About Us :: Vincenzo de Michelis
Vincenzo de Michelis was born in 1959 of an Italian father and an American Grand Tourist with no desire to return to her native Ohio. He had a happy and uneventful childhood in Italy where he remained until the age of 15 – at which point he was sent to England for the last two years of his secondary education. Later he attended Columbia University where he majored in Italian Literature and graduated 17/754 with summa cum laude distinction. His thesis on The Divine Comedy was awarded the Dino Bigongiari Prize for Literary Criticism. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
He went on to attend Columbia Teachers College where he received a Masters in Secondary Education. However he has never taught (except, of course, on the motorcoach), given that, before even beginning his University career, he was already working as a tour courier for High School students with the American Institute for Foreign Study. Continuing to tour throughout his educational career, he has worked for a variety of companies including industry leaders like Olsen-Travelworld, Maupintour, Kalos Golf and Abercrombie&Kent in more than 100 countries. He now travels year-round as a professional tour leader and guide-lecturer for American, Italian and Spanish groups. In the mid-80s he was named the British Tourist Authority's Tour Manager of the Year and is a Gold Badge Member of the International Association of Tour Managers.
When he is not traveling for Tuscan-Colors , quite incredibly, Vincenzo is usually traveling for pleasure. He is a member of the Travelers Club and, by their count, has visited 242 countries, territories and/or dominions. Those he remembers most fondly include Cambodia, Burma, South Africa and New Zealand. He returns again and again to Brazil, Thailand and Australia. He usually finds someone to speak to everywhere he goes as he speaks six languages fluently.
Vincenzo's friends are always amazed to learn that he has a Cordon Bleu in Culinary Arts. Other interests include neo-realist and post-war Italian films and his Etruscan pottery collection – much of which he himself has excavated. He also has an especially weak spot for his dogs – a West Highlander and a Scottish Terrier by the names of Pepsi and Toccio.
