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Benvenuti to Cositutti
Miei Amici
Each year as I travel to Italy on my Annual Fall Buying Trip, I realize that place matters. Relationships developed and business contacts made over the last 10 years have given me an opportunity to bring a unique selection of artisan Italian food products and handcrafted items to CosituttiMarketPlace. This trip promises to be another taste and travel adventure with more of Emilia Romagna to taste, termes and truffles in Tuscany and a return trip to the Veneto.
After 10,000 miles traveling, eating, cooking and shopping in Northern Italy, Tuscany and Umbria with my Italian family and friends I've seen and experienced a lot of what Italy has to offer. The foods and products brought to CosituttiMarketPlace come with my shared experiences so that you will know the particular and unique nature of what you buy.
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Cooking in Emilia
On last years buying trip Cositutti came upon an extraordinary place that was to become a source for one of CosituttiMarketPlace's most popular olive oils, Colli Etruschi Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It was one of the featured oils used in the taverna at Castello Gropparello where Rita Trecci Gibelli magically transforms the regional cooking of Emila Romagna into the most memorable of meals.This year I am fortunate to be able to cook with Rita in the kitchens of Gropparello. I hope I'm up to the task because the cuisine of Emilia Romagna is among the finest in the world.
*The region has over 13 Strade dei vini e dei sapori (Wine and Flavor Roads) that run along 2,000 km (over 1,240 miles) with over 1,000 destinations between commercial farms, wineries, milk and cheese factories, bed & breakfasts, agriturismos and artisans' shops.
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Truffles and Termes in Tuscany 
Every year I try to find time to visit one of the many termes found throughout Italy. The natural hot springs are a perfect rest stop after driving through the hilltowns of Tuscany. Last year I was at Bagno Vignoni, a Tuscan terme little changed from the time when St. Catherine of Siena stopped there. Many of these termes are said to have medicinal properties. The ancient Etruscans and Romans were well aware of the curative powers of the waters at Bagno Vignoni where princes, popes and pilgrims were frequent visitors as they traveled along the "Via Francigena" on their way from Canterbury to Rome.
When I'm in Tuscany, I'll be staying in San Giovanni d' Asso, a small medieval town in the valley of the Asso River. Located 30 km southeast of Siena, the area is well know for several termes including Rapolano Terme popular since the third century. Known for it's anti-cellulite cures, weight loss, post-partum and anti-stress cures and general all around good time, the terme is not far from the village with it's 12th century castle. Within easy reach of Florence, Siena, Arezzo, and Lucca there are many traditional shops selling the excellent local produce, along with Italy's only truffle museum. I don't think I can go wrong here.
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| Places that Matter
Hotel Nuovo Rondo in Sesto San Giiovanni near Milano. . an Italian hotel with a home town feel and ease of access to Milan Centro
Castello Gropparello in Emilia Romagna . . the evocative atmosphere of a fairy tale castle paired with the foods of Emilia Romagna
Lodole Country House . . .a charming bed and breakfast among the windswept hills south of Bologna with a most gracious host who makes her guests feel as if she has been waiting for them to arrive and welcome them home
Tenuta di Capezzana . . . a Medici villa and estate farm south of Florence that has been producing olive oil since the year 980
Chianti Cashmere Company . . .on a farm in Radda in Chianti, hand woven Cashmere scarves and shawls and handcrafted soaps are made from the Chianti Cashmere Goats that freely roam the Tuscan hillside
To visit more places that matter click here
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| Cositutti in Italy
2009 Itinerary
Milano
(Lombardia)
Portogruaro
Venice
(Veneto)
Bologna
Cinque Valle Bolognesi
Modena
Monzuno
Gropparello
(Emilia Romagna)
San Giovanni di Asso
Radda in Chianti
Rapolono Terme
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