TRAVELING WITH THE SPECIALIST – THANKSGIVING IN NEW YORK

Meet at Milan airport with your tour leader who will be with you for the duration of the trip. Depart for New York with lunch and snacks on board. Arrival and private transfer to hotel. An initial introduction to the city, one of the most fascinating and influential in the world, will be provided. Arrive at the hotel (Double Tree Times Square West) and settle into the reserved rooms. Free dinner. Overnight stay.

Breakfast at the hotel. Today the day will be devoted to a guided tour of New York City. We will start with Midtown in the morning, 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! In the afternoon scenic tour with stops and walking sections in Chelsea, Greenwich Village, and Meatpacking. Greenwich Village is the neighborhood cherished by artists and musicians that 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 stores, bohemian-style bookstores and fantastic restaurants, and has an unmistakable "village" atmosphere of its own. Here we will have a chance, in the vicinity of the iconic Flatiron Building, to visit the Union Square Christmas Market, another characteristic New York Advent attraction. In the Meatpacking District, the area once used for butcher's warehouses, we will take a walk on the famous Highline. It is the elevated railway line located in the Chelsea neighborhood and recently converted into a popular public park. Today the High Line is visited by five million people a year: there are lawns and benches, there is a piece of pavement on which runs an inch of water to put your feet in. There are still bits of tracks, integrated with the rest, and 210 different species of plants, as well as art workshops and studios in the area that offer interesting glimpses inside their glass windows. Free dinner and overnight stay.

Continental breakfast at the hotel. Today is the most special day of the year for all Americans, even more special than Christmas: it's Thanksgiving Day! The first Thanksgiving Day is commonly traced back to 1621, when in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Pilgrim fathers gathered to thank the Lord for a good harvest. In Europe, the celebration is known through imported movies and TV shows in which it is often portrayed as an opportunity to gather around the famous turkey. Tradition dictates that dinner is always held at home with family and friends. The turkey, which in each family is cooked according to its own "secret" recipe, is accompanied by gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, vegetables and pumpkin pie (the famous pumpkin pie). In the morning you can witness one of New York's most Thanksgiving-related traditions: the Macy's Department Store Parade. A special event that attracts more than 3 million visitors each year and another 50 million viewers connected live, it features a parade of floats, marching bands, cheerleaders and, of course, the giant balloons with the likenesses of cartoon characters such as Spiderman, Mickey Mouse and Hello Kitty. The route following the parade is 4 kilometers and involves more than 8,000 volunteers. People can watch the parade and street festivities until early afternoon. To follow, as is the custom in the United States, early Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant. Traditionally, this special menu constitutes the only meal of the day and begins in mid-afternoon. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Continental breakfast at the hotel. Today is Black Friday! A custom that originated and grew in the United States and spread from there to Europe in recent years, it is a day when stores apply steep discounts on merchandise to entice customers to buy thereby increasing their sales. In short, a kind of "day of cuccagna" where real bargains can be made. For Black Friday and to benefit from the unbeatable savings, the day will be free and available for everyone to head to the shopping area that best suits their interests. Free lunch. Free dinner. Overnight stay at the hotel.

Continental breakfast at the hotel. In the morning, visit Downtown, the tip of Manhattan, the city's financial district, where Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange are located and from where the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island is clearly visible. You will also be able to see the Ground Zero Memorial. Ten years after the attack that changed the world, the 9/11 Memorial was opened in 2011 to honor the victims. The exterior will show the two huge pools designed by architects Arad and Walker in the space once occupied by the two towers. 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. Free lunch. Private transfer to the airport in the afternoon for the return flight. Departure for Italy. Dinner and overnight stay on board.

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