Silversea Cruises offers Slow Food Cruise Tours in Tuscany Foodies sailing on Silversea Cruises are in for a treat. The luxury cruise line is offering a three-night sojourn into the Tuscan countryside for a pre or post cruise experience celebrating Slow Food. For those not familiar with the Slow Food concept, it is a [...]
Silversea Cruises offers Slow Food Cruise Tours in Tuscany
Foodies sailing on Silversea Cruises are in for a treat. The luxury cruise line is offering a three-night sojourn into the Tuscan countryside for a pre or post cruise experience celebrating Slow Food.
Castello Banfi vineyard estate in Montalcino, Tuscany
For those not familiar with the Slow Food concept, it is a culinary movement that aims to bring food to consumers that is locally grown and close to source. The Slow Food movement aims to promote sustainable foods while promoting local small businesses. Darius Mehta, Silversea’s vice president of air and land programs sees this tour as a “an excellent opportunity for foodies and travelers alike to discover the beauty, food, tradition and culture of Tuscany, while also gaining greater insight into the principles of the Slow Food movement.”
Foodies sailing on Silversea Cruises are in for a treat. The luxury cruise line is offering a three-night sojourn into the Tuscan countryside for a pre or post cruise experience celebrating Slow Food.
Highlights of the 3-day Slow Food tour in the Brunello region of Tuscany include:
- Three nights lodging at Il Borgo, Castello
- Cooking class, where participants will learn to prepare typical Tuscan specialties with the help of Silversea’s own culinary team
- In-depth tour of the Castello Banfi winery
- A full-day tour of Slow Food-recommended vineyards, olive groves, farms or other traditional food-producing operations in and around Bolgheri
Priced from $3,599 per guest (based on double occupancy), the Slow Food tour is offered as a pre-cruise option on Silver Wind’s April 30 voyage (#2212), Rome to Venice, and Silver Spirit’s October 22 sailing (#5233) from Rome to Barcelona. It’s also available as a post-cruise option on Silver Wind’s April 17 voyage (#2210), Barcelona to Rome.
Culinary Enrichment at Sea The Relais & Châteaux cooking school at sea offered on my 12 day Silversea Cruises voyage in China has been quite informative. Yesterday our visiting L’Ecole des Chefs culinary expert gave a fantastic culinary demonstration featuring Asian Style Salmon with Stir Fried Cabbage. In addition we had a lesson in making [...]
Culinary Enrichment at Sea
The Relais & Châteaux cooking school at sea offered on my 12 day Silversea Cruises voyage in China has been quite informative. Yesterday our visiting L’Ecole des Chefs culinary expert gave a fantastic culinary demonstration featuring Asian Style Salmon with Stir Fried Cabbage. In addition we had a lesson in making Asian-styled veal dumplings.
Veal dumpling making.
The Relais & Châteaux cooking school is designed exclusively for Silversea by Relais & Châteaux and hosted by Silversea’s Culinary Trainer, Chef David Bilsland.
Executive Chef David Bilsland has worked at top top establishments in the UK, including the Waldorf Hotel, Langans Brasserie and Stringfellows
Chef David used bamboo, eggplant, and local dumpling wrappers that he purchased in Shanghai with some guests that choose to shop with the chef.
Slicing the salmon to insert fresh pickled ginger.
Chef David, who has worked with Silversea since March 2007, is fun to watch and a wonderful teacher. Chef David is knowledgeable yet he is able to convey complex cooking technique to guests in a manner that is easy to understand. I am hoping to replicate what I learned when I get home, which should be easy since I have a recipe card and detailed instructions, thanks to Chef.
Market to Plate: showing bamboo that was purchased in a local Shanghai food market.
Chef David was educated in classical French cooking at Thames Valley University, completing advanced Chef Diplomas in both Cuisine and Patisserie.
Happening Now
- Going ashore with Silversea Cruises: Jiangyin, China on the Yangtze River
- Going ashore with Silversea Cruises: The water town of Zhujiajiao
- Photo recap of Shanghai’s top sites
- Exploring ashore with Silversea Cruises in Qingdao, China
- Qingdao China cruise port overview
- Pre cruise photo recap: 24 hours in Seoul, South Korea
- Cruise Review Silversea Cruises Voyage 3126
Jiangyin, China: where a Silversea Cruises guest meets old and new. Tracing roots back 5000 years, Jiangyin is comprised of 16 towns. Known in Chinese as shade of river, Jiangyin is a remote area along the Yangtze River. Thanks to complimentary shuttle service provided by Silversea Cruises, I was able to forego the two shore [...]
Jiangyin, China: where a Silversea Cruises guest meets old and new.
Tracing roots back 5000 years, Jiangyin is comprised of 16 towns. Known in Chinese as shade of river, Jiangyin is a remote area along the Yangtze River.
Thanks to complimentary shuttle service provided by Silversea Cruises, I was able to forego the two shore excursion options for Jiangyin, to explore the city on my own.
After a twenty-minute bus ride, I arrived at a busy shopping district, which was adjacent to Zhonghan Park.
Power to the people
One of many pagodas inside Zhongshan Park.
Built in 2002, Zhonghan Park, is the park of the people. ?The park boasts many attractions: an amusement park, a Confucian temple, public works of art, and many places for locals to gather to talk, play cards and to listen to live musical performances.
Designated as a cultural resort, this government run facility was filled with locals who were not used to seeing foreigners. It was easy to spot fellow passengers in the mix, since we were definitely in the minority.
Statues symbolizing the contributions of the people are plentiful in the park.
Visiting the square was exciting because it was an opportunity to be in what I might call the real China. Being a blond among people with black hair caused double-takes from locals who were not accustomed to Westerners. I felt like a rock-star.
Once I mastered the art of not looking directly into the peering eyes of locals, I was impressed by the architecture of the park.
East meets West: Times Square in the Yangtze River delta
Outside the park is what I might call the Chinese version of Times Square. Flashing lights, loud music, shopping, restaurants, and traffic were a sharp contrast to life within the confines of Zhongshan Park.
Sail along with me….
- Going ashore with Silversea Cruises: The water town of Zhujiajiao
- Photo recap of top sites in Shanghai
- Exploring ashore with Silversea Cruises in Qingdao, China
- Qingdao China cruise port overview
- Pre cruise photo recap: 24 hours in Seoul, South Korea
- Cruise Review Silversea Cruises Voyage 3126
