2025 Spring Itinerary
Monday, April 7 — Arrival | Corciano
Arrive in Rome, Italy, Rome Fiumicino International Airport “Leonardo da Vinci” by 10:00 am, and travel by bus to Villa Pieve in Corciano. Greet your classmates, facilitators, host, and guide at the Restaurant il Convento during a light lunch followed by a caffè at Alberto’s Arte del Gelato bar on the main square to familiarize yourself with locals.
Walk to discover the historic center of this lovely hilltop hamlet. Here you will enjoy the view of small alleys and streets that have been the same since the Middle Ages — it is like taking a walk back in time. Highlights include the Church of Santa Maria Assunta with the Renaissance altarpiece of Perugino and if time allows, visit the Antiquarium with precious Etruscan and Roman remains. Travel by bus to Villa Pieve, and check in. End the day with your new group for a welcome reception before enjoying a lovely dinner at Villa Pieve.
Tuesday, April 8 — Perugia | Cooking Class 1
After breakfast, leave the Villa and travel to Perugia via bus with Catia Melani. Visit the Perugia city center, where St. Francis stayed for one year as a prisoner after the war between Assisi and Perugia. Engage in a walking tour of the Acropolis of Perugia, including the Rocca Paolina and its undergrounds, surprising you with unexpected sites and views as you reach the heart of the historic center. Enjoy a group lunch at a pizzeria.
Visit the Prison of Saint Francis and the Chiesa Del Gesù where you will meet Padre Marco Angelini, the Rector of the Church Chiesa del Gesù, and Rossella Vasta.
Travel back to the Villa for the first cooking class and dinner.
Wednesday, April 9 — Cortona
After breakfast, leave the Villa and travel to Cortona. The beauty that springs from every corner reveals Cortona’s rich history. You will have free time to explore Cortona and find lunch.
After lunch, you will reach the Basilica of St. Margherita by bus. St. Margherita is the Patron Saint of Cortona. At the end of the 13th century, she joined the Third Order of St. Francis, lived in strict poverty, and founded a hospital for the sick and poor.
Travel back to the Villa for a wine-tasting lesson and dinner.
Thursday, April 10 — Truffle Hunting | Gubbio | Cooking Class 2
After breakfast, travel to Pietralunga by bus with Catia Melani. Enjoy a discussion on the bus ride around the implications of seeing creation as brothers and sisters. In Pietralunga, we will visit Giuliano Tartufi to meet Lola, Bebe, and the pack who work in complete harmony with each other and their human caretakers to locate prized truffles in the Italian countryside. We will accompany the pack on its morning hunt and enjoy a tasting as guests of Giuliano and family.
Travel by bus to Gubbio, among Italy’s best-preserved medieval towns, situated on the slope of the Monte Ingino. Here we will have a group lunch in a traditional restaurant. Gubbio is where, according to legend, St. Francis of Assisi made a peace pact with a wolf that had been terrorizing the town. The story of Gubbio and Francis of Assisi means the discovery of an intense relationship, interwoven with travels, friendship, and feelings. The main square is a daring construction, a so-called hanging square upon which rises an impressive town hall, starting from here on the 15th of May, the locals organize Italy’s most peculiar procession, the ‘Candle Race’ la Corsa dei Ceri, to the sanctuary of Saint Ubaldus on top of the mountain.
Travel back to the Villa for the second cooking class and dinner.
Friday, April 11 — Orvieto | Labyrinth Lunch | Montecristo cheese production in Todi
After breakfast, leave the Villa and travel to Orvieto via bus with Catia Melani. Orvieto is probably Umbria’s most peculiar town, built high up on a volcanic rock of tufa stone. It was founded by the Etruscans more than 2,700 years ago. In the heart of the medieval town is one of Italy’s most astonishing gothic churches, the Cathedral. Among the precious paintings inside, the Last Judgement fresco-cycle in the chapel of San Brizio is a masterpiece by the Renaissance painters Beato Angelico and Luca Signorelli.
Enjoy a group lunch at Il Labirino di Adiano where we will visit a network of underground tunnels and caves and learn the substrate of historic and archaeological Orvieto.
After lunch, embark on a delicious journey through the heart of Umbria with a hands-on cheese-making experience at the renowned Caseificio Montecristo in Todi. Travel back to the Villa for dinner.
Saturday, April 12 — San Damiano | Montelabate Abbey and Olive Oil Mill | Cooking Class 3
After breakfast, leave the Villa and travel to San Damiano, which lies in the midst of olive groves just outside Assisi. Francis rebuilt this small church and transformed it into a convent for Clare and her first followers. Here he wrote the Canticle of the Creatures that will turn 800 years old in 2025. Then you will visit the Basilica Santa Maria Degli Angeli which holds the tiny Romanesque Porziuncola. This place was deeply loved by St. Francis. This is the third church that St. Francis restored with his hands. Here Saint Francis and his followers worshipped, and Saint Claire took her vows of poverty. Saint Francis asked to be brought here to die.
Enjoy a group lunch at Montelabate Abbey and then visit the Abbey buildings, olive groves, and the olive oil mill. Travel back to the Villa for the third cooking class and dinner.
Sunday, April 13 — Carini Farm
After breakfast, enjoy free time or choose from attending Corciano’s church service, participating in an art group session, or taking a meditative hike up to Corciano. Travel by bus to Carini’s Farm and tour the farm and wine cellar. Here you will experience how a focused and holistic/ethical approach to farming and animal relationships results in a richer experience of food and dining. Lunch there with the produce of the farm cold cuts, cheeses, wine, and olive oil. Travel back to the Villa by bus to pack and enjoy a final dinner with the group.
Monday, April 14 — Departure
Travel to Rome via bus for return to the U.S. or further personal travel. Do not book flights before 11 a.m. to provide time for us to drive from Villa Pieve in Corciano to Rome.
