Trip Itinerary

EGYPT ITINERARY DECEMBER 19 - 30, 2007

Dec. 19: Leave LAX for Cairo

Dec. 20: Arrive Cairo. Transfer to Hotel. Dinner is on our own.

Dec. 21: We are picked up at our hotel at 8:30 am for a full day tour of Memphis, Sakkara & Dahshour; after a rest at the hotel, we transfer to the Train Station for the overnight Wagons Lit train to Aswan. Dinner and breakfast will be provided on the train.

Dec. 22: Upon our arrival in Aswan, we will be taken to our hotel, the Isis Island, to leave our baggage. We will then visit the High Dam, the Temple of Philae (boat), and the Unfinished Obelisk. In the afternoon we have a felucca ride during which we will stop at the Kitchener Botanical Island; we will also visit St. Simeon Monastery by camel. We spend the night at the Isis Island Hotel in Aswan. Dinner is on our own.

Dec. 23: Early this morning we go to the airport for our flight to Abu Simbel. Upon our return to Aswan we visit the Nubian Museum. We spend the night at the Isis Island.

Dec. 24: Before lunch we check into our cruise ship and sail to Kom Ombo to visit the Greco-Roman Temple, and then sail to Edfu for the night.

Dec. 25: Early in the morning we visit the Temple of Horus at Edfu and sail to Luxor where we spend the night.

Dec. 26: Early in the morning we cross the Nile to visit the West Bank, the Valley of the Kings (3 tombs), the Valley of the Queens (3 tombs) and the Valley of the Nobles. We will also visit the Temple of Hatshepsut, the Medinet Habu and the Colossi of Memnon. In the afternoon we visit the Temples of Karnak and Luxor.

Dec. 27: We will have an all-day excursion by private bus to Denderah and Abydos. We spend the night at our hotel in Luxor.

Dec. 28: After breakfast, we transfer to the airport for our flight to Cairo. We will visit Coptic Cairo, including the Hanging church, Ben Ezra Synagogue, and the Sultan Hassan mosque, and the citadel. That evening we leave the hotel for the 7:30 Sound and Light at Pyramids show.

Dec. 29: We leave the hotel at 9 am for a full-day tour of the Pyramids, Sphinx, the Solar Boat; if we want to go inside the Pyramids, we will pay the entrance fees ourselves. In the afternoon we will visit the great Egyptian Museum before returning to our hotel at approximately 6 pm.

Dec. 30: After breakfast we will visit early modern Cairo, after which we will be taken to the airport for our early afternoon flight to Rome.


ITALY ITINERARY DECEMBER 30, 2007 - JANUARY 19, 2008

Dec. 30 - Jan. 1:
We arrive in Rome on Dec. 30 and transfer to our hotel. Jan. 1st is a leisurely day to recuperate from the flight. We will take an orientation walk down the Via Nazionale for a first glimpse of some of the fabulous sights of the Eternal City, including the Forum, the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine and the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. There will be time to experience la dolce vita romana; you can visit some of Rome's great churches, window shop, or walk to the Piazza Navona for cappuccino or some of the world-famous gelato at Tre Scalini.

Jan. 2-3:
On the 2nd we visit the VILLA GIULIA museum, which has a particularly fine collection of Etruscan antiquities. On January 3rd we leave for an excursion north of Rome to Etruria and to the Etruscan cities of CERVETERI and TARQUINIA. The daily lectures will familiarize you with ancient Roman institutions and the character of the Romans as they saw themselves.

Jan. 4-6:
On the 4th we visit the heart of the ancient city, the FORUM with the ruins of the Roman Senate, temple of the Vestal Virgins, and the temple to Julius Caesar; the PALATINE HILL where Nero and other emperors lived; the great arch celebrating CONSTANTINE's triumphs; and the fabulous COLOSSEUM. We also visit the CAPITOLINE MUSEUM on the beautiful square of the same name designed by Michelangelo, where we see the superb equestrian statue of the emperor Marcus Aurelius, the Wolf nursing Romulus and Remus, and many other artifacts of ancient times. Lectures on these days cover the Punic Wars, Roman comedy, and the establishment of the Senate as the seat of power in the Roman Republic. On the 6th we take the subway and the train out to OSTIA ANTICA, the extensive ruins of the port city of ancient Rome. Wander slowly through the lonely streets, duck into typical houses, visit the theater and the Market Place, baths and apartment houses.

