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Italian Pottery, Art and Food Holiday

Highlights

  • Learn traditional pottery techniques with acclaimed local artisans
  • Live like a local in a hilltop village under the Apennines and in a charming Roman town on the Adriatic Sea
  • Visit Abruzzo’s acclaimed extra virgin olive oil and wine makers and prepare homemade pasta with locals
From £1838 pp
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What you'll do

Overview

Whether you are a beginner or an experienced ceramist, this holiday is an opportunity to enjoy the traditional craft of pottery and the authentic Italian lifestyle in a stunning hilltop village in the shadow of the Apennine mountains.

Join this 7-day Italian pottery, cultural and culinary vacation in Abruzzo, one of the most stunning and culturally rich regions in Italy. As well as getting to grips with the traditional, ancient art of ceramics, you’ll get the chance to really get under the skin of the Abruzzo region and live like a local.

This is for anyone eager to experience an immersive adventure through Italian culture, where you really get to know the food, the region, and the people.

Your host and local guide, Fabrizio, together with his family & friends, will lead you on a number of incredible experiences that combine beautiful places and attractions, hidden local gems, and help you really interact with the locals to show you the best of the region’s off-the-beaten-track secrets.

This is a fully-guided tour (for small groups of up to 8 people) will give you the real, local insight into daily life, food & wine, culture and art in Abruzzo.

2023 Dates:

16-22 July 2023

Arrival Day

Get picked up from Rome Fiumicino airport pick up at 2:30 pm, and then it’s a transfer to the charming, medieval village of Castelli, after crossing beautiful Abruzzo mountains complete with amazing landscapes, hilltop villages and castles.

Check-in at the Agriturismo in the countryside of Castelli and relax.

Get to know your local guide and learn more about this 7-day Italian cultural vacation over a welcome dinner.

Begin Your Pottery

You’ll visit the oldest pottery studio in town and meet the ceramists Antonio and Vincenzo di Simone.

After teaching you about the ancient pottery making story of Castelli, Antonio and Vincenzo will show us their own pieces and their personal collection of ceramics and ancient tools.

Next, you’ll have your first pottery class! The exact nature of the class will be determined based on the skill level of the participants. After booking, you’ll receive a questionnaire to better understand your skill level.

You’ll learn about slip, drying, timing and the baking method.

Traditional lunch in a Castelli trattoria.

After finishing off your pottery class, you’ll visit the International Ceramics collection and pottery school, and UNESCO candidate, Nativity and San Donato Chapel – known as the Sistine Chapel of Majolica.

Complete the evening in Vasco at a traditional restaurant for dinner with new friends.

Accommodation

Explore Vasto and Pottery in the Hills

After breakfast, explore the Vasto historic center.

Discover Loggia Amblingh, a promenade overlooking the fascinating crescent-shaped coastline, the old town with its medieval Castle, charming lanes, a tower, the Cathedral and Piazza Rossetti, dedicated to Gabriele Rossetti, a poet from the town and father of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

You’ll then move onto Vasto Marina, by the beach, for lunch and some free time to relax, have a walk or swim in the blue Adriatic Sea.

After a short break at the hotel, you’ll visit the little hilltop village of Lentella at Ettore’s “Fattoria d’Arte” (art farm).

Surrounded by an amazing landscape with a stunning view of the sea, mountains, hills and small towns, you can enjoy your second pottery class, followed by a traditional dinner with Ettore and his wife Barbara.

Accommodation

Fishing and Landscape Painting

After breakfast, explore the famous Trabocchi coast and visit a traditional trabocco (the symbol of the area), mostly built with acacia wood and railway iron sleepers.

There you’ll have an exclusive watercolor class with Antonio, a local painter, to capture unique landscapes from a beautiful viewpoint on the Adriatic Sea.

Weather permitting, Rinaldo, our host, will demonstrate how to fish from the trabocco and reveal the secrets behind Abruzzo’s unique fishing platforms that have been featured in the BBC TV show: Escape to the Continent.

Rinaldo’s wife, Maria, will prepare fish from the Adriatic Sea for a fresh seafood lunch on the ocean.

In order to fully experience the Italian culture, you need time to explore on your own, so some free time has been scheduled for the tour this afternoon.

During this time, enjoy one of Vasto’s many beaches or museums, wander through town and explore the shops and art galleries, or just have a walk in the “piazza” to enjoy the relaxing Vasto atmosphere.

In the evening go out to find dinner in one of the many restaurants in Vasto. Obviously, Fabrizio will give you suggestions on his favorite places – this evening meal is not included in the price.

