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5 Days Casa Innocenti Cooking Course Vacation Please, note! This vacation school offer has expired. For similar vacation school offers currently available search here. Key Information: Class Size: 3 - 10 people Destination: Italy   Category: Cooking schools Specialty: Italian   Season: January - December Courses Per Year: 17 Course Level: All levels Min Price: 2460 US Dollar (USD) per person Max Price: 2460 US Dollar (USD) per person

Your Itinerary:

Day 1: Meet in Rome and transfer to Casa Innocenti (Arcidosso). Fly to Italy. Upon arrival at the airport of Rome or Florence, you will be accompanied by car or van to the village of Arcidosso and then welcomed to your vacation home next to the castle. After settling in, your host and chef, Carlo will show you his beautiful home, yours too for a whole week! Then you can either relax in the garden or take a walk through the enchanting streets of Arcidosso. For dinner you will enjoy a Tuscan meal prepared by Carlo.

Day 2: Montalcino (wine country), Pienza. In the morning, you’ll set off for Montalcino, a town famous for its Sangiovese grape vineyards that produce the celebrated Brunello wine. You will visit the magnificent 14th century Rocca (a fortress) and enjoy yourself wandering around the village and exploring picturesque little shops. Then, your guide will bring you to visit a quaint family owned winery just outside Montalcino. The owners will show you their cellar and explain to you the procedures of how to make wine. You can then have a tasting of the Rosso and Brunello. You will then continue to Pienza, where you will have lunch in a local restaurant and then visit its main square, Piazza Pio II, which is a model of Renaissance planning. This main piazza is so attractive that it was recently used to shoot scenes for the film The English Patient. Evening dinner with cooking course at home.

Day 3: The Etruscan villages: Pitigliano, Sorano, Sovana. You’ll start off the day with a cooking course culminating with lunch. Then you will be off to Pitigliano. This medieval town built on tufa stones features a fascinating ghetto with its own Synagogue and Jewish cemetery. Then, you’ll continue to Sorano, where you can visit the massive fortress (built by the Orsini family), the rest of the village and have lunch in a local restaurant. After lunch, you will go to Sovana, Pope Gregory VII’s birthplace, visit its country church and the old town square which is surrounded by cafes and little souvenir shops. Dinner at La Locanda del Prete.

Day 4: Siena. In the morning, after your breakfast, you’ll set off for Siena. You will visit the famous Piazza del Campo, the main square where the people from Siena (“i senesi”) organize, twice a year, a medieval horse race known as Il Palio. Facing the square there is the beautiful tour Torre del Mangia, where if you wish, you can climb up to the top to admire a marvelous view of the city. You can also visit the Duomo which is a gothic style cathedral. At the end of the morning, you will have lunch in a quaint restaurant in Piazza del Campo. Once home, and after having rested, you will have dinner with Carlo at La Locanda del Prete.

Day 5: Departure. You can choose to have a final breakfast at the house or at your favorite cafe in Arcidosso before heading back to Grosseto.

Faculty Information:
The cooking classes are taught by Carlo Innocenti, the owner of the house. Carlo is quite a celebrity in Arcidosso and the surrounding area for his entrepreneurial endeavors and creativity. He is an experienced cook. In the past, he managed and was the head chef of the 1st class cafe restaurant, Harry’s Bar in Punta Ala, an upscale beach resort in the South of Tuscany. He also owned a restaurant in his own house in Arcidosso, and has conducted cooking courses in Basilea, Switzerland. The guests can learn genuine Southern Tuscan dishes. All classes are hands-on and include local wine. The courses are taught in a large rustic kitchen and dinner is served in the newly renovated dining room.

Other Activities:
5 excursions to the nearby villages of Mount Amiata and Pitigliano, Sovana, Sorano; Montalcino, Pienza; Siena; and the lovely seaside village of Castiglione della Pescaia accompanied by Carlo (the cook, your host and native of this beautiful area). All trips include lunch in local restaurants that feature specialties of the region.

We would like to emphasize that we are quite flexible with regard to the itinerary and the excursions. Carlo sometimes switches the days for different excursions and sometimes, based on local events and activities, new excursions (not mentioned above) can be added or even replace the normal schedule. The most important thing is to communicate your specific interests which will be given priority if possible and in the best interest of the group.

Facility Information:
"Casa Innocenti" a medieval house, the highest of the village, next to the village Castle (12th century AD). The house features 4 floors, 20 rooms, a wine cellar, and a garden. Guests stay in 3 bedrooms on the top floor and the Master bedroom which is on the second floor. Each bedroom has a private bathroom.

Notes:
Price Includes:

- 4 nights in Arcidosso, near Siena, in a picturesque medieval home next to a 12th century castle. The house is beautifully furnished with antique furniture
- All meals as indicated in the itinerary
- 2 hands-on cooking courses in “La Cucina Povera Toscana” – Tuscan country cooking
- Visit to winery with wine tasting in Montalcino
- 4 guided excursions to the enchanting towns of Pitigliano, Sovana, Sorano (the Etruscan towns); Montalcino (famous for its grape vineyards that produce the celebrated Brunello wine), Pienza and Siena
- All transportation (including transfer from Rome and drop-off in Grosseto).

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