Join us in Italy for Terra Madre/Slow Food in Torino, Barolo in Piemonte and the secrets of Milano!

Join  J E T S E T WISDOM this fall in Italy for the biennial Slow Food/Slow Wine and Terra Madre at Salone Internazionale del Gusto in Torino, the Truffle Fair in Alba, Piemonte l’Osterie & Le Vinerie and three days discovering the secret jewels of Milano including a day trip to the Lake District.  

Dates are October 23-November 1, 2014.

Leaving the US or Canada on Wednesday October 22, and arriving in Italy on Thursday, October 23, we will be either meeting in Torino at our chic, artsy albergo, or at a pre-arranged location at MXP Malpensa airport for the 1.5 hour drive to Torino.  After check-in you will have the option of a late afternoon tour of this baroque beauty called Torino, followed by a welcome local Piemontese dinner.  Get familiar with the city of Torino and rest up for the Opening Day of Salon del Gusto- you will need comfortable walking shoes for our next three days.

The next two days will be spent at the Slow Food/Terra Madre Salone del Gusto show.
 J E T S E T WISDOM has your tickets purchased for unlimited entry, and will include  two special event programs (TBD) for our  group.  Slow Food is not just about Italy, although the 20 regions in Pavilions 1, 2 and 3 of  the Salone del Gusto could fill your entire two days if you wish! The OVAL holds food producers from over 5 continents.  

The Show is over 65,000 square meters, and showcases almost one thousand food producers, as well as 1200 wine labels that participate in the Vini Slow program.  

Our 3 days will start with transportation from our hotel to the Lingotto Fiere, location of the Salone del Gusto. The show is open from 11-11, and our hotel is conveniently located so you may come back, relax, and choose to return to the show in the evenings.  Saturday evening will be dinner in Torino, after a final aperitivo.  Breakfast is included each morning at our hotel,  WIFI is available for a nominal fee.

Leaving Torino on Sunday after breakfast, we will continue into Piemonte and arrive at the Alba Truffle Fair held only on a select few Sundays.  Spending the afternoon in this quaint but vibrant city, we will arrive in time for an aperitivo and dinner in La Morra, our home for the next 3 nights.  Full breakfast and wifi included.

Long time friend, author of The Mystique of Barolos, winemaker in  Langhe, Maurizio Rosso last fall.

Monday and Tuesday we will explore the wines of Piemonte with a private driver, staying at a perfectly situated and appointed,  Corte Gondina in La Morra  (which was reviewed recently in the Wine Spectator).  La Morra is located in the centre of the Barolo area of Langhe, and produces over 40% of the Barolo wines.  The town is full of jewels -   lovely trattorie and shops, with walking trails through the local wineries.  Dinner is included Sunday and Tuesday,  however, Monday dinner* will be on your own.  

We will stop for lunch at local Osterie along our wine routes both days and will be included.  Our region is renowned for both Roero (whites) and the long heady line of Barolos.

Wednesday morning we will leave after breakfast for our final three days in Milano. On the way, we will stop into BRA, the city that began The Slow Food Movement.  

Milano resonates with sophistication, beauty, art, fashion and architecture. One of my all time favorites to explore.  Next three nights, we will be staying right up the street from famous PECK and the Biblioteca-Pinacoteca Ambrosiana. 

Minutes from La Scala, The Duomo and bohemian La Brera, you will feel at home in this small private hotel, sharing harmony, culture and silence.  Dinner together and prepare for a Thursday filled with exploring the Design capital of the world.  Milan promotes several very small and private museums, housed in grand Palazzi locally, we’ll fit in at least two, and a stop at the Castello Sforzesco before a walk through Parc Sempione’s Trienelle Museum.  

We will have an aperitivo atop La Rinascente department store overlooking the Duomo.  Thursday Dinner* on our own most likely at a spot in La Brera.    Final day of Friday is on your own:  can be spent either going to an outlet shopping village outside of Milano, a train up to the Lake District - think Garda, Maggiore or simply boat to Bellagio, (an hour away by train), seeing The Last Supper, or just exploring more of Milan and picking up last minute gifts and shoes (!)   Private aperitivo on our balcony looking over Milan before a final dinner at one of  my very favorite spots, included.

Flight home on Saturday, drivers will be arranged at approximately Euro 20 per person to Malpensa, upon request.

9 nights, 10 days.  Inclusive of almost all meals  (except denoted by *), with wine and water and gratuity, entry to Slow Food for three days,  two special event programs within the Salone del Gusto, Terra Madre, lodging in charming 4* hotels with double occupancy (single occupancy available upon request at an additional fee), transfers and transport in a private limo throughout Piemonte Wineries and  from Torino  and back through to Milan hotel.  Airfare and airport transfers are not included, nor is travel insurance, which I would recommend. Please be advised that this tour is composed of a lot of walking, especially at the Salone del Gusto.  There is minimal seating at the Show, unless you are in a conference or pre-arranged venue, lunch, dinner, etc

A deposit of 50% is required to hold your spot.  This trip will be limited to a small number of 8-10 people.  Credit Cards and Paypal accepted.  3% discount for cash.  Please email Claudia Wisdom-Good at jetsetwisdom@gmail.com for further information, questions and an application form.  

Don’t miss out - Terra Madre/Slow Food is only every two years -this Jetset WISDOM trip will not  be repeated until 2016!

Notes on a Concept

"WHERE DO I END AND YOU BEGIN" was the title of the recent Edinburgh Art Festival in Scotland.  The title of the show, from work by Shilpa Gupta, India, was explored with the five commonwealths invited to co-curate the show:  Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and of course, the United Kingdom.
The "curation" started over a year ago in Edinburgh, when the Director of the EAF, friend, Sorcha Carey, invited this stellar group to thinktank with the words "common"and "wealth" coupled with the concept of  "being in common" in a truly global world.   The project comprised of recent works by over twenty artists.

My favorites pieces seen on my tour with Sorcha  on August 25th were from New Delhi's Masooma Syed (I am not from the North...) South Africa's Kay Hassan (My Father's Music Room) and Canadian, Rebecca Belmore (Fringe), oh, and the beautiful blue-eyed, kilted, and bejewelled, tammed and bearded stranger. 

Diverse still 'life', as per last week's lecture series, by Leslie Barham of Firnew Farm Artists Circle, on STILL LIFE - need not be on a flat surface.  The City Art Centre was alive with video, photography, textile; and on site at the Old Royal High School was an install called The Sovereign Forest, investigating mining resources and privatization in the eastern Indian state of Odisha.
My Father's Music Room depicted a reconstruction/still life of how music has always been a central componenet with blacks and working class communities, even though in South African's case, through very supressive regimes.

Massoma's 3d multi media delighted with five structures from discarded cardboard Scotch drink packaging and other collage from her private collection, depicted 'spirit' both the intoxicating scotch drink (made in Scotland and India), and also the notion of spirit of the divine.  It was a collision of histories, cities, and racism all arriving on the same stage.

FRINGE from Belmore is a large reclining nude woman with a deep scar down her back - appears at first as blood - but was really a wound sutured with beadwork - suggestive of a process of healing, and referencing the Anishinaabe tradition.

The AEF runs the month of August in Edinburgh Scotland, in conjunction with the FRINGE Festival throughout thirty locations, including the Old Royal High School to small galleries across the city and most public museums.  Join us next year with Jetset Wisdom.  www.edinburghartfestival.org. More on the FRINGE later,