All touristic tours leave from Royal Carlton at 8.45 p.m.

Visit of the famous historical centre of Bologna, Europe’s second largest after Venice and containing a wealth of important Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque artistic monuments. In the past, the original Roman ramparts were supplanted by a high medieval system of fortifications, remains of which are today still visible. Over twenty medieval defensive towers remain from the over 200 that were constructed in the medieval period. The city landscape is further enriched by elegant and extensive arcades or porticos, that assure covered passages for over 38 km. in the city centre. The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the oldest University in Europe and is still nowadays an important centre of intellectual life and one of the most respected and dynamic post-secondary educational institutions in Italy. Visitors can admire the main square “ Piazza Maggiore”, the heart of the town, which is the result of secular changes when important buildings and monuments enriched the Piazza: “Fontana del Nettuno”, “Palazzo Re Enzo”, “Basilica San Petronio. The visit includes the “ Basilica di Santo Stefano with sanctuary”: a group of churches locally known as Sette Chiese ("Seven Churches") and called “ Holy Jerusalem” as it recalls the passion of Jesus. http://www.comune.bologna.it/girabologna

Discover the wonderful and unique outskirts of Bologna offering breathtaking views. One celebrated feature of the city is its porticos: about 38 kilometres under cover which make a picture-frame for all the old town centre. They were created in the late Middle Ages, when the city had expanded and a way was needed to widen the spaces for housing without taking up the street area. The portico which goes from Porta Saragozza to the Monte della Guardia is the longest one: about 1,5 miles. We will visit the sanctuary on of St. Luke, a time-honored place of worship in which one may view a painting of the Madonna which is thought to have been created by Luke the Evangelist.  A walk under the porticos which takes you from Via Saragozza to the sanctuary is breathtakingly beautiful. After the visit of the basilica we will proceed to Pontecchio Marconi. Here are the memorial and the Villa which belonged to Guglielmo Marconi. The Marconi Museum is dedicated to the origins and developments of radiocommunications and is located at Villa Griffone, the former residence of the Marconi family, where the young inventor carried out his first experiments.  Thanks to the integration of historical equipment, hypertexts, film clips and interactive devices, visitors are offered the possibility of retracing the events that have marked the inventor’s life and education. Special focus is given to the period elapsing from 1895 (first experiments of wireless telegraphy) to 1901 (transmission of the first radio signals across the Atlantic Ocean).The museum houses a series of accurate working replicas of 19th century scientific equipment shown in various “exhibition islands” dedicated to several fundamental stages in the history of electricity, to precursors of the history of radio, and to naval applications of Marconi’s invention. In the area devoted to broadcasting several instruments developed for the transmission of speech and music, starting from WW1, are shown. The exhibition also features some interesting documents concerning Guglielmo Marconi’s education and training (displayed in the famous ‘silkworm room’), as well as his career as a businessman in the company he established in 1897 and which is still named after him. Among the activities promoted by the museum is a popular scientific programme addressed to schools that includes a workshop offering educational experiments concerning the history of electricity, electromagnetism and telecommunications. Villa Griffone, the place where radio communications were born, awaits its visitors with its glamour of legend and the most modern exhibition techniques.

