Day 1 (Saturday)

Welcome to Soriano!

For those arriving in Italy today on early flights, we offer a shuttle to Soriano nel Cimino from Rome Fiumicino airport at 11:00 AM. If you are already in Italy, or your flight arrives after 10:00 AM in Rome, we offer a second shuttle from the Orte Train station (a 35 minute train ride from Rome Termini station, and easy access from other major Italian cities) at 3:45 PM. For those arriving at times that do not coincide with our shuttle schedule, we can arrange for a private driver to bring you to Soriano for an extra charge.

Once in Soriano we will help you to your accommodations for the week and give you some time to get settled in, unpack and rest up. As you get settled in, you will find some snacks and drinks waiting for you when you get to your home.

At around 5:30 PM, we will meet with those that are up to it for a little shopping for tomorrow's cooking class. We will stop in a local fruit and vegetable shop, a grocer, and local butcher as we meet some of the shopkeepers we will get to know during our week and pick up what we will need.

Next we will do casual walking tour of Soriano's medieval quarter. We'll have a walk around the narrow streets of this beautiful area. During our walk we'll stop in the studio of the extremely talented local artist, Riccardo Sanna and have a look at what he is working on.

For dinner tonight we will dine in an ancient monastery in Soriano that has been converted to a wonderful restaurant. Here we will sample many local specialties in the first of many multi-course meals as we dive head first in Italian culinary culture. The menu for tonight's dinner is:

Appetizer:
A sampling of Local Salame, Prosciutto, Porcini Bruschetta, Olive Bruschetta, Ascoline Olives (fried sausage-stuffed olives), and Sutrini (a local crepe with Romano cheese)

First Course
For our first course tonight, we will have samplings of two local pasta dishes: Gnocchi col Ferro (a local specialty eggless pasta that is hand rolled in an Arrabiata sauce) and Ciuffetti Sorianesi (hand made pasta purses, stuffed with radicchio and speck in a Parmesan cream sauce).

Second Course
After our pasta dishes we will sample local grilled sausages and Tagliata al aceto balsamico (A grilled steak, marinated in balsamic vinegar atop a bed of rucola salad)

Dessert
Finally we will be brought a lemon sorbet dessert and end our evening with a glass of Limoncello

As always, wine is provided with all dinners, and we favor small local wineries wherever we dine. Tonight's wine will be a local red Umbrian wine.

Day 2 (Sunday)

Cooking Class: When in Rome Cook Like The Romans Do + Orvieto

We will begin our first full day together with a bang. In the morning, we'll meet for our daily traditional Italian breakfast at Bar-Pasticceria Roma, a local pastry shop & coffee bar located in Soriano's lively central piazza, a very short walk from the home you are staying in. As with every morning, coffee & freshly baked pastries is on us (tea, milk, juice, etc, is also available). We will have our breakfast alongside the local villagers before our transportation arrives to take us to the villa for our first cooking class.

Our Italian cooking classes are held at Villa Eddarella, which is just 5 minutes from town. The villa is an 18th century farmhouse that was built by Paola's ancestors. We have completely restored into a beautiful country villa, with a breathtaking 700 sq. ft. teaching kitchen on the ground floor and views of the rolling hills that are to die for.

As we arrive, we'll give everyone a quick familiarization tour of the villa, and you will immediately learn one of the most important themes of the week: "Casa mia e' casa tua" (My house is your house). In other words, when we show you how we divide wine bottles in our 90-bottle wine rack, we'll also show you where the corkscrews are, and where the glasses are. When you want some wine, have at it :-). We are all a big family this week.

After you have been given your aprons and recipe books (yours to take home at the end of the week), we will get down to business. We have a huge meal to make for lunch, so we'll not waste much time, especially since our cooking classes are extremely 'hands-on'.

