Friday: We will pick you up from Milano Malpensa Airport. You will arrive at the house and get settled. We will prepare a special welcome dinner for you at the house.

Saturday: A leisurely morning where you can check out the farmers market in front of the house, take a walk around Romagnano Sesia and visit the Ethnographic Museum in town. In the afternoon, we will visit Sacro Monte di Varallo with its 43 chapels and religious art treasures. After our visit to Varallo, we will go to Novara to shop at Ipercoop, one of the largest supermarkets in the world. You can shop at the attached San Martino mall while we buy groceries. Our dinner will be at Ristorante alla Torre in Romagnano Sesia, a restaurant in a medieval tower serving local traditional meals.

Sunday: Optional mass at Santo Stefano Church, the Eleventh Century church near the house. In the afternoon we will drive to Verbania on Lago Maggiore to visit the colorful botanical gardens at Villa Taranto. Dinner at the house.

Monday: We will take a boat trip on scenic Lago Maggiore from Arona to Locarno in Switzerland and back. Lunch will be served on board. We will make several stops along the way to beautiful lakeside towns.

Tuesday: A trip to Milan where we will visit the Duomo, Milan's cathedral, a fine example of late Gothic architecture. Next to the Duomo is Galleria Vittorio Emanuele, the oldest mall in the world and home to some of the world's top designer stores. You will have time to shop in the mall and have lunch on your own. In the afternoon, we will visit Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper at Santa Maria delle Grazie. We will have dinner together at a restaurant in Milan and then see an opera at Teatro Della Scala, the world's most famous opera house.

Wednesday: A trip to Torino where we will visit the Egyptian Museum, the second largest collection of Egyptian antiquities after the Cairo Museum. Shopping in centro. Lunch on your own. In the afternoon a visit to the Chapel of the Holy Shroud of Turin. Dinner at a Torinese restaurant and return home.

Thursday: A short boat ride from Stresa on Lago Maggiore to Isola Bella, a palace built by Carlo Borromeo in the 17th Century known for its Versailles-style gardens and white peacocks. Lunch on your own in Stresa. We will reassemble and go to Orta San Giulio on Lago di Orta. A short boat ride to Isola San Giulio and visit the Basilica San Giulio, see San Giulio's sepulchre and walk around the island. A special farewell dinner back at the house.

Friday: We will take you back to Milano Malpensa airport where you can catch your plane.