Food Science Spring Break Tour to Tuscany

March 14-23, 2008 • 13 students • 3 sponsors Travel to/from Florence (Milan & Venice)

Travel in/out of Florence (Modena, San Gimignano, Siena & Montalcino) Friday, March 14th • Fly to Milan (US Airways) • Leave Manhattan by van at 6:15 AM • Depart Kansas City at 10:45, fly to Philadelphia • Depart Philadelphia at 6:05 PM • Arrive in Milan at 7:15 AM on the 15th Saturday, March 15th

• Arrive in Milan 7:15 AM and go through customs • Charter bus picks up group from airport (8:00 AM) for morning tour of Como and Bellagio Chartered through a company called Eurotravelstar Italy Srl • Grab a quick lunch in Bellagio – Drop off at hotel around 1:30 PM • Check into Hotel • Spend afternoon on city tour of Milan (2:30 PM) – Visit La Scala, The Last Supper, the Cathedral, etc. booked tickets through www.viator.com • Dinner with group in Milan at Pastarito Pizzarito City Tour of Milan

Saturday, March 15th Jolly Hotel – President (Milan) Our photos of Como & Bellagio Our photos of Milan Travel by Train from Milan to Florence

Sunday, March 16th Sunday, March 16th • Breakfast at the hotel • Depart Hotel by Charter Bus at 6:15 AM for the train Station • Travel by Eurail to Florence – Train leaves Milan at 7:00 AM and arrives in Florence at 9:44 AM • Walk to hotel and check bags in • Tour the Accademia and see “David” – grab a quick lunch on your own – reserved tickets through www.tickitaly.com and were able to bypass the lines and get right in. • Return to Hotel • Tour company picks us up near the hotel at 3:00 and takes us to the Estate of Villa Pandolfini for a DOCG Wine Tasting Course (information on following slide) – tour done by Good Tastes of Tuscany • Tour company returns us to Florence. • Dinner with the group – (just ate gelato because we ate and drank so much at the wine tasting Hotel Pendini – (Florence) Wine Tasting Class Our courses are given in the marvelous Estate of Villa Pandolfini, using the historical archives and the cellars where the wine is actually made. The teacher is a Doctor of Agronomy specialized in Enology, Dott. Stefano Tofanelli. Course C (Wine Tasting Course emphasized on Italian Wines DOCG)

•Wine tasting kit will be provided.

•Visit to the vineyard with briefing on various type of wines grapes, climates and soil.

•Back in the cellar: A bit of history on the wine and how the wine was made and used.

•Visit the wine cellar (Briefing on wine making process)

•The mechanic of serving the wine (glasses, bottles, corks, corkscrews and various paraphernalia).

•How to taste the wine? (Including the usage of the Aroma Wheel)

•Principle of food and wine matching.

•Buying wine for your cellar (Wine Selection Techniques)

•Italian Wines DOCG Sampled: Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo, Amarone, Sfurzat, Nero D'Avola.

This wine tasting course on Italian wine DOCG lasts four hours Our Photos from the DOCG Wine Tasting Our Photos Continued Monday, March 16th • Early breakfast at the hotel • Early departure by bus for Modena – 7:30 AM we set this tour up through Good Tastes of Tuscany • Tour a Prosciutto Factory, a Parmesan Cheese Maker, and a Balsamic Vinegar Plant • Lunch in Modena • Dinner in Florence with the group Our Photos of the Parmesan Cheese Factory Our photos from the Balsamic Vinegar Plant Our photos of the Prosciutto Ham Factory Tuesday, March 17th • Breakfast at the hotel • Tour company will pick us up at 8:30 AM and do the Brunello of Montalcino & Olive Mill Tours

(Montenero) – Lunch Included – Good Tastes of Tuscany did this tour and the lunch was in Montalcino (Montalcino was everyone’s favorite town) • Return to Hotel

• Dinner with the group at Il Latini – reservations are a must for Il Latini. This place was recommended to us and it was great, be prepared to eat for 2-3 hours and there is one price for everyone. Brunello of Montalcino and Olive Mill Tour

Montalcino owes its name to the Holm-oaks (ilex in Latin), which surround this hilly area. The stronghold of Montalcino has always been of capital importance due to the town’s strategic position on top of a hill. Wine characterized Montalcino’s culture and history, which actually is the country of Brunello. The country exclusively produces this wine from Sangiovese Grosso vines (100%). The average production, depending on the season, reaches almost 8.000.000 bottles yearly. A ruby color, a typical scent, a dry, lightly tannic taste stand as its major, successful features. With an average strength of 12.5% minimum, Brielle is put on the market after January 1st of the sixth year following the vintage as it spends at least two years in wooden casks and it gets refined in bottles for 4/6 months.

