Caliendo-Corzano Italy Wine, Cusine and Tours

11/12: Meet at Leonardo da Vinci airport at 4.00 pm. We will be picked up and brought to hotel https://www.villamercede.com/ and we will present the tour and enjoy a nice dinner. We stay here for 2 more nights.

11/13: Visit the cellar in Frascati where we will taste the famous wines of the Castelli Romani together with their sommelier. Transfer to Rome. On your own for lunch in the city center. Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Return to the hotel for dinner. You may want to take a stroll to the town center to taste some fantastic gelato.

11/14: St. Peter's and the Vatican with private guide. Next, to see Rome’s piazzas’; Navona, Venezia, Spanish Steps and the beautiful Trevi Fountain. Lunch on your own. Back to hotel for our first cooking class with a well-known chef.

11/15: Head toward Florence, stopping in Montepulciano at the splendid “CROCIANI” winery for a tasting of Chianti wines and cured meats. Arriving in Florence, for a guided tour of the queen city of the Italian Renaissance. Transfer to hotel, dinner and overnight stay. https://www.crociani.it/ http://www.borgosantippolito.it/

  11/16: Excursion to Pisa, meet with the guide and visit Piazza dei Miracoli including the Tower, Baptistery and Duomo. Walk along the river banks and enjoy lunch on your own. 3.00 pm return to the hotel and enjoy a cooking class at the "il Vecchio Convento" restaurant, where together with chef Marco Colomboli, we will cook dishes from the history of Tuscany, "Il Peposo" and "Ribollita", still very popular peasant dishes. 

Dinner at the restaurant   https://www.vecchioconventoristorante.it/ http://www.borgosantippolito.it/

11/17: Our journey to Verona, crossing the Apennines and arriving in the Po Valley. Then Modena, the land of Parmigiano Reggiano and Balsamic Vinegar. We will visit a dairy farm where we will have brunch and then we will visit the famous "Giusti" vinegar factory. Evening at hotel with dinner.  https://visit.giusti.com/it/64ee0404b5c0d7da8c19957e?lang=it https://www.caseificio4madonne.it https://crowneplazaverona.com/

11/18: Meet with the guide in Verona and visit of the historic center, Arena, Piazza delle Erbe, Romeo and Juliet's Balcony and much more. Lunch on your own. Then visit one of the best wineries in Valpolicella, Pasqua, where we can taste their wines together with the Sommelier. Return to hotel, dinner https://crowneplazaverona.com/ https://pasqua.it/it/

11/19: Travel to Venice to Tronchetto to board a private boat and transfer to Murano to witness glass blowing at a factory. Piazza San Marco for free time in the city with the option to do a Gondola ride. Lunch on your own. 4.00 pm we leave for Bagno di Romagna, a spa town on the hills of Romagna, where we will be hosted at the beautiful “Tosco Romagnolo” hotel of the great chef Paolo Teverini, (owner) together with his family. Dinner and overnight stay. https://www.ferrolazzarini.it/ https://www.hoteltoscoromagnolo.it/

11/20: Morning cooking lesson, in which the dishes you cook will be served. In the afternoon we travel to a cellar for a tasting of "Sangiovese" wines, the par excellence of Romagna, led by their Sommelier. Upon return to the hotel, you may choose to bathe in the thermal water pool on the hotel roof before dinner. Dinner and overnight stay. https://www.hoteltoscoromagnolo.it/ https://tenutacasali.it/visitate-la-nostra-cantina/

11/21: Departure for Assisi for guided tour of the city. Assisi is a hill town in Umbria, in central Italy. It is the birthplace of Saint Francis (1181-1226), one of the patron saints of Italy. The Basilica of San Francesco is an imposing church on 2 levels built in 1253. Lunch on your own. Back to Rome for a farewell dinner party for your final night in Italy. This hotel is located 3 km from Leonardo da Vinci Airport. https://mercureromeleonardodavinciairport.it/ https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisi

 11/22:Return to America

All that is included for $3990:

· Private, luxury bus for the duration of the trip

· 10 overnight stays with breakfast in 4* hotels

· 8 hotel dinners

· 2 restaurant dinners

· 2 lunches

· Wine tasting at the Castelli Romani

· Wine tasting at Crociani cellar 

· Pasqua cellar wine tasting

· Casali cellar wine tasting

· Parmesan tasting

· Balsamic vinegar tasting

· 3 Cooking classes with top rated chefs

· Local, private guide 2 days in Rome

· Local, private guide Florence

· Local, private guide Pisa

· Local, private guide Verona

· Local, private guide Assisi

· Ferry to Murano

· Entrance to the Colosseum

· Entrance to San Pietro (St Peter’s)

· Taxes for bus entry into all cities visited

· All tourist taxes

· American/Italian speaking host

What’s not included:

· Optional gondola ride 25 Euro

Airfare, some lunches and tips

To reserve your spot, send a $500 non-refundable deposit made to Caliendo Sports International by July 15th or until spots fill up. Contact Peter Caliendo by email at caliendosports91@gmail.com. Mail to: Peter Caliendo 5101 Sapp Cir Lake Wylie, SC 29710. Credit cards incur a 3.5% cc charge.