We take pride in our exceptional service and do all that we can to deliver a truly authentic Italian experience. When you travel with us, we are your personal guides to Italy. Helping you plan your trip, including pre- and post-tour activities, is our pleasure. We pay careful attention to details, so you don’t have to. You can enjoy your travel and abandon your worries.
Anita Iaconangelo
founded Italian Connection in 1993 and designed our walking and cooking tours throughout Italy. She is an avid walker and passionate about all things Italian. She survived 16 long winters in various freezing cold houses in romantic Tuscany, where she became an expert on Italian furnace parts. Anita, together with Emanuele, lovingly restored an old stone house in Sicily, which is Italian Connection’s base, complete with a luxurious herb garden and fields of robust organic weeds. She looks forward to hosting our tours to festive home-cooked meals and cannoli making in the spacious kitchen. Her special passion is southern Italy, and Anita accompanies many of our walking and cooking tours in Sicily.
Emanuele Lorusso
is our food and wine expert. He takes planning our wonderful meals very seriously, and personally tastes all the wine he recommends. An Italian native and former chef and restaurant owner, Emanuele acts as our private cook on some tours, and his sumptuous picnics are legendary. For a true Italian experience, he sometimes drives our van.
Marie Marko
is our North American office manager and Anita’s sister. She has over 25 years experience in the travel business and knows our tour routes very well. If you’re having trouble picking the perfect trip, she is great at helping you choose the best one for you. A font of useful advice on traveling in Italy, Marie frequently tests out her own advice in a jet-lagged state, and has survived to tell about it. She would be pleased to assist you with your tour reservations.
Peter Blackman
is a long-time resident in Italy, with years of tour experience and a thorough knowledge of Italian art and history. He divides his time between keeping our Italian office in order and leading our groups in many areas of Italy. Peter’s gentle manner and amazingly long stride are complemented by a wry sense of humor much appreciated by our groups.
EXPERT GUIDES
Our guides are an integral part of our tours, which is why we select experts who are based in Italy. They are specialists in diverse fields, yet they all have a passionate fascination with Italy and an eagerness to share their knowledge with our participants. Our guides are the vital elements that make each of our tours a positively wonderful vacation.
Daniela Bigatti is a native of Bologna and our art history expert, and she leads our tours in Piedmont and Tuscany. She is exceptionally good at planning cultural and historical itineraries, and is a licensed guide in the cities of Florence and Bologna. Daniela amazes our guests with both her extensive knowledge and her ability to consume astonishing amounts of pasta and salami without gaining an ounce.
David Leibowitz lives in Milan, and his special passion is Piedmont and northern Italy, where he is a whiz at finding great walking routes. He has also done extensive research into fine wine, and will introduce you to his favorites during our tours in the Cinque Terre and Piedmont.
David Walthall lives in Siena and is keenly involved with the local community. He brings his love for Italian music to our Tuscany Hilltowns tour and invites you to explore the hidden corners overlooked by tourists.
Claudio is a native of Agrigento, where he expounds about the ancient Greeks and their magnificent temples while standing in the shade of a 500-year old olive tree. Lucia is an expert on the history of all the Splendors of Sicily, and she brings it all into focus in Syracuse, her native city, while Pina offers an outstanding look at the art and architecture of the ancient Greeks and Carthaginians in Western Sicily. In Umbria, Eva imparts her love for Giotto’s frescoes in Assisi, while Patricia brings us down tiny uncrowded streets in the Cinque Terre. Anna’s backyard is the lovely towns and pathways of the Amalfi Coast, while Daniela shows us the hidden Roman treasures on Capri. Giacomo tells us about village life in the Dolomites, while Norberto knows the name of every Wildflower in the Dolomites, as well as the best grappa!