Gourmet Tour No 3
2016
It is that time of the year again! Time to plan the autumn cooking tour. This year it is turn to visit beautiful coast Croatia and picturesque lakes and mountains of Slovenia- while tasting their supreme cuisine: wines, truffles, olive oil and ham. Welcome to the cooking tour 2016!
Arrival at Zagreb airport and transfer to Rovinj. Before you enjoy tasty dinner in Rovinj old town, you’ll have organized walking tour of Rovinj. On the seaside, the town is protected by a high rocky shore and house walls built on cliffs, while the mainland side is protected by solid walls. The town is dominated by the baroque St. Euphemia’s Church, its 60-meter tower providing a view of grey and red rooftops and chimneys, streets and squares, the port and pier with ships and boats, and the marina harbouring yachts. This unique old town core, built upon a rich fishermen’s tradition, it has become distinctive for its unique boat called batana and its songs bitinada. Its beauty was particularly appreciated by artists who have painted the most beautiful motifs here and exhibited them on Grisia, the street of artists. Overnight at the hotel.
Today we’ll take breakfast at the hotel before heading out to Buzet region. Morning »TRUFFLE EXPERIENCE« TRUFFLE FARM. You will have the opportunity to meet with the hunters and their dogs, hear about tradition of seeking truffles in Istria and the general history of truffles and even try short hunting with dogs in the nearby forest.
Welcome schnapps aperitif followed by a tasting of truffle products. You will have a chance to participate in preparation famous scrambled eggs with truffles, a real delicacy. The food will be accompanied by local wines from their cellar. Enjoy sightseeing tour of Motovun before lunch in one of the local restaurants of your choice. Enjoy time at leisure in old town before returning to hotel. For this evening we have planned culinary class in authentic ambient of central Istria. You’ll learn how to prepare Istrian specialty – Istrian pasta. The overnight stay will be at the hotel.
After the lunch we will head to the first cooking school opened in Serbia to participate Medieval Serbia culinary & wine glass painting workshop at “Il Primo” Cooking school. Of course, you can take your glass with you! If you still have the energy we can walk down the Belgrade streets to feel the charm of old European town in the dusk. Time to sleep! To check out the hotel, click here.
After breakfast we are heading to another culinary experience. We will visit an olive oil farm in South of Istria. Guided visit of the olive trees plantation and guided olive oil tasting. We haven’t forgotten about famous National Park Brijuni. Free time for lunch. In the late afternoon we will visit cheese factory. Overnight will be at the hotel.
After breakfast it’s off to the Laguna vineyards where, conditions permitting, you’ll take part in the harvest combined with picnic. In Istria the wine growers have a double blessing: a diversity of soils and positions appropriate to various varieties, indigenous and international; perfect climatic conditions on geographic positions where Alpine and Mediterranean climates meet. The vineyards of Vina Laguna on the various Istrian terroirs have been selected and cultivated precisely with the intention of emphasising these boons. Our guide will take us to vineyard and let us do some grape harvesting. Then we will have a lunch in the winery followed by wine tasting. Afternoon is reserved for picturesque city Porec on the Adriatic coast, were we will enjot a guided walk and coffee at one of the town cafes. We will then continue our tour toward Slovenia, but we will make importance stop at famous winery in Buje region. Overnight at the hotel.
After the breakfast in the hotel, we’ll depart towards picturesque Bled Lake with private coach and English speaking guide. There we will take traditional boat ride to Bled island, where we will visit St. Maria church and Clock tower. After the tour you will enjoy in demonstration of “potica” preparation and sampling of various types of “potica”. After demonstration we will entrance to Bled castle, where in the breathtaking castle restaurant lunch will be held (3 course meal, with Bled signature dessert). At the afternoon we’ll depart towards Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia where you will have a walking tour. Overnight at the hotel in Strunjan.
In the morning, after breakfast and morning hike upon the Adriatic sea, accompanied by guide, we will visit beautiful region Kras, where we will make a stop in local “Gostilna” to try Krast dried ham sampling, and to visit drying factory. Here we will have a lunch with typical Karst dishes. After lunch we will head to the worldćs second biggest cave Postojinska jama. The evening in hotel is an opportunity for you to relax and charge yourself with a positive energyin hotel spa enjoying the indoor and outdoor swimming pools with heated seawater, saunas, a fitness room, a health and physiotherapy centre and the Salia Spa Centre. Overnight at the hotel.
After breakfast in the hotel, we will head to one of the most beautiful natural reservoirs and oldest national parks in Europe, as well as UNESCO world heritage site-Plitvice lakes. It is a complex of 16 lakes and hundreds of waterfalls that you can walk upon crossing the wooden paths and bridges. It is a perfect way to spend all the calories we have accumulated over the days- hiking in the nature. As the sun goes down we will head back to Zagreb and have dinner in one of the city restaurants and enjoy Zagreb at night.
Before departure we will have the chance to tour Zagreb in the morning and do last minute shopping before heading to the close-by airport.