Shepherds & Samnites WAY OFF THE BEATEN TRACK IN SOUTH-CENTRAL

Join us in Italy, May 31 to June 7, 2021.

Ancient cities atop windswept hills … pristine medieval castles and churches against a splendid backdrop of snow-capped mountains … nature reserves with bears and wolves … full-bodied Montepulciano d’Abruzzo wine … a hearty, sometimes spicy pastoral cooking … cutting-edge gourmet cuisine …

www.elifanttours.com / [email protected] / +1-347-868-6345 Shepherds & Samnites

WAY OFF THE BEATEN TRACK IN SOUTH- CENTRAL ITALY

ELIFANT’S MOST ADVENTUROUS ARCHAEO-CULINARY itinerary to date makes a long loop through the central-southern interior, from Rome and back, touching four regions (Lazio, Abruzzo, , and Campania). Along the way we visit sites populated by a number of ancient peoples, including the Samnites, who staunchly resisted a Rome not yet all-powerful. Today they resist mass tourism.

If names like Amiternum, Peltuinum, and Saepinum send you to the atlas, well, didn’t you want to get off the beaten track? Except it is a beaten track: we follow routes trod for centuries by the seasonal droving from mountains to lowlands of once-enormous flocks and herds, a practice called transhumance. Transhumance in Italy, Greece, and Austria has just been inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Lest you think that rustic solitude lacks comfort and luxury, we’ll enjoy great accommodations and delicious dining, ranging from irresistibly traditional to the most avant-garde and sprinkled with Michelin stardust. The tour begins and ends in Rome. The itinerary covers parts of the Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, and Campania regions. What’s included Once the tour begins, you can go the whole week without opening your wallet except for your personal insurance, extras, snacks (which we doubt you’ll want), and maybe “When you pick us up that first day I can relax, some souvenir wine, local saffron, or top-quality extra virgin olive oil. turn it all over to you, and just go with the The tour price includes 7 nights bed and breakfast, at least one multi-course Italian flow.” meal (including wine) a day as well as other meals and snacks as described in the itinerary; all activities and transport as described; airport or train station transfers; and —Barbara A., Los Angeles tips. Plus the undivided attention of Elizabeth Bartman and Maureen Fant, Elifant’s principals, who plan and lead the tour themselves. This itinerary includes dinner, overnight, and gourmet breakfast at a Michelin three- star restaurant.

• US$6850 per person sharing a double room

• US$600 supplement for a private room

Meal Key: B = breakfast L = Lunch D = Dinner S = Snack or tasting Copyright June 2020 The following program accurately reflects the tour as of June 2020. If circumstances Maureen Fant and Elizabeth Bartman, Elifant’s principals should impose any changes, rest assured that Plan B will be great too.

PICTURED ON COVER: View of Roman amphitheater at Amiternum. THIS PAGE: Samnite theater at Pietrabbondante (left); gourmet lamb shank in Abruzzo (right)

[email protected] / www.elifanttours.com / +1-347-868-6345 2 Shepherds & Samnites DAYS 1–3

Monday, May 31 ALBA FUCENS TO L’AQUILA Famous Abruzzesi: You’ll be met at Rome’s Fiumicino Airport (FCO) or Stazione Termini (central train station) to Benedetto Croce, philosopher join any guests who have arrived early. We leave Rome in the late morning by private, small Gabriele D’Annunzio, poet tour bus—our ride for the entire week—to drive east into the mountains, stopping for lunch Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid), poet in a medieval borgo (village) near the site of Alba Fucens. Dean Martin, singer and actor Alba was a hilltop colony founded by Rome to challenge local Samnite power. It Corradino D’Ascanio, designer of the Vespa preserves much of its original Republican architecture and makes an ideal introduction to the week. Its Italic temple is now incorporated into a Romanesque church, and its spectacular amphitheater was donated by its native son Macro, who foiled Sejanus’s plot against the emperor Tiberius. We’ll spend the night in the lovely medieval town of L’Aquila. Our first evening is devoted “We were so enraptured by the sights, the to getting acquainted over aperitivi and a light buffet, as well as illustrated previews by Liz scholarship, the camaraderie, and the sensational and Maureen of the week’s archaeology and cuisine. L, S cuisine that we cannot stop talking about it and cannot wait to sign up again.”

