Tuscany Our Best Vacation Ever!

Or should I now say "our best 'holiday' ever". We are living in London after all. I don't even think the English use the word vacation for anything. The point is, it was wonderful. Even Jeremy, who can always find something to complain about said, "Wow, this is perfect." For those of you who do not know, we went to Tuscany for a week long cooking class. We found it online at the International Kitchen Cooking School,

http://www.theinternationalkitchen.com/

The ironic thing is that they are located in the IBM Building in Chicago. We had to move from Chicago to London to find a cooking school in Italy which is managed from Chicago!

I'm going to split this blog into two main sections, the cooking classes, and the tours. The program we signed up for was the six night program, with four half days of cooking classes, and acccomodations at Chef Claudio's B&B.

http://www.theinternationalkitchen.com/tuscany.htm

Chef Claudio is 45-year old, passionate, artistic, life-loving, and as one member of our group said, a truly special person. Even when I knew what we were cooking wasn't "perfecto" he would make us feel as if were. He didn't have a precise, "this is what we are cooking, and how we are going to do it" plan. He asked what do you want to cook, and then we would cook it. He was truly sensitive to people's food limitations. One woman was a Type I Diabetic with severe food limitations. Each day, Claudio made sure she had plenty to cook and eat, without limiting the rest of us.

The B&B where Jeremy and I stayed, was run by Claudio's sister Sabrina. Sabrina is certainly the mind behind the business. Claudio is an artist, while Sabrina keeps everything running. She was super smart, with the people skills and love of life that Claudio exhibits. She told me that the school is fully booked with 12 students from mid-April to November, with usually 8 students in March through mid-April. On the off months, December - February, they are extremely busy with their restaurant, and try to fit in a holiday. Last year, their holiday was traveling to the States (Arizona, Chicago, and Orlando) promoting their business.

http://www.torreguelfa.it/

The B&B is located approximately 10 kilometers outside of the city of Figlene Valdarno, Tuscany, about an hour outside of Florence, on a 10 arce farm where they grow everything from Sangiovese grapes to figs to pumpkins. I think they grew everything they could for that climate. While touring the gardens, we passed an older woman with the most amazing arms I've ever seen cutting vegetables with a scythe. I later found out that the extremely fit woman was Claudio and Sabrina's 76-year old mother!!! Wow, you got to love that. Turns out, Claudio lives with his wife Daniella and their wonderful, spoiled poodle in the "front of the house", while Sabrina and both of her parents live in the "back of the house". They have a few people helping them out with cleaning and paperwork in the office. Otherwise, it is a family owned and operated business, but one where we felt totally relaxed and at home.

If you do want to do this program, there is an option of staying at the Casagrande Hotel. This is a beautiful 16th century home built along the old city walls, located within steps of the medieval square. The hotel's amenities include gardens, spa, a pool and a restaurant. Eight of our group stayed there and seemed to be very pleased.