Cook and Walk in Umbria and Tuscany
Piegaro, Umbria

We had a fabulous Umbrian trip. We were treated like royalty in Piegaro. Our hotel really is a palace and decorated with amazing antiques and beautiful faux paintings on the walls and ceilings. We were certain our accommodations would be nice, but truly felt like we had been dropped into a fairy tale castle in a lovely medieval town. Our innkeeper Anna Maria Dotolo worked very hard to make our stay the most pleasant experience, and our guide/driver/interpreter Marco was so very helpful and interesting. Our cooking classes were enjoyable with Sonia and we learned how to make pasta as well as several different sauces. The roasting of wild boar was quite interesting, however trying to duplicate it may be somewhat difficult since we will have to special order boar from our local butcher. The desserts were yummy. In fact we have already invited family and friends over to practice recreating our new found culinary knowledge in the Italian style. While Marco did his best to translate recipes for us and we certainly were able to write down as much as we could of the recipes, It would have been better to have the recipes already printed out for us since these were standard on the menu of the hotel. We could then have paid more attention to technique and be thinking of questions rather than concerned about writing everything down. We especially enjoyed visiting the surrounding hill towns and partaking of the local specialties of pecorino cheese (direct from the farmer) and the wonderful local wines. Although much of the countryside beauty was already gone, we were thrilled to see people picking olives from their trees (neither of us had ever even seen an olive tree) and we enjoyed beautiful weather during the entire trip. he packet provided gave us lots of information and plenty of detail. One suggestion: It would be helpful for the driver who picks up at the Chuisi station the carry a sign identifying himself with the International kitchen. While we did find each other eventually, we approached several people thinking they might be there to pick us up, but discovered they were waiting for someone else. It’s a small thing, but would have made us feel a little better, especially since our driver spoke no English. The Chicago staff was great and we thank you again for all your help.
Ronald A., IN

The entire tour was thoroughly enjoyable. I arranged the trip and brought my husband along; he wasn’t exactly sure what he was in for but upon arrival he expressed pleasant surprise and was impressed immediately by the accomodations. What a view we had from our room! Soft rolling hills and a herd of baa-ing sheep guided by a sheepherder. The rain did not deter us one bit from the walking and exploring although it did limit the view when the fog came in. [...]
The very best part of this adventure were the excursions and coordination that we could not have planned on our own, lacking familiarity with the smaller towns and out-of-the way, specialty restaurants (every single meal was spectacular). Thank you for putting together such a great program. We had planned and saved for our 10 year anniversary celebration for over two years…
Thank you!
Ayesha T., San Jose, CA