by Vicky - Spirit of Italy Tours on December 17th, 2012
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Spirit of Italy Tours returned last month from conducting our debut tour, Harvest Italia. Three years in the planning helped to ensure that my six guests enjoyed the most authentic experience living like Italians during the Fall harvest season.
With our incredible van driver and experienced tour guide, Sergio Ceccherini of Scenic Wine Tours in Tuscany at the helm, we were easily able to access and explore many off-the-beaten track towns and villages in Tuscany. Even when visiting larger cities such as Siena and Florence, with his special license, Sergio was able to drive us into the heart of city off limits to cars. Can you imagine being dropped off at the Duomo of Siena or Piazza Della Republica in Florence? It was amazing and convenient!
With our incredible van driver and experienced tour guide, Sergio Ceccherini of Scenic Wine Tours in Tuscany at the helm, we were easily able to access and explore many off-the-beaten track towns and villages in Tuscany. Even when visiting larger cities such as Siena and Florence, with his special license, Sergio was able to drive us into the heart of city off limits to cars. Can you imagine being dropped off at the Duomo of Siena or Piazza Della Republica in Florence? It was amazing and convenient!
The centerpiece of the tour was designed to give guests the chance to pick olives by hand at Casa Falcioni, a 10- acre property in the charming and central Tuscan town of Cavriglia that boasts an olive grove with nearly 600 olive trees. We had gorgeous weather and being out in the fresh air with friends collecting olives is an experience that is fun and relaxing. We managed to pick nearly 900 pounds of olives and the very next day were able to see them pressed into olive oil at a pressing facility located in the heart of the Chianti region. The colors of the countryside this year are beautiful beyond description. Tanya Falcioni brought a loaf of bread and just as soon as the oil was available, she poured it into a bowl where we each could dip our bread to sample it. Freshly pressed olive oil has a very earthy flavor, which many of us found just delicious.
Daniela Postfortunato, the proprietress of Agriturismo Valleverde, offered us the most outstanding hospitality! My guests and I each stayed in rustically elegant and very spacious apartments with kitchens, private baths and sitting rooms that overlooked an expansive meadow, hillside and vineyards. She, like Tanya, fed us some of the best homemade meals complete with their locally grown produce, and wine from their vineyards.
Several guests wrote to say that Harvest Italia was one of the best travel experiences they had ever had.
More details on the 2012 trip and dates for Harvest Italia 2013, to come shortly.
Several guests wrote to say that Harvest Italia was one of the best travel experiences they had ever had.
More details on the 2012 trip and dates for Harvest Italia 2013, to come shortly.
by Vicky - Spirit of Italy Tours on October 24th, 2012
Our Harvest Italia tour is just days away! First stop is meeting guests in Florence and then heading into the Tuscany countryside to the magical area known as the Valdarno.
We so excited to foster this opportunity for our guests to experience an incredible week living like Italians!
ANDIAMO!
We so excited to foster this opportunity for our guests to experience an incredible week living like Italians!
ANDIAMO!
by Vicky - Spirit of Italy Tours on April 25th, 2012
Here are Spirit of Italy Tours' top five travel tips for visitors of Italy which are featured in an article in today's San Francisco Examiner:
- Enjoy the journey -- Make a plan for the day but be prepared for the wonderful and unexpected visual/aural/nasal ‘detours’ that will spontaneously take your trip in another, worthwhile direction.
- Get out of town -– Be sure to make time during your trip to leave the bigger cities to discover the charm of the smaller towns and villages so that you can meander without an itinerary, see the gorgeous countryside and more easily meet the locals.
- Mangia! -- Seriously, in addition to the history, art and culture, eating in Italy is one of the most “spiritual” experiences you can have. Make sure to eat in a local trattoria at least once during your visit and order a pasta dish and sample local wines. Also, Italian coffee and chocolate is to die for!
- Chill -- Savor the slower pace and the chimes of the church bells in the countryside that are sometimes the only sound that breaks the silence. Buy some fresh bread and cheese and head to the local piazza with your journal, and write about your experience and enjoy the scenery.
- Do something -- Think about going on an experiential tour where you engage in an activity that allows you to have a deeper, more intimate experience with the local culture—think olive picking, grape picking, truffle hunting, cooking schools, etc.
You can read the full article here: http://www.examiner.com/article/five-tips-for-traveling-to-italy-from-tour-expert-vicky-gray-clark#ixzz1t5NCsAKC
- Enjoy the journey -- Make a plan for the day but be prepared for the wonderful and unexpected visual/aural/nasal ‘detours’ that will spontaneously take your trip in another, worthwhile direction.
- Get out of town -– Be sure to make time during your trip to leave the bigger cities to discover the charm of the smaller towns and villages so that you can meander without an itinerary, see the gorgeous countryside and more easily meet the locals.
- Mangia! -- Seriously, in addition to the history, art and culture, eating in Italy is one of the most “spiritual” experiences you can have. Make sure to eat in a local trattoria at least once during your visit and order a pasta dish and sample local wines. Also, Italian coffee and chocolate is to die for!
- Chill -- Savor the slower pace and the chimes of the church bells in the countryside that are sometimes the only sound that breaks the silence. Buy some fresh bread and cheese and head to the local piazza with your journal, and write about your experience and enjoy the scenery.
- Do something -- Think about going on an experiential tour where you engage in an activity that allows you to have a deeper, more intimate experience with the local culture—think olive picking, grape picking, truffle hunting, cooking schools, etc.
You can read the full article here: http://www.examiner.com/article/five-tips-for-traveling-to-italy-from-tour-expert-vicky-gray-clark#ixzz1t5NCsAKC
by Vicky - Spirit of Italy Tours on April 21st, 2012
As a travel agent and knowing many other travel professionals, it was encouraging to read that our services are still considered valuable ~
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/travel/are-travel-agents-back.html?pagewanted=4&src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/travel/index.jsonp
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/travel/are-travel-agents-back.html?pagewanted=4&src=un&feedurl=http://json8.nytimes.com/pages/travel/index.jsonp
by Vicky - Spirit of Italy Tours on February 2nd, 2012
Have you ever longed to meander? In my daily life, meandering is just not something I typically have time for. That is why I designed the Harvest Italia tour to be slower-paced so that guests can get into the Italian mindset where a leisurely pace prevails. Casa Falcioni is located atop a rolling hillside on a 10-acre property that boasts nearly 600 olive trees. The property is surrounded by cypress and chestnut trees and affords spectacular views of the Valdarno. Olive picking in the countryside in Tuscany is a really soothing activity that allows you to be outdoors and quietly get lost in thought, chat with friends or listen as the church chimes break the silence. Tour guests will learn how to pick olives and about the traditional olive oil making process, as well as enjoy a guided tour by the Casa Falcioni proprietors to a local olive pressing facility to see self-picked olives turned into olive oil.
According to Afar Magazine (voted one of the top travel magazines in the U.S.) “…Today’s travelers want to get beyond the superficial, the mass-produced, the mass-consumed, and the mass-experienced. They look for the authentic in people, places, and products. They long for meaningful connections with the places they go and the people they meet.”
Harvest Italia is presented as a once-in-a-lifetime travel opportunity for guests to experience the olive harvest and a chance to enjoy the Tuscan countryside in the Fall when the climate is moderate, as well as an opportunity to get to know the locals without hordes of tourists, savor extraordinary Italian cuisine made with the freshest ingredients, meander through outdoor markets and historic sites, or simply relax in il dolce far niente (carefree idleness).
Please check the itinerary on this site and contact me to register for the tour.
Andiamo!
Vicky
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