http://www.fgm.it/site/cont.php?a1=1

Emilia Romagna land of motors is not a catchphrase!!! The giants of manufacturing have made Italy mechanical history are all concentrated along the Via Emilia, between Piacenza and Rimini: Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Ducati. This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity takes you to motor sports’ sacred ground. You will learn about the producers, the car and motorcycle museums and  visit the world's most beautiful and precious collections of veteran cars and motorcycles. Our first stop will be the Ducati Museum. Located at the Ducati factory head quarters, the 1,000 sq/mt Ducati Museum highlights 50 years of race track heritage. Our visit will include both the museum and the plant.  After the visit we will proceed to Modena. On the way we will stop to visit a characteristic “acetaia” to learn about a famous product of the region: the traditional balsamic vinegar which is produced only in the counties of Modena and Reggio Emilia. The families of the area have always been very proud of their production of Balsamic Vinegar, and have a set of barrels in the attic as a seal of ancient family traditions, if not a confirmation of noble family roots. Born centuries ago as a medicinal of exclusive use of kings and emperors, it has found its place in the kitchen as a product of excellence, it heightens the flavors and enriches every dish on the Emilian table, from the most simple to ones such as salads and raw vegetables, to the most refined dishes such as filled pastas or meats.  A delicious lunch based on local specialties will be offered in a typical restaurant. In the afternoon we will continue to Maranello. Adjacent to the factory and the celebrated Fiorano test track, the Ferrari gallery traces the history and heritage of arguably the world’s premier marque. The museum features multimedia displays, exhibits, trophies – and, of course, Ferraris. The cars range from the single-seater in which Froilan Gonzalez won Ferrari’s first world championship in 1951 to the latest all-conquering F1 car used by Michael Schumacher. At the end of the visit we will drive around the Ferrari Plant, to see the Wind Tunnel and the Fiorano test track. After this last visit it will be time to come back to Bologna with wonderful memories of a day with the ITALIAN RACING LEGENDS!!!! http://www.galleria.ferrari.com/ http://www.ducati.com/it/heritage/museo/contatti.jhtml

Bologna University Museums are housed in the beautiful Palazzo Poggi. The structurepf the palace dates back to the Sixteenth century interventions to transform and widen the house bought by Poggi family at the end of the 15th century. The project of the Sixteenth century interventions, which some scholars attribute to Bartolomeo Tibaldi, some others to Gaetano Alessi, designed a structure on two floors, characterised by a grand façade in via San Donato (now via Zamboni), an entrance hall, a loggia with porticos tangent the square court, a grand staircase to the first floor. At the beginning of the Eighteenth century, when Luigi Ferdinando Marsili identified Palazzo Poggi as the "container" for the experimental activity of the Istituto, he could not foretell that the ancient Studio, which at that point looked to him impermeable to any novelty, in less than a century would adhere to the experience of the new institution to such an extent that it moved into Palazzo Poggi. Neither did he, when they considered the requirements of a building that was to accommodate laboratories, museums, academies, and to bear the weight of the tower for the astronomy observatory, show any special interest for the previous history of the palace. Nevertheless, that "complex", readjusted to the new function of laboratory for observational and experimental science, recalled in its architecture and decorations, a tradition that, as well as the medical or mathematical one, had expressed the cultural vocation of the town at its highest levels. Prospero Fontana's subjects, Pellegrino Tibaldi and Nicolò dell'Abate's classical histories, the Nosadella and Ercole Procaccini's decorations, designed to be serve as background to the activity of Francesco Zanotti, Beccari, Laura Bassi, Galvani, bore witness, almost two centuries after their realisation, to an attention to classical antiquity and to the contents of an ancient wisdom expressed in tales and myths that had been the peculiar feature of Bolognan Humanism. This tour is both a journey through the history of the oldest university of world and a visit of one of the most beautiful Bolognese palaces. The visit included also the famous La Specola – the astronomical observatory of Bologna.http://www.museopalazzopoggi.unibo.it//

Ravenna was once one of the most important cities in the western world. The last capital of the Roman Empire in the West, she subsequently became capital of the Gothic kingdoms of Italy and of Byzantine Italy. Then the history passed her by. Marooned in obscurity, some of the greatest buildings and decorative schemes of the late antique and early medieval era were allowed to survive unmolested until the modern age recognized in them not the onset of decadence and the barbarity of the Dark Ages but an art of the highest aesthetic and spiritual power. The early Christian Byzantine mosaics at Ravenna are the finest in the world. Ravenna is a European "superstar" city which attracts visitors from the four corners of the world thanks to its unparalleled Byzantine mosaics with complex allegorical meanings. With our expert step guide we will visit the Mausoleum of Galla Placida which has the earliest mosaic scheme in Ravenna (mid-5th century, with 4th-century interiors), San Vitale’s Basilica, the the Neonian Baptistery with superlative early Christian mosaics, and St. Apollinare Nuovo. After the morning sightseeing a delicious lunch will be offered in a local restaurant.In the afternoon we will visit the Basilica of St. Apollinare in Classe. Located at a few miles from Ravenna city center, the basilica was founded in the first half of the VI century. http://www.turismo.ra.it/

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