—Sandra G., Sausalito Tuesday, June 1 ABRUZZO’S ANCIENT PLACES Our itinerary this morning encompasses two little-known Roman sites, Amiternum and Peltuinum. Lying at the foot of low hills, Amiternum today preserves two spectacular ancient entertainment centers: a stone theater with unique stage scenery, and a massive brick amphitheater. Its 1st-century villa may have belonged to the famous historian Sallust. Peltuinum, isolated on a wind-swept mountain, makes a dramatic contrast. Its walls are impressive, but so is the theater whose medieval reuse is the object of new excavations. Continuing southeast, we stop for lunch at an agriturismo that produces almost everything it serves, including olive oil and ancient varieties of legumes. Sacrosanct tradition and joyous frivolity merge after lunch. Our destination is Sulmona to tour Italy’s most famous maker of confetti, the sugared almonds given as souvenir gifts at christenings, weddings, and other happy events (guests at Prince Harry’s wedding to Meghan Markle received them). A small museum and shop display some of the myriad shapes into which they can be worked. Predictably, “floral” displays are favorites. Of course we can taste (and buy). The evening is free to explore Sulmona (population 24,500), where we spend the night. The city is built over the remains of ancient Sulmo. B, L, S

Wednesday, June 2 CHIETI This morning’s drive to Chieti, a gracious small city, Abruzzo’s largest, skirts several national parks that are home to bears and wolves. Our destination is the neoclassical archaeological museum set in pretty forested park. Its new displays document in encyclopedic detail the art and archaeology of the various ancient peoples of Abruzzo: the celebrated Warrior from Capestrano has a dramatically lit room to himself on the ground floor, but he shares the The seal of Sulmona recalls Ovid’s phrase museum with marbles, ceramics, coins, and other finds, all beautifully exhibited. Sulmona mihi patria est. After a light lunch at a park café a few steps from the museum, we visit a second, newer Sulmona is my homeland. archaeological museum (do you see why we love Chieti?), known as La Civitella, set into the remains of a hilltop amphitheater. It is largely dedicated to the ancient history of Chieti and its peoples, but the museum’s tour-de-force is the room of reconstructed Roman temple pediments decorated with brightly painted terracotta figures of gods and their mythic friends.

PICTURED ABOVE: The Warrior of Evening and overnight will be in the small town of Guardiagrele, where a superb dinner Capestrano, Chieti (left); the theater at awaits us. B, L, D Peltuinum (right)

[email protected] / www.elifanttours.com / +1-347-868-6345 3 Shepherds & Samnites DAYS 4–5

“I can't imagine a more delicious Thursday, June 3 THE ADRIATIC AND BACK way to tour in Italy. … I can't Although our focus is the mountainous hinterland, we can scarcely ignore how near we are to remember having so much fun!” the central Adriatic coast. Our first stop is the Abbey of San Giovanni in Venere, originally an early Christian monastery —Anne V., New York built atop a Roman temple of Venus. As we go southward along the coast, we can see trabocchi, traditional fishing platforms anchored to the shore by wooden bridges, typical of Abruzzo and Molise. Our destination is the coastal town of Vasto, both to taste brodetto, the renowned fish soup of the south-central Adriatic, and to visit the excellent archaeological museum. And then it’s back into the hills to spend the afternoon at Pietrabbondante, a Samnite city with a panoramic view over the plain below. The grandeur of its theater and temples was a rebuke to Hannibal, who had destroyed them in the Second Punic War. Our final stop of the day, where we spend the night, is Castel di Sangro, which was known mainly for its hiking and skiing until the arrival of Niko Romito and his third Michelin star. His Ristorante Reale, where we dine on truly cutting-edge Italian cuisine, is one of only eleven restaurants in Italy so honored and the only one south of Rome. “[At Saepinum] I sat, astonished to see in The restaurant and hotel are located in a 16th-century monastery stunningly renovated to modern Italy a ruin just as our ancestors of modern luxury standards. B, L, D the eighteenth century saw one, as part of an agricultural landscape. I was reminded of an etching by Piranesi, a water-color by Samuel Prout, or a drawing by van Heemskerck. Here was a perfect romantic ruin of the eighteenth century, wild flowers growing in the foundations of the houses, Friday, June 4 SHEPHERDS AND SAMNITES goats, cropping grass in the streets, girls Chef Romito’s guests are treated to a lavish and generous “gourmet breakfast.” After doing wearing men’s boots clumping down a lane justice to the exquisite juices, yogurts, pastries, jams, cheeses, and so much more, we resume and suddenly appearing with a herd of our drive south through picturesque greenery to the large and beautiful site of Saepinum, an cows upon the Via Triumphalis.” extremely well-kept secret. —H. V. Morton, A Traveller in Southern Italy In its day, Saepinum was an extraordinary Samnite-turned-Roman town, with walls, sculpted (1969) gates on the cardinal points, and many monuments still standing. Laid out on a grid plan, its primary east-west artery is still used by shepherds moving their flocks between the mountains and lowlands. From Saepinum, it’s a straight shot south to (ancient Beneventum), our base for two nights. We can have a bite when we arrive but should save our appetites for our trattoria dinner. Our hotel virtually overlooks the town’s famous Arch of Trajan, which once straddled the Via Appia from Rome and marked the beginning of Trajan’s new road south to Brundisium (Brindisi), the important Adriatic port on the heel of the Italian boot. The arch is beautifully landscaped, so we can study its complex and magnificent sculpted reliefs at leisure. B, L, D

