Taste of Marche, Art, Food, Wines, Tours and Story in the Marche region

Have a taste of Central Italy, Marche, Umbria and Tuscany.

Enjoy yuor travel in Italy with daily activities: tours to Art towns, Italian cooking courses, visit to local markets, wine tastings and lively lectures on Italian culture and relaxing in the swimming pool with a nice glass of wine, with informal atmosphere, in a fantastic location having fun and meeting new friends.

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We will leads you to Art Cities, monuments, churches, museums and to magnificent frescoes and inspiring convents and abbeys. We will open doors to impressive Art collections that usually remain closed to the public.
Art and gastronomy go hand in hand during the Taste of Marche Italy holiday course. It is designed to let people be inspired by all the beauty that Italy has to offer!
We will make wonderful tours to stunning places that we have selected during years of research in the heart of Italy. On one side it gives you the occassion to discover this (for many) unknown area and on the other it deepens your knowlegde about Italian (art) history. In an informal and friendly environment and most of all to enjoy!
This course is open for beginners and also for the experienced art lovers and cooks.

The cooking classes are held in English, at the Caravanserraglio restaurant, by your Italian chef and host Ennio Barbieri.
At the end of the course you will be able to cook some simple and delicious Italian dishes and surprise your friends and beloved ones when your are back home. You will have a great overview of Italian Art and learned some new tools to enjoy art even more! And you will know more about the major Marche wines through wine tastings, visits to producers and lively background lectures.
This is a unique experience and will introduce you in a relaxed way to the art, food, wine and life of one of Italy's most beautiful regions.

Italy art tours to hidden art treasures

Enjoying the pool under the italian sun

discover the beauty of Marche Italy!

Highlights of the Taste of Marche:

• Guided visits to Urbino, Assisi, Loreto, Macerata, and beautiful convents and abbey in Tolentino and Abbadia di Fiastra.
  With the new road 77 we will easily visit Perugia, Spello, Gubbio and others cities
• Italian hands-on cooking classes and dinners based on regional recipes at the Caravanserraglio restaurant.
• A series of lively and informative background lectures on the Italian Kitchen and Italian wines.

You will learn directly from an Italian Chef about gastronomic delights such as Truffle, porcini Mushrooms, fresh pasta, gourmet dishes and much more.

Visits to various local wine cellars where Vernaccia reds have gained the prestigious DOCG title in Italy.

Visit to local pecorino cheesemakers. Demonstration of the making of mozzarella cheese, ricotta and pecorino cheeses.

Accommodation at the beautiful Caravanserraglio agriturismo with swimming pool, in comfortable self-catering apartments.

The cooking classes.

The cooking classes are held in English, by your Italian chef and host Ennio Barbieri. Behind his joking and informal attitude hides an enormous source of knowledge and information that satisfies both the lover of the Italian Kitchen and the professional. He is an active member of the Slow Food association, researcher of ancient traditions, receips and alchemy.

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Detailed Itinerary of Taste of Marche, provisional

This is a preliminary itinerary and will be altered to accommodate seasonal activities or local festivals. This is a sample and can be altered however the essential content of the menu and itinerary will remain the same.

