My Summer in Tuscany

Okay, it wasn't the entire summer. In fact, it was just for several days in late August/early September on a "Taste of Tuscany" program with Adventures by Disney. We started in Rome, where one of our two guides, Marco, met us at the airport, brought us to our car and set us on our way to the Empire Palace Hotel, where our second guide, Cynthia, was waiting. Talk about good first impressions: She stood vigilantly at the front desk until she secured our room keys, an act that got us into our room within 15 minutes of arrival, even though it was still early morning.

We loved our welcome bag, which contained an umbrella, a poncho, hydrating mist and a variety of skin gels and other items that complemented the sturdy backpack Disney had sent each guest prior to departure.

After relaxing, we joined our fellow adventurers for a meet-and-greet cocktail party. Our group was much smaller than most tours (11 in all) and was limited to those who were 18 and older. This particular trip ran over Labor Day weekend, which may have accounted for the smaller size—Adventures by Disney carries up to 42 guests on any departure. Cynthia and Marco told us they'd just had a group of that size which included 16 children. We've heard only good things about those situations, where families bond and kids forge long-lasting relationships.

For now, we were content to hang with our new friends. One couple were fans of all things Disney and had gotten married at Walt Disney World. Others were members of the Disney Vacation Club and had found the itinerary for this particular trip too tempting to pass up. Who could blame them? Over the course of the following week, we were about to explore Rome, sample Umbria and then settle into our headquarters in a Tuscan villa. Pasta making was included in there somewhere, and we were all fairly certain that some very good Italian wine would be making a frequent appearance. Bring on la dolce vita!

Easing In
On our second day, we were still recovering from our first group dinner the night before (think: fresh fish and a generous portion of handmade ravioli), held at the hotel's gourmet Aureliano restaurant. But we were in fine enough form to meet our guide, Emilio, an expert on Rome. He was the ideal companion with whom to stroll through the Colosseum, the Forum, the Pantheon and the grounds of the Vatican. Imagine having every single question you've ever had about Roman history answered brilliantly as you're standing where the history actually took place.

That evening, we had dinner on our own. Cynthia and Marco turned out to be experts on Rome themselves and served as concierges at an Adventures by Disney desk in our hotel's lobby. We kept it simple; after walking around the neighborhood—which was close to the Villa Borghese gardens and 15 minutes by foot to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza del Popolo and Via Condotti—we dined outside at an Italian restaurant and forced ourselves to have more homemade pasta.

Since it was late summer, watermelon (a hugely popular treat in Italy, where it's sometimes sold roadside) was in season and guests were ordering platefuls of the fruit. We agreed it had never tasted so good as on that corner in Rome that night.

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