PICTURED ABOVE: Even our breakfasts are special (left); chef Niko Romito (center); the view from Romito’s converted monastery (right) [email protected] / www.elifanttours.com / +1-347-868-6345 4 Shepherds & Samnites DAYS 6–8

Saturday, June 5 BENEVENTO AND BEYOND “There are numerous and splendid antiquities at We’re on foot this morning to explore more of ancient Benevento, with visits to a Beneventum. … a triumphal arch surpasses any of Roman barracks and a museum housing the finest Egyptian statuary ever excavated in those in the city of Rome.” Italy. The sculptures once decorated an important sanctuary to Isis and Osiris that drew —Sir Richard Colt Hoare, visiting in 1789 pilgrims from throughout the Mediterranean. The town has ample remains from its Samnite, Roman, and Lombard phases that are also worth seeing. The rest of the day is devoted to food, spent in the countryside east of Benevento talking and tasting with members of a very special family who left their Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome, Agata e Romeo, for the rural life here. Romeo Caraccio produces an “I wish Elifant Tours went extraordinary olive oil while his daughter and son-in-law have found the exactly right everywhere. I would never travel any blend of refinement and rusticity for the cuisine of their country restaurant. B, L, S other way again.”

—Patty H., Boston Sunday, June 6 BACK TO ROME VIA VENAFRO Our drive north back to Rome takes us past the charming town of Venafro, Roman Venafrum, situated among olive groves. Its archaeological museum, housed in a picturesque 17th-monastery, contains a surprising number of masterpieces for its small size. The statue known as the Venus of Venafro is the star of the collection, but the many ancient and medieval artifacts also include wall paintings and mosaics.

As is our Elifant tradition, the centerpiece of our last day is a festive gourmet Sunday The yellow (from saffron) herbal liqueur called lunch. We’ll spend the last night in the heart of . B, L Strega has been made in Benevento since 1860. The name, meaning “witch,” recalls the local Monday, June 7 DEPARTURE legend that a magical walnut tree in Benevento Individual departures to Rome Fiumicino airport (FCO) or any of Rome’s rail stations. B was the national headquarters for all the witches of Italy. Stories of witches in Benevento date back at least to the Lombard period in the 6th century, but TRAVEL NOTE their origins may actually be much earlier. The Premio Strega is Italy’s most prestigious This itinerary has more changes of hotel than usual because the mountainous landscape literary award. makes it impossible to make day trips from a couple of hubs. But it’s worth it. If you wish to arrive a day or more before the tour, or stay on afterwards, we will be glad to make reservations for you at our Rome hotel. (But please don’t wait too long to ask.)

Ready to book the tour? We’re delighted.

Visit https://elifanttours.com/shepherds-and-samnites to complete a booking form, indicating your preferred payment method. We will then invoice you for a deposit of US$3000 per person per tour to hold your place(s). The balance is due 90 days before departure.

Questions about the tour or destination? Trouble with the online form? Send us an email or give us a ring (+1-347-868-6345).

