Renaissance Puglia™

Join Letizia in the splendid town of Conversano for our special women-only program in Puglia. Our exclusive ‘Renaissance Women’ program is the perfect way to discover this magical region, its foods, wines, history and culture, all in the company of other women.

Beautifully unspoiled, Puglia is an enchanting area boasting long white beaches, crystal clear waters, pretty fishing villages, Trulli – the characteristic whitewashed dwellings with conical slate roofs, and a warm and sunny climate. Vast areas are given over to olive and almond groves, with trees planted in military straight lines where silvery grey leaves and deep orange-hued soil combine to form some of Italy’s most striking landscape. People in Puglia are very attached to their roots and culture, and you’ll see the richness and diversity local traditions bring to everyday life, and into the kitchen.

Your cooking classes take place in a country house kitchen in Conversano, and it is here that you will begin to uncover the secrets behind the delicious healthy local cuisine. Rich in vegetables and the area’s famously rich olive oil, food in Puglia is Mediterranean cuisine at its very best: simple ingredients cooked without fuss to produce mouthwatering traditional dishes. Sample the area’s delicious breads and cheeses, its salami and pastas, and try some of its increasingly popular wines that benefit from the long, dry Apulian summers. Take trips to Alberobello and Ostuni, lunch in typical trattorias, enjoy tastings and relax and unwind as you enjoy three treatments at the villa’s stylish spa. After your week with us you will feel like a new woman!

Cooking Classes

Your cooking school vacation consists of three cooking lessons each lasting about three hours. For the first cooking class, the chef leads you in making traditional dishes such as lamb with potatoes roasted in a wood-burning brick oven. These ovens play a very important part in Puglia’s gastronomic history and your program offers you the opportunity to learn more. Twist and shape delicious taralli~ a traditional baked bread treat, and traditional dry biscotti. In the second cooking class, the prepare local cuttlefish, risotto, mussels and potatoes again cooked in the wood oven. Your third cooking class is a dessert workshop where you will learn how to create several desserts, including, bignè and zeppole, typical Apulian sweets with Chantilly cream. If time allows, you might also be able to prepare a calzone di cipolla, a rustic pizza filled with local wild onions.

Menus vary to use the best fresh seasonal ingredients and to accommodate food allergies and/or diet needs.

Puglia

Situated right at the heel of the boot, until recently, Puglia was little frequented by foreign visitors, but has always been a firm favorite with Italians who have been coming for years to enjoy the food, the weather, and visit the many picturesque towns and villages. The surrounding countryside is carpeted in olive and almond groves, with trees planted in military straight lines where silvery grey leaves and deep orange-hued soil combine to form some of Italy’s most striking landscape. The region’s superb olive oil is present in every facet of cooking here, and many an antipasto has been created from a simple selection of raw vegetables dipped in a small bowl of local olive oil. Fish is abundant, and the freshness of the catch is often celebrated by eating fish marinated (or ceviche-style), be it swordfish, sea bream, shellfish, octopus or the delicious orange flesh of sea urchin so popular along the shores near Bari. Cheese is also excellent, with mozzarella, scamorza and burrata representing some of the favorites, and the region’s vast selection of pasta is of exceptional quality. Meat is usually grilled simply, but no visit to Puglia is complete without a taste of the area’s hard-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside wood -oven-baked bread.

Conversano

The town of Conversano has ancient roots. Once called Norba, it was already inhabited in Paleolithic times, and as a result, it has a rich archaeological heritage. Today in its historic center you can visit palaces, churches, monasteries and take in numerous beautiful works of art. Visit the town’s medieval castle originally built in the 6th century, and its Romanesque cathedral that dates back to the 11th century. Also of interest are the various ancient cave dwellings and churches in the countryside just outside Conversano, some of which still have their original millstones and frescoed walls.

Accommodations

Nestled away in the heart of Puglia’s most beautiful area, your residence is a stylish 4-star villa that has recently undergone tasteful renovations that retained the old-world charm while adding modern amenities. This elegant residence is situated in a historical Medieval courtyard in the center of Conversano and offers dreamy views over the facade of the town’s Romanesque cathedral. Each guest suite offers a large bedroom with a private bath and amenities. Rooms are decorated with comfortable furnishings, and are adorned with vaulted ceilings and wooden beams that add a touch of charm. All rooms are equipped with direct-control air conditioning, satellite TV, direct telephone, security safes, internet connection and a minibar. A solarium terrace, an information and concierge desk, complimentary bikes for each guest’s use, transfer facilities for area excursions, and friendly staff add the finishing touches. A private relaxing shiatsu massage service is also available for each guest in the privacy of their room.

Each morning, a large buffet breakfast is served in the sunny garden room. Enjoy freshly squeezed orange juice, yogurt, a choice of cereals, freshly baked homemade croissants, biscotti, traditional cakes, fresh local cheeses, seasonal fruit, along with cappuccino, coffee and tea. And don’t forget the wonderful spa where you can enjoy a Roman bath, hydromassage or any one of a series of treatments specially designed to sooth, coddle and rejuvenate.

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Itinerary: 8 Days, 7 Nights

Check in Saturday and check out Saturday. Other check-in days may be available upon request, please call for details.

