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Lucretia and Reed Finlay
are two adventurers who love European and American travel. Reed is a former prep school English master and track/cross country coach, and Lucretia is a former French and dance teacher who also enjoyed being a sales luminary in a ladies’ boutique in Lynchburg, Hendersonville, and Columbia.
Together, they have organized and led forty-five European trips for extensive sightseeing, as well as theme-oriented excursions such as opera in Prague, Salzburg and Venice, and food and wine in Tuscany. Thirty-five American trips have included New England and the West for skiing and New York City and Sante Fe for opera, Broadway and shopping.
Because of their love for Italy, they have studied Italian in Florence, Lucca, Gargnano on Lake Garda and Venice. In January and February 2010, they spent six weeks in Rome, Parma, and Venice.
Keith Dalbec
is a former principal at Hendersonville High School who has followed his passion for wine and worked with retail wine, consulted with restaurants, taught wine classes and organized a wine trip to Italy in 2008. He taught Wine Appreciation at AB Tech for four years and for the past fours years has served as the Wine Monger at Blue Water Seafood and Wine Cellar in Hendersonville. He loves to share his knowledge and interest in Italian wines with others.
Reed Finlay, III
grew up in Western North Carolina, where he developed a love for the outdoors. After graduating from Davidson College, he worked on a dude ranch in Montana. While in the West, he pursued his interests with a six-week NOLS course in British Columbia before going to Jackson Hole, where he is now on the ski patrol, a boatman on the Snake River and a member of the Teton County Search and Rescue team.
Andrea and Marco Bitelli
live in Bologna, the food capital of Italy. Andrea, a native of Moscow, Idaho, is the author of two books on Italian travel and a freelance journalist who has covered stories in Italy and Europe. She is married to Marco Bitelli, a native of Bologna who earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at Washington State University. Over the years, the two of them have entertained visiting international groups. Both are energetic, knowledgeable and have a charming presence. They will show us the best of Bologna’s food, music, shopping and history.
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