With your own vehicle you wend your way through Tuscany to arrive at La Lodola some time this afternoon. Check in and settle into your reserved rooms then take time to enjoy the manicured grounds or take a dip in the swimming pool.

Later meet Chef Carlo and enjoy dinner tonight at his Osteria La Lodola, local wine included.

Enjoy a continental breakfast with coffee or tea, homemade cakes and marmalades, breads, yoghurt and pastries, then head out in your hire car to a nearby pecorino cheese maker for a special cheese tasting with local wine.

Afterwards you may wish to explore the area around Pienza. Corsignano was the original name of this town which was renamed Pienza after Enea Silvio Piccolomini became Pope Pius II. He radically remodeled the town in the second half of the 15th century creating the “ideal” city, following precepts of the urban and aesthetic ideals of the Renaissance.

Visit the Porcu and Caratello family antique store and delight in the sensory pleasures of the many stores which sell local products. In the late afternoon meet Chef Carlo in the kitchen for your first hands-on cooking class. Your four-course meal will include an antipasto, primo, secondo, contorno and dolce. Dinner follows based on your own culinary creations. Local wine is included.

After breakfast today leave once more for a visit to a local winery which makes Vino Nobile di Montepulicano, enjoying a visit to the estate with a tasting.

Afterwards you may wish to explore Montepulciano, a quaint medieval town with spectacular views of the Val d’Orcia countryside.

This afternoon and evening is free, so no need to rush back for dinner.

On your way back to the Lodola you may wish to make a stop in Lucignano, a picturesque medieval village with its concentric military walls still in place.

After breakfast Montalcino calls and a chance to wander this special town.

Reservations for you have been made in the late morning for a visit of a winery which makes the famed Brunello wine. Enjoy a guided visit followed by a tasting of three of their wines.
 

A day at leisure for individual activities. You may want to explore Arezzo and/or Cortona today. Both of these cities have been “put on the map” by recent films – Arezzo with the Oscar award winning “Life is Beautiful” and Cortona by popular book and film “Under a Tuscan Sun”.

Both cities are of ancient origins, with Cortona dating back to the Etruscan civilization whose heyday was 600 BC! Arezzo, instead, is famous for being the hometown to the great Tuscan artist Vasari and for having the fresco masterpiece by Piero della Francesco, which will take your breath away.

In the late afternoon meet Carlo for a true Tuscan experience, a special salami tasting paired with Tuscan wines followed by a farewell dinner to follow.

Breakfast and check out. End of our services.