The departure is at 9:30 a.m. from your hotel in Florence. We will take the south direction driving between clay rolling hills and vineyards; we will pass the Monte Amite, to stop then in Montenero. We will visit a very small extra virgin olive oil producer, where we will enjoy seeing how to make and to learn how to taste extra virgin olive oil, grasping every single perfume and aroma, sitting on a terrace overlooking one of the widest views of the Val d’Orcia area.

We will drive on among vineyards of those wineries where produce the most famous wines.... the next stop is the medieval hilltop fortified town of Montalcino, here you can wander the streets and you will dine at a typical trattoria.

After lunch a short drive to one of the oldest and well known estates of the area, a vineyard and noble family that have been producing the Rosso and Brunello di Montalcino since a long time with passion. At the vineyard you will be given a tour of the cellars and of course we will taste both the wines produced, picking the difference and discovering why. During the harvest, end of September, you can see the harvest and the farmers who pick the grapes by hand.

The return to your hotel around 6 p.m. Our photos of the Olive Mill in Montenero Our photos from Montalcino Our photos from Fattoria dei Barbi Our photos from the Walled City of Monteriggioni Our photos from Il Latini Wednesday, March 19th • Breakfast at the hotel • Group A will go on a full day tour of the cities of Siena and San Gimignano with the tour company departing at 9:30 AM. (Lunch included) – in addition to the city sites, visit a pecorino cheese maker and have a light lunch and wine tasting with her. This tour was through Good Tastes of Tuscany and the bus driver took them early to go through a more scenic route of old Tuscan towns. We paid for anextra 2 hours for this day, because we wanted quite a bit of time in Siena (climb the tower if you have the chance) • Group B will do Cucina Fiorentina (The cooking school and the chocolate tasting were through Select Italy www.selectitaly.com) starting at 9:00 AM – a market walk and then Italian cooking course, a tour of the Uffizi (www.viator.com for tickets) and later that day (5:00 PM) a wine and chocolate demonstration followed by a quick walk up to Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunset over Florence . (Lunch this day is your finished project) • The cooking school group will enjoy a late meal at a local pizzzeria followed by a stop at gelato store. • The Siena group will enjoy dinner in Siena. Day tour of Siena & San Gimignano • This is a tour into the medieval history of Tuscany. San Gimignano, the small village, known as the "medieval Manhattan" for its skyline of ancient towers which rise over orange-tiled houses and narrow streets. • Siena, Italy's loveliest medieval city. The "Campo" a shell shaped square forms its heart, providing the stage for the "Palio" a famous annual medieval horse-race. A lot more to visit: the Gothic Cathedral, the Town Hall, the Museo dell'Opera sheltering the most majestic of all Siena's paintings, Duccio's Maestà. In Siena the group will visit a Pecorino Cheesemaker and have a light lunch and a wine tasting with her Our photos of San Gimignano & Siena Our photos of the pecorino cheese plant outside of Siena Cucina Fiorentina - Cooking Course with Market Walk: Full Day (8 people)