Traditional Markets and Authentic Cuisine

In the morning, walk out to visit Vasto’s colorful market and source some seasonal products with your host. Here, you can practice a little bit of Italian even if you don’t speak a word of it… Fabrizio can help!

Next, drive to the beautiful countryside outside Vasto, where you’ll meet Fabrizio’s family and enjoy an exclusive cooking class with them. You’ll learn how easy it is to make fresh pasta and get acquainted with fresh Abruzzo sauces.

An example menu based on Fabrizio’s family recipes includes bread with meat sauce, Pasta alla chitarra with meat sauce and polpette (meatballs), and Tiramisù – come hungry!

After a short break at the hotel, you’ll visit the little hilltop village of Lentella at Ettore’s “Fattoria d’Arte”- (art farm), where you’ll have your third pottery class, followed by a traditional dinner with Ettore and his wife Barbara.

Wine and Olive Oil

After breakfast, visit an olive grove that has been farmed by Giovanni’s family for three generations to produce DOP olive oils. He will uncover the secrets of what Homer described as “liquid gold” and you will finish with an olive oil tasting.

Next, you’ll visit an award winning winery that sits between a marine park and the mountains. You’ll enjoy a wine tasting and lunch with pairings of local cheeses and salami, along with a tour of the vineyard and its cellars, organized by the winemakers Emanuele and Nicola.

After lunch and some free time to relax and pack, or do some last-minute shopping, you’ll drive to the little hilltop village of Lentella at Ettore’s “Fattoria d’Arte” for your final pottery class.

In the evening, come together for a farewell dinner party with Ettore and Barbara as an Italian family immersed in the Abruzzo’s countryside.

Departure Day

After breakfast, you’ll head off (usually at 09:00 am) for Rome Fiumicino airport or your next destination (Rome Fiumicino is about 3.5 hours driving from Vasto). Please let us know if you need help with alternative departures and options.

What's included

Included

  • 1 night in Castelli at Agriturismo Il Bivacco del Parco (or similar accommodation) and 5 nights in Vasto at Hotel dei 7 (or similar accommodation) in the historic center
  • Breakfast Buffet Daily
  • 4 pottery classes (around 3 hours each) and pottery materials
  • 1 painting class (watercolour, around 3 hours) and painting materials on a trabocco fishing house
  • 10 meals (food, water, house wine) in selected restaurants, farmhouses or wineries based on traditional regional dishes. Some evenings are free for you to explore the town by yourself
  • 1 hands-on cooking class and associated food costs
  • Personalized cooking booklet and apron
  • Daily trips and excursions
  • Pick up and drop off at Rome Fiumicino airport
  • All transport for daily trips and excursions
  • All entry fees for excursions, tours and wine, olive oil and cheese tastings
  • English-speaking tour manager throughout the duration
  • All taxes
Your local host

Fabrizio and friends

Fabrizio is your tour guide and host extraordinaire on his Italian gastronomy holidays. Native to the region of Abruzzo in central Italy, he is immensely proud of its history and heritage. Fabrizio’s passion for keeping everything local also means that guests on his holidays will be joining his family for cooking lessons, meeting local producers and using only locally sourced products.

This is not your typical cooking school or indeed cookery holiday. All cooking activities and gastronomic experiences take place in the local’s homes, on local farms, or in the hills on the lands of local suppliers and families. There is no “professional chef” on this holiday – you are learning from housewives, mothers, fat... Read All

Fabrizio is your tour guide and host extraordinaire on his Italian gastronomy holidays. Native to the region of Abruzzo in central Italy, he is immensely proud of its history and heritage. Fabrizio’s passion for keeping everything local also means that guests on his holidays will be joining his family for cooking lessons, meeting local producers and using only locally sourced products.

This is not your typical cooking school or indeed cookery holiday. All cooking activities and gastronomic experiences take place in the local’s homes, on local farms, or in the hills on the lands of local suppliers and families. There is no “professional chef” on this holiday – you are learning from housewives, mothers, fathers, brothers, farmers and fisherman, as well as wine makers, olive producers. Pretty much everyone in the community and what you’ll learn, see and experience are not taught it in schools but refined and passed down through the generations.

Fabrizio and friends image

What Sustainability Efforts are we Taking?

Location

Pick up at Rome Fiumicino airport is included at 2:30 pm on day 1, followed with a 2-hour transfer to the base of the holiday in Abruzzo, Italy.

For the drop-off to Rome we usually leave the hotel in Vasto after breakfast, at around 09:00 am so that we arrive at Rome Fiumicino airport at maximum 01:30 pm (if there is traffic, but it normally takes 3-3,5 hours).

If you have flights outside of these times, please let us know and we can find the best solution for you.

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