PICTURED ABOVE: The arch of Trajan at Benevento (left); a storefront in Benevento (center); and an Egyptian (not Maltese!) falcon in Benevento (right) [email protected] / www.elifanttours.com / +1-347-868-6345 4 Elifant A NEW RECIPE FOR HIGH-END CULTURAL TRAVEL IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

Elifant Archaeo-Culinary Everyone receives plenty of individual Every site visit is an attention before and during the trip, Tours are unique, small- whether it’s about travel advice, food adventure in living group trips for sophisticated allergies, or more in-depth discussion of the travelers who delight in places we’ve seen and foods we’ve eaten. the past. Every meal

learning about the ancient No elephants in the room is an event. world while indulging in the “Elifant” stands for Elizabeth (Bartman) and culinary present. (Maureen) Fant, Elifant’s principals. Destinations so far Liz, an archaeologist with a lively interest in Bay of Naples cookery, is a past president of the Basilicata + Puglia Each archaeo-culinarySM tour concentrates Archaeological Institute of America and a Sardinia on a circumscribed area of Italy, the route prominent scholar of ancient Roman Emilia-Romagna defined by the archaeological remains. We sculpture. Maureen, an award-winning food Western Sicily may choose the sites because they’re too writer, studied classical archaeology before Rome important to miss or because we have moving to Rome and becoming an expert in extraordinary access to interesting sites Southern Etruria Italian cuisine. closed to the public. Eastern Sicily Both Liz and Maureen call on their personal We build a food-related itinerary around the connections in the worlds of archaeology archaeological route. Through fabulous and food for access to special people and meals and visits with chefs and niche places, but curate and lead the tours Contact us producers, we learn about contemporary themselves to give their guests all the Elifant Archaeo-Culinary Tours LLC and traditional local food, while the ancient convivial pleasures of traveling with friends. 15 West 81st Street, apt. 5A ruins provide a historical backdrop to how Tour participants speak of Maureen and Liz’s New York, NY 10024 this food culture evolved. Informal talks over knack for explaining their subjects without evening aperitivi often supplement topics being either too scholarly or too simple. +1-347-868-6345 addressed during the tour. Menus are www.elifanttours.com carefully planned to highlight local Great company [email protected] specialties and traditions. If you’ve read this far, you’ll understand that Skype: elifanttours Elifant tours are special tours for special Don’t worry about a thing people. Group size ranges from 6 to 12, and The comfort level is high. Hotels range from includes couples, friends, and a good many very comfortable to downright luxurious, solo travelers. Our meals are like dinner restaurants from rustic trattorias to cutting- parties with an absolutely fantastic mix of edge elegant, and travel (except in city guests—often taking their first group tour. centers) is by private bus. Every hotel choice involves striking the right balance of charm, And no one ever feels left out. Liz and location, and comfort. The days are full, but Maureen jointly lead and guide every Elifant the activity level is moderate. Participants tour and are always available to chat, have a should be able to walk up to half a mile at a coffee, or talk in greater depth about the time—extraordinary strength or stamina not day’s subjects. needed.

PICTURED ABOVE: Detail from the Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii (left). Detail from the mosaic pavement in the Otranto cathedral (right). [email protected] / www.elifanttours.com / +1-347-868-6345 6 TermsAND CONDITIONS

