Review By Kathy V. - Bradenton, FL - US (September 2023)
Review by Kathy from Florida
Claudia and her family were wonderful hosts, welcoming us into the family from the start. Valeria, our guide, was lots of fun and full of life. The villa was amazing and the views spectacular.
| Written By: | Kathy V. |
| Rating: | |
| Location: | Bradenton - FL - US |
| Review Source: | Website |
| Type of Traveler: | Friends |
| Itinerary: | Amalfi Coast |
Full Review
The delightful group from CDV combined with the other guests in the villa made this trip a wonderful experience with memories I will cherish forever. Our host, Valeria was very knowledgeable of the area and had countless stories to tell of growing up & living in Naples. She combined interesting facts on the areas we visited with her high energy, in a way that I will remember for a long time. Philomenia, Pepe, Antonio and Vincenzo are all fantastic chefs. Pepe can play the guitar and sing too! The food we were served was superior. And there was so much food! But don't worry, you will work it off climbing all those stairs you will encounter during your visit to the Amalfi Coast. There are so many stairs! Our chefs were open to questions, with answers that sometimes turned into long and very interesting conversations. Claudia worked diligently to ensure we had a great experience. For instance, when the weather caused us to cancel our scheduled Capri trip, Claudia was able to shuffle our schedule so we could still experience all the events on our weekly agenda. This was no easy feat, given the number of vendors she had to contact to make everything come together for us.
Our schedule was created in a way to combine cooking with sightseeing, which was a great plan, but, in my opinion, the plan tried to do too much. The 'cooking' classes at the villa were mainly just prep work. Except for pizza night, we never actually cooked anything. I understand why, as the kitchen was small. It was a home kitchen, not a commercial kitchen. Or this format may have been intentional, so our lunches and dinners could be top notch. But if you are selling the trip as a "Cooking School", eating our mistakes are a part of the learning encounter.
My suggestion to improve the experience: Break us into smaller groups so we could get behind the stove. For example, two boats were needed to get us all to Capri. Instead of everyone going on the same day, one group goes while the other group stays behind to cook the evening meal. Then reverse it the next day. A smaller group would also improve the trip to Capri as well. The lunch at the farm was a fantastic meal and experience, however, with the time it took to walk there and back, plus the time it took to eat the meal, we were left with little to no time to explore the island itself. We never saw the quaint town of Anacapri, nor had the time to ride either the Funicular or the chair lifts. With having to split into multiple taxis, some of us (in the last taxi up) only had about 15 minutes of free time to spend in Capri. The day was just too much 'traveling' and not enough 'seeing'. I would have preferred to skip the farm luncheon thereby allowing more time to explore the island.
Some people book this type of vacation for the wine, some for the food and some for the sightseeing. Overall, CDV tries to accommodate everyone. By doing that, both the cooking portions and the excursion portions fell short of expectations and ended up feeling rushed. The only thing that wasn't quick, was the amount of wine available all the time! I understand this is part of the Italian culture and I'm not saying it should be reduced in any way. Nonetheless, not everyone drinks an abundance of wine or limoncello and it would have been nice to have some non-alcoholic drinks options, (other than water), to choose from. Thankfully, Claudia was able to fulfill my request for soda.
The group from CDV shared their love, time, hearts and knowledge with us to make our time with them an amazing experience. You will not be disappointed. I look forward to exploring CDV's other locations. Maybe Scilly or Tuscany next!
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| Sample Photo from this Itinerary |