| This 8 day / 7 night custom itinerary is a mixture of our 'Roads Less Traveled' itinerary, with one day set aside for a visit to Florence for those that wish.
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If you are arriving in Italy today, you will be greeted at the Rome airport and taken to Soriano nel Cimino, where you will get settled in. If you are already in Italy, we can either meet at the Rome airport, the Orte train station (36 min from Rome’s Central Station), or in Soriano if you have a car. If you are arriving by ship, we will pick you up at the Civitavecchia Cruise terminal. We will have a light lunch, and give you a few hours to get settled in. For those that are up to it, we will explore Soriano and have some Gelato while as we soak in at this beautiful medieval village and get to know one another. Tonight we will dine in an ancient monastery that has been converted into a wonderful restaurant.
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| Places |
Soriano nel Cimino |
| Classes |
None |
| Meals |
Light lunch, Gelato, Dinner at Taverna dei Frati |
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This morning we will meet in Piazza for our traditional Italian breakfast of Cappuccino and Pastry at a local coffee bar / pastry shop . We will then begin shopping at the local grocers, vegetable stands and butchers for today's class. You will meet the people that produce the fresh ingredients used in our classes as we stroll through town for our shopping. Once done, we will proceed down to Villa Eddarella where our classes take place.
In this class we learn the secrets of making homemade Fettuccini from scratch, and prepare two wonderful sauces for it. The first is our special family recipe for Ragu, passed down through the generations. Following the ragu, we will learn to make a delicious sausage, onion and vodka cream sauce. In addition to Fettuccini, you will also learn to make a delicious appetizer made of pancetta-wrapped pineapple. To cap the meal off, for dessert we will learn to make our own very unique and special recipe of Tiramisu that is certain to be the best you have ever tasted.
After lunch, we will rest a bit over an espresso before we go on our first excursion to 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.
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! |
| Places |
Soriano nel Cimino, Civita di Bagnoregio |
| Classes |
Lunch Class #1 (Homemade Fettuccine) |
| Meals |
| Breakfast |
| Cappuccino & Pastries |
| Lunch -Class #1 (Appetizer, first course, additional first, side dish, dessert*) |
| Ananas con Pancetta (Pancetta-wrapped Pineapple), Fettuccine al Ragu, Fettuccine alla Vodka e Salsiccia (Sausage, Onion & Vodka Cream sauce), Tiramisu |
| Dinner |
| Pizzeria Rosso di Sera |
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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. |
| Places |
Montepulciano, Montalcino, Pienza (Tuscan Wine & Cheese Country) |
| Classes |
None |
| Meals |
| Breakfast |
| Cappuccino & Pastries |
| Lunch |
| Trattoria in Montalcino |
| Dinner |
| Trattoria outside of Pienza |
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Today 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.
Next 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) 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 start our second cookign class for dinner. Tonight's dinner will be a special class based on local recipes of the season. The menu will be finalized before the tour begins. |
| Places |
Soriano nel Cimino, Bomarzo, Terni, Piediluco |
| Classes |
Dinner Class - Custom Menu (Class #2) |
| Meals |
| Breakfast |
| Cappuccino & Pastries |
| Lunch |
| Trattoria in Umbria |
| Dinner |
| Dinner in class |
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Today we will drive to the beautiful Tuscan town of Pitigliano, which is well-known for its white wine, and its ancient Jewish Synagogue. We';; take a short stoll around the old Jewish Ghetto, then take a drive to Tarquinia, home of the most famous Etruscan necropolis in the world. We'll then stop in a local olive mill for olive oil tasting and a fantastic lunch.
Back in Soriano, we will rest up a bit before starting the grand finale of our classes: Homemade Gnocchi & Tiramisu!
In this class you will learn our family secrets of making homemade Gnocchi from scratch, and prepare two delectable sauces for it. The first is a delicate butter and sage sauce, followed by a traditional local Porcini mushroom based sauce, made with fresh Porcinis from our local forests. For our appetizer, we will make fresh goat cheese and grilled Pancetta atop fresh Ciabatta bread. For our second course we will learn to make Pollo ai Pepperoni, with Tuscan-roasted potatoes as a side dish. To cap the meal off, for dessert we will teach you to make our own very unique and special recipe of Tiramisu that is certain to be the best you have ever tasted. |
| Places |
Tarquinia, Pitigliano |
| Classes |
Dinner (Class #3) |
| Meals |
| Breakfast |
| Cappuccino & Pastries |
| Lunch |
| Trattoria in Piediluco or Labro |
| Dinner: Class #3 (Appetizer, first course, second course, side dish, dessert) |
Appetizer: Tartine Rustiche (Goat cheese and grilled Pancetta atop fresh Ciabatta bread)
First Course:
• Gnocchi al burro e salvia (butter and sage sauce)
• Gnocchi ai funghi porcini (Porcini mushroom sauce)
Second Course:
Pollo ai Pepperoni (Tuscan Pepper Chicken)
Side:
Patate Arrosto (Tuscan-roasted potatoes)
Dessert:
Tiramisu
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Today you have the option of going to Florence for the day or spending a calmer day resting in the morning with a visit to Orvieto in the afternoon. For those wishing to go to Florence, we will visit the city and see the Uffizi and Academia galleries, as well as many of the other sites of Florence. We will have lunch Florence today, and dinner en route back to Soriano.
For those choosing to opt out of Florence, you will have the morning to simply take it easy in Soriano. For lunch, we'll meet up and have a nice lunch in town, then take a drive to Orvieto where we will stoll and enjoy this beautiful medieval village. Dinenr tonight will be back in Soriano. |
| Places |
Florence or Orvieto |
| Classes |
None |
| Meals |
| Breakfast |
| Cappuccino & Pastries |
| Lunch |
| Orvieto Group: In Soriano. Florence Group: in Florence |
| Dinner |
| Orvieto Group: In Soriano. Florence Group: en-route back to Soriano |
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Today we'll spend our morning in Cortona, which was the setting for such films as 'Under the Tuscan Sun' and 'Life is Beautiful'. We will visit the local shops, stroll around town, do some more wine tasting, etc. We will then take a drive around beautiful Lake Trasimeno, just south of Cortona, where we will stop in a lakeside town for lunch.
After lunch, we will proceed back to Villa Eddarella for our next class: Liminocello 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. |
| Places |
Cortona, Lake Trasimeno, Viterbo |
| Classes |
Limoncello & Biscotti |
| Meals |
| Breakfast |
| Cappuccino & Pastries |
| Lunch |
| With Limincello Class |
| Dinner |
| In Viterbo |
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Unfortunately our week comes to a close this morning. We will have breakfast, take you to Rome and exchange hugs this morning. |
Menu Variations
The menus listed on the itineraries are subject to change depending on season. This is a summer menu. We use only fresh ingredients wherever possible, so if we are unable to prepare a certain dish, it will be substituted. In case of expected rain, Pizza night will be replaced with Lasagna class. Between November and April, Pizza night will be replaced with an evening of Italian Grill at the fireplace.
Excursion Substitutions
In case of rain, some excursions may be altered or replaced. Additionally, we often modify excursions on the fly in order to take advantage of local festivals that may occur during your tour.
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