Today we will have our breath taken away all day long in Italy's 'Green heart': Umbria. Besides breathtaking nature, Umbria boasts some of Italy's best wines, olive oils, and most famous ceramics.

We will take a drive to beautiful Montefalco, known as 'The Balcony of Umbria', where we will tour a winery known for the world-famous Sagrantino wine. After our tour, we will participate in a wine tasting with local cheese, salames and more.

We'll then proceed to Assisi where we will visit the magnificent cathedral, the tomb of St. Francis, and simply stroll the streets of this wonderful city. Finally we will stop in the beautiful town of Spoleto for a stroll and dinner.

Today we will visit Lake Bracciano, where we will tour Castle Odescalchi where Tom Cruise was married. We'll then have a quick lunch and back to Soriano for our first cooking class.

For our class, we’ll learn to make:

• Crostini with Goat cheese and Pancetta
• Penne with four different sauces:
  • Carbonara Sauce
  • Amatriciana Sauce
  • Artichokes Cream Sauce
  • Porcini Mushroom Sauce
• Fresh Peaches drowned in Brachetto and served with fresh homemade whipped cream.

Today we will drive to the stunning Umbrian hilltown of Labro, where we will have the honor of a private tour of Labro's beautiful 11th century castle. Our private tour guide will be Prince Riccardo Vitelleschi-Nobili himself.

We'll have lunch at the beatiful Lake Piediluco, then visit the Marmore Falls (The tallest waterfalls in Europe, and the oldest man-made waterfall in the world -- created by the Ancient Romans).

We'll then leave for Soriano, where will will hold our 2nd cooking class: Limoncello & Biscotti.

We will teach you how to make Italy's famous after dinner lemon liqueur, and delicious authentic Biscotti. Limoncello, which is served chilled from the freezer, is a liqueur that takes weeks to make, but is completely worth the effort. It is a multi-stage process, so you will start a new batch, then pick up at the second stage where our last class left off, finally bottling the results of the limoncello started 2 classes back. During the process we will bake and eat fresh Biscotti together while we drink chilled Limoncello made in past classes.

You will make two types of Limoncello:

• The traditional Limoncello
• Our special Crema di Limoncello (Limoncello Cream Liqueur)

Additionally, you will make three types of Biscotti:

• Ciambelle Spizzicate - Cookies with a White wine and Anise base.
• Biscotti di Nocciola - Traditional Hazelnut Biscotti
• Fave dei Morte - All Saints Almond cookies

When the class is finished, you will take home a 1/2 liter bottle of each type of Limoncello, as well as the fresh biscotti, and recipes for everything we made during the day.

Finally, we'll enjoy a light dinner at home with cold cuts, cheese, fruit and wine (you won't want anything more!) and spend the evening in Soriano.

After breakfast, we will visit Civita di Bagnoregio, the dying city. This thousands year old breathtaking town has been crumbling away through the ages, and is connected to the world only by a long foot bridge. In Civita we will stroll and shop as we enjoy this charming place.

We'll have Lunch after visiting Civita di Bagnoregio.

We'll then venture back into Tuscany and visit the beautiful Tuscan hilltown of Pitigliano, which is well-known for its white wine. We will have an opportunity to do some tastings if we disire before taking the scenic drive around Lake Bolsena, and through Montefiascone (Known for its Est! Est! Est! white wine), and back into Soriano.

Today is arguably the biggest holiday of the year in Italy: Ferragosto. This holiday was originally a celebration of the middle of the summer and the end of the hard labor in the fields. Later, it was adopted by the Roman Empire to honor the gods (especially Diana) and the cycle of fertility and ripening. Later, the Roman Catholic Church adopted it to commemorate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Today there is no significant religious connection to the holiday,but it is observed as a day for large family gatherings, much like the 4th of July for Americans.

We'll start the day with a visit to the beautiful gardens of Villa Lante in Bagnaia after our traditional breakfast, followed by a light lunch at our 18th centruy country villa in the rolling hills beneath Soriano.

After lunch, we will begin our final cooking class:

Bruschetta with Sausage and Stracchino Cheese

Fettuccine with Sausage, Cream and Vodka sauce

Fettuccine with Ragu’

Tuscan Chicken with Bell Peppers

Tiramisu’ (We promise it is the best you have ever had!)

After dinner we'll take a stroll through what is considered to be the best preserved medieval quarter in the whole of Europe ( the San Pellegrino District of Viterbo), then stop for a mandatory gelato at the elegant Caffe' Schenardi ( a mansion form the 1500's converted into a very elegant cafe)

Unfortunately our week comes to a close this morning. We will have breakfast, take you to Rome and exchange hugs this morning.