Italian Culture
Tuscan food, like all of Italy, significantly influences Italian, and especially Tuscan, culture. While on your culinary and cultural vacation, you will be taken on guided tours to several significant and historical locales. Tuscany is a region rich in Italian history and most villages date back to the pre-Renaissance era. You will find churches, fortresses, and castles, built centuries ago, and still standing and functional. Often, it seems as of time has stood still, and you can almost hear the voices of the ancient Tuscans in the cobblestone streets. Pienza, for example, has a past both rich and colorful. The birthplace of Pope Pius II, (Pienza translates into English as "Pius") it was designed by the Pope to be the model Renaissance city, a utopia by which all other cities were to be judged. It's beauty and design made this city the perfect location for many of the scenes in the movie The English Patient. Pienza is also well-known for it's Pecorino cheeses, a cheese made from sheep's milk and deemed so  delectable, that Pienzas' school children forgo the sweet shops and bakeries and spend their pocket money on chunks of smoky, delightful Pecorino cheese! Pienza has a rich tradition of artisans and craftsmanship, most noted linen making and glass-blowing. You will have an opportunity to wander the quaint shops and markets and shop for wonderful hand-made trinkets. You will also enjoy a visit to Pitigliano, an ancient Jewish ghetto which seems to have grown straight out of the tufa, stony hillside, lending the village it's nickname of "La Piccola Gerusalleme" (Little Jerusalem). Once a thriving Jewish community, Pitigliano possesses a synagogue built in the early 1500's, a Jewish cultural museum, and a Jewish Film Festival. Pitigliano also produces Kosher versions of both red and white Italian wines. Another notable location we will visit with you is Castiglione della Pescaia, a picturesque fishing village watched over by it's medieval castle on the hill. Here you will have a chance to sample some of Italy's finest seafood menus. |
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