Customized travel for their very own custom-made Gang.
Mitch and Johanna Vernick have a special group of friends, the Gang—a total of 14 neighborhood pals that have raised their kids together and celebrated special birthdays as a group for the last three years or so. It was an accomplished bunch—a C.E.O, a financial specialist, several dentists and a doctor, a pro golfer among them.
How to celebrate Mitch’s 50th birthday? In the past, the Gang had gone to Napa, but this year would be different. It was time to branch out, push the envelope a bit.
This year, in honor of Mitch, it would be Tuscany.
Johanna was in charge of pulling the trip together. One of the friends had worked with R. Crusoe in the past and suggested using us to plan the journey. Johanna gave us a call. We asked her to give us a very clear picture of the personalities in the group.
Who’d been to Tuscany, who hadn’t? Who had which expectations? Who’d done the most traveling, the least? Who was fussy about bathrooms. Who loved truffle oil, who was nuts about Chianti Classico? Who was a bike enthusiast?
Conversations ensued. Ideas were volleyed back and forth.
“R. Crusoe really recognized what the group wanted,” says Johanna. “They know how to listen to their travelers. They got that this was a special, special occasion and that we wanted to go all out.
“Working with the company really took the pressure off me. They had great connections with the local people. Excellent guides. R. Crusoe got it every step of the way.”
“And you know what?” adds Mitch. “We didn’t spend a gazillion dollars. We absolutely got our money’s worth.”
Before Johanna and Mitch knew it, a glorious week-long journey was set. Home was Villa Podere I Celli, a farmhouse just outside a medieval village in the heart of Chianti country that had been restored just last year. (Wood and terracotta floors, fireplaces, private gardens and a pool—you get the picture.)
The Gang spent the week walking to neighboring towns. Picnicking. Biking the countryside. They took a cooking class in their own kitchen with a renowned local chef. Visited olive oil mills. And wine estates to further educate their already sophisticated palates with Super-Tuscans, Chianti en barrique, Vin Santo.
They explored San Gimignano, Siena, Montalcino. Florence, too, with our favorite guide. (Some went into the Uffizi; others watched the world go by over an espresso.)
In Siena, they learned about the breakneck Palio held there every year.
On Mitch’s actual birthday, the group listened to Gregorian chants in a small country church. Then it was on to Castello Banfi. First a look at the ancient cellars.
“The sun was setting. We’re in the middle of nowhere. It was a scene out of Romeo and Juliet. Green, gorgeous. We went along a winding road, and all of a sudden there it was—a fantastically beautiful castle.”
In the castle dining room, dinner was served—as much an event as a sumptuous meal.
“Mitch loves opera. R. Crusoe had arranged for a grand piano, a pianist, a tenor, and a soprano to serenade us during the feast. I can’t quite figure out how they got this enormous piano up the hill, but somehow, they did.”
(Well, that’s what we do here at R. Crusoe.)
“The whole week was a celebration,” says Johanna.
They’re already thinking about an encore.