I'd like to take a one-week culinary vacation either thru a school or tour for the tuscany or northern italy (ie piedmont)area. Does anyone know of any good options? I dont want to spend more than $2,000 with air. Thanks in advance.

have a look at this Anna <BR> <BR>http://cookforfun.shawguides.com/

it's a lot more expensive, but you might want to find out about famous cookbook author Giuliano Bugialli's cooking school in Florence, 212/813-9552 ($3600/week in 1998, NOT including air). fabulous.

When I started looking for cooking classes in Paris, I got really good at web searching, and found this (for future reference, of course): <BR>http://www.cookitaly.com/

Thanks everyone for your advice. The websites especially are excellent!!!! Anna

Way over budget (can you splurge or wait and save up?) is Lorenza de Medici's Badia al Coltibuono Cooking School in Chianti. Neighbors did it last year and we are still hoping to make it soon. It sounded like a dream week!

well, i didn't even bother to mention it in my last posting, considering anna's budget, but i was lucky enough to attend the cooking school at badia a coltibuono, and it was the experience of a lifetime. dinners in the homes of her friends--one night in a manor used in the film 'Stealing Beauty', incredible frescos; one night in an art-filled home with a collection of antique puppet theaters. very good teaching--we learned classics like risotto and rolling pasta dough out like a balloon stretched across a big round table. excursions to siena and sights around chianti. wine and olive oil tastings with coltibuono's own products. wonderful.

Candy, I'm taking cooking classes in Paris, so I'd like to know if I'll be able to use what I learn. Were you able to use what you learned at Badia a Coltibuono in your own kitchen? Were there things you'd wished you'd asked?

elvira, <BR>i'm embarrassed to tell you that i don't cook very much, except for fancy dinner parties a few times a year, and so have not had much of a chance to try out my lessons. but what i learned from lorenza was how to lighten up about precision--that the important thing was to get a feel for cooking, for example to stir til the consistency was right, not for x amount of time or strokes. i remember very well making the risotto, which she talked us through as we added ladlesful of liquid and then waited for the consistency to become right as the rice soaked up the liquid before we added another, and i remember what it looked like. I took notes on all the recipes that she gave us to follow along on, all the little hints she gave us, so when i do get around to making the recipes i hope it'll all come back to me. Lorenza's school is a total experience, with the cooking just one part. if you go to a more formal cooking school, you may find yourself coming out with more to show for your time than a wonderful memory. I did ask tons of questions as the lessons went along, like why do you need to add this or do that, and i think i drove her a little nuts sometimes, but i recommend it--if you're allowed, ask as the questions occur to you, or you'll forget. anyway, have a great time. you at least should eat well!