by David McGuffin

I often get asked, “What is your favorite destination?” Years ago, that question was difficult, but after almost 50 years on the road, I’ve got my answer.  Paris is my favorite city, and Italy is my favorite country.  

Since we are focusing on Italy this month, let me tell you why I love Italy. In 1977, I went on my first international trip. Although Italy was a destination on that three-week tour, I thought Greece was our first destination. Back then, I was along for the ride with the rest of my friends, and a detailed study of the itinerary did not happen. As it turned out, our flight went overnight from New York JFK to Rome, and we had a long layover at the Rome airport. Back in those days, before 9/11, security checks and leaving the airport were not a problem. So, we left the airport, got on a bus, and went to a countryside restaurant for lunch.      

I only had a Kodak 110mm Instamatic camera and a limited number of rolls of film, but some of my first pictures from the tour were of me and my friends sitting at a table, eating pasta and drinking Coke. That was the best pasta I’d ever eaten! Later that day, we returned to the airport, flew to Greece for a week, and then to Israel for a week, before returning to Italy for our final week. That countryside ristorante lunch experience set the “tone” for my upcoming travel adventures. If only I had liked wine back then!

In the years since, I’ve visited Rome and Italy a hundred times, and it never gets old or redundant. What keeps me coming back? It’s the combination of the people, culture, places, food, wine, history, art, and local friends. Italy, like its history melds varied cultures into one, so is my love for the country and its people.

After college, with my music education degree in hand, I landed a job teaching band and choir at a middle school in my community. Little did I know I would spend thirty years at the school teaching middle, junior, and high school students. After a few years, I was ready to take my band “show on the road,” so like my college choir director, I gathered a few students and took them to Europe. And guess what? Italy was the first country I wanted to share with them.

On that first trip, I chose a noted student tour company to make all the arrangements, and we basically came along for the ride, without any input on the experiences. My group consisted of maybe eight students and several adult chaperones, and me and Charlotte, my wife. We were loaded on a 50-seater bus along with a few other student groups and teachers. I think we began in Zurich, but most of the tour visited Italy from Venice, to Florence, to Rome.

Being a newbie European tour sponsor teacher, I was happy to let our tour escort and a few other student tour “veteran” teachers lead the way and set the daily plans. It wasn’t until we got to Venice, Florence, and Rome, destinations I’d visited a decade before, that I felt a little more comfortable. I enjoyed sharing Italy and my experiences with my students and Charlotte. They were all first-time international travelers, and I had at least one tour experience under my belt. So, I felt confident showing them the Piazza San Marco, the canals of Venice, Florence’s Duomo, the Colosseum, and Saint Peter’s Square in Rome.

Now, forty-eight years and a hundred journeys later, I don’t even need to think or worry about my travels in Italy. The history is unchanged, the culture changes with the passing decades, the food and wine are as good as ever, and the friendships I’ve made continue to grow. All this blends together and helps me offer my travel buddies an authentic and enjoyable peek behind Italy’s “tourist” curtain. Yes, one must see Venice, Florence, and Rome, but for my groups, the small hill towns, the off-the-beaten-path destinations, intimate restaurants, and visits with my Italian friends make a McGuffin tour group a cut above all the rest!

Want to read more about why I quit letting another tour company arrange my travels? Read about it here. “Why I Always Came Home Hungry.”