An Italian Vacation...that cooks.

Imaginary Me on a Vespa - the guy came with the picture
Ok. Picture me - well, I'll picture me and you picture you - whizzing around the hills of Sorrento, Italy on my very own little Vespa.  I've just checked in to the sweetest little boutique hotel at the top of the hill.  I'm surrounded by unbelievable panoramic views.  I can see the Gulf of Napoli and the Gulf of Solerno - I can even see Capri and Positano from here.  The hotel is called Oasi Olympia Relais.  It's a renovated ancient colonial house built in 1892. I can choose either a suite with those amazing views or my own cottage complete with it's own kitchen.  Maybe I'll choose the cottage so I can try out my new recipes, because this hotel also has it's own cooking school.

Oasi Olympia Relais

I can learn how to make pasta, gnocchi, stuffed Napoletan style squid (well, maybe I'll skip that class) and other classic dishes using organic ingredients from the estate’s own gardens. I can take a whole week of classes or just one. The classes are taught by the hotel's Chef Carmen. She learned to cook (like all good Italian girls) in her mama's kitchen.

The Kitchen
Chef Carmen
 After class, we'll take our freshly prepared dishes out on to the veranda, open a few bottles of wine and enjoy.  After dinner, I'll hop back on my Vespa, feel the wind in my hair, and head down the hill for more shopping or maybe I'll just unwind by the pool and enjoy the view.  What a marvelous vacation and those recipes will be a one-of-a-kind souvenir.
http://www.oasiolimpiarelais.it/
Posted by NAOMI THOMPSON at 11:18 PM

2 comments:

earrin said...

This looks amazing - I'm thinking a girls trip in a few years???

September 16, 2010 at 4:17 PM
NAOMI THOMPSON said...

Absolutely!!! Wouldn't it be so much fun? Shopping, cooking and eating. I love all of those things.

September 16, 2010 at 9:06 PM

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I didn’t dip my toe in an ocean until I turned 25 and my friend Sandy and I traveled to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico. After that week, I was hooked. I loved being somewhere new; smelling the smells, tasting new food, seeing how other people lived. It energized me. As luck would have it, I landed a job that allowed me to travel all over the US and often to Canada. Being a sports event television producer, I was on the road all the time. That's when my love affair with travel began. Now, its 20 years later and still no one gets more “geeked up” about planning a vacation than I do. All I need is a destination and some travel companions and my fire is lit! I start delving into my favorite hotel sites, sifting through photos and reviews, comparing, contrasting -it’s like an addiction. The travel shows with tips and trends? I study them like a playbook. I LOVE doing the things most people hate doing before they go on vacation. Whether it be searching for a food tasting tour with a local or discovering a romantic B&B in the middle of New York - I’ve found it and I’ll share it with you. So....where should we go?