You know the drill....

We will do our pick-up at the FCO ariport at 10:30 in the morning, then one more at the Orte train station at 3:45 PM. We'll head back to Soriano and give you some time to rest up and get unpacked.

In the early evening, we will all meet up in Piazza. We'll know all of you, but you won't know one another just yet, so we'll spend some time getting to know one another and exchanging stories. Just come with this thought: Any friend of Michael and Paola will quickly become a friend of yours, too :-)

Tonight we'll head up to the Taverna dei Frati for dinner. We will make sure Luciano prepares a balance of some things you will ceretainly want again with some new things that we don't normally have! After dinner, who knows?

Day 2 (Sunday)
Cooking Class & The Lost Etruscan Village of Corviano

We start our day with breakfast in the town piazza. Then we will go somewhere extremely unique and special: Corviano. This is a place that even most of the locals have never seen, let alone tourists. We tell many of our guests about this place, but logistics usually keep us from going here. We’ll drive about 5 miles from Soriano along dirt roads into the countryside until the roads get too rough to drive on. From there we will walk about a 15 minutes to a clearing that rests atop a huge cliff. The first thing we will encounter is the remains of a 13th century castle that lay in complete ruin in the middle of a forest. At the edge of the cliff there are a series of stairways carved out of the rocks that form the cliff, each of which takes us down into a 3,000+ year old Etruscan home. Here we will see something few eyes have experienced: The remains of an ancient (Bronze Age) Etruscan village that pre-dates the Roman Empire. As we continue along the path, we will stumble upon what is left of the ancient village cemetery, where the Etruscans carved their graves out of the volcanic rock in the ground.

After our visit to Corviano, we will grab some panini before heading back to town for a little time to get cleaned up and rest.

Later in the afternoon, we will meet up again and take a drive down to the villa. For those of you that were last in Soriano before the summer of 2009, you will be shocked when you see all the new landscaping! While on our other itineraries, our menu is pre-planned, today it is not. We will be choosing various Etruscan recipes, as well as recipes from Apicius (also known as De Re Coquinaria), the ancient 4th century Roman cookbook. Of course, Paola may thow something else in the mix. We will choose strictly based on what was fresh when we did our shopping.

Dinner will be the results of our class today.

After dinner, we'll see how the evening unfolds.

Day 3 (Monday)
Two of the Twelve - The Etruscan Ruins at Tarquinia & Vulci

We'll start the day with breakfast in piazza, followed by a visit to what is considered to be the most important of all the Etruscan finds: The Necropolis of Tarquinia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Tarquinia had been the chief of the Etruscan’s League of Twelve Cities. Elaborate wall paintings in some of the 6,000+ tombs at Tarquinia are basis for the vast majority of what little information we have about this civilization.

After visiting the tombs at Tarquinia, we will have a quick panini lunch on the way to the ruins of Vulci, another city-state that belonged to the League of Twelve Cities: Vulci (Known then as Velch) was among the richest of the twelve, and its ruins are still remarkably well-preserved with mosaic floors, tombs, streets, etc.

In the late afternoon we will have a few hours to rest and get cleaned up before having dinner together. We'll be having dinner in Soriano at 'Tre Scalini Trattoria'. Most of you have never eaten here.

Day 4 (Tuesday)
Etruscan Cerveteri & The “Valley of the Dead” at Norchia

We'll start the day with breakfast in piazza, followed by a visit to another UNESCO a World Heritage Site: The Necropolis of Cerveteri. Cerveteri, another of the ‘Etruscan League of 12 Cities’ is home to the largest ancient necropolis in the Mediterranean, and one of the oldest, dating back to the 9th century BC (Villanovan times). The ‘modern’ tombs here are Etruscan, dating back to the 3rd century BC. Cerveteri is considered to be one of the most important of the Etruscan cities.

After visiting Cerveteri, we will grab a bite to eat on the way back to Soriano before a few hours of rest in town.

