Three friends whose birthdays lined up within days of each other decided to celebrate them together this year—and not just anywhere. How about Italy?
Dawn Cole Kirk, Bonnie Holzhauer Bean, and Camille Procassini signed up for the Grand Tour of Italy offered by GoAhead tours and visited some of the country’s most iconic regions: Lake Como, Venice, Florence, Assisi, Perugia, Sorrento, Capri, Pompeii, and ending with four days in Rome. Along the way, they celebrated Dawn’s birthday on April 4, Camille’s on April 9, and Bonnie’s on April 15.
They were in Venice for Dawn’s birthday and you’ll see a spectacular photo that Bonnie took of the full moon over one of the canals. Camille’s birthday was on Easter Sunday, when they visited a 13th century landmark that was an especially fitting place to be on that day: the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi.
When they got to Rome, it was time for Bonnie’s birthday and while they were there, they had another great dinner (out of many on the trip), which of course included great pasta. What made it probably the most memorable pasta they will ever eat is that they made it themselves.
A professional chef hosted a cooking class for their tour party at his home, one of only two private residences on tiny Tiber Island in the middle of the Tiber River in Rome’s historic center. You can see pictures of Bonnie and Dawn at work making fresh ravioli. After preparing the dough, they stuffed the square packets with ricotta and spinach to serve with a sage and butter sauce. They also made cavatelli, a small, shell-like pasta that was served with a broccoli cheese sauce. Not to mention some good wine.
And what’s a trip without some shopping? By the end of the tour, Bonnie and Camille each had to buy another suitcase to get their booty home.
Camille summed it up by saying, “We had a lot of fun with people on the tour. There was a wide range of ages, from a 9-year-old to us at 75, and we made some great friends that I could see us traveling with again.” If planning the next trip before the first one is over is any sign, they’ll be heading to Greece a year from now!
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