After our morning breakfast we head to the Umbrian city of Assisi, the hometown of St. Francis. Still surrounded by its ancient walls, is sits on the slopes of Mount Subasio with beautiful rose stone buildings, winding narrow streets, noble palaces and balconies full of flowers. Here we will visit the Basilica of St. Francis together, then split up to give you time for shopping and sightseeing on your own, or with us if you prefer. For those that want to stay with us, we will have a light lunch in Assisi.

In the afternoon, we will depart for the city of Deruta, which is known for its world-famous ‘majolica’ ceramics. Deruta is home to a centuries old ceramics tradition that is unparalleled anywhere in the world. We will have a tour of a local factory here and take some to to shop before we head out for dinner.

Dinner tonight is at an extremely unique Pizzeria that serves seemingly endless varieties of pizza ‘by the meter’. We will laugh and drink wine and beer while we sample pizza selections like you have never dreamed of. Tonight's pizza will be one you will dream of long after you have returned home!

After our morning breakfast we will head out for a day full of wine and cheese in beautiful Southern Tuscany.

We’ll start be heading up to Montepulicano, then driving the Orcia Valley Wine route through this picturesque wine region which evokes the classic image of Tuscan rolling hills. Our first stop will be at the small family run Casanova di Neri winery in Montalcino, which is widely considered the best of the Brunello wines... So much so that their 2001 Brunello was rated as the #1 wine of the year by Wine Spectator Magazine in 2006. Here we will have a private tasting with the owners of the winery.

Next we will proceed a few miles to the stunning St. Antimo Abbey, a beautiful Romanesque church that dates back to the 9th century. It sits in a valley just outside of Montalcino, surrounded by fields and olive groves. Here we will witness the monks in the Gregorian Chant during the brief service.

After the service, we will visitg the Croce di Mezzo winery in Montalcino, where we will have a winery tour and a tasting of their fantastic Brunello wines, followed by lunch at the winery.

After lunch, we’ll take the short drive to beautiful Pienza, known for its incredible Pecorino cheese. You will have a some time to walk around this charming village, do some Pecorino cheese tastings and some shopping before we leave for the town of Montepulciano, where we will do our final tasting and tour of the day.

Montepulciano is known for its Vino Nobile wine, a competitor for the Brunellos. Here we will tour the town’s ancient 14th century cellar that was built underneath the Palace of Cardinal Ricci and is widely considered to be the most beautiful wine cellar in the world. After the cellar tour, we will participate in a complete tasting of Montepulciano’s fantastic wines.

This morning we will meet in Soriano’s Piazza for our daily breakfast, then do the shopping for today’s class before heading back down to the villa.

Today we will learn how to make Italy's famous after dinner lemon liqueur, delicious and authentic Biscotti, Granita, and Gelato.

Besides the traditional Limoncello, we’ll also make our own family recipe for Crema di Limoncello (Limoncello Cream Liquor).

Our Biscotti today will be a local specialty known as ‘Tozzeti’, which are delicious Hazelnut biscotti, traditionally dipped in wine when eaten.

While our Biscotti are baking, we’ll make a wonderfully unique Dark Chocolate Pepperoncino Gelato, Hazelnut Gelato (Made with local hazelnuts), and Lemon Granita.

Throughout the class, rather than have a full lunch, we will pick on local salame, cheese, and the results of our class.

When today’s class is over, you will take home a ½ liter bottle of each Limoncello we make, plus a bag of our Biscotti to take home when the week is over (as if they will last that long).

After class, we will rest a bit before heading to the nearby city of Viterbo for the main event of the annual St Rose Festival: "Trasporto della Macchina di Santa Rosa" (The Transport of St. Rose's Machine). As strange as that may sound, it is a breathtaking event that pictures cannot even begin to convey. This is a tradition that goes back centuries... The citizens of Viterbo honor their matron saint by carrying a monument to her all over town. But this monument happens to be more than 90 feet (28 meters) tall, and it weighs 11,000 pounds (5,000kg)... and it is entirely carried by manpower, on the backs of a group of roughly 100 people known as 'Facchini'. These Facchini are made up of the strongest yound men in the city who compete for the honor of this distinction. It is a matter of incredible pride for the city, and an event that will simply take your breath away!

Every 5 years the city builds a new 'Macchina' in an effort to outdo the last one. 2009 marks that 5th year with the unveiling of a new Macchina!

Our guests are given VIP treatment at the festival. There are only a few hundred seats for viewing, causing hundreds of thousands of people to crowd the streets shoulder to shoulder for hours. We go out of our way to get reserved seats in one of the best viewing areas for our guests.

After our morning breakfast in Soriano’s Piazza we will leave Soriano behind to spend the day in Rome. In keeping with the culinary theme of the week, we’ll go straight to Campo de Fiori, Rome’s famous Piazza that hosts a fantastic flower and vegetable market every morning. We’ll browse the stands for a bit, afterwhich you will have the opportunity to spend the day in Rome on your own to choose from visits to the Vatican, the Colosseum, The Trevi Fountain and much more.

Optionally, we can organize a guided tour of Rome's highlights for you. This tour would include the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Collosseum and lunch. While there is an extra fee for this additional tour, we provide it to our guests at cost.

Later in the evening we will depart for Soriano, stopping at Northern Rome’s Autogrill for Panini en route home.

Being our final day, we will keep it light and expose you to a few places that are a bit more off the beaten path. We’ll have a later start time today after the long day in Rome as we go to the nearby village of Bomarzo, home of ‘The Sacred Grove’ (also known as The Monster Park). This amazing estate is believed by some to have been designed by Michelangelo. Commissioned by a local Prince in the 14th century after his wife’s death, the grounds are full of massive and bizarre statues that were carved out of the local volcanic rock. It is believed that this ‘park’, which is the only thing of its kind in the world, was developed to convey the grief the prince felt after having lost his beloved wife. It is a truly amazing place that words and pictures cannot fully describe.
After visiting the park, we will venture up to the Faggeta Forest, full of towering beech trees with a canopy that gives this place a truly mystic feel. Weather permitting, we will have a picnic lunch under the canopy.

After lunch we will head down to town where you will have a couple hours of free time to relax or pack before tonight’s pizza class.

In the late afternoon we’ll drive back to the villa to begin our final class: Country Wood-Fired 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, drink some wine, prepare the ingredients, drink some wine, help fire up the oven, drink some wine, and even handle the peel as the pizza cooks.... and then we will drink some wine! It will be true Italian country pizza, like nothing you have ever experienced.

Unfortunately our week comes to a close this morning. For those that are leaving, we will have breakfast in Piazza before an early morning trip to the airport and/or cruise terminal, exchange hugs and say ‘see you soon’ to our new friends. For those departing to other parts of Italy, we will bring you to the train station as needed. If you have later flights out, we will be happy to arrange for a private car (additional fee) to take you to Rome, the airport, ceuise terminal, or trains. For those choosing to continue with week #2, you will have the entire day to relax in Soriano, or to venture out on your own. We will be more than happy to help you with the logistics of this ‘on your own’ day while we take care of seeing people off and welcoming new guests.