Food Lovers' Adventure in Umbria offers a wonderful culinary experience in Italy's "Gastronomic Paradise."  Students will have an unforgettable experience learning to prepare many of the best Italian and Umbrian dishes with regional Italian chefs.  Umbria has become the “in” place to visit in Italy.  For years it has been known as poor man’s Tuscany, but no longer.  During the week you will visit wonderful historic towns not over run by tourists that have retained a lot of their charm and culture.

Students stay in a quiet, charming country house B&B owned and run by Maria and Guelfo.  It is set among olive groves in the hills with splendid views of the town of Bevagna surrounded by a city wall with many towers and bastions with medieval gates.  Maria teaches a class on the wonderful grains and lentils grown in this area.  The lentil and farro dishes are magnificent.  Handcraft traditions are still alive in workshops.  A leisurely stroll along pleasant streets with cafes, shops and promenades is a wonderful way to spend free time.  Maria and Guelfo will tend to your every need.  

Historical sites and churches abound in the cities you will visit.  In Assisi you will see the famous church of St. Francis.  In Bevagna there are the remains of a Roman temple and Thermal baths with a mosaic in black and white depicting marine life both dated 2 AD.    Frescos by Pinturicchio, Giotto and Perugino are housed in various churches. 

This gastronomic paradise will please every palate.  Love chocolate?  You will visit Perugia, home of the famous Baci. Kisses, the ultimate in chocolate candies.  Here you will meet English speaking native Umbrian Chef Mirko and learn all about chocolate plates and desserts.  You won’t believe how many ways chocolate can be used!  How about honey?  You will visit a very passionate beekeeper and sample his wares.  And truffles?  This is the opportunity of a lifetime to truffle hunt with dogs and have lunch with the gregarious family you hunt with.  Tommaso from Montefalco will be teaching a class on the use of olive oil, truffle and mushroom specialties.  Then there is salami.  You will visit a “salumificio” in Norcia and sample products in a typical restaurant in the center of town; salumi, grilled lamb chops, pork sausages, pecorino cheese, grilled vegetables, and of course, a very good red wine.

Eros, the chef and owner of a small restaurant in the Spoleto center, is very passionate about his work.  He will be teaching a full menu of creative Umbrian dishes in a convent kitchen that you will enjoy on the final evening.

And to top it all off, you will taste Sagrantino wine from the Arnaldo Capral winery, now considered one of the best red wines in Italy.  Arnaldo Caprai is the acknowledged leader in the production of top quality Sagrantino di Montefalco, a wine produced totally from grapes of Sagrantino, the variety that it's been growing in the region of Montefalco for more than four hundred years. The colour, aroma and taste of this Sagrantino will make you feel the strong character of the people who work it, the beauty of the gentle hills where it grows and the richness and complexity of the long traditions of Montefalco.

A delightful couple, Marcello and Raffaella Tori, run the Food Lover’s Adventure in Umbria.  Stemming from their love and joy for their country which they know as well as the inside of their pockets, they have planed this culinary holiday involving the enthusiastic and passionate local people who share their vision for exciting gastronomic adventures.  Marcello and Raffaella have created an intimate experience with the Italian lifestyle.  Through the food, wine and warm welcome, you will discover the Italian culture.  You will feel like an Italian for a week, living as a local, visiting places off the beaten track, “touching” the gracious Italian hospitality, learning from the professional and home chefs those “little secrets that make a difference between good and great”.  Bring home with you a piece of Italy that will live in your heart forever.

• Following your arrival at the Foligno railway station,  you will be transferred to the nice country house bed and breakfast which is set among olive groves in the hills with splendid views above Bevagna.
• In the afternoon there is a walking tour of the historic center of Bevagna with an art history professor.
• The Welcome Dinner will be in a local restaurant.

• After breakfast, drive to visit the famous Arnaldo Caprai winery and taste their Sagrantino wine, now considered one of the best red wines.  Visit an olive oil mill in Trevi, see how olive oil is produced, taste oils.  Lunch in Trevi--the Italian capital of the olive oil--in a typical restaurant (or, for groups of a minimum of 8 people, lunch at the olive oil mill)
• Cooking lesson on olive oil, turffle and mushroom specialties.  Dinner of your creations.

• After breakfast there will be a drive to Perugia, Umbria's capital, which boasts Etruscan and Roman monuments, a lovely historic center with architecture of many periods, art museums, and a main street full of shops, cafes and bakeries.  Perugia is also home to the famous Baci (kisses) chocolates and is famous for chocolate
• There will be a guided walk of the historic center and free time to shop.  
• We stop at one of the most beautiful and old bars in Italy, in Perugia cetner for a light lunch Italian style.  
• Drive to Deruta to visit a ceramic laboratory.  The owner will show us all the process to make and decorate the pottery.
• Walk in the charming town of Montefalco, called the Terrace of Umbria for its magnificent views.  Visit a shop of lovely, hand-made linens and textiles.  Dinner.

• After breakfast there will be a drive into the mountains to a truffle hunting and an Italian farming family's home and to visit a bed and breakfast with fantastic valley and mountain views.  They have horses, dogs, and vegetable and fruit gardens too.  You will have coffee and a mid-morning snack here.  Following the break you will go on a truffle hunt with the dogs for 45 minutes in the hills.  Lunch will be with the gregarious family at home.  The way to go and come back is very much panoramic.  We arrive at the top of a hill, so we can see all the mountains around.  You feel out of the world there.  An unforgettable experience!
• On the way back we stop in Spoleto.  Spoleto is another beautiful town, very famous all over the world because of the Music Festival in July.  There are some spectacular spots to see, like the Duomo, the Castle, the roman bridge, narrow roads and a beautiful shopping area.  
• Cooking lesson on a full menu of creative Umbrian dishes with a young chef in his fine and pretty restaurant in the center.  Dinner of your creations.

• Drive in the Valnerina valley to the Plains fo Castelluccio, a high plain where the best lentil of Italy is produced: "lenticchia di Castelluccio".  From there, there is a spectacular view.  The best period to visit is June because of the different colors of the blooms.  It is an area of great environmental value, paradise of the free flight and of the trekking.  Light lunch.
• Drive to Norcia, a small town, still surrounded by its walls, with the doors opening themselves in a narrow network of small streets leading to the real heart of the city, the Basilica of San Benedetto (13th century).
• In the territory of Norcia one of the most important handicraft activity is the work of the pork meat.  We'll tour a "salumificio" to see how meats are cured.  Walking in the historic centre of Norcia with foodie shops and lovely medieval piazza.  Dinner at a typical trattoria to taste the best salumi of Umbria.  This trattoria, family owned, is one of our favorite places!  Back to Bevagna.

• Drive to Assisi to visit, with a local guide, the famous churches of St. Francis with frescoes by Giotto, and the historic center.  Free time to explore and shop in Assisi.
• Light lunch in a family winery with a beautiful view.  Return to Bevagna.
• Cooking lesson with Maria followed by the farewell dinner at the agriturismo.  You'll learn how to cook some of the traditional dishes of Umbria, based on cereals and legumes.  Great ideas for your cooking at home.

• Breakfast at home followed by your departure from Foligno railway station.