How Do We Arrive To Italy From Other Cities In Europe?

May 15, 2013 – 9:00 am
Milan Train Station

Milan Train Station

You have planned your trip to Italy and would like to explore other parts of Europe before your Italy portion.  How do you get to Italy without spending a fortune?

There are 3 options depending on where you are travelling from: airplane, train or driving.

1) In Europe there are discount airlines like Ryan air, Easy Jet, Alitalia.it, Blu-express just to name a few that are a cheaper option then the major airlines like Lufthansa.  Kayak.com is a great site to compare different airlines and prices.

Different airlines fly from different airports.  When researching the flights be sure to check out which airport they fly out of.  In Paris there are 2 airports – Charles De Gaulle Airport and Paris Orly Airport.  Some flights to Rome fly out of the lesser know Paris Orly airport.  If you are flexible on your dates search for flights leaving midweek rather then a weekend.

Beware of hidden fees. Make sure you read the fine print.  I recently booked a flight from Dublin Ireland to Pisa, Italy that was quoted one way 60 Euros. After all the “extra fees” it turns out my flight was twice as much as I was originally quoted.  Extras included checked luggage fee, credit card fees, reserved seating among others.  It was still cheaper then the national airlines so I can’t complain too much.

2)  Take the train to your destination.  I had a client ask me “How do I arrive from Zurich to Florence?”  After researching the options it turns out it was cheaper and faster to take the train.  Rail Europe had some great deals on the train from Zurich to Florence.  Trains from Zurich arrive in Milan. Once in Italy there is a transfer to a train to Florence.  Total travel time was 6 hours instead of the 7-20 hours by plane.  Venice or Milan is the major cities that are connected by European trains.  Plan your Italy trip to start in either of these cities.

3) Rent a car and drive to Italy.  When booking a rental car be sure to confirm the rental car is allowed out of the country of origin.  For example renting a car in Paris, France may not be allowed to cross the border into Italy.  Before you leave for your trip apply for an International Drivers Permit.  In North America you can purchase it at your local Auto Association.  They are valid for one year.

Have a great trip to Europe.  Buon viaggio!

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy | Comments (0)

What to do before or after your Italy cooking tour?

May 15, 2013 – 9:00 am
making parmesan cheese

making parmesan cheese

Most of our clients travel to Italy for more than one week and would like Mama Margaret to recommend excursions for before or after their Italy cooking tour. Here are a few excursions to choose from:

Are you a car enthusiast? After your Cooking & Brunello Wine Tour in Tuscany travel to Bologna for a day trip to visit the Ferrari museum and the Lamborghini museum and factory. Why not combine a visit to the Parmigiano cheese factory, a visit to a balsamic vinegar cellars and Ferrari Museum?

You A Gondolier in Venice? After your Cooking & Amarone Wine Adventure in the Vento travel to Venice for a few days. Through Row Venice, in a 90-120 minute, hands-on, one on one lesson in a typical Venetian boat, you learn secrets of rowing in the authentic gondolier style and become part of this remarkable tradition. Read More…

Visiting the Amalfi Coast? After your Cooking with Mammas, Wine & Olive Oil in Puglia travel to the Amalfi Coast and discover Capri by boat. Spend an amazing day discovering Capri from the sea by boat. Highlights include white and green grotto with free time for swimming and snorkelling, blue grotto, and free time to explore Capri by foot.

Contact us for more information on how you can combine these visits for one special day.

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy | Comments (0)

Panzanella Salad

May 15, 2013 – 8:30 am
Panzanella Salad with cucumbers instead of olives

Panzanella Salad with cucumbers instead of olives

  • 6 cups day old Italian bread, torn into bite-size pieces
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  • 4 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges
  • 3/4 cup sliced red onion
  • 10 basil leaves, shredded
  • 1/2 cup pitted and halved green olives
  • 1 cup fresh mozzarella, cut into bite-size pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
2. In a large bowl, toss bread with 1/3 cup olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Lay bread on a baking sheet, and toast in the preheated oven until golden, about 5 to 10 minutes; allow to cool slightly.
3. While the bread is in the oven, whisk together ¼ cup of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Gently toss together the bread, tomatoes, onion, basil, olives, and mozzarella cheese. Toss with the vinaigrette and let stand for 20 minutes before serving.

