alessandro giorgi

Well, excellent just wayyyy underrated for Alessandro! He's extremely-super-over-excellent-passionate-generous-knowledgeable! 

Our city tour with Alessandro scheduled on 8th Nov, however we arrived in Venice on 6th  Nov. He volunteered to welcome  us at St.Lucia Railway Station-the moment we arrived, he already waited in front of our train coach, helped us with luggages, he even treated us coffees, called private water taxi company to confirm our service, then helped to buy return vaporetto tickets for our daytrip  next day, accompanied us to hotel,  even communicated with hotel staff & assist us how to get to Tronchetto (meeting point for our trip to Dolomites-not with Alessandro-but he was so kind to find the best way for us to get there).  Alessandro also taught us how to remember the streets in Venice so we dont get lost, at least the right way back to our accommodation. 

On the 8th, he fetched us at our hotel then we walked to the F.te Nove pier & hopped on private water taxi provided by New Murano Gallery. We were privillaged to share the private water taxi with one of the partners of New Murano Gallery. When we arrived, we were greeted by Silvia, then we went to see glass making & few of their showrooms. All of their displays were absoulutely mind blowing.  Again, we were so lucky to met one of the LUAB  (new concept of art gallery dedicated to glass) partners, Mr. Fabio Fornasier, the master of chandelier.  Thanks to Alessandro for organized this additional trip at the very last minute. 

Later when we got back to Venice, we passed by Cannaregio area & saw few remarkable buidlings around there. Later we stopped for a coffee break at Rosa Salva, again at Alessandro's treat. During the break, Alessandro explained about Venice in detail-with maps & other printed materials. Then we continued walking to Rialto Bridge, along the way when we passed by any attractions, Alessandro will made a quick stop & briefly describe about it. We even made quick gelato tasting at SUSO, again at Alessandro's treat.  It was so delicious, worth every sweet consumption :)

Fortunately, when we  reached Rialto Bridge area, the water level was good for a Gondola ride.  We really enjoyed the ride.  Later we spent time walking around Campo San Giacomo di Rialto area. Then we continued to Piazza San Marco to see the Basilica, the Bell Tower, the Doge's Palace & the Bridge of Sighs. At around 1600hours only we realized we haven't  take our lunch yet. So we headed to Hard Rock Cafe, it just nearby.  

After had the meals, we went back to hotel since my other 2 travelmates were already exhaused.  Me & Alessandro continued to see the rest of Venice during sunset time, it was splendid. The best part, we managed to visit Libreria Acqua Alta (such a unique book store) & one masks making shop.  Alessandro was so nice to accompanied me back to hotel, around 1900hours. 

We would like to extend our tremendous thanks to Alessandro for making our trip to Venice, not only full of new experiences yet additional knowledge on architectures & cultures. Without any doubt, I fully recommend Alessandro to everybody who wants to visit Venice and surroundings. Cheers :)

Xo,

Nur, Liza & Zaida

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Paola Migliorini

Giuseppe was very knowledgable and Paola was so helpful :) 

We went for a full day tour to Pisa & San Gimignano on 10th Nov and 3 hours tour in downtown Florence on 11th Nov. 

On 10th, Giuseppe fetched us at the hotel around 0830 hours, we headed to Pisa to visit Leaning Tower of Pisa. Along the way, he briefly explained about surroundings that we passed by. 

Luckily the weather was great, we had to enjoy spectacular view from top of the Leaning Tower. Later we spent around 2 hours wandering Pisa town. There were many architecture attractions in Pisa and we’re glad that Giuseppe shared chronicles of Medici family during their ruling and how they used to be leading banker in that era, the influence of Roman and Gothic in development of architecture in Florence and so many interesting knowledge. We stopped for lunch at Bangla Tanduri and Doner Kebab & gelato tasting at La Bottega del Gelato, located near Garibaldi statue opposite Arno River.

Later after lunch, we continued our journey to San Gimignano. Being in Tuscany, it’s hard to take your eyes off the panoramic landscape of rolling hills, olive orchards and winery. Giuseppe was so considerate to stopped at few points so that we could enjoy the views and a quick photo shots. 

We spent about 1 hour wandering around San Gimignano. We were very fortunate to witness sunset reflecting over San Gimignano. After coffee break, we headed back to hotel in Florence. 

The next day, Giuseppe brought us to down town Florence. It was drizzling yet we still enthusiastic to walked. We visited Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore area, then passed by Via De’ Tornabuoni, the high fashion street of Florence, proceed to Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery down to Piazzale Michelangelo in south river bank of Oltrarno district, we had chance to wandered around Ponte Vecchio. Since it’s still early, most of the shops were still closed. 

We’re very thankful to both Giuseppe and Paola for being so flexible to arrange the tour. It’s definitely perks of private tour where we can add and drop according to weather, time, our health condition.

I will always remember Giuseppe said : “In Florence, we change historical moment in every step!’, in deed he’s right. After touring with Giuseppe, we definitely had better understanding about Florence and indeed, we had fanatstic time. Thanks again Giuseppe & Paola :) 

Xo, 

Nur, Liza & Zaida

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia