TRAVELING WITH THE SPECIALIST – NEW YORK

Meet at Milan airport with the tour leader who will be with you for the duration of the trip. Depart for New York by scheduled flight: lunch and snacks on board. Upon arrival, meet with the guide and private transfer to the hotel, during which an initial introduction to the city will be provided. Arrive at the hotel (Double Tree Times Square West) and settle into the reserved rooms. As dusk falls, the first lights of the skyscrapers begin to be more visible, and the setting sun reflects off the mirrored walls of the buildings, providing a truly cinematic glimpse! Free dinner. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel. Full day dedicated to a guided tour of Midtown and Brooklyn, and the various neighborhoods and boroughs, each the product of a specific past, linked to ethnic flows that shaped its traditions, tastes, customs and even architectural style. It will start with a visit to one of the city's newest landmarks: the futuristic Hudson Yards architectural complex, a jaw-dropping construction feat consisting of several buildings built along the Hudson River near a railroad depot in the Chelsea neighborhood, characterized by low-rise buildings compared to other parts of the city, art galleries, and Chelsea Market, one of Manhattan's most famous food markets. Hudson Yards, with the iconic building called "The Vessel" , represents the largest private construction project in U.S. history and took six years to complete. This is where the Highline starts, which we will walk through, the elevated public park built along the tracks of a railroad that once served to transport goods from the port to large warehouses in the area. Having reached the end of the short Highline route, we will begin our walk in Greenwich Village, the neighborhood cherished by artists and musicians, which has maintained 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. 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. For free time for lunch we will travel to Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood (which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). It is a former industrial district that is now a neighborhood of art galleries, boutiques, luxurious apartments and even a small beach. In the afternoon, a guided tour of Brooklyn will begin. The centerpiece of Brooklyn is Prospect Park, designed in 1866 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the same designers of Central Park, who have always considered it their true masterpiece. It is surrounded by the historic Townhouses of the late 19th century, with their red brick facades and classic access stairways. It will also pass through the Park Slope neighborhood, the chosen residence of many successful actors, managers and artists, fashion designers and novelists. Return to
hotel. Free dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Start of an exciting day full of surprises! Not far from the Bronx neighborhood, reached by crossing a long bridge, we will find a totally unexpected world that will completely transport us to another dimension reminiscent of more typical New England or Hamptons scenarios: City Island. It is a small island (1.5 miles long and 1 mile wide) that is part, along with Hart Island and Rat Island, of the small Pelham archipelago, a collected world of about 5,000 total inhabitants far from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, immersed in the quiet, relaxed atmosphere of a typical East Coast seaside resort. Originally inhabited by native Siwanoy Indians, it was later sold to the Dutch and English, who parked their naval fleet there in the 17th century. Walking down the main street, we will have a chance to admire Grace Episcopal Church, built bel 1860 by carpenters from a shipyard who curiously gave it the shape of a vessel. Strolling is the ideal pastime on City Island, browsing the various small vintage stores and peeking into the classic "Diners" serving lobster and crabs. In the afternoon we will make a tour of the Bronx borough, one of New York's boroughs with fewer inhabitants than Manhattan but more than twice the size at 109 square kilometers. It owes its name to Swiss-born Dutchman Jonas Bronck, who bought the area from native Indians in 1639 for pennies. The Bronx, an undesirable area until the 1970s, has undergone a real housing and social reclamation over the years and is now an icon-neighborhood, where the real Little Italy can be found, without tourists and with an authentic Italian atmosphere. The symbol of the Bronx is certainly Yankee Stadium, built in 1932, closed in 2008 and then reopened in 2009 after a complete renovation-the proud home of the New York Yankees. The recent 2019 film "Joker" then captured another corner of the Bronx now a taxing photo stop: the famous staircase at Shakespeare Avenue along which the Joker dances in the film's final scene. The Bronx Botanical Gardens, as well as the Bronx Zoo, are a destination for nature lovers and for families. Return to the hotel.
Free dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Today's morning will be devoted to Downtown. Along the route that will take us to the southern end of Manhattan Island, the oldest part, a photo stop will be made in the Tailors and Tailors' District (Garment District), where we will see the famous iron building (Flatiron), completed in 1902 and at the time the tallest building in the city. Followed by a guided tour of Lower Manhattan and the Financial District. It will start from the southern tip of Manhattan (Battery Park) to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. The first stop will be at the Statue of Liberty, given to Americans by the French and the work of the same architect who created the Eiffel Tower, who used his mother's face as inspiration. At Ellis Island you can visit the beautiful Immigration Museum that allows you to relive all the various steps that took place once you arrived in the U.S. Here people were examined and interrogated, if necessary placed under observation, and then finally, if all went well, taken by boat to Manhattan where we often had friends or relatives waiting. Return to Downtown in the late morning and sample the landmarks of Downtown's financial district: Wall Street with its famous bull statue, the beautiful Trinity Church, the Federal Reserve Bank, which is the place that stores the most gold bars in the world, and the many classical and art deco buildings, such as the one housing the museum dedicated to Native American Indians. Free time for lunch in the conservatory at the new Brookfield Place complex at the new World Trace Center, an architectural marvel offering various dining options and a beautiful outdoor area with tables by the Hudson River. In the early afternoon return to the hotel and time at leisure. Return to the hotel. In the evening, Goodbye dinner at a restaurant. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Continental breakfast at the hotel. Morning at leisure for free activities (shopping, visiting a museum or observatory). In the afternoon, transfer to the airport in time for the return flight. Departure for Italy. Dinner and overnight stay on board.

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