Day 1: Arrival – Benvenuto!

• Pro secco and antipasti in the tettoia overlooking the Arno River Valley
  
• A starlit dinner under the vined pergola
  (no instruction today but observation/participation in dinner preparation is welcome!)

Subsequent days will all begin with a continental breakfast. All dinners at Selva will be preceded by a tasting of regional wines or food specialties, and one night will be pizza night using the wood-burning oven. Your experience is expanded by visits to especially selected restaurants for two lunches and one dinner.

The estate is strategically placed on the Strada del Vino for the Colline Lucchese DOC wines, and excursions every week will include two wineries and an olive oil mill. You will also have opportunities for trips into Lucca for sightseeing and shopping.

Day 2:

• The week starts slowly with a morning walk through olive groves and vineyards to the shepherd’s house for fresh ricotta. During the walk we search for herbs and wild greens to add to our day’s dishes, finnochio, nipotella, ortiche, and many others.
  
• Back at Selva, you have your first instruction and prepare lunch, featuring that exquisite ricotta.
  
• An afternoon break allows for jetlag recovery: snooze in the sun/ walk/read/visit/contemplate the cypresses/sip a little vino
  
• A late afternoon wine-tasting class will be followed by today’s instruction and dinner preparation
  
• Your first full day closes with candlelight dinner under the pergola

Day 3:

• A trip to Lucca for market day, a walk on its fabled walls, an introduction to its special sites, and an exploration of the many specialty food and kitchen shops
  
• You’ll have lunch at an small osteria featuring local cucina, followed by a visit to a Lucchese villa and garden, with emphasis on herbs and kitchen garden
  
• A return to Selva in time for a tasting of Italian olive oils
  
• Instruction and dinner preparation is followed by dinner al fresco.

Day 4:

• A day of concentration on the special delights of the Italian cucina begins with instruction and lunch preparation.
  
• A leisurely lunch in the shade may be followed by another opportunity to hike, lounge in the sun, or read in the cozy library.
  
• Later in the afternoon, you have the opportunity to visit a local winery for a tour and tasting.
  
• That night you dine at a restaurant that illustrates the best in Tuscan cooking, with their use of regional ingredients and herbs.

Day 5:

• A return to Lucca for more chances to buy that Italian kitchen item you always wanted, or regional food specialties; duck into that little church you missed last time; taste-test a few gelati; or simply sit and sip a cappuccino and watch Italians go by.
  
• Lunch is at an enoteca where we sample wine and regional salumis and cheeses.
  
• A late afternoon return to Selva to prepare dough for tomorrow’s “Bread Day”.
  
• For dinner, a local pizzaiola (pizzamaker) works with you to make your favorite pizza combo.
  
• Your pizza dinner is followed by a grappa tasting.

Day 6:

• It’s bread day! You lunch is prepared for you as you concentrate on making dough for winemaker’s bread with grapes, or bread with olives, and foccacia. Selva’s bread oven is used to create the special taste of bread baked in a wood-fired oven.
  
• In the “‘old days” of community ovens, bread day was the only day the family could have a baked or roasted dinner. To complete the bread day tradition, you prepare ‘arrosti’, Italian baked dishes, which are slipped into the oven after the bread is baked. As the oven slowly cools down, your dinner reaches a height of savory tenderness.
  
• While the bread oven finishes its day’s work, you perk up our palates with a tasting of balsamicos.
  
• You enjoy the results of your ‘bread day’ under the pergola.

Day 7:

• A last intensive day begins with instruction and lunch preparation, followed by lunch al fresco.
  
• During your afternoon break, you visit the Forci fattoria, for an opportunity to taste and purchase the estate’s wine, olive oil, honey, olives, vinegar, grappa, and other products.
  
• Returning to Selva, you are introduced to a variety of local cheeses and their natural accompaniments, following by instruction and dinner preparation.
  
• Our final gala dinner in the traditional spot, under the pergola.

Day 8:

• After breakfast, we wish you buon viaggio ed arrivederci. Speriamo che ci vediamo presto. We hope to see you again soon.