New Press Release Issued! Special Holiday Booking Discount for La Contadina Tours in 2009

Please visit our latest press release to learn more about La Contadina's Holiday Booking Discount: http://www.prlog.org/10151783-la-contadina-travels-and-tours-offers-discount-for-holiday-bookings-of-small-group-tours-to-italy.html

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I just learned about the WineSkin bag (http://www.ftscontent.com/index.html), which I'm going to order and try on my next trip for bringing home wine. In the past, I've brought bubble wrap, neoprene bags such as the ones by Built, NY, and cylindrical cardboard bottle holders. I've brought home many bottles of wine and olive oil, and I've yet to break one! I think these WineSkins look really cool, though. If anyone has experience with these, please let me know!

I recommend that you visit www.elisatoffoli.com to listen some great music by a darling and very talented Italian artist - she is a superstar in Italy! Elisa came to Salt Lake City recently on her first American & Canadian tour, and I went to the club to see her perform. She was awesome! I've just received one of her CD/DVD sets from ibs.it. Now all I need is to get my portable region-free, zone-free DVD player so I can watch the DVD (it won't play on a regular U.S. DVD player).

New Press Release about our upcoming tour!

http://www.prlog.org/10143073-introducing-la-contadinas-new-italy-tour-with-documentary-filmmaker-steven-robert-mccurdy.html

Click on this link to read our latest press release!

This press release announces the new "Postcards from Italy" tour that we are launching for 2009.

Italy trip Dec 2005

Tramonto a Roma - Roman Sunset - December 2005

In December 2005, I had the opportunity to travel with my boss to Italy to attend a research conference in Genoa, and she and I decided to extend our trip into a week's vacation. I studied Italian intensively for 3 weeks prior to the trip and tried to speak as much Italian as I could during the trip. I used to be fluent in French, so it wasn't as hard as it might otherwise have been :-) Trying to connect with the locals in their native language really enhanced my overall experience. I could tell that they were touched by my efforts (and amused at my mistakes!). After our conference in Genoa, we hopped on a train and headed "solo andata" (one-way) to Pisa before proceeding to Rome. Whereas others had told me that Pisa was 'boring' or a 'let-down' or 'not worth seeing,' I found it breathtaking and exhilerating. We rounded the corner in the cab at night, on a full moon, to have the Leaning Tower come into view right in front of us. I was moved to tears. The next morning, we climbed the steps, the worn, marble steps once walked by Galileo, to the very top for a spectacular view of the city and the mountains to the northeast. What part of that was 'boring' or 'not worth seeing?' Here we are at the top of the Leaning Tower:

Pisa is also where I first heard about and experienced a wonderful Tuscan treat - vin santo with cantuccini. Vin santo is a sweet dessert wine made from dried grapes, and it is enjoyed by dunking cantucci, or cantuccini (small cookies, or biscotti) into the glass. Certainly not 'boring!'

Then we traveled to Rome. I am not a city person, per se. I generally prefer being in the woods and the mountains, away from the crowds. However, there was something so remarkable about the ancient history of Rome that I felt myself wanting to stay, and wanting to try living there for a while. We hired a guide and explored the Forum, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navona, and the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. That evening, we enjoyed an incredibly delicious feast at Il Giardino, a restaurant right near our Hotel, the Antica Roma, specializing in Sardinian food. I made the grave error (!) of telling the waiter how much I was enjoying the Sicilian food - oh Mamma Mia, not a good mistake to make! He feigned terrible indignation, and then kindly explained my 'faux pas.' :-) We also did a fair amount of shopping and found a terrific shop selling our new favorite - limoncello! Here is my boss trying to decide which bottle(s) of limoncello to buy!

Italy New Year's Eve Tour Dec 06/Jan 07

In December 2006, I participated in Giuliana's

La Contadina New Year's eve tour. This is our

group after a day spent savoring the Umbrian town of Assisi. We arrived in Rome and transferred to Siena, where we experienced fabulous Tuscan food and wine and where we toured the Campo and the enjoyed exploring the historic city center. One of my biggest adventures was finding the yarn shop I'd identified on-line before my trip, and I did find it, and I bought many beautiful skeins of Italian yarn! The shopkeepers were very kind and quite amused at my excitement over finding them :-)

After a side trip to Monteriggione, a true Tuscan gem, we left Tuscany for Umbria and settled into a lovely "castello" (a beautifully-renovated farm house on extensive and well-kept grounds) on the outskirts of Assisi. What a fabulous place for a New Year's Eve celebration, and a great home base for excursions into Assisi and Todi.

The end of our tour would find us in Spoleto, a hilltop town in southern Umbria featuring an ancient Roman theater, the impressive Ponte delle Torri, and the site of our cooking class - a memorable afternoon and evening indeed! Here is a picture of us in our cooking class: