sicily and we see ruins of the temple. Also noteworthy are the church and Norman walls. Coach to Trapani for a visit and lunch at the Salt Works. Used since antiquity, the sun and wind provide the ideal location to evaporate sea water through a series of large water basins. Visit the old sea mill and enjoy the type of lunch served to the salt harvesters.

Lunch: Lunch at a trattoria located in an old salt harvesting warehouse and wind mill. Taste simple but delicious food seasoned with the famous Trapani sea salt.

Afternoon: Field trip continues to Marsala to visit the archaeological museum which houses the remains of a Punic era ship probably dated to mid 3rd c. BCE. Marsala figures prominently in the Italian Unification, General Garibaldi landed there with his invading army in 1860. The fortified wine Marsala, prime ingredient of "chicken or veal Marsala" and various mixed drinks and desserts, originated here. Opportunity for a Marsala tasting.

Dinner: Dinner on your own.

Lodging: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Note: Walking and standing during the visit to archaeological sites, wide areas completely closed to traffic and not equipped with benches.Uneven dirt path connects the temples and museum, distance about one half mile down a slight incline.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Coach to the southwestern coast of Sicily for an expert led visit to the temples and ruins in Agrigento. The area boasts the finest extant Greek temple complex anywhere (including Greece) lined along a plateau above the water, as well as a fascinating archaeological museum with artistic and votive finds from the area.

Lunch: Lunch at Ristorante Colleverde.

Afternoon: The Archaeological Museum houses an important collection of antiquities, including friezes from the Greek temples in Agrigento. Coach to Palermo late afternoon.

Dinner: At hotel restaurant

Lodging: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Miminal walking in the small town of Monreale.

Breakfast: Buffet breakfast at the hotel

Morning: Free Morning to explore Palermo at your own pace. Late morning coach to Monreale.

Lunch: Lunch at a characteristic trattoria in Monreale.

Afternoon: Just above Palermo, the massive Norman cathedral at Monreale is adorned in the interior with Byzantine medieval mosaics of the highest workmanship. The town is also known for its cannoli, reputedly the best in Italy.

Dinner: Farewell dinner at the hotel

Lodging: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast in the hotel dining room; continental style for participants with early morning departures.

Morning: Coach to and Depart from Palermo airport.

Meals Included: Breakfast