Single travellers

Hi Mark,
Terry Kerins here, just giving you a bit of feedback on my A Taste of Rome Italian cooking holiday experience . I really enjoyed the weekend, the set up of the whole course was very well organised, with just enough free time and just enough emphasis on the cookery aspect of it. The food was fab, and everyone we came across great fun and very friendly. I especially enjoyed the wine tasting evening, even though I thought I wouldn't be able to face another bite after our five course lunch in Gusto al Borgo. I have loads of photos if you fancy having a look at any of them for your website etc, just let me know and I can send you on the slightly less dodgy ones!!! Terry.

Terry Kerrins ~ Cork










At A Taste of Rome Italian Cooking holidays , we have a policy of NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENTS



Probably 70% of our guests come along by themselves and for this reason we dont charge a single supplement . For all our guests we hope we create an atmosphere where you would feel safe and very much at home in a very comfortable place and amongst friends .











This was the experience of a guest who came along by herself and stayed with us in Casperia on our Italian cooking weekend in the Summer of 2008








Travels to Casperia for an Italian Cookery holiday experience of a lifetime.




I had a dream of going to Italy to learn how to cook just like the Italians cook , and I found that place with a company by the name of A Taste of Rome www.atasteofrome.com . Casperia a completely traffic free Medieval hilltop village of outstanding beauty , with views to die for of the gently rolling hills of the Sabina countryside . A village dating back more than a thousand years and this is were I spent the most wonderful weekend of my life .

After trawling through what seemed like hundreds of websites on the internet for Italian cooking holidays , I came across a very unasuming website , www.atasteofrome.com and I knew immediately that this was the place for me. Not only was the price right , and the fact that there was no single supplements but the whole feel of the cooking holiday that they described seemed perfect for a long weekend in Italy. From the photos to the visitors comments , all came across as if they not only liked but were in love with this place . I was a single traveller and a little concerned about going away by myself , but from the moment I spoke to Mark ( he is the owner of A Taste of Rome ) I felt immediately at ease as he explained exactly what the weekend entailed and what I would get for my money . I was told that the group of 8 had 6 single travellers on my particular weekend and virtually all having the same reservations about coming along by themselves . We needed not to have worried , I and some of the my other fellow guests took the train from Rome Fiumicino airport upto the local station of Poggio Mirteto and there waiting for us was the lovely Roberto and immediately we all felt as if we were being welcomed by a friend . He whisked us the 15 mins drive to Casperia before slowing down when the village came into view , and what a view , this was a seriously beautiful village .

We knew that were no roads or cars in Casperia, but be warned , there are a lot of steps ! The whole village is a labyrinth stuffed full of Medieval Palazzos , one of these Palazzos was our base for the weekend . Our 15c Palazzo was simply perfect . A former Roman noblemans family house which had completely restored by the very same , Roberto . He is an architect with wonderful eye for detail , and having gutted the place , set about restoring it to its former glory, original frescos included. The moment we stepped into the most welcoming guest living room , with its very comfortable and stylish furnishings , we felt immediately at home , it was impossible not to . All the guests bedrooms led off from the living room , and as it was late summer and still very warm , the rooms wonderful and cool and they were just as I had hoped , my haven for the weekend .

Early that evening we met the aforementioned Mark in Johnny’s wine bar , now this place is something to see, a tiny cantina in the base of a Palazzo , a bit like a bat cave but it was fantastic . It was proseccos all round as we all met and got to know each other and then it was down the steps for the ‘welcome dinner’ at the local trattoria , and what a dinner , very rustic food to say the least , but the array of antipastis , primos and secondi were things that you would never see in an Italian restaurant back home in England. This was the real deal as far as authentic Italian food was concerned , no garlic bread in sight ! the antipasti alone could have fed an whole army . The fresh pasta , perfectly ‘al dente’ was something else . Mark then casually informed us , that we would be making fresh pasta , by hand in both of the weekends cooking lessons and … that it would be edible ! That evening set the tone for the weekend, it was a brilliant laugh , the welcome that we had had , the group clicked , maybe something to do with vino or the fact that we all had something in common .

The next day after a lovely breakfast on the terrace overlooking the valley below , we wandered around the villages nooks and crannies and came across the most beautifully positioned bar in Italy . In all my travels around Italy , I never seen a more beautiful spot , the perfect place for a perfect espresso . Sitting there just watching the locals go about things in a very very easy going way , all stopping for a chat to each other with all the time in the world , it was difficult to believe that we had been here less than a day. I felt completely immersed and in tune with the pace of life of the village , not quite a local , but…..

Late afternoon , our first lesson with Genni . I had imagined that I would be nervous but none of us were , Mark had said ‘ its not Masterchef ‘ and the tone of the weekend continued in the lesson , as Genni sang and laughed as we made mistakes , but none of it mattered , we were taken through a full dinner , from Antipasti to Dolce , with fresh pasta Ravioli and meat dishes inbetween . And the beauty of these lessons is you get to eat the fruits of your labour , and even though I say so myself , It was fantastic ! We were given recipes to take home and we all felt that we could make everything that we had prepared at home , the lessons were that well taught . We ate and drank late into the night on the terrace under a night sky were you could see every star in the universe.

Sunday morning , a busy day ahead, we headed down the road to the Il Gusto al borgo agriturismo and a second lesson with Paula , Franco and Gianni and again , a very warm welcome as we filed into their purpose built professional kitchen . Not long before Gianni was acting the fool while Paula taught the lesson , a very different lesson , fresh pasta again ( we’re experts ! ) fettucini this time , then the meats , and onto the mouth watering dolce , all made whilst having the odd glass of vino rosso , like everything else on this agriturismo , made or grown by Paula and Franco. 2000 Olive trees dating back centuries , producing some of the best Extra virgin olive oil in Italy . Sabina as we were to learn later that evening with Johnny , produces wonderful Extra Virgin olive oil , and we just simply poured it over the fresh crusty bread , it was delicious and very morish ! A long leisurely lunch in the sun followed with tastings of home made Limoncello , wonderful wines and desert wines too , it all seemed very civilised and along way from Blighty .

Sunday evening and just a few steps down to Johnny’s wine bar for the Wine and Olive oil tasting . Mark had said it was not going to be too scientific but a great laugh , and it was . Johhny the quentsential Englishman ( he has lived in Italy 30 years I’m told ) gave us the most wonderful evening , taking us on a whirlwind tour of Italy’s wines and had us all tasting Olive oils as if they were wines too , his knowledge is fantastic , his whit something else and along with Carlo on guitar , we sang and drank our way around Italy late into another night . It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend .

We all left the following day not knowing what had hit us , it seemed as we had only just arrived and yet we had packed so much into the weekend and already it was time to go . I was’nt ready to go ! The group of 5 women and 3 men had got on fantastically well , we arrived as complete strangers but left as friends and with great sadness too .

It was truly was a great Italian cooking weekend to remember and something months later that I still giggle about . I will return to this secret place I found in Italy .


S. Allinson ~ A Taste of Rome Italian Cooking holidays in Casperia ~ Summer 2008