Culinary Tour to Oaxaca, Mexico
June 2-8, 2009
Jane Butel’s Cooking School announces a very special culinary tour hosted by Jane Butel. This wonderful tour features three hands-on cooking classes, tours of historic sites, market tours and artisan visits..The seven-day tour is outlined in the following itinerary.
Tuesday, June 2
 Group transfer from the Oaxaca airport to the Hotel Aitana, which is a beautiful, centrally located hotel and your home while here. The hotel is a restored 17th century building arranged around an interior patio with columns and fountains – you will feel as if you have entered a Mexican oasis. From the hotel’s terrace you can enjoy a panoramic view of the city. Each of its rooms, gracefully decorated in warm colors, has a bathtub, hair dryer, cable color TV, telephone and safety deposit box. The hotel is only a few minutes’ walk from the magnificent Santo Domingo Convent on the charming walking street, Macedonio Alcala. It is only a few blocks to the Zocalo, where tonight you will feast on a typical Oaxacan meal.
Wednesday, June 3
After breakfast, you will go to the Etla market with Susana Trilling, your hostess, teacher, and owner of Seasons of my Heart Cooking School. Lunch will be included at the market. Then you will continue on to Rancho Aurora, home of Seasons of my Heart Cooking School, where you will have a hands-on cooking class. Dinner will follow the class.
Thursday, June 4
 Following breakfast, we will tour Monte Alban, the one-time holy city of more than 30,000 people, which is now the most well-preserved ruin in the state. Afterwards, visit the village of Santa Maria Atzompa, where beautiful, green glazed pottery is made and we will have lunch, enjoying their famous clayudas with cold cervesas or beverage of choice. You will also stop in the village of Arrazola, where the inhabitants carve brightly colored wooden figures (usually animals). On our way back to town, we will visit the famous black pottery village of San Bartolo de Cayotetepec. Evening on your own.
Friday, June 5
After breakfast, you will go to Susana Trilling’s cooking school. She is the author of “Seasons of My Heart” cookbook and hostess of her PBS series. She will explain details of the smell, flavors and ingredients of Oaxacan cuisine. At her ranch, we will have a demonstration of the famous regional cheeses with a light lunch following using the cheese. Next comes a hands-on cooking lesson, followed by a delicious dinner of the dishes we have just prepared. Return to Oaxaca in the early evening.
Saturday, June 6
Following breakfast, we will depart for Teotitlan de Valle, the heart of the Zapotec rug weaving area. We will be given a tour of the village, seeing demonstrations of how raw wool is processed to create the famous and beautiful naturally dyed wool rugs or tapetes. We will see a small mill where corn is ground to make tortillas, followed by watching them make tortillas for our sampling. Lunch will follow with a demonstration of a pit-barbecued lamb and all the trimmings. On the way back home, we will stop by a Mezcal factory (local tequila) to sample several varieties.
Sunday, June 7
After breakfast, the day is free to tour the local markets, museums and many cultural delights. We will conclude with a wonderful farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
Monday, June 8
After our last delicious breakfast, we will depart in a group for the airport.
Tour Details
The total tour cost (excluding airfare) is $2,300. A single room supplement is an additional $290. The price includes seven days and six night’s accommodations, area excursions including a market visit, three cooking lessons each with a meal, daily breakfasts, lunches and dinners as listed in the itinerary, all ground transportation (including to and from the airport), taxes, tips, and gratuities. Tips to guides not included.
A deposit of $600 per person is due upon reservation. If you choose to pay in full with your reservation, you will receive 10% off the tour cost.
Final payment is due April 2, 2009.
 If you have questions regarding the itinerary or would like to register for the trip please let us know via e-mail or phone –
Farrah (800)-473-8226 jbutel@janebutel.com
Cancellation penalties are as follows:
After deposit $300
30-15 days prior to departure $500
15-7 days prior to departure $1000
Less than seven days before departure – full payment
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