Cultural Learning Tours

Explore the blossoming of Christian art from Medieval times to the Renaissance era as you visit churches and museums in Florence. Revel in treasures of art and architecture at significant sites, including the Baptistery, Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore, Museo dell’ Opera del Duomo, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Santa Trinità, Galleria dell’ Accademia, Museo di San Marco, and many more sites. Take a day trip from your home base in Florence to Siena and San Gimignano. Each day, reflect on Christian iconography during optional morning slide-illustrated devotion times.  Several optional late afternoon lectures reflecting on the intersection between Christian art and church leadership from a family systems perspective will also be offered.  Tour leader Richard Blackburn is an Art Historian specializing in Italian Renaissance art. He taught week-long classes in Florence for Southern Methodist University from 2006-2013. He is also an ordained Mennonite pastor and the former Lombard Mennonite Peace Center Executive Director. Enjoy all of this with a group of like-minded travellers and art enthusiasts!

THIS IS A CUSTOM PROGRAM. Registration by invitation only.

See intriguing animals such as kangaroos, koalas, and penguins, plus many species of birds and reptiles. Enjoy dinner outside in the Outback and gaze in wonder at more stars than you thought possible. Observe vibrant, colourful ocean life as you tour the Great Barrier Reef in a glass-bottomed boat. Learn about the Australian Aboriginals and visit one of their most sacred and beautiful natural sights—the giant Uluru rock formation. Also, visit world-famous sites in the cities of Melbourne, Cairns, and Sydney.

A sneak peek at future tours for next year