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy | Comments (0)

You A Gondolier in Venice?

May 13, 2013 – 8:33 pm
gondolier on the Grand Canal in March 2012. That could be you!

gondolier on the Grand Canal in March 2012. That could be you!

There you are in Venice by a canal watching a gondolier, smoothly, expertly rowing his boat gliding past you. With more than a touch of envy you think, “I’d love to row like him and be a gondolier in these canals. No, not forever—I’m not giving up my job back home! Just transport myself to that life for a few hours.” 

Your fantasy can become real in Venice! The true essence of Venetian life has always been its waterways and the sea. Rowing along quiet, hidden canals, you discover aspects of Venice and local life most tourists never experience. 

Through Row Venice, in a 90-120 minute, hands-on, one on one lesson in a typical Venetian boat, you learn secrets of rowing in the authentic gondolier style and become part of this remarkable tradition. 

The most distinctive feature of Venetian rowing is its style, standing and facing forward. An oarlock of unique design: known as the forcola, makes this style work. The forcola is an exquisitely carved piece of walnut or cherry wood with an open cradle which supports the oar for the main stroke. 

An accomplished rower knows many strokes but the forcola makes executing them easier so the rower can maneuver the boat in the complex situations coming up in Venice’s maze of canals. 

In your private lesson with a Venetian rower, step by step you learn balance, basic rowing techniques, subtleties of steering, awareness and consideration of what’s around you and confidence. With your teacher always guiding you, soon you’re rowing yourself, stroking the right angle between blade and water. Group lessons in larger boats are available too. 

Lessons are available in Italian, English, French, German, Japanese and Chinese all year round in daylight. Start time is 10:00 a.m. in winter, 8:30 a.m. in summer. Prices are around 40 Euros per person depending on group size. 

The rowers of non-profit Row Venice, Venetians by birth or choice, want to promote and preserve Venetian water culture, raise awareness of Venice’s unique rowing style and generate more support for rowing typical Venetian boats. An organization well worth supporting and experiencing first hand! 

See rowvenice.com and their excellent three minute video that shows a student and teacher rowing in canals and on the lagoon. That could be you!

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy, Italy Vacation, Venice | Comments (0)

How To Find Good Restaurants In Italy

May 8, 2013 – 6:01 pm
man carving at Trieste buffet

man carving at Trieste buffet

You’re a food lover off to Italy, already salivating over just the thought all the wonderful, authentic local food you’re going to eat there. You want to avoid following recommendations in guidebooks — in those restaurants you’ll meet mainly other tourists clutching the same guidebook as you. You want restaurant recommendations from good local sources or other food loving travelers like you. 

What to do? 

  1. Ask local shop owners or market food stall vendors, “Dove si mangia bene e spende poco?” — Where do you eat well and spend little? They’ll send you to excellent, down home style restaurants, trattorias or osterias.  My best example of this happened in Trieste near the ex-Yugoslavia border. I bought some scotch tape in a stationary store in the city centre, so asked the owner where I could eat a real Trieste lunch. He smiled, “Trieste D.O.C.!” and  directed me to a Trieste “buffet”, a small, packed, stand-up, take-out or if you’re lucky, sit-down eatery. At the counter, a man was carving up various cuts of pork in healthy slabs. My plate ended up with about four kinds of pork and sausage and sauerkraut plus a beer just like the locals. A real Trieste atmosphere, lots of locals out for lunch! 
  2. Don’t ask your hotel front desk staff. They’ll recommend the tourist restaurants they think you want.
  3. Visit online communities of veteran Italy travelers for their restaurant suggestions. The Italy forum at slowtrav.com has a restaurant recommendation section where members write reviews of eateries all over Italy. Watch the review date though. Some are recent, others not.
  4. Consult Italian food journalist bloggers’ sites for their suggestions. Katie Parla (parlafood.com) in Rome has tons of blog posts from new Rome restaurants to best gelaterias in Rome. Plus she has a great Rome restaurant app. 

Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome writes about restaurants in Rome, Florence and Venice and has good apps to match at elizabethminchilliinrome.com 

Cooking teacher Judy Witts Francini in Tuscany at her site divinacucina.com has an excellent 20 page guide for food lovers in Florence divided by neighbourhoood with restaurants, wine bars, bakeries, gelaterias and more. 

Buon appetite in Italy!

 

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy, Italy Vacation, Newsletter | Comments (0)

Sorrentino Cocktail

May 8, 2013 – 6:01 pm
  • 1 ounce limoncello
  • 1 ounce campari
  • 1/2 ounce vermouth
  • club soda
  • thyme
  • orange
  • lemon

Using a knife cut into the lemon peel removing a strip around the lemon at least 3 to 4 inches long. Artfully twist the strip.

Place the thyme into the glass and muddle by gently pressing to release the flavor of the thyme.

Cut the oranges into thin round circles.

Place the oranges on the side of the glass with the ice in the middle to hold the orange slices against the glass.

Using a shot glass or jigger to measure add the Limoncello, Campari & Vermouth.

Pour in the Club Soda almost to the rim of the glass.

Garnish with a sprig of thyme and the lemon twists. Garnishing completes the look and the aroma of the cocktail as you place it close to your nose to take a drink.

Enjoy the Sorrentino Cocktail!

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy, Italy Vacation, Newsletter | Comments (0)

How To Use Your Cell Phone In Italy?

May 6, 2013 – 1:00 am

You booked a trip to Italy and are all set to travel abroad.  You have your passport, European adapters, film and Euro cash. But what about your cell phone? How do you use your cell phone without incurring roaming charges, huge long distance and text message costs? You will need to purchase an International Sim Card for your current cell phone or purchase a new GSM cell phone for travel.

Photo opt with Rome Gladiators outside of the Rome Colosseum.

Photo opt with Rome Gladiators outside of the Rome Colosseum.

Here is a step by step guide to purchasing an International Sim card or a travel phone.

1) Call your current cell phone provider to see they will “unlock” your cell phone. You need to have your phone “unlocked” in order to use it abroad with an International Sim card. If your cell phone company will not “unlock” your phone then consider buying a GSM cell phone.

2) There are a number of companies that sell International Sim cards and travel phones so you have to do a bit of research to find one in your country of origin. For North America I recommend “Roam Simple”.

If you travel abroad to different countries then consider a Global Sim card. If you are only travelling to Italy then you will need a Europe Sim Card. They start at $9 USD for 1 year. Airtime rates like incoming calls, outgoing calls, voice mail, text messages and data are extra. Contact the international travel sim card company to see what plan works best for you.  Cell phones cost $49 US and you have it for life. You will receive an international number before you travel.

3) Once you receive your new sim card just insert it into your phone and you are good to go.

Now all that is left to do is finish packing for your trip.  Buon viaggio!

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy, Italy Vacation | Comments (0)

Pollo Alla Toscana – Tuscan Chicken

May 1, 2013 – 7:05 pm

From Simonetta and Paola de’Mari.
Tour: Cooking tour with a family in the Chianti hills

Ingredients

  • 1 chicken
  • 400 gr/ 1 3/4 cups green, red and yellow peppers
  • 4 fresh tomatoes
  • 3 cups of stock
  • 1/2 glass of white wine
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Directions

Peel the tomatoes and cut them into small pieces. Cut the chicken into pieces and place in a frying pan with the oil, salt and pepper. Brown over medium heat. As soon as the chicken is golden, cover it with the wine, letting it evaporate over a high flame. Add the peppers and the tomatoes. Continue cooking for about 50 minutes, adding the stock a little at a time.

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Newsletter | Tagged , | Comments (0)

NEW! Luxury Mediterranean Cruise AND Italy Cooking/Wine Tours

May 1, 2013 – 6:59 pm

Lake Garda

Lake Garda

Do you love cruising the Med, feeling utterly pampered  and enjoying a range of adventures on ship excursions?

Do you also long to explore Italy’s countryside and connect heart to heart with local people through private Amarone or Brunello winery visits, cooking classes in restaurants and homes and more? So you feel you’re part of local people’s lives.

Now you can experience both! Mama Margaret and a cruise specialist travel agent are offering you two luxurious Mediterranean cruises + cooking/wine tours in Italy this fall.

