Month: July 2017

” KANDIE was very detailed and knowledgeable about assisting me with my vacation plans.”

” I have booked with Heather before and I am always absolutely satisfied with my trips!! I have already referred my brother, and he used CI Azumano Travel for his wedding trip to Hawaii.”

“We have had Diana plan our trips several times and they have always gone smoothly.”

“ Have had Jenny as a consultant several times and she is great. She hellped save us hundreds of dollars on airfare. Very helpful as she has always been.”

“Rena is friendly and very helpful. Helped make our first cruise a success.”

“Diana is always friendly, listens to our questions and requests to find the best way to resolve them.”

“Hi Heather,

We are back from our vacation! Thank you so much for helping us put this vacation together. Every last bit of it was amazing and perfect.

– Venice – we were met in the airport and brought to our water taxi. Entering into Venice for the first time was so incredible.. The water taxi was unable to bring us to the hotel because of the tide, so he dropped us off a the main port and pointed to two buildings and told his to go between them and make a left and a right and whatever…so off we went. And having never been in Venice, we didn’t know that, yes! it’s ok to walk down that narrow alleyway. So – funny part is that we got lost for the first 1/2 hour and must have crossed the square near our hotel at least 5 times dragging our suitcases behind us – until two couples that were sitting at a cafe enjoying an Aperol Spritz pulled us over with a chuckle and helped us…they told us they had been watching us for the past half hour! They gave us a map that they had and we eventually found our way with the map and asking waiters standing outside their restaurants for help! When we arrived at the Hotel Columbina we were greeted by our wonderful concierge and he told us we were upgraded to a canal view! So- that was a great surprise. The room itself reminded us a little bit of a cruise ship room – low ceilings and kind of dark, but we really didn’t care. The breakfast was satisfactory – nothing too special, but that worked for us because we ended up eating large lunches of the food that we really love! We LOVED Venice. I cried a little when we entered our first church and saw first hand the architecture and artwork that I had studied in my art history classes in college. I was moved by the reality of the structures and the new knowledge that was required by the master craftsmen to build these structures by hand! We walked everywhere and made sure to eat pasta, pizza, parma ham, have an aperol spritz, sit in San Marco Square, listen to music, eat gelato and do a ton of walking. We took pictures of our swollen feet! Our pedometers tracked us at 19k steps per day!!! Tour of Doge’s Palace was great! Loved the tour of the Jewish Ghetto and met really nice people and ate some great food. The tour guide was not Jewish, which was a surprise and kind of lovely hearing her speak about a group/religion with such respect, interest and love. If you ever do decide to recommend this tour to others, please note that because she is not Jewish, she is not allowed to go into the synagogues…we didn’t have that expectation, but just wanted you to know about that. We toured the Doge’s Palace, went to Murano and Burano – Ate lunch in Burano – grilled prawns and linguine and white clam sauce. We really loved the whole city of Venice and by the time we left, we knew our way around pretty well…The hotel staff was wonderful and took great care of us…When we left to go to the airport, a representative came to the hotel to make sure we knew what we needed to do and where to go once we got to the train station. A water taxi picked us up at the hotel and took us right to the train station where we easily found our way around…even had time for a cappuccino. Train ride was easy and we were met in Florence by our driver who drove us the 10 minutes to the Hotel Bernini.

– Florence – Hotel was lovely and the concierge and hotel staff were wonderful. We had booked a group walking tour around Florence for that first night and met our tour guide to find that we were the only ones on the tour…so our group tour became a private tour. We walked over the Ponte Veccho to meet her…She was lovely, young, american who met her husband while she was studying there and ended up marrying him and living there. She was great and gave us a great overview of Florence, history and went into detail about architecture and sculpture. She then turned us on to her favorite restaurant for dinner, which quickly became our favorite restaurant to recommend to anyone we came in contact with. Osteria Santo Spirito….it was perfect. Casual, rustic, great house wine, hand painted ceramic dinnerware that was perfectly chipped just the right way. We had the most beautiful, colorful bruschetta to start [see pic attached], cacio e pepe, side of meatballs, and then this incredible chicken and veggie dish. Adorable wait staff, too. The next day we toured the Duomo and climbed to the top of the dome. We then ventured out on our own and found the synagogue and toured that, too…we had a great afternoon just walking around, eating, drinking, etc. Then we had a Sunset Bike Tour…AMAZING!  Met really nice people, and got another person’s version of the Duomo and the Renaissance. I won’t lie – there were parts of the tour that were quite challenging…, but we loved the pace in which we were able to get from one landmark to the next and then to see the city of Florence from a totally different point of view was incredible. We ended the tour with some hand made all natural gelato…[i had ricotta cheese, fig and honey!-so good!] We then got a recommendation for a pizza place and had a casual dinner. We were both exhausted and pretty much called it a night. The next day was our museum day….OMG – we had the best tour guide for both tours – the morning at Accademia and the afternoon at the Uffizi. We learned so much from her! She was incredible! In between the museums, we went to the leather market and definitely negotiated some amazing deals….that night we had dinner at the one restaurant we had a resi at, La Giostra…It was very good, but quite honestly, the restaurants that we ate in that we just came upon last minute were just as good! Next day was the wineries…again, met some great people and the tour guide was adorable and interesting. Wine tasting was wonderful and the lunch was so simple and amazing. The wineries were beautiful and we had a lovely day. Last night, we tried to eat dinner at Osteria Santo Spirito again, but it was completely booked until 10:00! We couldn’t wait so we ate in a more touristy place with poor service….because last minute we decided we wanted to hear live classical music. Our concierge gave us a few options to choose from. We selected, they ordered the tickets and we saw live brass orchestra in the outside square of Pitti Palace….! Amazing! As we walked back to the hotel, we passed by another square where they were showing an outdoor movie…it was in Italian, but we loved coming upon it an stayed and watched for a few minutes….LOVED Florence. Next, day we left for Rapallo. We were picked up at the hotel in a Bentley and we were taken back to the train station. Easy transfer in Pisa.