Costs Tour cancellation You are personally responsible for your own The 8-day tour—as per the above Tours are costed on the basis of a minimum health and medical treatment. You must description, including 7 nights bed and number of passengers traveling together. If confirm to Elifant that you carry adequate breakfast; meals and other food (including this minimum is not reached, we shall either travel and medical insurance, including wine), activities, and transport as described; cancel the tour and offer a refund in full or, medical evacuation. The tour leader, in tips; and airport transfers—will cost subject to clients’ agreement, shall operate conjunction with the appropriate medical US$6850 per person in a single or double the tour at the necessary supplement. advice, if applicable, has the right to room. An additional charge of US$600 is disqualify any client at any time during the Alterations to the tour made for a private room. course of the tour, if considered necessary We will do our utmost to provide the tour for the medical well-being or safety of the Reservations and payments described in the published material, but individual, or if, in the tour leader’s opinion, retain the right to modify or cancel any tour, To reserve space, complete the online the clients’ actions are materially affecting reservation form or download and print the accommodation, or arrangement due to the enjoyment of the tour for the remainder form. We accept payment, only in U.S. unforeseen circumstances amounting to of the group. Any decision with regard to dollars, by personal check drawn on a U.S. Force Majeure. In such circumstances we any reimbursement for any part of the tour bank, wire transfer, or PayPal.com (including will inform you as soon as possible, and not completed will be made by Elifant. credit cards). You are responsible for any should the change be such that it alters the bank or service charges related to the nature of the tour, we shall give you the Baggage and personal effects choice of an alternative tour or a full refund payment method you choose. When you These remain your responsibility and risk at of all money paid. As we will absorb all submit your deposit, you are bound to the all times. Elifant will accept no liability for financial loss consequent upon cancellation terms and conditions outlined below. loss, damage, or misdirection of your due to Force Majeure, we shall not cancel baggage or effects. Cancellation and refunds any tour for reason of political tension or You may cancel reservation at any time, natural disaster unless the U.S. Department Airport transfers provided the cancellation is made in of State so recommends. Please book your flights early to avoid writing. Cancellations will be effective once We reserve the right to make, without disappointment. To arrange for your airport they are received in writing and confirmed notice, minor alterations to the published transfers, Elifant will need your arrival and by Elifant. An administrative charge of $100 program that do not change the nature of departure information no later than 45 days will apply to all cancellations. Deposits are the tour or the value supplied. before the start date of the tour. Clients refundable if written notice of cancellation If we have to cancel at any time, Elifant is failing to provide such information by then is received within 30 days of reservation and not responsible for any monies paid to will be subject to a surcharge of $50 per at least 120 days before the start of the others for travel in conjunction with this person or be responsible for their own tour; after that, deposits are 100 percent tour, notably any airline cancellation penalty transfers. nonrefundable. incurred by the purchase of a Responsibility Cancellations within 120 days of the start nonrefundable air ticket. of the tour are 100 percent nonrefundable As a condition of participation, each although you may, with Elifant’s approval, Surcharges passenger will be required to sign a Release transfer your booking to a third party who Our prices are based at the euro–US dollar of Liability, which will be sent before the satisfies the conditions of the tour (we will exchange rate as of June 29, 2020. We start of the tour. retain a $100 administrative fee). reserve the right to impose a surcharge to Elifant is not responsible for the If we are forced to cancel the tour, you reflect increases in the exchange rate. If the performance of the services provided by will receive a full refund without further increase exceeds 5 percent of the tour carriers, hotels, and agents, and is not liable obligation on our part. Partial or full price, we will offer you the option to cancel, for any damage or compensation payable refunds cannot be made to participants with a full refund of all monies paid, to any participant in respect to loss or injury who for any reason do not participate in provided we are notified within seven days sustained by the participant, regardless of some part of the program or complete the of the surcharge’s being imposed. its cause. tour, or whose start on the tour is delayed. Health and insurance For this reason, we highly recommend that All participants should be in good health participants carry personal travel insurance. and able to keep up with an active group.

PICTURED ABOVE: Detail of a wall painting from the Villa of Livia at Prima Porta, Rome [email protected] / www.elifanttours.com / +1-347-868-6345 7 Next HOW TO BOOK

Please read the Terms and Conditions Ready to book? on page 7. Visit our website to complete a booking It’s a good idea to phone or email to say form online or download a PDF. Or just your check is in the mail. Our address: email us at [email protected]. Elifant Archaeo-Culinary Tours To complete your booking, we request a 15 West 81st Street, apt. 5A deposit of $3000 per person per tour. New York NY 10024 Payment may be by check in US dollars drawn on a US bank, by bank transfer, or We’ll bill you for the balance of the tour, by credit card (through paypal.com). due 90 days before departure. Simply indicate your preference on the booking form.

Other tours in 2021 and 2022

EASTERN SICILY April 12–19, 2021 Etna, Catania, Taormina, Syracuse, and Piazza Armerina but also Akrai, Tellaro, Morgantina, and Marzamemi

THE BAY OF NAPLES October 11–18, 2021 The quintessential archaeo-culinary destination … and our most sybaritic tour.

SARDINIA April 4–11, 2022 Mysterious prehistoric people, Phoenicians, and Romans once populated Italy’s other island region.

EMILIA-ROMAGNA October 17–24, 2022 From Parma to the Adriatic, from the Etruscans to the Byzantines, and so much parmigiano-reggiano.

[email protected] / www.elifanttours.com / +1-347-868-6345 8