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Alumni Italy Trip

Alumni Italy Trip

June 7-13, 2024

Registration deadline: Monday, June 19

Please let us know if you’d like a call from Mike Rogosich or Mike Curatolo for more information.

Sign up for a call 

This is a once-in-a-Gibbons lifetime event! Be part of an intimate group of Gibbons alums and their guests (headcount limited to 30 people) as we explore Florence, Assisi, and Rome on a six-day Gibbons-exclusive tour of Italy.

We depart Friday, June 7, on an overnight flight and land in Florence Saturday morning. After two days in Florence, we head to Assisi, spending time where St. Francis lived and founded the Franciscan Friars, reconnecting with our Franciscan leadership roots. The trip ends with two days in Rome with exclusive access to Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica before returning home.

A note from Mike Rogosich:

"Since 1996, we have fulfilled our mission by taking over 1,000 students and educators to Italy. Nothing replaces being in Rome, the heart of the church, and the grave of St. Peter’s with Gibbons people, together, in community, discovering, discerning, and dialoging. Now, we extend this trip to alumni. I have been given the gift of the Gibbons family, the gift of going on this trip almost 30 times, so I want to share this gift with alumni."

Price includes:

  • Round-trip flight
  • Breakfast & Dinner daily
  • 3-4 star hotel accommodations
  • Local transportation
  • Museum access and guided tours
  • Early bird discount for registration by July 1

View cost information 

Thanks and sorry!
Susan

Who attends?

This experience is open to all Gibbons alumni and their guests (18+). Space is limited to 30 to keep this an intimate experience and keep all local transportation, meals, and tours exclusive to those in the Gibbons group.

Mike Rogosich, Susan Leigh, and Mike Curatolo will lead and support this group.

ACIS. Gibbons works with the student travel company ACIS. 

Learn more 

Requirements: You simply must have a love for the Gibbons family and a desire to experience all this in community. We will walk about ten miles a day, and we will discover all these things at a lively pace. On the student Italy Trip, we have had chaperones in their 60s who were absolutely fine and we’ve had healthy teenagers struggle mightily. We would welcome any handicapped persons. Italy is not as handicapped-friendly as the United States, so you would have to know that in advance and be prepared.

Trip details

  • We eat all breakfasts and dinners together as a group in a preset meal at great restaurants and hotels.
  • We partner with ACIS which is simply the best in the business.  We’ve partnered with them for almost 30 years.
  • Each day would consist of group visits and activities like going to the Sistine Chapel, and each day would have blocks of free time.
  • Free time would consist of you doing whatever you want in these cities, or you can have Rogosich and Curatolo guide you.
  • We will have our own chartered bus each day.
  • By the end of the trip, you may find you have grown closer to some people on the trip with you than you are with your current friends.
  • All the hotels are central so we can walk out the door and enjoy the city.
     

ITINERARY 

Friday, June 7: Overnight flight.  For our Triangle alumni, meet at RDU and fly together to Rome. For alumni from our other cities, we will meet either at the Rome Airport or the hotel.  ACIS will transport all of us from the airport to the hotel.

Florence. Saturday, June 8: Land in Rome for check-in and welcome.  We hit the ground running with a drive to the Etruscan city of Orvieto. Take the funicular up to the historical center and admire the view of the surrounding countryside. Visit the beautiful Duomo before continuing to Florence for dinner.

Florence. Sunday, June 9: There is a reason that everyone knows the province of Tuscany and the town of Florence.  We will have a tour of Florence, a special entrance (no line) to view Michelangelo’s David, and free time for exploration. By the end of the day, you will understand how this is the birthplace of the Renaissance.

Assisi. Monday, June 10: Discover why everyone loves Assisi, the happiest and most peaceful place on earth.  We will visit the grave of St. Francis, and you will have hours and hours to get lost in this tiny town.  Walk the hills, go to the top of the town to see breathtaking views of the Umbrian Peninsula. 

Rome. Tuesday, June 11: We start the day with a group reservation at the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel skipping the three-hour line tourists must wait in.  Continue to the heart of the church, the largest church in the world, where we find St. Peter's grave.  Lunch and free time will be most welcome, then it’s on to the epicenter of the pagan world with the Coliseum.  Walk the Via Imperiali with a guide as we see the Roman Forum.  Free time will follow until dinner but for those seeking more, we can take trips to St. Peter in Chains, Santa Maria in Ara Coeli, or St. Clemente.  Or perhaps Rogo takes you to a wine and mozzarella bar (yes, the main dish is straight up mozzarella). Dinner together followed by free time or the Trevi Fountain gelato.  During free time at night, we might walk to over a 2,000-year-old bridge to Trastevere to see the bustling, grungy, and hip area.

Rome. Wednesday, June 12: Adventures in this amazing city continue.

Departure. Thursday, June 13