1.With Crystal Cruises from October 26 to November 2, sail from Venice to enchanting Adriatic ports like Dubrovnik and Corfu, around southern Italy to Malta, Catania and Naples and finishing near Rome…with lots of gourmet food and wine experiences.

Pre-cruise tour takes you to the Amarone wine country west of Venice to experience Amarone wines, learning how to make risotto at the rice fields where some of Italy’s best rice grows, cooking classes, and exploring magnificent Lake Garda. Lots of local people to meet!

Post-cruse tour whisks you off to southern Tuscany to Montalcino, home of Brunello, one of Italy’s top reds. Learn all about Brunello with local wine makers, cook with great local chefs in their restaurants and meet an artisan olive oil maker who uses the old granite wheel to make olive oil on his organic farm. You’ll soon feel like a Tuscan!

2.Have you been dreaming of sailing on a luxurious yacht along the French and Italian Rivieras and experiencing all their glitter and glam? You’ll love the September 23-30 Windstar cruise from Barcelona to Marseilles, Monte Carlo, Cannes, Portofino and Portoferraio on the island of Elba and finishing near Rome! Lots of gourmet experiences!

Post-cruise wine and cooking tour is the same wonderful  southern Tuscany Brunello wine country adventure above from Civitavecchia cruise port near Rome.

Contact Mama Margaret today for more information or to book. Our cruise specialist will answer any questions you may have on these two heavenly Mediterranean cruises.

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy, Italy Vacation, Newsletter, Tuscany, Veneto | Tagged , | Comments (0)

“Where In Italy Should I Go? I Want To See & Eat It All!”: How To Decide

May 1, 2013 – 5:07 pm

This week one of my well wishers wrote me that she’d been longing to go back to Italy ever since she went there for the first time with her husband on a business trip five years ago. 

Venice reflections“Where in Italy should I go? I want to see and eat it all”, she said. The main reason she hadn’t gone back? She couldn’t decide where in Italy to go! A quick phone talk with Mama Margaret asking her lots of questions would solve that dilemma pretty quickly! I emailed her a few questions.

Are you thinking the same thing?  You’re not alone by any stretch! A common, and often overwhelming dilemma!

How to decide where to go in Italy?

Ask yourself these  4 questions to zero in on where you want to go:

1) What is most important to you on this Italy trip?

For example, if it’s your first trip to Italy, are Venice, Florence & Rome top priorities?

Want to discover top Italian red wines first hand? Piedmont for its Barolo, the Veneto for its Amarone and Tuscany for Brunello, Vino Nobile & more are perfect regions for you. 

Do you enjoy art, architecture and art history? What period? The antiquities? Go to Rome to start. 

 2) What do you want to experience?

Are you opera buffs? Go to Verona in summer to witness an opera under the stars in its Roman amphitheatre or go to Milan’s La Scala opera house in the spring, fall or winter.

Do you want to learn about Italy’s food treasures like parmesan cheese and traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena and see how they’re made? Emilia-Romagna is for you!

Do you want more exotic outdoor experiences? Go to Sicily’s Aeolian island, Stromboli and climb near its active volcano on the evening, as it hurls its fire into the night sky and by day soak up the sun on its black volcanic sand beaches. 

3) How much time do you have? A week? Train or car travel time takes up more time than you think, so pick just two main areas. Venice, Florence and Rome in a week?  You’ll get only a touristy, superficial experience at a frenetic pace, in my opinion. 

Two weeks? Pick 3-4 regions that are close together. Focus on northern Italy or southern Italy but not both. For example, we’ve planned a two week Italy vacation for a very active family with four kids. They’ll enjoy a lovely variety of outdoor, food and cultural adventures in Florence/Chianti countryside, Cinque Terre, Bologna and Venice. 

4) Are you a fast or slow traveler?

Do you want to visit many regions for say, 2-3 nights each, so you get a tantalizing taste of them so you can decide where you want to return on your next Italy trip? Or do you prefer to base yourself in one area for a week or so and explore it in more depth, perhaps get to know local people and taste local life? Your answer will tell you how many regions to choose. 

One thing I know for sure—you can’t see and eat it all in one Italy trip!

By Margaret Cowan | Posted in Italy | Tagged , | Comments (4)
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