Saturday: Arrival, Tour Conversano & Welcome Dinner

• Arrival to Bari airport and transfer to hotel.
• Check in and relax. The first day begins with a visit of the historic center, including St. Nicholas Cathedral, the Swabian castle, an artisan pastry shop, the traditional orecchiette maker, the fish market, and to Polignano a Mare, a beautiful historic town on the sea.
• Later in the afternoon, take time to relax with an Italian aperitivo.
• In the evening, your Welcome Dinner is served at our favorite ristorante, listed in the prestigious Gambero Rosso. This award-winning restaurant offers a superior menu with an excellent choice of regional and national wines. In the evening, stroll through the lanes of the ancient town, that are particularly charming by moonlight.

Sunday: Cooking Class 1 & Spa Treatment 1

• Breakfast is served.
• Cooking Class 1 set in the country house in Conversano, just one kilometer from the hotel.
• Lunch or dinner follows with the foods prepared in class. Water and local wine included.
• Enjoy the first of your three spa treatments at the villa, and feel your troubles slowly fade away.
• Afterwards, you might want to take a walk through the winding streets of the old town where you can visit the Romanesque Cathedral and Monastery of St. Benedict, and the Norman castle, home to the masterpieces of Paolo Finoglio, 6th-century court painter. His works include: La Gerusalemme Liberata and frescoes in the Baroque church of Saint Cosma and Damiano.
• Dinner on your own.

Monday: Full Day Tour To Ostuni, Montalbano & Fasano

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, departure for Ostuni. Perched on three hills and enclosed by Aragonese walls, the splendid town of Ostuni owes its frame to the way it has developed vertically rather than horizontally and to the blinding white effect given off by the whitewashed walls of its houses. Meander through the ‘white town’, stop for shopping in typical artisan shops and visit the 15th-century cathedral.
• Next comes the town of Montalbano where you’ll visit some of the area’s farmhouses. Take in an ancient underground oil mill, visit the present day Olive Oil Museum inside the St. Lorenzo farmhouse and snack with friselline, a typical local dish dressed with olive oil. Stop for lunch in an old masseria, where you can taste and buy homemade products: virgin olive oil, cheeses, mozzarella, vegetables in oil, cherries and jams.
• In the afternoon, departure for Fasano. Visit the Cantine Borgo Canale, located amid the beautiful scenery of the vine-strewn Canale di Pirro, where dessert and D.O.C. wines will be served.
• Return in the evening to Conversano.

Tuesday: Cooking Class 2 & Spa Treatment 2

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, head off for your Cooking Class 2. Lunch follows with the foods prepared in class. Water and local wine included.
• After lunch, enjoy your next, relaxing Spa treatment. Afternoon free to explore the area on your own, bike or walk through the gardens.
• Dinner on your own.

Wednesday: Free Day Or Add A Visit Matera’s Sassi

• Breakfast is served.
• The day is free to explore on your own, or choose to reserve an optional excursion to Matera. Excursion not included, please call for details.
• Matera and visit Sassi a UNESCO heritage site. Lunch included in a traditional restaurant in the same area of Sassi.
• In the afternoon, visit Noci and visit the Cantine del Barsento. The owners and oenologist will greet you, wine tasting to follow. You will return to Conversano via the scenic route for a panoramic landscape view along the way.
• Dinner is on your own, suggestion: Agriturismo Montepaola, the splendid farm manor dating back to1726. Submerged among the olive groves, vineyards and almond trees, with a façade made of lime-wash and framed by pines, this estate offers appetizers of spring onions with cooked wine, savory ricotta cannoli, green beans and mushrooms with wild fennel. Also suggested is a sweet milk dessert called blancmange (almond cream) and jam, the ideal companion to the homemade rosolio, rose petal liquor.
• Return to the Villa.

Thursday: Market Visit, Cooking Class 3 & Spa Treatment 3

• Breakfast is served.
• In the morning, visit to the Local Market in Piazza Battisti and shop with the Chef for ingredients for your cooking class.
• Return to the villa for your Cooking Class 3, with lunch or dinner following with the foods prepared in class.
• After lunch, enjoy your last, relaxing Spa treatment. Afternoon free to take a stroll, relax or explore your surroundings by bike.
• Dinner on your own.

Friday: Visit Martina Franca, Locorotondo & Alberobello

• Breakfast is served.
• After breakfast, departure for Martina Franca. Stroll through the historical center and visit the main palaces (16th-17th centuries) of notable architectural interest. Visit to the St Martin’s collegiate church, Duke’s Palace, St Dominic’s church and the church of Carmine. Next on to Locorotondo where you will visit to the imposing Cantina Sociale del Locorotondo and enjoy and a tasting of DOC wines with the help of expert sommeliers.
• Lunch in a local trattoria where chef Giovanni’s specialties include orecchiette with meat sauce, strozzapreti with eggplant, mushrooms and speck, and cavatelli with tomatoes and sausage, among others.
• In the afternoon, departure for Alberobello ~ famous for it’s Trulli, cone-shaped houses, traditionally built in the region. Start in the town’s main square and visit to the Trullo Sovrano, D’Amore house, Aia Piccola, medieval-style quarter, Monti quarter as well as a visit to the Trullo Siamese.
• Return to the Villa in the later afternoon.
• Dinner on your own.

Saturday: Departure

• Breakfast served.
• Departure and transfer to Brindisi or Bari airport.

*Note: This schedule may vary due to inclement weather, saint days or festivals. All activities, in the event of rescheduling, are always included during the week.