– Rapallo – beautiful Hotel…they put us on the 2nd floor facing the Ligurian Sea with a balcony…we requested a higher floor and they accommodated us…moved us to the 7th/top floor and the views were spectacular from our balcony. We had to wait a little for the new room to be ready, so we at lunch at the outdoor restaurant overlooking the sea….was a little expensive, but very good. We relaxed a little and then followed the red carpet into Rapallo for dinner. Had a great meal. The cuisine in that region is different than where we had been before, so we asked the waiter/owner to select for us…he did such a great job and we had a really wonderful night. The next day we decided to walk into Santa Margarita….very nice walk, beautiful little city. Wandered around and then it began to pour! We ran and sat at a cafe’ under an umbrella and then waited it out. Took a taxi back to the hotel…btw – taxi’s there were crazy expensive! A 5 minute drive from the train station to the hotel was 15 euros! To get back from Santa Margarita we spent 30 euros! Crazy expensive. We met a couple that had a car and got a little jealous that they could just hop in their car and drive to portofino….we were secretly hoping they would ask us to join them, but no go! So, we never made it to Portofino…we ate dinner every night in Rapallo – was an easy walk. I will say that the food in Rapallo was my least favorite, although there was one restaurant that we went to that was rated #2, but Doug and I had sat at a cafe for drinks before dinner and filled up on the snacks that they provided, so we could barely eat the food we were served! Anyway, on another day we took the train to Monterossa and hiked to Vernazza. Thankfully it was overcast that morning because it was already hot and the hike was pretty damn hard! But it was beautiful….the views were incredible! We ate a really simple lunch in Vernazza – grilled bread with olive oil, tomatoes, and fresh pesto! Incredible! Took the train back and relaxed by the sea! The last day we decided to stay put and we enjoyed the hotel. But first we had to go into town to buy a suitcase to hold all of the wine, olive oil and gifts we bought and there was a kind of flea market going on…we ended up buying the best peaches, nectarines and small purple and yellow plums that we have ever had. We enjoyed them while we sat on our lounge chairs by the sea…we swam in the sea and the pool and the sea and the pool…ordered lunch to our chairs and stayed until 6:00….again into Rapallo for dinner. Next day, we hired a car to take us to the airport. The flight was delayed in Genoa so we missed our connection in Amsterdam! Had to stay over night! Got a hotel voucher, taxi voucher and food voucher – but really? We weren’t eating in the hotel! So, we checked in, took the trolley into the square, ate a cheeseburger, had some beer, and yes, visited a coffee shop and of course the red light district….trolley back to the hotel that night. Train to the airport and then made a flight to Brussels and then back to JFK…..only major negative is that our luggage did not follow us and we didn’t get it until yesterday! But – whatever!

The trip was perfect, Heather. The itinerary was perfect. The hotels were perfect! You were awesome! thank you so very much for everything!

All our best, Risa and Doug”

” Diana booked this cruise for my family of seven and everything ran smoothly. As always, Diana took care of us. We have worked with Diana for about 12 years and she is always extremely knowledgeable and helpful. She is helping us plan another cruise in October. We have referred friends to Diana in the past. We will continue to refer friends to Diana in the future.”

“Yvette was fast and very detailed.”

“Lori provided very efficient, flexible and thoughtful service. Had no issues with documentation. Fantastic experience overall. A friend recommended Amex travel planning services. Lori appeared as an expert on italy. She was an excellent resource and joy to work with.”