After we have had our traditional breakfast, we will begin our day with a drive through the rolling hills of Tuscany as we make our way to the Tuscan hill town of Montepulciano, famous for its Vino Nobile wine. Here we will tour the ancient 'Cantina del Redi' cellars, after which we will participate in a tasting of these fantastic wines. We will spend some time in town visiting local shops and tasting more wine before we proceed to the hill town of Montalcino, home of the world famous 'Brunello' wine.

We will have lunch in a local trattoria before we visit the vineyards and cellars of the world-famous 'Castello Banfi' in Montalcino. On our return we will stop in a cheese factory to sample some local Pecorino cheese in the town of Pienza.

We will have a light dinner en-route to Soriano as we close out this long day.

This morning we will let you rest for a somewhat later morning start. After our late breakfast, we will visit a rare wonder known as 'The Sacred Wood'. It is a 14th century park that is believed to have been designed by Michelangelo himself. Here we will stroll through the grounds as we marvel at gigantic sculptures that made this the 14th century concept of a theme park.

We will then drive up to the summit of Mount Cimino to visit the majestic and enchanting Faggeta Forest that draws thousands of visitors each year. Here we will have a traditional Italian picnic under the towering canopy. We'll enjoy several varieties of fresh cheese & grapes, a selection of different kinds of prosciutto, salame, mortadella and more... all with freshly baked bread, focaccia, wine, mineral water and soda.

After we have relaxed and had our obligatory after-lunch espresso, we will take it easy until later afternoon for our next class... a night of Pizza!

In Italy, making Pizza is a social event, similar to the way many of us think of having a Barbeque. It is a time of fun and laughter where bonds are forged. It is a truly special experience while the group shares the homemade pizza one tray at a time as it is pulled from the wood-fired brick oven and carried piping hot to the garden table under the vines and stars.

We will prepare several kinds of dough, and prepare the fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and many other ingredients for this wonderful evening together. Each person will help while they learn every stage of this event. You will make the dough, prepare the ingredients, help fire up the oven, and even handle the peel as the pizza cooks.

It will be true Italian country pizza, like nothing you have ever experienced. We’ll learn to make Focaccia, Pizza Margherita, Sweet Onion pizza, Potato pizza, and for dessert we will have Sugar Pizza and finally Nutella Pizza.

After we have had our traditional breakfast, we will begin our second full day out. Today we will visit some of the most beautiful sights of the region of Umbria. While Tuscany gets all of the notoriety, Umbria is arguably the most beautiful region of Italy... and it is right in Soriano's back yard. In fact, Italians refer to Umbria as the 'Green Heart of Italy'. We will visit the breathtaking 'Cascate delle Marmore' (The Marmore Falls), the beautifully restored hill town of Labro, and the enchanting Lake Piediluco. We'll have lunch today in a traditional Umbrian trattoria as we sample the local cold cuts this area is so famous for.

We'll return to Soriano for a little rest in the late afternoon before we head off to the village of Vetralla for dinner at a local restaurant that specializes in Neapolitan food.

Today we will take it easy in the morning while we enjoy the village life in Soriano. We'll have lunch at the Villa, which is to be followed by our 3rd class: Limoncello and Biscotti.

We will teach you how to make Italy's famous after dinner lemon liqueur, and delicious and authentic Biscotti. Limoncello, which is served chilled from the freezer, is a liqueur that takes months 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.

In the evening we will go to the nearby provincial capital of Viterbo. We will take a stroll in the 'Corso' shopping district of the ancient city before we have dinner in a local restaurant. After dinner, we will visit the 'Palazzo Papale' and the 'San Pellegrino' district. This is Viterbo's medieval quarter, which is considered to be among the best preserved in all of Europe. The Palazzo Papale was the Vatican during a period when it was considered too dangerous for the Pope to be in Rome.

Today we will leave for the beautiful city of Orvieto in the morning. Orvieto is famous for its white wine, Orvieto Classico. Additionally, it is famous for its underground caverns, its Cathedral, and olive oil. This was featured as the first stop of the tour in the movie 'Under the Tuscan Sun'. We will start our morning in Orvieto touring its stunning cathedral, then we will tour the underground caverns and an ancient olive mill. Before lunch we will stroll through town, participate in some wine tasting, do some shopping, and finally have lunch at a local restaurant in Orvieto.

In the late afternoon we will begin our last class, which will be for tonight's farewell dinner. For this class, we will focus on our family recipe for homemade Lasagna. As always, everything is made from scratch and the freshest ingredients. Our appetizer is an amazing sausage and cheese bruschetta. For our second course, we will learn to make Involtini Eddarella (Veal rolls stuffed with mortadella and celery, sauteed in white wine). We’ll make a Rucola salad, topped with cherry tomatoes and shaved parmesan for a side dish, followed by Frappe alla cannella e zucchero ( Fried pastry with sugar and cinnamon ) for dessert.

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