The company's motto is "Learn to travel, travel to learn" and it's this idea that travel is a special form of education and the philosophy that learning can be and should be fun, that is at the heart of all of Casterbridge's activities and why, as a former (personalize) teacher, I take particular pleasure in being associated with Casterbridge Tours.
Firstly, every group has their own private tour. You will never be combined with other groups who might not share your same standards or interests. It is your own bus, your own driver, your own guide, 24 hours a day, your own private program.
Secondly, this structure of having your own private tour means you can custom-design your own tour exclusively for your own group anywhere around the themes, dates and destinations of your choosing and that is exactly what Mr/Mrs has done with their tour of ........(Historic and Literary England).
If that is the case, let’s include in advance as many of the admissions as possible. Nothing is worse than putting a student in a position where they have traveled half-way round the world and don’t have the funds to visit a sight on any one day that they have waited half their life to see. This also means that the students don’t have to carry large amounts of spending money, which for younger students is very important indeed. And this also allows us to take advantage of our group rates for you to offer our group's the best possible value for money at all times. You are looking at one of our groups at Glastonbury Abbey, sat in front of the grave of King Arthur and Guinevere
Finally (if we are trying to give the group a maximum insight into the local culture) let's have a guide with you at all times throughout the day. The guides are under a strict brief to make the evenings as much an activity filled part of the day as the morning and afternoon. To be honest, it is often such personal touches that we think can make the difference between a good tour and a really great tour.
For your reference, around groups travel with Casterbridge on an annual basis (everything from schools, colleges to choirs, bands and special interest adult groups) .
We’ve obviously undergone a tremendous growth over recent years and we attribute that success to the very tangible benefits of having your own private tour and the personal attention and service that ensues for each group as a result. The advantages are that it is infinitely more flexible, intimate, more personal atmosphere for all concerned and it is a safer, more fun, more educational ,. A Casterbridge tour is safe, fun, flexible, intimate and of course educational………
MAP OF ITALY - It is the 5th century AD. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, down swoop the marauding armies from central Europe. None were more terrifying than the Barbarians. Where would the people of Rome take refuge? Some flee south, others take refuge in the Hills of Tuscany, while others were driven north to a series of islands on the northern Adriatic coast. So it was that 1500 years ago, a city was founded. Because of its trading position, the city flourished and today is one of the most famous cities on earth. Ask yourself, how do you develop a city on 117 islands and 150 canals? Believe me, the reality of this city today far surpasses anything that you could ever conjure up in your own imagination.
VENICE CANAL SCENE WITH RIALTO BRIDGE - Because Venice rises up out of the sea like the goddess Venus - from whence it gets its name. It is indeed a city with 150 canals, 117 islands and also 400 bridges - and this is one of the most famous and the oldest - the Rialto Bridge. Would you believe here that each base of the bridge is supported by six thousand larch piles. (Larch is a wood that becomes as strong as steel under water; once removed and placed in the sun, it crumbles easily). It is so designed to allow an armed galley to pass beneath it, with oars fully extended at either side and we will pass under it as we take a vaporetto ride along the Grand canal, because in Venice there are no cars, the streets are the rivers and the pedestrian is king. As we go past the most amazing array of 15 th and 16 th century palaces, you will see the 2 symbols of Venice.
GALLERIES AND CLOCK TOWER - You will walk across the square and see that on the north it is flanked by the Clock Tower and the 16th century Old Law Courts. The facade of the 15th century clock tower has a zodiac dial; and on the hour, 2 giant bronze Moors on the top of the tower strike the bell with heavy mallets. And you will walk directly into the magnificent basilica. Two items in the basilica are the Pala d'Oro, an astounding gold altarpiece encrusted with priceless silver, enamel and jewels and 4 horses. Once you see these for the first time - gleaming bronze and gold - you'll know what the big deal is. They just seem to embody joy, freedom and love of life. They were cast in the fourth century and removed from the Hippodrome in Constantinople by Venetian Crusaders. In turn, however Napoleon brought them to Paris in 1797 and had them placed in the Arc du Carousel near the Louvre before they were returned to Venice after his reign ended in 1815.
INSIDE DOGES PALACE - (TINTORETTO’S PARADISE) - On the wall over the Doge's throne is Tintoretto's masterpiece, "Paradise", the largest oil painting in the world. Christ and Mary are at the top of heaven surrounded by 500 saints who ripple out in concentric rings. Tintoretto worked on this in the last years of his long life. On the day it was finished, his daughter died. He got his brush out again and painted her as saint #501. Our tour ends at the law courts and then in the dungeons of the prison. Casanova was imprisoned here. Casanova, the renowned rogue, spent time in a Venetian prison, which he described as follows: "Those subterranean prisons are precisely like tombs, but they call them `Wells' because they contain about two feet of filthy water which penetrates from the sea. Condemned to live in these sewers, they are given every morning some thin soup and a ration of bread which they have to eat immediately or it becomes the prey of enormous rats. A villain who died while I was there had spent 37 years in the Wells
VIEW OVER VENICE - And we will walk across this bridge of Sighs and as we look out at the city of Venice I think it is easy to see why prisoners after hearing their sentence and returning to the prisons looked out at the sky, the water, the beautiful buildings, if not one of the most beautiful views in the world and you will understand why they sighed. To say that Venice is unique is still one of the greatest understatements you could possibly make. It is unbelievable.