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A Gourmet Taste of SICILY  Hot Featured PDF Print E-mail
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Tour details
Tour operator: GOURMET TRAVELER
Tour category: Cooking Vacations • Tasting Tours
Tour destination: Italy
Number of nights: 6
Availability: May • October
Tour expiration date: November 1, 2009
Starting cost: 3,150.00
Link to website: http://gourmetravel.com/content/amalfi08.htm
A Gourmet Taste of SICILY

2009 Date: October 25 - 31

Experience SICILY as an insider with our small group (4-12) culinary tour to this little known region of Italy from its snow covered mountains to it's rugged seacoast. Here you'll experience cooking classes presented by local Sicilians, artisan food producers, cultural tours (Historic Palermo and the Norman Castle of Monreale), Palermo's street markets, fabulous wine/food pairing meals, exciting cultural excursions to from the western side of the island to the east with a step back in time as we visit a tiny mountain village. You'll meet the many wonderful locals from the Contessa and her impressive Palace in Palermo, to the humble cottage of the Sicilian cheesemaker, the colorful ceramic artist, the elegant cooking instructor, and some of the warmest, friendliest people you'll ever meet. A week of fun, friends, food, wine and laughter - the perfect recipe for success.

 

Over 15 years ago I fell in love with Italy and its food and decided to share my passion with others through Gourmet Travel - the name almost says it all, while we focus on food and wine, we also include cultural activities of each specific region: in SICILY we visit Palermo, Monreale, Cefalu, Taormina, Marsala, Erice, Polizzi Generosa, and Catania. You'll experience an elegant dinner in an ancient Palermo Palace hosted by a delightful Contessa, a tour & tasting at wine & olive oil producers, tour & tasting of marsala, street markets, view antique sea salt production, ceramic demo, cooking classes from locals in each area, watch an amazing Marzipan artist demonstrate techniques, and be entertained by enthusiastic Sicilian musical performances.

 

Because I am a trained chef, my contacts throughout Italy are with fellow food professionals who are eager to share their insider knowledge about the area and its artisan food products, insider views that are simply not available to the average visitor. To maximize your experience we have professional guides for museum & city tours, such as the Historic Palermo, Monreale's Norman Castle, tiny Polizzi, Cefalu and Taormina. Always accompanied by our English speaking driver/guide. After so many years of visiting Italy, my contacts have become friends, not simply business associates. You will share this warm friendship so that you will truly experience an insider's view of Italy. Our small group size enable us to move about freely and go to places larger groups can't experience. All of these factors combine to make a perfect recipe for a memorable trip.




Included in tour: (note that you fly into Palermo and out of Catania)

  • Transfer from Palermo airport to our 4 star hotel
  • Transfer from our Taormina hotel to the Catania airport
  • 6 nights accommodations
  • All breakfasts
  • 4 lunches
  • 6 dinners w/house wine
  • 3 Cooking Classes as listed
  • Culinary & cultural excursions listed in itinerary
  • Professional guides as listed
  • Gourmetravel Personal Guide for ALL listed activites
  • Full time driver/guide/interpreter
  • Ground transportation for all listed tour events

Not included:

  • Airfare Gratuities
  • Personal expenses

 

SAMPLE ITINERARY

 

Travel Day(Sat)

Travel to Italy

 

Day 1 (Sunday)

  • Arrive PALERMO airport, private transfer to our 4 star hotel
  • Hotel Check In
  • Gala Welcome Dinner in 12th Century Palazzo, hosted by a Contessa

 

Day 2 (Monday)

  • Guided Tour of Historic palermo and its bustling markets
  • Lunch in the market
  • Guided Tour to Monreale a magnificent Norman Castle
  • Dinner at a local restaurant serving traditional Sicilian foods

 

Day 3 (Tuesday)

  • Culinary Tour & Tasting of the famous Marsala dessert wine
  • Cooking Class Lunch at a scenic winery/olive oil producer
  • Tour & tasting of olive oil & wine
  • Lunch on our class creations
  • Visit salt marshes to view antique sea salt processing
  • Visit Erice - mountaintop town with breathtaking views
  • Marzipan shaping demonstration & tasting
  • Casual dinner in Palermo

 

Day 4 (Wednesday)