In the late afternoon, we will head out again for a visit to Norchia, a little-known Etruscan site unlike any other. Norchia was an Etruscan city that created its necropolis on the side of cliffs in a ravine below the city. The tombs here date back to pre-Etruscan times, as far back as the 600 BC. These are possibly the most outwardly beautiful Etruscan tombs to have been discovered so far. They appear more like Maya tombs than anything else from this area. As we explore them during this light hike, we’ll also see the remains of the sarcophagi, and the ruins of an ancient church.

For dinner tonight, we will be visiting a rustic pizzeria in a village near Soriano that we ourselves just discovered in November 2009. They will bring us a seemingly endless chain of food, from Tuscan beans, to lasagna... from Carpaccio to various pasta samplers... and finally when you think you can't eat another bite, massive amounts of pizza will arrive. This is a night to really save room for.

Day 5 (Wednesday)
Our Tuscany Winery Day... with a twist: The Original EXCALIBUR

The one thing we do without fail every week during our season is the Montalcino - Pienza - Montepulciano day. This week we are planning on skipping Pienza and Montepulciano (Sorry!), while visiting something new: San Galgano. This is the site of an ancient monastery that dates back to 1185, and is widely considered the most beautiful monastery in Tuscany. It i also the home of Saint Galgano's 'Sword in the Stone', which is believed to be the origin of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. We will visit the ruins of the monastery and see the actual sword in the stone.

We'll have lunch in Montalcino with Fiorella and her family at the Croce di Mezzo Winery. For those of you that are pre-2009 guests, this was a wonderful change made to our days up in this area.

If time permits, we will try to visit Pienza, and probably have dinner in Bagno Vignoni tonight.

Day 6 (Thursday)
Norcia, Roman Carsulae & Castiglione

As always, breakfast in Piazza.

After breakfast we’ll head deep into the hills of Umbria as we make our way to the town of Norcia, which swas founded in the 5th century BC by the Sabines. It later went on to become the home of St. Benedict (founder of the Benedictine Order). It is without question one of the most beautiful Umbrian villages, and is most famously known as the Italian Capitol of Pork.... to the point that Italian butchers that specialize in port products are called 'Norcineria', which comes from the name of this town. The streets are lined with quaint stores, many of which specialize in all kinds of sausages, salames, etc.

We'll have lunch in Norcia, then proceed to the ruins of Carsulae, considered among the most important archeological sites in Italy. Carsulae was an ancient Roman city that dates back to 300BC.  While important, this is a little-visited site.  In its time, Carsulae was an important city along the ancient Via Flaminia road (220 BC, and still intact here with sidewalks and gutters!) with its own amphitheater, public baths, temples, and more.  This is a truly amazing site for those that want to experience ancient Roman ruins that have escaped the ravages of mass tourism.

Tonight we will have dinner waiting for us (weather permitting) at the Papacqua Park at the base of the Chigi Palace in Soriano.

Day 7 (Friday)
Bomarzo, Castiglione & Cooking Class

This morning we will head to the 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. It was 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 our visit, we will go to Madonna delle Macchie Winery and Olive mill, where we will spend the early afternoon and have lunch with Serena and Leonardo while giving you a chance to stock up on their oil and wine :-). Once we are sufficiently lubricated, we'll head backl to the villa!

Like our Sunday class, we will be choosing various Etruscan recipes, as well as recipes from Apicius (also known as De Re Coquinaria), the ancient 4th century Roman cookbook. We will choose strictly based on what was fresh in the local markets.

Day 8 (Saturday)
Goodbye :-(

Unfortunately our week comes to a close this morning. The shuttle leaves town at 6:15 AM as most outbound flights require early morning airport arrivals. We will be at the Orte train station for a drop off by 6:40 AM, and at the Rome Fiumicino airport by 8:00 AM. This will be sufficient time for outbound flights leaving after 10:00 AM.