• Day 1
• 8.00 pm Welcome dinner at the Caravanserraglio restaurant, Introduction to the course program by your hosts.
• During each cooking class we prepair a full menu with aperitif, antipasti, first and second course, vegetables and dessert. After each lesson the prepaired menu is served to the participants in the restaurant.
• Each member of the course receives at the beginning of the holiday a detailed program of the week with the description of the recipes. At the end of the Cooking Holiday participants get a cd with the complete description of the recipes and the pictures made during the cooking courses.
• Day 2
• Tranquil awakening at the peacefull agriturismo. The accommodation at the Caravanserraglio agriturismo is in an independent apartment with kitchen. You'll find in the fridge milk, fresh bread, butter, home made marmelate, coffee and tea, for your breakfasts.
• 10.00 am Excursion to the Basilica and convent of S. Nicola at Tolentino and to the Abbey of Chiaravalle di Fiastra, surrounded by woods and Roman remains. Romanesque and Gothic architecture; Early 14th Century fresco's of Pietro da Rimini (school of Giotto)
• 1.00 pm Lunch at the Abbey of Fiastra.
• 8.00 pm Dinner at the Caravanserraglio restaurant.
• Day 3
• 9.30 am Excursion to Asissi where we visit the basilica of Saint Francis, one of Italy's most important Gothic Monuments with fresco's of Cimabue, Giotto, Simone Martini and the Lorenzetti-brothers. Wandering about the streets of Assisi makes you feel like a pilgrim....a pilgrim of art. Around 1.00 pm Lunch in Assisi
• 8.00 pm Dinner at the Caravanserraglio restaurant.
• Day 4
• 10.00 am Cooking course at the Caravanserraglio restaurant with excursion to market and pecorino cheese maker. Around 1.00 pm Lunch.
• 5.00 pm Cooking course with dinner.
• Day 5
• 9.00 am Excursion to Macerata, capital of the province. Today there is the shoe market in the historical part of the city. Around 1.00 pm Lunch at Macerata and around 3.00 pm We visit Palazzo Ricci, a villa right in the centre of the city. It will open it's doors especially for us to the wonderful collection of 19th and 20th Century Italian art (modern art). Art pieces of De Chirico, Medardo Rosso, Manzù, Ivo Pannaggi and Trubbiani
• 8.00 pm Dinner.
• Day 6
• 10 .00 am Cooking course at the Caravanserraglio restaurant and excursion to local wine producers with lunch around 1.00 pm.
• 5.00 pm Cooking course with Dinner.
• Day 7
• 9.30 am Excursion to the Renaissance city of Urbino. In the morning we visit the Ducal Palace, with masterpieces of Titian, Raphael and Piero della Francesca.
• Lunch at Urbino
• 3.30 pm Visit to the family house of the famous Renaissance painter Raphael and to the Oratory of Saint John with late Gothic fresco's of the Salimbeni brothers from San Severino.
• 8.00 pm Dinner at the Caravanserraglio restaurant.
• Day 8
• After preparations farewell and departure...

General description of Taste of Marche

The maximum number of people for each group is eight, to guarantee our guests a personal entertainment and a good service. The cooking classes and the excursions are held in English

For information and reservations info@caravanserraglio.com

Art & food Holidays for Lovers of Italy

Taste of Marche combines Italian cooking classes with Art Tours in Marche Italy. Enjoy daily Italy activities: tours to Art towns, Italian cooking courses, visit to local markets, wine tastings and lively lectures on Italian culture and....relaxing in the swimming pool or in the sun with a nice glass of Italian wine!

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creation of a votive fresco of the Madonna

visits to wine producers and lively background lectures

combines Italian cooking classes with Art Tours

combines pool and wine tasting

Italian cooking courses and delicious Italian meals at the Caravanserraglio Agriturismo

wonderful tours to stunning places in the heart of Italy

Visits to town in central Italy

1250,00 € Taste of Marche, Art &Cooking Course Includes:

• 7 nights accommodation with breakfasts
• 7 dinners + 6 lunches with Wine at the Caravanserraglio restaurant
• 3 full-day excursions with lunch (art towns, exhibitions, medieval villages, monuments, open markets)
• 3 cooking classes
• 3 half-day excursions with lunch (art towns, medieval villages, open markets, hiking)
• the ingredients for the hands-on cookery course
• all land travel in Italy included in the itinerary by private 8 person coach
• Entrance fee, or Entry fees for museum or when is request, is not included in the tour price
• use of swimming pool

Visits to wonderful Italy Art towns.

This is a unique experience and will introduce you in a relaxed way to the art, food, wine and life of one of Italy's most beautiful regions.

He opens doors to collections that usually remain closed to the public

Lovely Italian wines

Delicious Italian meals during the Holiday

Italian life-style

Someone have said: we are what we eat. We can say that we are so lucky that we eat with all ours senses, with our mouth, with our eyes and with our ears and with the complete atmosphere that surrounds us. We do not simply feed ourselves. We try to take care of ourselves and of our guests. This will be the topic, this will be the philosophy of the courses: to use the best ingredients and preparing food with care. We will use the best products that come from organic farms, and we will chose all the products are with the greatest care.

Particular attention and space for vegetarians recipes. The meat-products are carefully selected and they come from the local producers. Also the different kinds of cheeses, vegetables and the home-made pasta's are of the highest quality, with a view to a well balanced diet. The wines that we serve are selected and mainly local. The dining room of the restaurant is maintaining it's rustic and warm atmosphere with wooden floor, furniture and ceramics, together with the informal presentation, form the backdrop for the food that is well taken care of. Than just enjoy an Italian cooking course with us!

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