Heart of Italy Tour's Unique ExperiencesWe had many amazing museum tours, but what stood out as the most unique for me were the activities on the tour. We had the absolute delight of visiting an alabaster workshop in Volterra. We also had a private wine tasting at a cellar. On our way to Cinque Terre, we stopped at a beautiful castle where we saw olives being harvested and had an olive oil tasting followed by an amazing lunch. In Florence, we visited a local artist’s shop and got to see her paint a beautiful artwork in front of us.
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Alabaster Workshop in Volterra
I was speechless the second I walked into the Alabaster Workshop. There were sculptures from ceiling to floor. We were at Alab'Arte, owned by Roberto Chiti and Giorgio Finazzo. We saw a demonstration of the owner sculpting a small Alabaster bowl. It took about 10 minutes, and I was in awe. Only a professional artist could do something like that so quickly and beautifully. He was passionate and I could tell he loved what he did. I bought a small sphere box to remember this truly amazing experience. One of my fellow travelers asked if she could buy the demonstration bowl which I thought was a fabulous idea. Wish I would have thought of it first because it would be a great memory to bring home.
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Wine Tasting In Volterra
We went to La Vena di Vino for wine tasting with Francesco. As we entered the building we went down these old stairs and found ourselves in this cave-like room. It was cool and had beautifully set tables with wine, cheeses, meats, and bread. I loved how Francesco told a story with every wine. He made the wine come to life before we were even allowed to taste it. One thing I took away from the tasting is that when you have a rich dark wine it is best to saturate your mouth with a piece of salami or some sort of fat in order to counter the richness of the wine. That truly made all the difference in how the wine tasted. It was such a fabulous time to enjoy wine, food, and time with my fellow travelers.
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Olive Oil Tasting at Castello del Trebbio |
On our way from Volterra to Cinque Terre we stopped at Castello del Trebbio. The views from the castle were gorgeous. We had the absolute pleasure of seeing olives harvested when we arrived. They had only begun to harvest that morning. We were given a tour of the castle and grounds, and were shown how the olive oil was stored in large vats in the beginning.
Our tour was capped with an amazing olive oil tasting and lunch. I never knew how flavorful a good extra virgin olive oil could taste. I enjoyed the Farro soup drizzled with the olive oil, but, honestly, everything we ate paired well with the olive oil. |
Art Demonstration In Florence |
We had the privilege of going to Caterina Balletti's studio for a painting demonstration and aperitivo. It was a special experience to arrive at her art studio and be given some champagne and a snack. We heard from Caterina about her passion for art, specifically flash art. Flash art is a special art form that uses paint, photo paper, and a special scraping method. She studied under an artist who shared his passion and skills for flash art with her. She sadly explained that he passed away from Covid.
To begin, she painted two beautiful pieces of art in front of us. It was a special experience to watch her paint with great passion and joy. She had a few of us get a lesson from her. I had the privilege of painting with her during the lesson. It was such a beautiful moment and I loved taking the memory home with me. I was able to take my artwork home and received a certificate from her. |