JOIN SHARON O’CONNOR AT VILLA SAN MICHELE FOR COOKING CLASSES AND AN ITALIAN INTERMEZZO IN FLORENCE, ITALY!
We’re staying at the legendary Orient-Express and now Belmond Villa San Michele hotel over looking art-filled Florence. A former 15th century monastery with façade attributed to Michelangelo, this 5-star hotel is surrounded by formal gardens and woodlands. The Villa is a place to experience Tuscany’s renowned warmth and hospitality, its inspiring culture, effortless style, and the solid, comforting presence of the past. The hotel has captured the hearts of many, including a long list of celebrity guests such as Brigitte Bardot, Jose Carreras, Sting, Tony Bennett, and Tom Hanks. Villa San Michele is renowned for exceptional cuisine, and few restaurants in the world are quite as romantic.
Our Menus and Music program includes six days and five nights, three cooking classes by Executive Chef Alessandro Cozzolino. After each of our “hands on” classes we'll enjoy a lunch of our creations at the Loggia restaurant.
We'll have a private cocktail reception in the Italian garden and four magnificent dinners with superb wine pairings. There will also be an informative guided wine tasting by a master sommelier at the hotel.
We have special entry at the prominent Uffizi Gallery in the center of Florence and the Accademia, home of Michelangelo’s David sculpture David. There will be time off for exploring Florence, shopping, and swimming. We’ll enjoy the Tuscan art of living well in a magical place.
In years past, I’ve had the great pleasure of taking groups to Villa San Michele for week-long programs. I love just being on this property—the reserved beauty of the original monastery, the well-thought-out luxury, the frescoes, the lavish breakfasts, the enchanting citrus garden with its perfumed air. I’m also happy to say that we’re all going to enjoy cooking classes with my friend Alessandro Cozzolino, the hotel’s renowned master chef. He is an excellent and gentle teacher, and we’ll learn many of his techniques and tips for cooking authentic Tuscan food. Of course, we will also enjoy Alessandro's magnificent cooking during dinners on the loggia with magnificent views of Florence and the Arno Valley. On top of this, we’ll take excursions into Florence to see masterpiece artworks in the city’s major museums, to explore and sightsee, and shop to our heart’s delight. Plan to enjoy the Tuscan art of living well in a magical place!