We'll start off with a true Roman recipe for Eggplant Parmesan. It won't be quite like what you are used to back home... It will be one-hundred fold better! We'll serve it up as our appetizer for today, but once you are home, who says you need to make it in appetizer portions? It also makes for a great first or second course. For our first course today, we will be making the quintessential Roman pasta dish: Spaghetti alla Carbonara. We'll be making our spaghetti completely from scratch, and our Carbonara recipe will absolutely knock your socks off. When any Italian thinks of Roman second courses, the first thing that comes to mind is invariably Saltimbocca alla Romana, which literally translates to "Jump in the mouth", and it does! Saltimbocca alla Romana is a dish made with veal cutlets, sauteed in Roman Frascati wine & butter, then topped with prosciutto & sage. It is to die for. For our side dish, we will make Porcini mushrooms from the local mountains, sauteed with white Roman Frascati wine and local herbs. Finally, our dessert we will make Roman Frappe, a sweet and crispy pastry, twisted into ribbons, then deep-fried and topped with sprinkled cinnamon & sugar.

During all of our cooking classes, we work, but we laugh and play. We break out the wine (and sometimes the Grappa). We may sing along to the background music as we are prepping, and everyone takes little breaks along the way. We even have a computer and WIFI Internet right in the kitchen for those of you that can't get away from your e-mail. We may find that we need some herbs, and send a few guests out to the garden to pick them. In other words, don't think of it as 'school'. Above all, it is a delightful social experience in a breathtaking setting, while you make a mouth-watering meal together... and learn how it is done along the way. In fact, when we get the occasional person that doesn't cook with us, they have just as much fun!

Lunch today will be the results of all of your work, and we promise you won't be wanting for more! Most important of all, you will know how to make all of this back home.

After lunch we will drive to the Umbrian city of Orvieto which is the home to one of Italy's most magnificent cathedrals, as well as the world-renowned white Orvieto Classico wine and beautiful ceramics shops.. Here we will give you the afternoon free to explore the Duomo & shop in this wonderful cliff-top town.

On our way home tonight, we will stop in the town of Bassano in Teverina for dinner are a unique restaurant and pizzeria called La Piazetta. In the early 20th century this was an Italian Vaudeville Club and theater that has been converted to a restaurant. As we sit down, they will begin to bring us little bowls of all kinds of food... so much that it will completely cover our table. By the time we think no more can come, they will bring us pizza by the meter... and meter and meter.

Day 3 (Monday)

Harvesting Olives, Making Oil & Wine Tasting...

This morning we have breakfast at Bar Roma, then head out of town to an Umbrian Olive Orchard. We will spend a couple hours harvesting olives from the local trees. Our area is known for its volcanic soil, which produces excellent olives for making the best olive oil, so we are in for quite a treat!

Imagine... this is a stop on all of our tours, but this is the only week of the year that we actually get to be part of the olive oil making process!

After we have harvested our olives, we will head to the Madonna delle Macchie Olive Mill and Winery in the tiny village of Castiglione in Teverina, which borders with the well-known Umbrian city of Orvieto. This is a tiny family run artisan operation with a very low production of the highest quality wine and oil.

The olive mill here is one of the few remaining antique traditional cold-press mills that still functions today. They use the antique methods to produce the absolute best possible extra virgin olive oil, with the lowest possible acidity. In other words, it is simply the best of the best of the best.

As we arrive, we will walk into the mill and weigh our olives before we dump them into a container that will suck them into a vat with huge millstones that will crush them into a paste. We'll get a detailed view of the entire process before we head to their wine cellar where we will be given a private tour of the winery side of the operation by one of the owners. During our tour, we will have a full wine tasting of all their wines, as well as a tasting of the newly produced olive oil.

We will then head back into the mill, where our olives have now been sufficiently crushed into a paste. We will now operate the next part of the process, creating layers of paste on fiber discs that we will stack. Once we have spread the paste and stacked our discs, we will wheel it over to the olive press the will begin the oil extraction.

While we wait for the press to do its thing, we will have a wonderful homemade buffet lunch in another room, where we will continue our wine tasting.

While we are having lunch, we will peek in from time to time, watching our oil ooze from the press. Of course, as we are eating, we will be having oil straight from the mill on Bruschetta!

