One of our all-time favorite travel experiences remains to be the Toscana Mia cooking school in Tuscany. Paola and Simonetta run the cooking school out of their centuries old villa among the olive groves and vineyards near Chianti .
During our 3 night stay, we’d eat a simple breakfast in the morning before embarking on a morning of cooking authentic Italian food, then we’d enjoy our labor as lunch accompanied by a glass of local wine . In the afternoons we’d visit a vineyard for a wine tasting, or head into town with Simonetta to pick up ingredients for dinner, or roam the rolling hills basking in the incredible beauty of the Italian countryside. In the evenings we’d eat dinner with the whole family, and sometimes neighbors or friends that stopped by, reminding us that, though the language might be different, family is family everywhere. We’d talk culture and politics and travel, or the differences in our day to day lives here vs there . Oh and we’d laugh… by the end of the first meal together these strangers felt like dear friends and leaving them at the end of the stay really was a little heartbreaking.
We learned to make pasta, ravioli, and gnocchi from scratch, how to properly season meat, and the art of simple ingredients. While we’ve treasured the culinary arts we learned, this experience really taught us the value of connecting with locals on a trip. The food and the architecture of a place are great but it’s the people that truly make a destination special. This experience also reminded us to slow down- so often we are trying to cram as much as we can into our vacation days that we end up feeling more tired than before we left! Our stay at Toscana Mia gave us the chance to really slow down and relax, we didn’t rush anywhere or watch the clock ( except, of course to time our desserts ). We got to just be, to breath, to lounge over a meal and really savor the food, the conversation, and the moment … try it sometime, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed 😉
Andiamo!
Andiamo Wander 