Gourmet Getaways hosted a wonderful tour of Umbria and Rome in late October!
Continental flight 40 left Newark airport on time and landed in Rome early the next morning. As we collected our luggage we were greeted by our driver and whisked off to Orvieto stopping first at Villa Adriana for tour of these magnificent ruins. The bus left us off at the bottom of Orvieto. We then took the two escalators through the tuffa rock, or scale mobili, to the top of Orvieto. We checked into our hotel and the rest of the afternoon was free. Many of us walked the beautiful street of Orvieto and did some shopping.
Later that evening we gathered in the lobby and went to Champagneria Orvieto behind the Duomo. Here my friend, Velia DeAngelis, greeted us and we sat down to elegant appetizers and drank champagne and toasted our arrival in Italy. Her appetizers were so light and wonderful. We bid her farewell and then proceeded to the restaurant, Il Zeppelin, for a wonderful meal.
Monday, our guide, Francesca, met us in the lobby and escorted us to the Duomo in Orvieto. How magnificient! We had a wonderful tour of the Duomo and the park area of Orvieto. The tour concluded in the Piazza il Duomo with a wine tasting. The beautiful weather only added enjoyment to the day. Later that evening we had another amazing wine tasting in an enoteca in Orvieto. Graziella explained the history behind this enoteca and we delighted in tasting four wines from Orvieto. Of course we ended the evening with dinner!
Early the next day the Gourmet Getaways group departed for Assisi. We met Franscesca in the parking area and headed up the hill to the Bascilica San Francesco or St. Francis' Bascilica. Afterward we went directly to St. Clare's Basilica and begged them not to close it so that we could view the wax figure of St. Clare. After leaving Assisi the bus headed to the very small town of Trevi. This hilltop town is surrounded by olive trees, hence this city is called ‘The Queen of Olive Oil'. After our brief visit to this quiet town we headed directly to a vineyard for another fantastic wine tasting. Here we tasted four different Montelfalco reds and one white wine. All were amazing. I must say that each time we had a wine tasting they never let us go away hungry. There was a stuffed pizza, or bruschetta, salami and or cheeses. That evening ended in another wonderful dinner!
Wednesday we headed off to another medieval town, Gubbio, known for some great ceramic shops and shop we did, while Francesca informed us about this charming and beautiful town. Leaving Gubbio we headed to an olive oil factory for a tasting and lunch which was just delicious. On to Todi to visit the church and the square. It was a delightful day and the sun was setting, the sky orange, which made the buildings come alive. What a beautiful, clean and affluent town and one not to be missed if you are in Umbria.
Our stay in Umbria was beyond our expectations and one to repeat again only visiting different town. Orvieto made a great base from which to explore this lush green region.
We left, sadly, and headed to Rome in time for lunch and our meeting with our guide, Katie Parla, for our private tour of the Vatican Museum, Sistine chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. Katie gave us all a new appreciation of the art collections that are housed in these buildings. We left Katie and knew that she would be taking us to more sights in the days that followed. Some went shopping and others went back to check into our 5 star hotel, St. George Hotel, on Via Giula, near Campo dei Fiori. This hotel has a great location, very friendly staff and one that I will return to without a doubt, and you should consider if staying in Rome.
Dinner that evening was at a local restaurant, Hosteria Romana, where they served typical Roman dishes. We had a superb dinner and the owner treated everyone to Limoncello in the wine cellar afterwards. I would highly recommend this restaurant.
Friday and Saturday brought new adventures. The group was divided so while some cooked Roman dishes with Daniela Del Blazo, others toured Rome with Katie Parla and vise versa. The cooking class began with a tour of the Testaccio market area and a pasta store. They were busy making cannoloni, lasagne and tortellini stuffed with pumpkin which is very popular in the fall. We walked to her beautiful apartment and began to cook. As we gathered around her kitchen and reviewed the recipes we sipped our espresso. Some watched and others worked. After everything was prepared we sat down at a beautifully appointed dining room table and ate a fantastic artichoke and pancetta pasta followed by saltimboco. Our dessert was a ricotta and chocolate tort which was just delicioso! We left by mid-afternoon and welcomed the walk back to Rome. We continued to shop with the remaining time we had in Rome, which was quite busy with tourists. The euro did not hold people back from shopping.
On Sunday we headed back to the airport in Rome with wonderful memories and experiences of Italy hoping to return again soon. All hoped to return again soon on another Gourmet Getaways exclusive tour!
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