Jan. 7-8:
This morning (after the first mid-term), we begin our excursion to the South. We drive to the beautiful city of SORRENTO on the Amalfi Coast, south of Naples. On the way we'll stop for a hike up MT. VESUVIUS, the volcano which buried Pompeii. The fumes and the smoke let you know that Vesuvius is still active! Dinner tonight in a restaurant in Sorrento. On the morning of the 8th we take the ferry to the Island of Capri, the flower-decked island where Roman emperor Tiberius maintained his pleasure-villa. Perhaps you will want to take the chair lift up to the summit of of this mountain/island, Monte Solaro, for fabulous views out over the sea. In the evening we return to Sorrento and are driven to our hotel in Pompeii. Group dinner tonight at our hotel in Pompeii. The lecture today begins a series on the great individuals who molded Rome and spread her power over the world.

Jan. 9:
Early this morning we walk to ancient POMPEII, the city buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Visit the ancient squares, theaters, temples, stores, bars, brothels and villas. See the Villa di Misteri with its mysterious frescoes. See the chariot-wheel ruts in the stone, the garden statuary, the system of running water and heating, and the forms of those who died, buried by tons of ash.

Jan. 10:
Today we take the Circumvesuviana train to nearby HERCULANEUM, another buried city revealed by modern archaeology. We return by train to Pompeii for the evening. Lecture topics in this section of the class include the assassination of Julius Caesar, the Civil War and the beginning of long reign of Augustus, while literature includes the blunt love poetry of Catullus and parts of Virgil's Aeneid, the great Roman epic poem.

Jan. 11:
This morning we visit the NATIONAL MUSEUM in NAPLES, the main repository for the wonderful finds from Pompeii and Herculaneum, as well as the great amphitheater in Pozzuoli, where we can walk underneath the floor to see where professional gladiators and wild beasts were kept before their bloody fights in the arena. In the afternoon we arrive in Villa Adriana, to the east of Rome, where we spend the night.

Jan. 12-13:
This morning we visit HADRIAN'S VILLA and his superb GARDENS before making the lovely drive through rolling country, past castles and hill towns and into FLORENCE, Renaissance City on the Arno. Our comfortable hotel in the city center lets us walk the medieval streets to visit the world's greatest collection of Renaissance Italian art, the UFFIZI GALLERY before dinner in a typical Tuscan restaurant. On the 13th (after the Second Mid-Term) we will visit the Palazzo Vecchio, Dante's House, and the Ponte Vecchio before we with the BARGELLO MUSEUM, with its collection of sculpture by Michelangelo and Donatello as well as the ACCADEMIA MUSEUM, home to DAVID (the statue). Lecture material includes the lyric poems of Horace.

Jan 14:
Today we'll visit the DUOMO and the Church of SANTA CROCE. For the adventurous, we will climb to the PIAZZALE MICHELANGELO and visit the church of SAN MINIATO AL MONTE.

Jan. 15-16:
Today we return to Rome. Back at our hotel, we hear about the imperial Roman families of the first century A.D. Group dinner tonight. On the 16th we walk through the heart of old Rome, Roma antica, to visit Augustus' ARA PACIS, Hadrian's PANTHEON, and the great squares, the Piazza Navona and the Piazza di Spagna. The Roman poet Martial and the Antonine Emperors form the lecture material.

Jan. 17:
Today, all day, we spend in Vatican City. In the VATICAN MUSEUM, we will be sure to visit the sections devoted to Roman antiquities including portrait busts and the famous statue of AUGUSTUS OF THE PRIMA PORTA. There will be ample time to see the SISTINE CHAPEL with Michelangelo's recently restored frescoes and the papal STANZE with the great works of Raphael. Of course you will be able to visit ST. PETER'S BASILICA, and perhaps climb to the dome and the roof. The lecture focuses on the poet Juvenal.

Jan. 18-19:
The final exam is this morning. Otherwise today is a free day, with plenty of time to visit some of the many churches and museums of Rome or just to shop. Tonight we dine at a typical Roman restaurant on specialties of the place and the season for our farewell dinner. On the 19th we transfer to the airport for the flight home. Arrival in Los Angeles is scheduled for the late afternoon of the 19th.