  • Lv Palermo by private van
  • Visit Greek Temple - Segesta
  • Private van to tiny hillside village of PolizziGuided
  • Tour of villagePeasant
  • Lunch in charming village - a taste of the "real" Sicily
  • Cheesemaker visit - cheese the way it's been made for hundreds of years
  • Cooking Class at our elegant Farmhouse
  • Dinner on our creations
  • Musical Entertainment by local Sicilian performers

 

Day 5 (Thursday)

  • Private van to Taormina - a mediterranean jewel
  • Visit Cefalu - delightful seaside town
  • Lunch in Cefalu featuring local seafoods
  • Artisan vist to ceramicist
  • Arrive Taormina - hotel check in
  • Free time in Taormina
  • Dinner- featuring a dessert buffet of the most famous Sicilian desserts cassata Siciliana, panna cotta, canoli, tiramisu

 

Day 6 (Friday)

  • Guided Tour of Taormina
  • Lunch on our own
  • Free time in Taormina
  • Cooking Class with celebrated author and expert on Sicilian cooking
  • FAREWELL DINNER - dine on our creations with great local wines

 

Day 7 (Saturday)

  • End of Tour - Van to CATANIA airport OR choose to extend your stay

 

Click here for slide show of recent tour

http://picasaweb.google.com/gourmetravel/Sicily102206

 


User reviews

Average user rating from: 2 user(s)

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0 of 0 people found the following review helpful

The Trip of a Lifetime, Tuesday, 15 April 2008

Written by PBFerrara   -  View all my reviews  - Top 10 Reviewer

Overall rating
5.0
This was our second trip with Gourmet Traveler (the first was to Cinque Terre) but taking me to Sicily was going to present Bev Gruber with a real challenge. I was raised in an Italian family with my Sicilian Grandmother living in our home. Needless to say, I had trepidations and high expectations about going on a "tour" of my family's homeland. Could anyone ever cook (or attempt to teach me) the way my Nonna did? Was it possible to create the same level of experiences and sense of culture we had in Liguria a few years earlier? I know it's a bit cliché but our trip to Sicily was truly La Dolce Vita.

Sicily is not like the rest of Italy, and that's good. It's beautiful open countryside, mountains and volcanoes, quaint hillside towns and piazzas, and a city or two that rivals the best Rome has to offer. But let me stay focused on the food, because while other regions the Italian "mainland" offers something different, Sicily is a totally unique and a gastronomically savoring experience. It is a fusion of many cultures (Sicily has been occupied by many countries over the centuries) and as a result, so is the food. We ate some of the most amazing meals in some of the most unique places that I would take an entire page to attempt to describe. Let me just say that if food is your passion, you MUST visit Sicily.

Among all the wonderful things we did while on this trip, two things stand out as experiences of a lifetime. The first was a visit to a small olive farm and oil producer. We were fortunate to be there at harvest as the olives were being brought in to the small but efficient pressing plant. Being able to see those small but oh so wonderful olives transform from fruit on the tree to finished Extra Virgin Olive Oil was incredibly interesting and educational. Best of all, following our tour of the farm and plant, we were taken to the front of their home where a terrific sampling of different olive oils, breads, meats, cheeses, wine and fruit awaited us. I think each person in our little group could have sat there all afternoon soaking up the Sicilian sun and lounging away the afternoon.

The second great experience was not a planned stopped on the tour but speaks to the flexibility and personal care that Bev Gruber provides to each traveler. As I mentioned, I am Sicilian-American and still have family in and around Teresina. Now next to "Momma" nothing is as important to an Italian man than la familia. So on a lark, having only a vague idea where my cousins reside and work, we took a detour to see if we could find them and reconnect. Of course, it only took a few phone calls before we were standing in my cousin's beautiful jewelry and gift store, hugging and kissing, laughing and crying, celebrating the opportunity to be reunited. I will be forever grateful to Bev for making this happen.

There are many more things I could write about this trip to Sicily, but suffice it say, it was among one of the best trips of my life. I hope it will be for you too!

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful

Historic and Exotic Sicily, Tuesday, 01 April 2008

Written by Judith   -  View all my reviews  - Top 10 Reviewer

Overall rating
5.0
A real learning experience- both from the historical and culinary viewpoints. The food was incredibly interesting, the ancient sites profoundly moving, and the cooking classes and excursions relating to the food of the area unique.I cannot imagine a better tour of this region.


 
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