Diane covered an incredible amount of material in one day - if you had a whole day at Hadrian's Villa there would probably be some time to talk a bit more about his life. Since the 2 sites are combined it makes perfect sense that the focus is more architectural, because then when you go to Tivoli it makes you better able to picture Hadrian's Villa as it once was. There is no way we would have enjoyed seeing those places as much without her knowledge! She was very gracious at lunch too - helping us order, telling us about her fascinating background and making that such a pleasant part of the day. I can't believe you have docents with Diane's level of expertise - who clearly know so so much, but are able to convey it in an enthusiastic way for the 'amateur historian'. We were also extremely lucky to have one of your Florence guides, Molly, along for the day. She gave us many suggestions about what to do when there (great tip about the Strozzi - we loved the exhibit and lunch) and maybe we'll read Inferno and come back for her Dante tour. :-)

Diane was absouletly fantastic. Her knowledge of Hadrian was amazing. Her architecture background really helped in bringing the ruins to life. You could really imagine what it looked like when Hadrian lived there. This was my daughter's favorite site of the entire trip. She is now reading the book about Hadrian that Diane suggested. The afternoon was also enjoyable and was a good pairing. Seeing the fountains in operation give a better picture of how Hadrian's villa would have looked. The restaurant at Villa de'Este was closed for renovation and Dianne took this in stride and picked an excellent restaurant outside of the Villa.

Diane has tremendous knowledge and background of what we saw and too an intellectual approach. It was also wonderful for her to travel to Rome from Florence to meet with us from the tour.

Load more