About Us
Co-founders and directors Stefano Cavedoni & David Leibowitz are a duo dinamico with many years of exploring, guiding and travel writing experience between them (previous work includes developing and leading excursions for universities and co-authoring Lonely Planet’s Walking in Italy guidebook series). One of their company goals is to connect (or in jargon, ‘build cultural bridges between’) Italians and people from throughout the world, as they are convinced that notwithstanding communication today at the speed of light people still don’t really know each other. Stereotypes prevail, therefore, even between two seemingly close countries like Italy and the United States, and active, cultural tours such as these may help foreign travelers and Italians alike to understand each other better… David, originally from Hartford, Connecticut, USA and now a resident of Milan, decided to live in Italy because he feels they have an interesting and “different” philosophy of life. Sure, work is very important in Northern Italy as well, but the main goal of life here is to be with friends and family on a Sunday, enjoying a walk or lunch together. Stefano, a Bologna native and resident, remarks that while Italy is far from perfect, Italians from south to north have managed to develop key survival – and good living – skills after millennia of abiding in the same areas. They thus have a great sense of belonging to their home regions, and a vast knowledge of among other things the best places to pick porcini mushrooms, the local unknown Roman or Etruscan ruins, the best ice cream in town and the perfect hilltop to go to really enjoy the ice cream in the sunset light !!!!!
Why did Stefano and David decide to specialize in Northern Italy? Quite simply, because it is their land of living, and there is so much to explore in such a short distance. There is so much still undiscovered even by Northern Italian natives - who really have an ‘imbarazzo della scelta’, an ‘embarrassingly wide choice’, with so much cultural, historical, artistic, eno-gastronomic heritage and natural beauty at their fingertips.
The founders’ passion for the Italian North is shared by the other members of the team, including the following engaging city, art and nature guides:
Lisa Rubenstein Calevi holds an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Michigan and a M.A. in Italian Renaissance Art History from the Syracuse University Florence Fellowship Program. She has lectured in the United States at the Cultural Institute of the Italian Consulate and the Museo Italo Americano. In Italy, she has lectured for the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the University of California, the University of Virginia, the University of Georgia, Syracuse University, the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo and the Museo di Castelvecchio. For 12 years, Lisa taught for Trinity College Elderhostel Programs in the Veneto while she made her home in Verona. She guides art and Jewish interest tours in Venice and throughout Northeast Italy. Lisa now lives in the United States, and works as an adjunct instructor for the University of Oregon.
Daniela Bigatti is a Bologna native and city guide; she also leads tours in another famous art city just to the south of Adventures in Northern Italy ‘territory’ (ok, we’ll say it: Florence). Her passion is to share her knowledge of the history and art of these magnificent cities with visitors - she has a degree in art history, she taught in Italian high schools for a number of years and currently collaborates with several American universities as a teacher and guide for incoming students. Over the last decade, she has led numerous walking and eno-gastronomic excursions for travelers throughout Italy.
Marco Macchi has written a number of guidebooks on his home town of San Remo and surrounding region, the ‘Flower Riviera’ of Liguria. An engineer for the Italian navy, he has always been captivated by the combination of sea and mountains that defines his home, where the Maritime Alps quickly descend to the Mediterranean. He works as a cultural/nature guide for an Italian association and looks forward to introducing some of his favorite places to foreign visitors as well.
Lorena Trevisan “I didn’t expect the city to be so interesting and beautiful!” That is what Lorena, Milan guide, always wishes to hear after leading a visitor to discover the highlights and especially the hidden beauties of her city. She has spent her entire life in Milan and, also thanks to her art-history background, she loves relating the city’s fascinating past as well as present status as fashion and design capital.