Today we depart with our overnight flight to Rome, Italy. Meals will be served on board.
 

Upon arrival at the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino airport and after collecting our luggage and clearing custom formalities, we will be greeted by our English speaking Perillo Tours representative, who will escort us to our hotel by private deluxe air-conditioned motor coach. The rest of the day is at lesiure to help adjust to our new time zone. A welcome dinner is arragened at a Kosher local restaurant this evenning. Return to our hotel for our overnight accommodations. (D.)

After our daily breakfast, we begin our tour by first visiting the Vatican Museums, one of the cornerstones of Rome. Take a few minutes to look for the seven Hebrew prophets in Michelangelo’s ceiling frescoes. we stop for lunch (on your own) in a local restaurant or visit one of the best, and least known attractions in the city, the walled and crowded Ghetto of Rome. We continue on to Tempio Maggiore di Roma, the principal synagogue of Rome, one of the largest synagogues in Europe built between 1901 and 1904. Beneath the Great Synagogue is the Museo Hebraic di Roma, the Jewish Museum of Rome, host to several exhibits highlighting the connection between the Jewish people and Rome. Their history can be seen in its magnificent collection of silverware and precious textiles from all over Europe, marble carvings that once decorated the Cinque Scole, the five synagogues of the Ghetto demolished in the 19th century as well as miniature parchments. Our day ends with dinner in a Kosher restaurant in the ghetto area. (B.D.)

After breakfast, we depart for Ostia Antica, close to the town of Ostia. The Ostia Synagogue is an ancient synagogue located in ancient Ostia Antica, the seaport of Imperial Rome. It is one of the oldest synagogues in the world, the oldest synagogue in Europe and the oldest mainstream Jewish synagogue yet uncovered outside Israel. The synagogue building dates from the reign of Claudius (41-54 AD) and continued in use as a synagogue into the 5th century AD.
Allow your imagination to take you back 2000+ years to a time, when Ostia Antica was a lively and thriving commercial center. As you wander the ruins peeking at the remains of arcades, baths, mansions and warehouses, you will get an idea of what Roman lifestyles was like then. By entering the time machine see how civilizations advanced, how everyday life was well-organized and why this city is still amongst the best preserved in the world. Then spend a few minutes trying to guess what was for sale in the shops behind each 2nd century mosaic sign. Lunch (on your own) in a local restaurant. Wearing Samsung Gear Virtual Reality glasses uncover the history and culture of Ancient Rome experiencing the Colosseum like never before. Relive the history of the ancient world while a multilingual narrative voice coupled with epic background music brings it all to life. See the Roman Forum, the marketplace of ancient Rome and the nearby Palatine Hill, the centermost of the Seven Hills of Rome. return to our hotel for dinner and overnighta ccommodations.  (B.D.)

After breakfast the rest of the day is at lesiure to explore Rome on your own. Dinner on your own this evening. (B.)

After breakfast, transfer to the Rome Railway Station to board the fast train to Bologna (about 2h30m). Upon arrival, we have our private coach transfer to Parma (famous for its Parmesan cheese). We stop for lunch (on your own). After, our guide joins us as we visit the Synagogue, Comunita' Ebraica Di Parma and the Biblioteca Palatina, home to the largest collection of Hebrew Manuscripts in Italy. We proceed to Modena on the south side of the Po Valley to see the recently restored emancipation Synagogue opened in 1873, the remains of the Jewish Ghetto and the Este Library housing important Jewish manuscripts. We return back to Bologna for dinner and overnight accommodations in Bologna. (B.D.)

For those observing the Shabbat we will offer an optional walking tour on this day. 

After breakfast, our day begins with a lecture by Prof. Mauro Perani, one of the most important experts in Jewish studies in Italy followed by lunch (on your own) in a typical trattoria. Mangiare. In the afternoon, we visit the Bologna historical center and Jewish quarter, walking through  the narrow streets of history.  After we return to our hotel for dinner and overnight in Bologna. (B.D.)

