Arrival services by Bravo Viaggi are designed to guarantee the highest quality experience from the time your guests step off the airplane. This service is one that minimizes the challenges of Venice in order to maximize convenience and take advantage of the charm, sophistication and magic of this floating city.
Today we create fellowship by giving back at Casa Aurora, a home for mothers in recovery, where we will be taking on a number of projects to help improve the property. We will focus on cleaning and arranging the garden as well as assembling and constructing outdoor play areas for child guests. We will then unveil their new space to the residents of the house and enjoy lunch and time together.
Today we learn a unique craft of this ancient city, making Venetian masks followed by discovering some of the wonders of the floating city.
Guests will have the opportunity to create their own authentic, handmade mask in the same way Venetian artisans did 800 years ago! Each student will be transported to the Ca’Macana Private Workshop and will be provided all necessary supplies to create their masterpiece.
Ca’Macana is one of the oldest and finest mask making workshops in Venice. They craft authentic handmade masks in the same way Venetian artisans did eight hundred years. Each mask is unique. Masks were featured in important film productions like Eyes Wide Shut by Stanley Kubrick and in theatres like the Vienna Opera HouseFree Time at the Hotel.
Escorted by a professional photographer, guests will have the opportunity to discover how to ‘spot’ good pictures, while exploring the main squares and canals, and seek out hidden corners tucked off the main tourist trail. With its bustling squares and canals, the city offers delights and challenges to photographers of all skill levels, with wonderful yet often fleeting photo opportunities at every turn. Each passenger will receive a wireless headset.
Tour begins at St Mark’s Square with the visit of the Doge’s Palace, escorted by your local guide. Easily Venice’s most famous building, Doge’s Palace is a mesmerizing example of Venetian Gothic architecture at its finest. Created in the 14th century for the doges of Venice, the rulers of the former Venetian Republic, the palace contains elaborately decorated public rooms alongside darker hidden chambers. The visit continues with the access to the Piombi, the ancient attic prison that traditionally held Venice’s upper-class inmates under a lead-cased roof. By the 16th century, the attic prison cells were replaced by the New Prisons, which were joined to Doge’s Palace by the Bridge of Sighs, named to signify the prisoners’ sighs as they caught their last glimpse of beautiful Venice. Guests will walk across the Bridge of Sighs and explore the New Prisons at the end of the tour. Each passenger will receive a wireless headset.
Peggy Guggenheim’s career belongs in the history of 20th century art. Peggy used to say that it was her duty to protect the art of her own time, and she dedicated half of her life to this mission, as well as to the creation of the museum that still carries her name. The Guggenheim Foundation has converted and expanded Peggy Guggenheim’s private house into one of the finest small museums of modern art in the world.The tour continues with the guided visit of the St.Stefano Church. The Augustinian church is burial ground for t,he Doges. From the outside the leaning bell tower of the brick church immediately catches the eye. Santo Stefano was built in the 15th century by Augustinian monks. Seeing the extraordinary vaulted ceiling in the interior is quite something. The beautiful coffered wood has the shape of an inverted ship’s hull. In the sacristy there are also three paintings by Tintoretto. Each passenger will receive a wireless headset.
Winners and executives will meet at the Hall Dandolo of the Hotel Danieli to take a group photo. Guests may join in at the Hall Dandolo for a cocktail prior to departure.
The Awards Reception & Dinner will take place at an off-site location. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be passed during the reception. La Dogaresse, a string quartet, will play during the reception.
Dinner will be served. A projection screen will display a slide show of pictures taken throughout the week from our photographers.
Today will provide relaxation at the Spa and discovering two islands of the Venitian Lagoon.
An elegant sanctuary of privacy and peace awaits guests at the GOCO Spa. With direct access from the water, the arrival is part of the experience allowing guests to disembark right at the spa’s door. Once inside, a true sensory journey awaits, with facilities and unrivalled service all interwoven in beautiful Venetian style and elegance. Rest and relaxation come standard, but in addition guests will leave rejuvenated and with a new zest for life. Round trip transfer by private water taxi.
Murano:
Situated about one mile to the north of Venice is the island, or group of islands, that make up Murano. It became especially famous for its glassmaking after all the glassmakers of Venice were forced to move there in 1291 to protect the wooden buildings from the possibility of fires.
Burano:
Burano is an island in the Northern Venetian Lagoon. All visitors of Burano remain intrigued by the many colors and the colored houses that are reflected into the green waters of channels, by the Oblique Bell Tower, by the tranquility and the calmness with which the elderly ladies embroider original Burano lace by their tombolo (or lace pillow). The first laces date back to 1500 and initially their workmanship took place in posh houses, employing needle-and-thread without a canvass as prop. Here the “punto in aria” combined with geometrical designs, flowers, animals, and spirals took place.
The Bussolà Buranello:
The tour continues with a tasting of the Bussolà of Burano, a typical donut-shaped cake, also known by the name of buranelli.
Before returning to Venice, guests will stop to taste Dorona, known as the Golden Grape during the age of the Venetian Doges. This autochthonous grape variety almost became extinct and after centuries of history only a few plants were left hidden away in vegetable gardens and convents. It is a forgotten Venetian grape variety, a walled vineyard in the middle of Native Venice where the vines are challenged by the high tide giving rise to a wine that is unique to this world. Buffet lunch will be enjoyed, including wine tasting.
Today we will learn to prepare Italian food at a Venetian cooking class followed by a private tour of St.Mark’s Basilica:
Cooking Class at Acquolina Cooking School:
Acquolina is a true culinary academy where you can learn to prepare a whole menu, ranging from the Venetian tradition, including cicchetti (to be studied first-hand at the best of the Venetian wine bars called bacari), to the great classics of Italian cuisine. In the school’s kitchen, pupils will find six cooking stations fitted with every accessory and above all a relaxed, warm and friendly atmosphere.
Set under the arcades of the Procuratie Nuove in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, Caffè Florian may rightfully claim to have for almost three centuries one of the city’s symbols. Opened on December 29th 1720 by Floriano Francesconi, it soon became known by its patrons as “Florian’s”, the most famous “bottega da caffè” (coffeehouse). The elegant atmosphere and the exclusive service on trays, make the Café a wonderful place to host special events and activities.
As an added thank you to this year’s winners, we will have a cocktail hour at 6:00 PM for the group to enjoy a final beverage together. Selected cocktails and snacks will be provided for the winners and their guests.
The Venetian diocese has granted an exclusive private tour to our group of St. Marks’ Basilica. This is a unique opportunity to see one of Venice’s most famous landmarks in a private setting.