• For the full-on Florentine food fantasy, why not combine a cooking class with a two- hour morning jaunt to some of the city’s most delectable shops and lively outdoor markets? Accompanied by the friendly Francesca Di Leonardo, a visit to typical neighborhood alimentari, macellerie and enoteche is sure to be both an eye- opening and mouth-watering experience. The startling array of edibles often creates visually arresting tableaus, such as the brilliantly colored display of fresh produce at the Mercato Centrale and - exuding ambrosial aromas that tempt the palate and tease the appetite - there is nothing quite like the scent of fresh pastries at the pasticcerie to put you in the mood to eat! And that’s exactly what you’ll do after your shopping expedition, a part of which will be spent picking out fresh ingredients for your class. Led by Signora Di Leonardo, into whose home you will be welcomed for the hands-on cooking session, the class will be held immediately following the shopping excursion. Born in the northern Marche region but a resident of Florence for over 25 years, petite Francesca Di Leonardo doesn't fit the stereotype of the typical apron-clad Italian mamma. But when she opens up her kitchen to you, you're sure to learn the special tricks and techniques of genuine home-style Italian cooking. You can select a main course of poultry, meat, vegetables or homemade pasta - or suggest a particular recipe that you've always wanted to learn how to make. From this Francesca will design a typical menu including first course, second course and dessert. The fun starts when you don your apron and start slicing and dicing vegetables or grating Parmesan cheese. After a 3-hour, hands-on lesson you will gather around the kitchen table to enjoy the fruits of your labors - and non-cooking friends or family members are welcome to join you for the meal. Our photos of Cucina Fiorentina Market Walks Our cooking school photos Photos from the wine/chocolate tasting and Piazza Michelangelo Decadent Indulgence - Wine & Chocolate in Florence (8 people) We booked this through Select Italy www.selectitaly.com and we loved it, it was more about the wine than the chocolate, our students walked out of there ordering 42 bottles of wine to be shipped home. We would definitely go here again, but now Select Italy also has a gelato making visit that we would have like to have done. • Italy is the land of sweet indulgence: nothing says decadence quite like mouth- watering chocolate accompanied by dessert wines hand-picked as perfect choco- complements. In this short wine and chocolate tasting, you will delight your palate with a luxurious selection of chocolates as well as three wines specifically chosen by our sommelier to go with them. Your chocolate tray will include a sampler of three different chocolates and some cookies. • Tour Includes – Guided tasting of various chocolates – Tasting serving of several dessert wines

• You will also taste several sweet wines:

– Barolo Chinato from the Piedmont region of Italy – Recioto di Soave from Veneto – Recioto from Valpolicella (the big brother of Amarone!) – Moscato d'Asti from Piedmont • The Enoteca Ponte Vecchio is located in the heart of historic Florence. In addition to a large variety of the finest and most famous Italian labels, special interest is paid to small vintners rarely exported outside of Italy. They also work hard to procure great Italian olive oils and grappa from all over the country for you to enjoy. • Tour lasts 30-45 minutes Thursday, March 19th • Breakfast at the hotel • Group A will do Cucina Fiorentina (The cooking school and the chocolate tasting were through Select Italy www.selectitaly.com) starting at 9:00 AM – a market walk and then Italian cooking course, a tour of the Uffizi (www.tickitaly.com for tickets) and later that day (5:00 PM) a wine and chocolate demonstration followed by a quick walk up to Piazza Michelangelo to watch the sunset over Florence . (Lunch this day is your finished project) • Group B will go on a full day tour of the cities of Siena and San Gimignano with the tour company departing at 9:30 AM. (Lunch included) – in addition to the city sites, visit a pecorino cheese maker and have a light lunch and wine tasting with her. This tour was through Good Tastes of Tuscany and the bus driver took them early to go through a more scenic route of old Tuscan towns. We paid for an extra 2 hours for this day, because we wanted quite a bit of time in Siena (climb the tower if you have the chance) • The cooking school group will enjoy a meal at a local pizzzeria followed by a stop at a gelato store. • The Siena group will enjoy dinner in Siena. Travel to Venice

• Breakfast at the hotel • Travel by train to Venice (2 ½ - 3 hrs.) Friday, March 22nd • Breakfast at hotel • Leave hotel around 7:30 AM • Train leaves Florence at 8:38 AM and arrives in Venice at 11:17 AM • Water taxi to the Rialto Bridge • Check luggage into hotel in Venice • Lunch on your own • Afternoon and evening of sightseeing • Formal seafood dinner with the group at the Grand Canal restaurant in Hotel Monaco Al Gazzettino – (Venice Hotel) Our photos of dinner at the Grand Canal Restaurant in Hotel Monaco, Venice Saturday, March 22nd • Breakfast at the hotel • Morning of sightseeing • Lunch on your own • 2:15 PM Check in for island tour of Murano, Burano and Torcello. (3 ½ hrs) booked through Italia Tours • Remainder of the day/evening for sightseeing and shopping • Early dinner with the group Our photos of Venice Our photos of Murano, Burano and Torcello Islands Sunday, March 23rd • Breakfast in the airport • Fly from Venice to the U.S. Flight Schedule (US Airways and Lufthansa) • Depart hotel at 3:30 AM – take water taxi to airport • Depart Venice at 6:55 AM arrive in Frankfurt Germany at 8:25 AM. • Depart Frankfurt at 12:30 PM arrive in Philadelphia at 4:20 PM – Go through customs • Depart Philadelphia at 7:30 PM • Arrive in Kansas City at 9:46 PM • Take vans back to Manhattan