After breakfast we begin our tour with a visit to the Carpigiani Museum, a Gelato Museum, the only one of its kind in the world! Here we learn about the history of artisan gelato. The “smaller explorers” (children) have time to create their own ice cream masterpieces according to ancient recipes as members of the Maestro Gelato University. While parents learn the basic techniques of ice cream production. Our journey continues northeast this afternoon to Ferrara, located in the Emilia-Romagna region, known as a City of Renaissance defined by the D’Este Dynasty. We will visit the Jewish Ghetto and National Jewish Museum. Our day ends in Venice, the city of canals. We transfer to our hotel by water taxi. Dinner and overnight accommodations in Venice. (B.D.)

After breakfast, we depart on our guided tour of the Jewish Ghetto featuring the Jewish Museum, Museo Ebraico di Venezia. Situated in the Campo of the Ghetto Novo between the two oldest Venetian synagogues, this little but rich museum was founded in 1953 by the Jewish Community of Venice and showcases important examples of goldsmith and textile manufacture made between the 16th and the 19th centuries, ancient books and manuscripts and objects used in the most important moments of the cycle of civil and religious life. Enjoy lunch (included). In the afternoon we visit the Jewish cemetery on Lido Island, jewel of medieval art. After we return to the Venice city center for a guided tour of the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s Basilica. We enjoy dinner this evening at a Kosher restaurant. Overnight Venice.  (B.L.D.)

After breakfast, we board a private water-taxi to the parking lot where our motor coach is waiting for the drive to the historic Conegliano, the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance painter Giambattista Cima (XV sec.) known for his paintings of religious subjects. Located close to the Treviso Alps, a small, but important Jewish Community, which was established during ancient times. See the synagogue rebuilt with furniture transported to 25 Hillel Street in Jerusalem in 1954 and operates today serving the Italian Jewish community. We stop for lunch (on your own) in a typical farmhouse in the Conegliano hills area before continuing to the beautiful Trieste “Gateway to Zion”, home to one of Europe’s largest synagogue. we will have our guided tour of the historic city center. Afterwards enjoy an aperitif at Caffè San Marco a rendezvous for writers and intellectuals frequented by the Irish novelist James Joyce. Dinner and overnight accommodations at our Hotel in Trieste. (B.D.)

Our morning tour of Jewish Trieste takes us to the ghetto area where some of the buildings from the two Jewish ghettos survived and have been restored. See the Monumental Synagogue, the Jewish Museum and the Carlo and Vera Wagner Museum opened in 1993  as a museum to showcase objects of the community.

A treat that can't be missed! There are several ways to prepare “Merenda” the snack of peasants and workers. La Bomboniera, the last Liberty pastry shop has remained intact for over a century in Trieste. Its austere showcases are adorned by bonbon, fondant and confetti as originally prepared in the nineteenth-century amidst putizze (dried fruit, chocolate and nut spiral cake), presnitz (puff pastry filled with dried fruit, nuts and spices), pinze (a traditional desert flan) and homemade chocolate eggs. Taste the Rigó Jancsi, a traditional Hungarian cube-shaped chocolate sponge cake and chocolate cream pastry at the Bomboniera, where this authentic Austro-Hungarian pastry has been made since 1850. Founded by the Hungarian Eppinger family, all desserts are cooked strictly in the original wood-burning oven dating back to 1850. It is the only pastry shop in Trieste to use this method). Enjoy lunch (on your own) at a restaurant in the center of the city.

After we visit the 19th century Miramare Castle on the Gulf of Trieste. Built for the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian and his wife Charlotte of Belgium, visitors can view their private chambers featuring the original furnishings. Return to Trieste stopping at one of the renowned Gelaterie such as “Jazzin” Gelateria to taste this wonderful ice cream. Dinner this evening in a restaurant with its amazing view of the Gulf of Trieste. Overnight in Trieste. (B.D.)

After breakfast we depart for teh airport for our flight ome. (B.)