WE ARE EXPERTS IN SMALL GROUP TOURS OF ITALY
Our experience in Italy is decades deep
Claudio Mazzola has taken a multitude of visitors to Italy with the idea that he wanted to offer the people traveling with him the opportunity to enjoy the riches Italy has to offer in small-group tours at a rewarding and comfortable pace. Claudio, an Italian-born professor of Italian literature and cinema, relishes his role as it allows him to communicate to people both his knowledge and his passion for the endless gifts his native country has to offer. He has assembled a team of bilingual guides to provide you with regional food and wine tasting experiences, architectural inspiration and the marvelous culture of Veneto.
Owner - Cultural Director
Claudio is a scholar of Italian literature and cinema. During his forty-year career at major colleges and universities, he taught a variety of courses that included art history, anthropology, and architecture. To create vibrant, authentic tours he recruited local people who shared his philosophy and passion. To present a genuine window on Italian culture he created itineraries that combined visits to historic places with the opportunity to taste regional delicacies in quality, family-run restaurants. To make sure his tours are personally focused, he never travels with more than 6 people at a time.
Claudio Mazzola
Owner - Historian
Ruggero Taradel is a scholar, historian, traveler and educator whose research and writing focus on Italian and European cultural history. Ruggero Taradel received his Laurea as Doctor in Literature and Philosophy at the University of Rome.
For 12 years he was Lecturer at the Division of French and Italian Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Washington where he taught courses in Italian Cultural History, Church and State in Italy and Italian Language. Additionally, he served for 20 years as Study Abroad program co-director of the University of Washington. In that capacity he directed tours for over 400 students.
He is also a professional musician and performer, exploring European traditional music and folklore.
Ruggero Taradel
Owner - Marketing Director
Shawn, a career educator with a degree in history and student of all things Italian, finds that there is nothing more exciting than traveling in Italy to explore both its well-known and its tucked away treasures. Sharing this experience with others is why he partnered with his Palladio Tours colleagues. They have the relationships and intimate knowledge of the region to create something truly special for each guest.
Shawn Kenyon
Miriam Duravia
Primary Tour Guide
Miriam, a native of the Veneto region (Montebelluna) received her M.A. from the University of Triest in translation. She is fluent in English and French. After her degree, she rejected offers to work at the European Parliament in Brussels to stay and work in Veneto. In 2001 she obtained the professional licence as a tour guide. Living in an area full of historical villas, she became an expert on Andrea Palladio, the master architect widely imitated all over the world.
Miriam enjoys every minute she spends with clients. An avid researcher of local history and art, she is thrilled to share her knowledge with foreign visitors who come to Veneto. Recognized by all her clients as a deeply knowledgeable and caring person, she always receives the highest marks for her performance with visitors.
Website Design
David, still in search of a stable profession, has a BS in Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, MS in Management from the U. S. Naval Postgraduate School and advanced training in Nuclear Propulsion. After a 7-year naval career, he received his DDS from the University of Washington School of Dentistry.
Following a 30-year career in dentistry, a certification for Teaching English as a Second Language and a 20-year tutelage in Claudio Mazzola’s Italian language class, he joined Palladio Tours to administer its website.