Testimonial:
My one month tour of Italy with Shahla - NEVER A DULL MOMENT!
It was a very lucky day when I read Shahla’s advert in the Next magazine. I could not have asked for more in a tour guide and a travelling companion. I hope to go on trips with her again before too long.
I booked Shahla for a month - that’s a much longer period than her website itineraries. As I had already seen many parts of Italy in previous trips, Shahla organised a tailor-made itinerary for me based on my interests and what I wanted to do on this trip. All of which became clear after my initial trip to Wellington to meet her and our subsequent emails and phone conversations.
Testimonial:
My one month tour of Italy with Shahla - NEVER A DULL MOMENT!
It was a very lucky day when I read Shahla’s advert in the Next magazine. I could not have asked for more in a tour guide and a travelling companion. I hope to go on trips with her again before too long.
I booked Shahla for a month - that’s a much longer period than her website itineraries. As I had already seen many parts of Italy in previous trips, Shahla organised a tailor-made itinerary for me based on my interests and what I wanted to do on this trip. All of which became clear after my initial trip to Wellington to meet her and our subsequent emails and phone conversations.
My one month tour with Shahla started in Milan and finished in Rome (mid Sept to mid Oct 2009). In between, we visited Venice, Murano, Verona, Genova, Ventimiglia, Florence, San Gimmignano, La Spezia, Cinque Terre, Portofino, Porto Venere, Napoli, Sorrento, Capri, Pompii, Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello. Despite covering a lot of Italy, Shahla uses a few cities as a base and then organises day trips to nearby places. That’s why her tours are done at a comfortable pace and you don’t get a feeling of having to pack before having a chance to unpack!
Shahla shows you all the must-see places but in a flexible style so as to accommodate her guests’ interests too – anything you wish to do, be it planned or spontaneous. I wanted to see lots of modern art as well as gardens, which Shahla incorporated in my tour. We visited art exhibitions, flower markets, flower shops and gardens in various cities across Italy. In particular, we went to biennale in Venice and I loved the art exhibitions there (specially Russian and Spanish pavilions), and to Ventimiglia; a 3 hour train ride from Genova to the border of Italy with France, to see the amazing Hanbury Botanical Gardens, which stretches 18 hectares, displaying plants from all over the world.
I also enjoyed doing some spontaneous things, for example getting my hair done at a charming little hair salon in Genova, or going to a lovely little jazz music bar, which we discovered walking through the narrow streets of Sorrento. We decided to go in for drinks and dinner, and enjoyed the food, music and ambiance so much that we returned the next night, when a soccer game (Italy vs Ireland) was being broadcast on TV. It was so entertaining to watch the barman and his friends and clients’ excitements and worries as the game moved on and share the Italian passion for soccer, which is above all else!
My memorable moments were when I saw my first Klimt in the flesh at the Contemporary Art Museum in Venice, and the amazing Peggy Guggenheim Art Collection, again in Venice. Also in Milan I enjoyed a Monet exhibition, and another one by some contemporary Italian artists who had painted the entire surface of a huge canvass which fully covered the circular walls of 3 separate sites with themes of water, fire and wind – it was amazing!
Whenever we had a spare moment Shahla taught me some Italian vocabulary so I was able to order our food and drinks, as well as impress my friends in NZ by including a few Italian greetings in my texts!
The trip was all that I wanted and more. Not only have I had a great holiday, I’ve enjoyed the time to unwind and reflect on the past and decide and firm up my future plans. It’s amazing how much clearer things become when you go out of your day to day life and stresses and your normal surroundings, and step into a neutral environment. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my one month tour of Italy with Shahla and strongly recommend it to other women.