TRAVELING WITH THE SPECIALIST – NEW YEAR’S EVE IN NEW YORK

Depart from Italy by scheduled flight to New York. Meals on board. Arrival in New York City in the afternoon and first introduction to the city during the private transfer to the hotel (Double Tree Times Square West). Accommodation in the reserved rooms. After a short break, first dive with escort into the teeming atmosphere of MIdtown, where the hotel is located. As dusk falls, the first lights of the skyscrapers begin to be more visible and provide a cinematic glimpse. Free dinner. Overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel and free meals. Morning dedicated to a guided tour of Manhattan with guide and private bus. You will visit Midtown, that is, the central part of Manhattan, which includes the city's most famous and iconic skyscrapers: the Empire State Building, the Chrysler, the Bank of America Tower, the United Nations Building, Times Square teeming with lights and people, and Rockefeller Centre. Also in Midtown is 5th Street, the long snaking Broadway, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Moma, and the New York Public Library, the largest library in the entire United States of America. We will drive to the Chelsea neighborhood for a free lunch break at Chelsea Market, a true institution in the city! Early afternoon walking tour with guide in Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. These are two adjoining neighborhoods, located between Midtown and Lower Manhattan, characterized by a very distinctive urban style consisting of old lofts and warehouses converted to house exclusive stores, mansions, art workshops, art galleries and trendy clubs. In the late afternoon, as soon as it gets dark, we will travel to Brooklyn's Dyker Heights neighborhood, famous for its super-decorated houses. As early as the 1980s, this neighborhood has become a Christmas attraction, thanks to the fact that the owners of houses located here go as far as to spend up to US$20,000 on decorations, initiating real competitions among themselves. The "pilgrimage" to Dyker Heights is a cherished Christmas tradition for New Yorkers, and the spectacle provided by this concentration of Christmas lights and decorations is truly unique. Return to hotel and evening at leisure to celebrate New Year's Eve. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel and free meals. Morning devoted to relaxation. In the late morning, depart with your companion for a walk along Fifth Avenue until you reach Rockefeller Center. St. Patrick's Cathedral, one of the largest in the world, will be admired. Its Gothic style, with mighty spires finished in 1888 that until the 1930s were the tallest buildings in New York City, is reminiscent of Cologne Cathedral in Germany, which in fact inspired James Reneick. Many famous weddings have taken place here, from those of actors, to high figures in finance and business, and some weddings of the Kennedy dynasty. Even today it is still possible to apply to have your wedding celebrated here. Possibility to end the walk in Central Park. Return to the hotel. Overnight.

Breakfast at the hotel and free meals. Full day dedicated to continuing the guided tour of Manhattan. The first stop will be devoted to Greenwich Village, where we will take a walk. The "Village" as it is confidentially called,is the neighborhood cherished by artists and musicians, which has managed to maintain that small art community atmosphere over the years. Inhabited in colonial times by the Dutch and British, and then beloved by beatniks in the 1960s and 1970s, the Village is still home to music clubs, small independent stores, bookstores and fantastic restaurants. Here one forgets that one is in a big metropolis, and everything, starting with the low houses and slowed-down pace, makes one believe that one is in a small town, growing around the beautiful Washington Square. Those who wish can photograph the exterior of Carrie Bradshaw's house, seen in the TV series Sex and the City, or the small bar where Bod Dylan first performed. We will have a chance to walk through the elevated park called the Highline, built along the tracks of a railroad that once served to transport goods from the port to large warehouses in the area. Today the Highline is one of the city's most visited attractions (about 10 million people a year), and around this path with small streams, 250 different plants and wooden chaise lounges for watching the sunset, art workshops and showrooms of major designers have sprung up. The Highline walk will end at Hudson Yards, the new urban settlement with the famous building called "The Vessel." Continue in the direction of Downtown, the tip of the island of Manhattan, and free time for lunch at Brookfield Palace, the new shopping mall equipped with a Winter Garden overlooking the Hudson, built at the new World Financial Center. In the afternoon, visit Downton also called Lower Manhattan, the city's financial district, where Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange are based and from where the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island is clearly visible. The two huge tanks designed by architects Arad and Walker in the space once occupied by the Twin Towers will also be seen. This project bears the name "Reflecting Absence," and on the edges are engraved in metal the names of the 3,000 people who lost their lives, surrounded by a forest of 400 trees. These include what is called the "Survivor Tree," a tree that miraculously survived the attacks and has now become for all New Yorkers a symbol of the city's resilience. We will conclude our tour of Downtown with the futuristic World Trade Center subway station, known as the Oculus, a central hub for Lower Manhattan, which is located in the underground area once between Tower 2 and Tower 3. This hugely important project, not only for its architectural impact but also for its symbolic significance, was entrusted to the renowned Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava, who created a veritable vision in the shape of a white dove representing the rebirth of New York City. Return to the hotel. Free dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Morning at leisure for final purchases. In the afternoon, transfer to the airport in time for departure on your scheduled flight to Italy. Meals and overnight stay on board.

Breakfast on board. Arrival in Italy and completion of services.