Finally, each of us will walk up to the centrifuge in the mill where our oil is going through the last step of the process as all water is separated from the oil. As the thick, green oil drips from a spout, we will each fill a one liter can of the oil that came from the olives we picked this morning and milled this afternoon!

Today you will go home with oil that you made, and came from olives you harvested. This is exclusive experience, as the olive mill only does this with OUR guests. Today will have been pure magic.. A day you will never forget.

As we leave the mill with gigantic grins on our faces, we will head back to town and give you a few hours to rest and clean up. Tonight we will meet again for dinner at the Tre Scalini Trattoria in Soriano.

Day 4 (Tuesday)

Rome & The Vatican Without The Crowds!

After our morning breakfast we head to Rome for the day. Rome in November... ahhhh, there is something special about it! Chestnuts roasting in the ancient city, people bundled up in the chilly weather... and the crowds... they have vanished! You can sit on the Spanish steps without waiting to find a spot. You can approach the Trevi Fountain with ease. You can stroll the halls of the Vatican Museums without getting pushed and shoved... You can hear yourself think in the Sistine Chapel. This may be low season in Rome, but for for those that know better, this is the time to be here.

We're not doing Rome in a tour bus like so many other tourists... We're doing it like Italians. Trains and subways all the way! We'll take the train from Orte (near Soriano) into Rome's bustling Termini (Central) station.

Important: To see everything most people wish to see in Rome, we would need days. We only have one day, and as the say: You can't see Rome in a day. Our itinerary today is a small sampling of Rome with highlights. There will be no shopping time today, and we will not visit the Roman Forum. We strongly advise our guests to plan a few days on their own in Rome after their time with us in order to see things we will miss out on. Additionally, there is quite a bit of walking today, so please be prepared.

When we arrive in Rome, we will meet up with a local guide that specializes in Rome's art and history. From the station, private cars will take us to downtown Rome.

We will go to Piazza Navona to cover the Fountains of the Four Rivers by Bernini and the Church of St Agnes by Borromini while hearing about the rivalry between these 2 artists supposedly evident in the architecture.

From there a short stroll will take us to the beautiful Trevi Fountain to find out the importance of water and fountains in Rome and of course give you time to throw your coins in and perhaps have a gelato.

Next, we'll visit the ancient pagan temple of the Pantheon which today is a Catholic Church. We will cover the construction of the dome, which after almost two thousand years, is still the largest unenforced concrete dome in the world.

After our visit to the pantheon, we'll stop for an espresso at the legendary 1930's Caffè' St. Eustacchio coffee bar, which is Rome's most famous, and largely considered to be the best espresso one can have.

Next we will have lunch in a local Roman Restaurant (not one of those tourist traps) where we will have a very traditional Roman meal. After lunch we will head over to the Vatican, passing the Colosseum. If time and traffic permits we will try to take a brief photo stop at The Colosseum. Once we arrive at The Vatican, we will be treated to a private tour of the Vatican Museums (including the Sistine Chapel), followed by a tour of St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square.

After our tour, we will head back to the train station and to Soriano where we will have dinner waiting or us back at Villa Eddarella.

Day 5 (Wednesday)

Deruta Ceramics + Limoncello, Biscotti & Ammatriciana & Panna Cotta Class

After our morning breakfast we head to the Umbrian 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, and is among the most valued Italian ceramics internationally. We will have a factory tour, and those that are up to it can try their hand at the pottery wheel. If you are interested in purchasing any pottery or ceramics this week, this is the place with extremely deep discounts compared to what you will find elsewhere... a fraction of the costs back home.

As we leave Deruta, we will head back to Soriano, stopping at one of Italy's Autogrills for a light Panini lunch. These freeway rest stops are world-famous, and believe it or not, are an important part of the Italian culinary experience, as it really shows how seriously Italians take their food.. even at rest stops!

After lunch, we will head back to Soriano for our next cooking class.

