About the Stile Mediterraneo Cooking and Wine School in Puglia (Apulia), Southern Italy:
"Stile Mediterraneo" Cooking and Wine School provides an authentic and tailor made experience of Puglia and Southern Italy: something unique you will never experience using a tourist guide book.
Accommodation and classes:
Accommodation and classes are provided in a beautiful private villa selected because of its comforts and first quality services as well as the authentic experience it provides.
The Villa has a swimming pool and lots of gardens and terraces where our guests can take a cooking class or enjoy meals al fresco.
The Villa is located in a small village off the tourist tracks, where our guests can experience the authentic and relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle. The villa is not a hotel. It is privately owned and is a Sixteenth Century country manor house which has been in a local Baron’s family for nearly five centuries.
The property includes several bedrooms, each with private bathrooms (wth both baths and showers) and air conditioning, many dining rooms, large kitchens, a piano room and much more. There will be a cook for all meals at the palace and two maids who provide breakfast and general housekeeping and room cleaning.
There will be private transfer service.
Puglia's cuisine and cooking classes:
Puglian cuisine is the true home made and Mediterranean cuisine. Recipes are very healthy since ingredients are very fresh and made with ancient and artisan methods.
Cooking classes are provided by local women and are hands-on. We, at the Stile Mediterraneo School show how families eat and cook in Southern Italy which is different from the Italian cuisine you might learn in other Italian regions.
Cooking classes are always combined with culinary tours which include: visits of traditional fruit, vegetables and fish markets, visits of artisans hand making their products (mozzarella, cheese, bread, pasta, salami, ice creams, sweets, liquors, jams, chocolate) with ancient and traditional methods.
Alexander Technique classes:
The program includes 4 Alexander Technique classes with a very experienced English instructor belonging to the STAT organization. The Alexander Technique teaches a way of using your body efficiently which leads to improved posture, less stress and enhanced wellbeing. It teaches people how to get rid of faulty patterns of muscular tension. The effects of learning the Alexander Technique can be felt in many different areas of life. The Technique can improve the way we carry out sport and exercise as well as the whole range of everyday activities including cooking! The Technique can also bring benefits at work. The whole experience of being at work is improved as people learn to stay calmer and reduce the risk of many work-related health problems such as repetitive strain injury (RSI) and shoulder and back pain. The Technique can help self-development so that people become better able to make decisions.
Alexander teaching includes some hands-on work by the teacher and also some lying down. Students wear loose comfortable clothes. For more information on the Technique consult: www.stat.org.uk
Date of the program:
The program runs from May 15 – May 22, 2008. It is a 8-day program. You may ask for a similar program customized at a different time of the year. Also given that in Puglia every province has different culinary traditions you may extend this tour up to 1 month.
Weather in Puglia:
Puglia has a typical Mediterranean climate. It is sunny 99% of the year. Winters are very mild: at midday temperature can be 15-20°C.
People and partners not attending the classes:
Guests not attending classes included in this tour will be free to play golf, use the bicycles for a ride along the coast, get a massage by the swimming pool.
Location: Salento
The property is located in the Lecce countryside, in a little village with only 3,000 inhabitants!
The villa is walking distance from the main small square where you can experience the authentic Southern Italian life.
The villa is 5m drive from a beautiful sea.
As part of the package you will be visiting the beautiful private noble palaces and gardens in Lecce, usually not accessible to visitors. You will be experiencing what makes Puglia such a special place: its wine, food, people, culture and incredible scenery.
Your Hosts:
The school is run by the sisters Cinzia and Marika Rascazzo who were born and brought up in Puglia. Their grandmother taught them all the little secrets about the Pugliese recipes. Their grandfather took them to the vineyard during the grape harvest and taught them how to make the wine.
After spending many years abroad studying and working in Boston, New York and London and being exposed to the most diverse and international cultures, Cinzia decided to move back to her home town and start the Stile Mediterraneo School.
They both speak fluent English and French.
People attending the Stile Mediterraneo classes discover the authentic secrets of Southern Italy and Puglia!
Cooking classes are provided by Cinzia and her mother: they last 3 hours and teach you the true home made cuisine from Puglia.
Restaurants are selected because of the authentic and traditional recipes they prepare.
At the Stile Mediterraneo School, guests do what the local Italians do: eat at the most authentic local restaurants, mingle with interesting local people, learn about the real local culture, visit the best artisans, learn about the authentic local cuisine and wines. Our school approach is relaxed and friendly but very professional at the same time: guests will experience only the BEST of Southern Italy.
Itinerary:
Day 1
We meet in Brindisi. Private transfer to the villa in the countryside.
Free afternoon: you can rest by the pool or get a massage.
Dinner at the villa (selection of best local wines included).
Day 2
After breakfast, introduction to the Alexander Technique (9:00-11:30 am).
Lunch at the villa (selection of best local wines included).
Afternoon, first cooking class, followed by dinner (selection of best local wines included).
Day 3
After breakfast, whole day visit of the baroque private palaces in Lecce.
Lunch at a traditional restaurant in Lecce.
Dinner at the villa (selection of best local wines included).
Day 4
After breakfast, Alexander Technique class (9:00 -11:30 am).
Lunch at the villa (selection of best local wines included).
Visit of the fish market in Gallipoli, fishermen sea village.
Dinner in Gallipoli.
Day 5
After breakfast, visit of a typical food market.
Lunch in a traditional trattoria based on sea urchins, cheese and wine in front of a beautiful sea view.
Relax at the pool.
Second cooking class followed by dinner at the villa (selection of best local wines included).
Day 6
After breakfast, Alexander Technique class (9:00 – 11:30 am).
Lunch in a restaurant by the sea in Otranto.
Third cooking class followed by dinner at the villa (selection of best local wines included).
Day 7
After breakfast, Alexander Technique class (9:00 – 11:30 am).
Lunch in a farmhouse based on traditional Pugliese recipes. All the ingredients are produced at the farmhouse.
Free afternoon.
Farewell dinner at the villa (selection of best local wines included).
Day 8
End of the classes and activities. Private transfers to the Brindisi airport
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Price will be different for guests and partners not attending the cooking classes. Price includes: a tour escort; all meals (both at the villa and at restaurants); - 3 cooking classes (3-hour each) with a local chef followed by lunch; 4 Alexander Technique classes with an English experience instructor; selection of best wines at all meals; accommodation at the luxury palace; - personal cook; - two maids who provide breakfast and 8 hours general housekeeping and room cleaning during the whole tour; - all transfers including from and to the airport. - Prices are based on double occupancy. - Prices are based on bank money transfer payments. Additional charge will be added for credit card payment.
Price does not include: airfares: optional activities; travel insurance. Extra fee will be applied for bed linen and towel daily change.
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