Travel Tips in Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio http://www.discoversoriano.com Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:17:20 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.discoversoriano.com/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://www.discoversoriano.com Travel Tips in Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=277&Itemid=45 We most certainly can. When our guests book a tour with us, we often help them with their other travel plans as well. We can help you with everything from a single night at a hotel in Rome to a complete journey through Europe including hotels, B B's, airfare, trains, cruise, etc. We can help you plan book: Air Travel anywhere in the world Cruises anywhere in the world Hotels anywhere in the world B B's Agriturismi (Farm Houses) Train Travel Transfers Day Tours Event Tickets Logistics Car Rentals Private Drivers Event Planning (Weddings, Retreats, etc.) Itinerary Planning When we plan book your whole trip for you, we will also help you build a complete itinerary from the moment you leave your house to the moment you return home Tue, 20 Jan 2009 08:45:47 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=276&Itemid=45 Each day you will have a meeting time in the morning. You will get ready and walk down to the town square (it is very close to all of our homes), and we will meet in a coffee bar andpastry shop. You will have a coupon for each morning that is good for a pastry and a beverage (Cappuccino, Espresso, Milk, Tea, Juice, etc.), which makes for a traditional Italian breakfast. Typically everyone in the group arrives around the same time, and we all join up at a table as we have breakfast. Morning through Lunch If we will have a morning cooking class: If we will be having a cooking class in the morning, you will be met at the coffee bar by the person that will be teaching the class. By the second day, we are all close friends. After breakfast, wew may do some shopping together, then head down to our villa for the class. When you are at the villa for class, we all get right to it and start preppeing. We'll be there cooking all morning, but it isn't all cooking. While there, we will have many breaks, you can get on the Internet, we'll listen to music, take little walks around the countryside, and do tons of laughing. We may even head across the street to the local farmers and check out their pigs, chickens, etc. As the morning proceeds. a few bottles of wine may make it over from our 90-bottle rack to the kitchen's center island. Finally we will have lunch and eat far too much as we discuss each day that there is no way we will eat that much tonight for dinner... yet somehow we always manage to. If we will not have a morning cooking class: Since we are not having a morning cooking class, we will be going on an excursion, so you will be met by one of the DiscoverSorioano guides. After breakfast, we all load up into the van and head toward our destination. We'll spend the morning according the the schedule, and at around 1:00 PM we will have lunch. Lunch while we are on excursions is usually something quick and light.We may have Porchetta Panini (suckling pig), or a dish of pasta. Sometimes it will be in a restaurant, and sometimes it will be in a lunch bar. This is always dictated by our schedule, since anytime you sit down at a restaurant in Italy, you will be there for a couple hours at least. So if we have a tight schedule that day, we will avoid restaurants. Afternoon through Dinner If we will have an afternoon cooking class If we have a cooking class planned for the afternoon, we will have stayed fairly local for our morning excursion. We'll usually get to the villa at around 3:30 PM to get started for class. The afternoon classes are similar to the morning classes, except that our wine rack tends to get quite a bit more use during the afternoon / evening classes :-). We laugh, we drink, we laugh , we cook, we eat, we cook, we laugh, we drink. Get it? After dinner we will invariably have some after dinner drinks at the table while we talk about how there is no way we can keep eating this much food... but somehow tomorrow we'll find room for it once again! If we will not have an afternoon cooking class If we have no cooking classes today, it means we are on one of our bigger daily excursions, and we continue on after lunch. Maybe we'll head off to a winery, or go do some cheese tasting at a pecorino factory in Pienza. If we were in Assisi, we may head over to a ceramics factory in Deruta. Whatever the day's itinerary calls for. If we had a morning cooking class, we won't venture too far. One of our guides will be down at the villa after lunch (or possibly had lunch with us). We all load up into the van and head toward our destination. We'll spend the afternoon according the the schedule, and at around 8:00 PM we will have dinner out. We choose restaurants that are in some way truly special wherever we go. Since this is a cooking and culinary vacation, we try to focus on places that we find to offer the best of whatever the area we are in specializes in. In doing this, most of the menus are set before we get there in order to make sure that you have a variety of different regional dishes throughout the week, but if you have any special desires or needs, we are always happy to accomodate. Even the wines we choose are almost always from local private wineries in the area we happoen to be in. On some non class evenings we will not eat in a restaurant. If we have a particularly tight schedule, or if we are at a crowded festival, we will try to accomodate by opting for something quick that allows us to fit everything in. On some weeks, while in the Montepulciano and Pienza areas, we will buy cheeses, salames and wines while we are out for the day. Then we'll return to the villa in the late evening and all of us work together in the kitchen to make a wonderful cheese, fruit, cold cut wine dinner. After Dinner Unless we are at a festival, we will either be in Soriano for dinner or return to Soriano after dinner. At that point, some guests call it a night, and some will simply hang out in the town piazza for drinks. In the summer months, there is often live entertainment in the main piazza, especially during the July jazz festival. Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:32:27 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=275&Itemid=45 No. This is actually a very common question. Many companies that do culinary vacations in Europe base their entire operation out of a single villa. Their guests stay in the villa, they do the classes in the villa, etc. In many of these cases, the guests share bathrooms and common spaces. We are different. We own several private homes in the village, and we have contracts with several vacation rentals. Each home is a separate residence with its own facilities (Bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc.). You will have the keys to YOUR place, and nobody else will have access to it unless you let them in. Our guests do not stay in our villa. Each morning we will pick you up at a predetermined time, and we will either go on an excursion, or go to our villa for a cooking class. Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:22:55 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=274&Itemid=45 For Our One-Week Cooking Vacations: When you come on one of our popular cooking vacations, you will stay in one of our beautiful village homes or a local bed and breakfast. When you are ready to book, we will give you the opportunity to choose where you will be staying. The choices are based on availability on a first come, first served basis, so the earlier you book, the more choice you will have. We do not group guests in rooms. You will have your very own private home for the week. You can see pictures and descriptions of our village homes by clicking here. (http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&Itemid=139&gid=43) Most of the homes have wireless internet and satellite television. They all have air conditioning, full kitchens, queen beds, and just about everything you can think of. For Our Culinary Vacations (The Rome to Venice Tours) Guests that join us on our larger tours will stay in hotels. When possible, we select 4 star hotels. When not possible, we select 3-Star-Superior hotels. The reason for the difference is that unlike other tour operators, we believe in offering a balance between the tourist hot-spots and some off the beaten path places that most visitors don't have the opportunity to experience. Because of this, a few nights we will be sleeping in areas that don't have hundreds of huge hotels like the classic tourism centers. In those cases, a 4 star hotel may not exist. However, the 3+ star hotels we choose are all extremely comfortable, clean and attractive. What keeps them from having the fourth star is usually just a matter of amenities that we would not be there long enough to use anyway, such as room service, swimming pool, etc. Tue, 20 Jan 2009 05:59:02 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=223&Itemid=45 Our goal is to help you in every way we can on youtr trip, and as such we would be more than happy to help you with your airline tickets to Italy, and for any other part of your trip. While we cannot typically get better rates than you find on many of the larger travel sites, we sometimes do find better fares through consolidators. Additionally, we have vast experience when it comes to travel through Europe, and we are always happy to share that knowledge with you. If you would like for us to help you with tickets, just ask. While many travel agencies charge a booking fee because many airlines no longer pay commissions to agencies, we help our tour and rental guests as a complimentary service. Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:49:16 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=222&Itemid=45 You will almost certainly save money if you buy any maps you will need before your trip. Be sure to get a national map, and city maps for the cities you will be visiting while you are in Italy. Here are some driving and travel maps of Italy that you can purchase before your trip: Rand McNalley Travel Maps of Italy (http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-2816122-10460177?url=http%3A%2F%2Fstore.randmcnally.com%2Fcategory%2Finternational%2Bmaps%2Feurope%2Fsouthern%2Beurope.do) Florence Street Map (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C1352%2C4%2C61%2C615%26pid%3D552) Milan Street Map (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C61%2C615%26pid%3D1402) Rome Street Map (http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C61%2C615%26pid%3D10953) Sicily Street Map (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C61%2C615%26pid%3D16139) Tuscany Street Map (http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C61%2C615%26pid%3D1427) Venice Street Map (http://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C61%2C615%26pid%3D16435) Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:46:06 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=221&Itemid=45 There is no shortage of guide books out there, and your best bet would generally be to go to a book store like Borders or Barnes and Noble. But if you are looking for something on the Internet, here are some good guides to consider: Lonely Planet ROME (http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C1352%2C1355%26pid%3D13034) Lonely Planet TUSCANY and UMBRIA (http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C1352%2C1355%26pid%3D13052) Lonely Planet Venice (http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-2816122-10362975?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.maps.com%2Fmap.aspx%3Fnav%3DMS%26cid%3D4%2C1352%2C1355%26pid%3D13056) Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:43:58 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=45 While it is not really neccessary to learn Italian before you take a trip to Italy, Italians really tend to appreciate every attempt you make at communicating in their language. You will find that in the more touristy areas, everyone more or less speaks enough english to communicate with you as needed, but as you get off the beaten path, some Italian skills will be very helpful to you. That said, I really don't like the standard 'Learn a language' courses, because they tend to teach you phrases that are really not used... so you would be just as well simply speaking English in most cases. If you want to pick up some Italian before your trip, I would urge you to at least get started with a real language course. TELL ME MORE Language Learning Software (http://www.tkqlhce.com/6181xdmjdl039272330215A6257). uses advanced speech recognition technology that engages you in real-life dialogues and conversations while you are learning, rather than just having you learn key phrases. While it is not cheap (compared to the 29.95 software out there), it is far less expensive than some of the other real courses, like Rosetta Stone. Another good course is Onlingo. (http://www.jdoqocy.com/r975zw41w3JMSLQLMMJLKPKTKRP) Tue, 22 Jan 2008 09:41:04 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=162&Itemid=45 The answer to this question depends entirely on when you will be here. In the summer months you will find tons of free entertainment in the town's main square. In July, Soriano hosts the world fmous 'Tuscia in Jazz' Festival, which attracts hundreds of jazz artists (including many very famous) and jazz lovers. Regular entertainment in Piazza continues through August. Other than that, there is almost always a festival or event in the area. Additionally, about 20 minutes form Soriano there is a very popular nightclub (for dancing) called Cigni, which attracts many Romans. Soriano has several bars. One, in particular is called 'Rotezzia', which is open Thursday through Saturday after 10:00PM. Basically, the closer you are to July and August, the more choices you will have for nightlife. Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:55:39 +0100 http://www.discoversoriano.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=161&Itemid=45 The word Soriano comes from an ancient local dialect word for wine grapes. There are two towns named ‘Soriano’ in Italy. One is way down south in Reggio Calabria, and ours is at the northern edge of the Tiber Valley. Since there are two, their names were lengthened to differentiate them. The one in the south is ‘Soriano Calabro’ (Meaning literally ‘The Soriano in Reggio Calabria’), and ours is ‘Soriano nel Cimino’ (Meaning literally ‘The Soriano that is nestled in Mount Cimino’). People generally just say ‘Soriano’. If you talk to someone in Rome about Soriano, they assume you are talking about our town. If you talk to someone in southern Italy, they assume the other. Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:48:49 +0100