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

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 Panna Cotta, which we will have for dessert today.

Finally, for dinner we will be making Spaghetti all'Amatriciana!

When today's class is over, each couple (or single traveling alone) will take home a 1/2 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).

Day 6 (Thursday)

A Day of Wine & Cheese in Tuscany

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

We'll start by driving to our furthest point, Montalcino. To get there, we will be driving the famous Orcia Valley Wine Trail through this picturesque wine region which evokes the classic image of Tuscan rolling hills. This is the area of Tuscany that most of us think of, seen in many well-known movies, such as Under the Tuscan Sun, Life is Beautiful, and many more.

Instead of going to the big wineries for impersonal tastings like other tours, we have something something truly exclusive in store for you today. We will visit the small, private Croce di Mezzo winery in Montalcino which shares a fence line with Biondi Santi and Fattoria dei Barbi.

We will be hosted to a wonderful lunch with the owners of the estate, as we sample their Brunello wine with our meal. As we have lunch together, they will share their family history with you and answer any question you can imagine. You are sure to fall in love with this gracious family. It is always one of the major highlights on our weeks, and provides for a truly exclusive and unique Brunello experience. After lunch, they will treat us to a private tour of their cellars and vineyards before we move on.

If we have time after lunch, and if anyone in our group would like, we will make a stop at the 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.

Next, 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 wine 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. Those that have seen the 2009 film 'New Moon' (The sequel to 'Twilight') will recognize this wine cellar and other areas of town from the movie.

After this long day, we will drive back to Soriano where we will be guests for dinner at the private villa of Maria Grazia, who will have cooked a wonderful meal for us today.

Day 7 (Friday)

The City of Popes + Our Final Cooking Class

Today's excursion is an outing to the capital of our province, Viterbo. Just nine miles from Soriano, Viterbo is the largest city in Italy between Rome and Florence, and while not frequented by tourists, it has remarkable beauty and a riveting history that very few are aware of.

We'll make our way into the ancient walled city, and take a walk through the main shopping district. We'll stop for a gelato in the Gran Caffè Schenardi, a beautiful coffee bar that dates back to 1818 as one of the very first coffee bars in Italy, that went on to serve Popes, Kings, Queens, etc. through its history. It was even a favorite place of Orson Welles, who would take time to think and write poetry here during the filming of Othello in 1958.

Next we will take a walk to the ancient Papal Palace, the official seat for six Popes between 1257 and 1281 when the Vatican was having trouble asserting authority in Rome. This was the location of the first Papal Conclave before it was moved to the Sistine Chapel in Rome, after the controversy of the famous 1268-1271 Papal Election happened here. This was the longest Papal election in history, that lasted nearly 3 years. After it had been going on for almost 2 years, the people of Viterbo became very upset and locked the cardinals inside, then began to ration food to nothing more than bread and water. To make matters worse, they tore the roof off the building to expose the Cardinals inside to the elements! The effects of this reached as far as Marco Polo in China at the time, and when it was all said and done, the people of Viterbo forced the election of a Pope that wasn't even so much as a priest! The result of this disaster created the rules that are, for the most part, the same rules used in electing popes today: The Papal Conclave.

After visiting the Palace, we will make our way on foot to the San Pellegrino district of Viterbo, which is known to be the best preserved medieval quarter in all of Europe. There, we will have lunch in a local restaurant.

In the afternoon we will begin our final class of the week. We'll start with Ribollita, which literally means "Re-Boiled Soup". In antiquity, this was a traditional Tuscan peasant soup, made with leftover minestrone and stale bread. Today, it is one of the most appreciated Tuscan soups of all.

For our first course, we will prepare a delicate white Risotto with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and a balsamic vinegar reduction, followed by our family recipe for Tuscan roasted chicken & potatoes that we promise will leave you in absolute awe.

Finally for dessert we will be preparing our family recipe for Tiramisu, which is guaranteed to be the best you have ever tasted.

Day 8 (Saturday)

Goodbye :-(

Sadly, 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 9:45 AM.