{"id":6592,"date":"2018-09-04T15:28:30","date_gmt":"2018-09-04T15:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.luxurygoldvacations.com\/?p=6592"},"modified":"2024-05-30T16:54:44","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T15:54:44","slug":"la-vita-bella-luxury-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

A passionate traveler, Ellen Bettridge is the President and CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, a sister company of Luxury Gold and part of the Travel Corporation family of brands. We caught up with her to find out more on living La Vita Bella in Italy.<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps it’s the incandescent light as the sun begins to set over the hills of Tuscany, the pure pleasure of a seaside lunch with friends in Chioggia, or a walk along the Tiber to reflect on the miracle that is Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. Whenever I travel through Italy, I am always reminded of the intention Italians bring to the things that truly matter \u2013 beauty and our relationship with those who bring this gift into our lives.<\/p>\n

Discover our Italy Luxury Tours and Vacation Packages<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\u00a9Jack Seeds on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

This thought was with me during my recent and decadent trip to Italy, a combination experience that included a chance to partake in a Luxury Gold journey through Rome and Tuscany, a glorious stay aboard Uniworld’s River Countess in Northern Italy and a grand finish on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express train that took me and my husband, Jack, from Venice to Paris.<\/p>\n

It is hard to imagine a more luxurious way to achieve la vita bella in Italy than through his very special trinity.<\/p>\n

In Rome, we especially appreciated the evening we spent with our local EatWith host, Debra, and the delicious, home-cooked Italian meal she prepared and served in her wonderful city-centre apartment. The generosity of such authentic hospitality cannot be replicated and while we shook hands hello, it was hugs all around for the goodbye.<\/p>\n

\"\"

\u00a9 Chris Lawton on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

If there is a better way to experience the islands of the Venetian lagoon than onboard The River Countess, I cannot imagine it. She is a gorgeous ship with amazing staff who seem to anticipate what you desire and magically make it so \u2013 like the amazing evening of champagne and fireworks we enjoyed during the 440-year-old Festa del Redentore that celebrates the end of the plague in Venice.<\/p>\n

We’d all gone to the top deck to watch the festivities and what was an impromptu gathering was made special by the staff who brought out warm wraps for the cool evening, bottles of champagne and yummy retreats. It was an incredible night in this incredible city that I will never forget.<\/p>\n

While leaving Venice can break your heart, departing via the stunning Venice Simplon-Orient-Express en route to Paris is an immensely helpful antidote to relieving the sadness. This is the place to watch with wonder the spectacular scenery passing by and happy people enjoying each other. There are few places where one can sit, relish and remember everything that they’ve just experienced, but this is it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A passionate traveler, Ellen Bettridge is the President and CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, a sister company of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6596,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[357,54],"tags":[79,86,125,70,88,84],"class_list":["post-6592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-luxury-journeys","tag-destinations","tag-europe","tag-italy","tag-luxury-gold","tag-travel-tips","tag-travel-trends"],"yoast_head":"\nLa Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Travel Expert Ellen Bettridge, CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises shares her love of Italy and why living La Vita Bella is so enjoyable.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Travel Expert Ellen Bettridge, CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises shares her love of Italy and why living La Vita Bella is so enjoyable.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Luxury Gold\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-09-04T15:28:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-30T15:54:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash-1024x575.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"575\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Luxury Gold\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Luxury Gold\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Luxury Gold\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ddbdac7b98aba03cc3bfaeda67631beb\"},\"headline\":\"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-04T15:28:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-30T15:54:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":481,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Destinations\",\"Europe\",\"Italy\",\"Luxury Gold\",\"Travel Tips\",\"Travel Trends\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Europe\",\"Luxury Journeys\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/\",\"name\":\"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-09-04T15:28:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-30T15:54:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ddbdac7b98aba03cc3bfaeda67631beb\"},\"description\":\"Travel Expert Ellen Bettridge, CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises shares her love of Italy and why living La Vita Bella is so enjoyable.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/09\\\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash.jpg\",\"width\":3992,\"height\":2242},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/\",\"name\":\"Luxury Gold\",\"description\":\"Journey Beyond the Ordinary\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ddbdac7b98aba03cc3bfaeda67631beb\",\"name\":\"Luxury Gold\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3c99b44ae23b89abb289806233718667a13ba6be52d37fa879ad97b21e68f1fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3c99b44ae23b89abb289806233718667a13ba6be52d37fa879ad97b21e68f1fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3c99b44ae23b89abb289806233718667a13ba6be52d37fa879ad97b21e68f1fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Luxury Gold\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.luxurygold.com\\\/lg\\\/author\\\/luxurygold\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy","description":"Travel Expert Ellen Bettridge, CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises shares her love of Italy and why living La Vita Bella is so enjoyable.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy","og_description":"Travel Expert Ellen Bettridge, CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises shares her love of Italy and why living La Vita Bella is so enjoyable.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/","og_site_name":"Luxury Gold","article_published_time":"2018-09-04T15:28:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-30T15:54:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":575,"url":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash-1024x575.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Luxury Gold","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Luxury Gold","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/"},"author":{"name":"Luxury Gold","@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/#\/schema\/person\/ddbdac7b98aba03cc3bfaeda67631beb"},"headline":"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy","datePublished":"2018-09-04T15:28:30+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-30T15:54:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/"},"wordCount":481,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash.jpg","keywords":["Destinations","Europe","Italy","Luxury Gold","Travel Tips","Travel Trends"],"articleSection":["Europe","Luxury Journeys"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/","url":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/","name":"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash.jpg","datePublished":"2018-09-04T15:28:30+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-30T15:54:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/#\/schema\/person\/ddbdac7b98aba03cc3bfaeda67631beb"},"description":"Travel Expert Ellen Bettridge, CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruises shares her love of Italy and why living La Vita Bella is so enjoyable.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/candre-mandawe-770521-unsplash.jpg","width":3992,"height":2242},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/la-vita-bella-luxury-italy\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"La Vita Bella: The Luxury of Italy"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/","name":"Luxury Gold","description":"Journey Beyond the Ordinary","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/#\/schema\/person\/ddbdac7b98aba03cc3bfaeda67631beb","name":"Luxury Gold","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3c99b44ae23b89abb289806233718667a13ba6be52d37fa879ad97b21e68f1fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3c99b44ae23b89abb289806233718667a13ba6be52d37fa879ad97b21e68f1fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3c99b44ae23b89abb289806233718667a13ba6be52d37fa879ad97b21e68f1fe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Luxury Gold"},"url":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/author\/luxurygold\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.luxurygold.com\/lg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}