Seattle Ring Cycle :: Florida :: St Petersburg :: Berlin
Moscow :: Bratislava :: Barcelona :: Dresden

Florida Opera Holiday
22 February 2009, 10 days

Four operas in three fascinating cities of Florida: La Cenerentola in Orlando, L'elisir d'amore and L'amico Fritz in the arts capital, Sarasota, and Lakmé in Miami. This holiday combines well-known and rarer operas with visits to fine museums and fabulous mansions, and to sites of natural beauty, ranging from the Everglades to spectacular sunsets on the Gulf Coast.

Flying direct from London or Manchester to Florida with Virgin Atlantic, we spend three nights in Orlando, two in Sarasota and three in Miami, with breakfast at each hotel, and three evening meals. Three top price stalls seats are included (Friends choice of operas). Fourth opera can be booked at extra cost.

This holiday will be escorted by a Grosvenor Travel representative in addition to a local tour manager and step-on guides.

22 February
Departing mid-morning from London or Manchester we arrive mid-afternoon into Orlando, from where we make the brief transfer to the Orlando Marriott Downtown for the first three nights of our holiday. This attractive modern hotel overlooking a lake, features a spacious high atrium, two restaurants, outdoor heated pool, and well-equipped bedrooms with the new 'Marriott' bed.
A welcoming group evening meal is included at the hotel tonight.

23 February
Orlando was a luxury winter haven for the rich long before Disney and Cape Canaveral created the present booming cityscape. Our city tour starts with a boat ride through the canals around which the (comparatively) historic mansions of Winter Park were built. From the same period as the mansions, the world's most comprehensive collection of Tiffany glass can be found in the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum. Our guided tour includes the famous Tiffany Chapel. Afternoon is at leisure.

24 February
Day at leisure. There is much to see in Orlando: the Orlando Art Museum, with pre-Columbian, African and American art sections; the Henry Leu House and Gardens with Florida's largest rose garden; the Cornell Fine Arts Museum. There are also the numerous theme parks, swimming with dolphins and day excursions to the Kennedy Space Centre, a one-hour drive from Orlando (all pre-bookable).
This evening's opera is Rossini's La Cenerentola.

25 February
A two hour drive brings us to Sarasota, known for its beautiful Gulf Coast beaches and as Florida's arts capital. After an introductory city tour we visit the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, conceived in the 1920s as an escape from the modern world. It features 20,000 tropical plants, and is particularly famous for its orchid collection.
Our hotel for the next two nights is the comfortable and well-reviewed La Quinta Inn and Suites with well-equipped bedrooms, exercise room and small outdoor heated pool and sun terrace.
This evening's performance is Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at the recently renovated historic Sarasota Opera House.

26 February
Sarasota owed its reputation as a cultural centre initially to the multimillionaire circusmaster, John Ringling. His extraordinary museum, besides an excellent European art collection (notably the Rubens gallery), contains the Asolo Theatre, an 18th century theatre moved from Italy, a courtyard surrounded by 91 antique columns, and the Astor rooms. The Cà d' Zan (house of John), set in landscaped grounds overlooking Sarasota Bay, was the Ringlings' winter home, and was modelled on a Venetian palace. In the grounds there is also a Circus Museum with the world's largest miniature circus.
Sarasota is famed for its sunsets, which we will enjoy together on a sunset dinner cruise, before transferring to this evening's opera, Mascagni's comedy L'amico Fritz.

27 February
Our coast-to-coast drive takes us though the Big Cypress Swamp, home to many endangered species such as the Florida panther, and encompassing a range of habitats in Florida's unique and fragile ecosystem. This is the territory of the Seminole ('runaway') Indians. We meet with an Indian guide at 'Ah-Tha-Th-Ki' ('place to learn') to gain first-hand knowledge of the tribe's life in the reservation. Arriving this afternoon into Miami, the remainder of the day is at leisure.
The Holiday Inn is superbly situated across from Bayside Marketplace and overlooking Biscayne Bay. The hotel features pool, exercise room, restaurant and comfortable well-sized guest rooms.

February 28
Miami provides a sublime skyline, the world's largest concentration of Art Deco buildings, and, in Coral Gables, one of America's richest neighbourhoods. Our morning tour introduces us to all facets of the metropolis, including the special atmosphere of Little Havana. Our tour ends with a guided visit of Florida's grandest residence, Vizcaya, originally designed in 1916 to replicate a 16th century Italian villa, which developed to reproduce design styles from the 16th to 18th centuries.
The afternoon is at leisure: maybe to visit a museum or to relax around Bayside Marketplace or on a Biscayne Bay cruise.
This evening there are return coach transfers to Florida Grand Opera for Delibes' oriental tragedy Lakmé.

March 1
The Everglades is a vast sheet river system, moving slowly across a flat bed of peat-covered limestone. Thanks to tropical airstreams acting on a temperate zone, a unique combination of flora and fauna is created, which we explore this morning on our airboat ride. This is followed by the fun of an alligator show.
Returning to Miami, this afternoon is at leisure, before our farewell dinner together in Bayside.

March 2
Morning at leisure before returning to the airport for our direct flight back to the UK, arriving morning March 3.
Price per person sharing a twin/double bedded room £1870pp, including flights from London or Manchester airport, hotel accommodation with breakfast, three evening meals, transfers, tours and entrances and services of tour managers as specified above. Price for additional opera £80. Single supplement £340. Flight upgrades to Premium Economy or Upper Class at extra cost on request.
Deposit required with booking form £350, plus additional opera cost, if required.Closing date for booking 20 September or sooner if ticket allocation exhausted. Holiday depends on minimum 25 Friends booking to become operational.