Overview

Western Studies at Glenelg Country School runs from 1066 to 1945 — one required, team-taught, double-credit humanities course, taken by every sophomore, with history and literature and art history covered together instead of in separate classrooms. Mr. Hudgins taught the history. Ms. Weber taught the literature and art history, from 2019 to 2024.

This trip takes one slice of that span — the slice set in Italy — and puts you on the ground where it happened: medieval Tuscany, Renaissance Florence, and Baroque Rome.

We start there. In Lucca, still contained within its Renaissance-era walls, the streets and piazzas underneath are medieval — the amphitheater-turned-piazza, the tower with oak trees growing on its roof. In San Gimignano, the skyline of stone towers is medieval outright, unchanged in outline for eight hundred years, with a stop at a working farm in the surrounding countryside.

In Florence, the itinerary opens doors most visitors never see: a guided walk through the Vasari Corridor, the elevated passage the Medici built to move privately between the Palazzo Vecchio and the Palazzo Pitti. Access is limited to 25 people at a time, and reservations are booked months in advance — ours is already secured. From there, the Uffizi, and Dante’s house, where Mr. Hudgins will pick up the Divine Comedy in person, on the streets Dante once walked.

The trip closes in Rome with Bernini and the Baroque, including a stop at Santa Maria della Vittoria for The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa — the piece that generated more classroom debate than anything else on the syllabus.

Mr. Hudgins and Ms. Weber are leading the trip themselves — and you’re all finally allowed to call us Brian and Joan. Anyone under 15 must be accompanied by an adult.

Explore the day-by-day itinerary below, and when you’re ready, click Register to reserve your spot.
A $99 deposit per person secures your spot on this Western Studies Adventure.

Land-only cost is $3,927 per person for groups of 10–14 travelers, $3,843 for 15–19, or $3,319 for 20–24, based on double/twin occupancy.
A single room supplement of $835 applies.

Final payment of the remaining balance is due by January 20, 2027.

We’re arranging a group flight to Rome, coordinated through Sceptre Vacations and aligned with the itinerary — they’ve already identified the best routing for the group, with both economy and business class available. Brian and Joan will be on this flight too, and we encourage joining us so everyone travels together from the start.

Flight pricing and the exact schedule can’t be set until the full group is booked — registration closes in early January 2027, and Sceptre will price and book the group flight once we know the final headcount. As of now, a round-trip economy flight from Baltimore to Rome runs about $1,700 per person; the group fare should be competitive with that. On the registration form, just let us know yes or no whether you’d like to join the group flight — we’ll follow up with deposit and payment details in January, about six months before departure.

If you’d rather make your own flight arrangements — arriving or departing outside the tour flights — you can indicate that on the registration form instead.

This trip is open to the full Glenelg Country School community — alumni, current families, faculty, and friends.
And this year’s seniors will be alumni by the time we leave.

If you have any questions, please reach out to joan@nerdstour.com.