Musa was born with the aim to add to the online Italian classes an ambitious study-abroad project in Cilento: tourist packages that alternate full immersion in the Italian language in stages and excursions to the most beautiful places in Cilento with tasting workshops dedicated to the best local food and wine tradition.
Cilento is an area approximately two hours south of the Amalfi Coast by car. It presents the wilder, untouched nature of Southern Italy, and is also known for the Archeological Park of Paestum (where three magnificent UNESCO Greek temples stand), an amazing National Park and – of course – the beautiful coastal beach town of Palinuro.
However, there is one more great reason to visit the Cilento Coast, and it has to do with WWII and an American doctor: it has to do with a world-famous diet. Cilento is the birthplace of the Mediterranean Diet: it all started here by a US military doctor named Ancel Keys, a physiologist and nutritionist who moved with his wife in this area after the war. His research showed that it was the diet of these people and keeping an active lifestyle that made for this healthy elderly population.
This “Tourism Mission” will be an experiential proposal for families and children. The base, and it could not be otherwise, is Palinuro and, in particular, the Grand Hotel San Pietro, a welcoming four-star hotel also equipped with an area for language lessons.
The packages promoted by Musa are organized between the end of September and the first days of June, just outside the summer tourism and flows related to the Christmas and Easter holidays, when Cilento is literally stormed.
The excursions are concentrated between Paestum, Padula and, of course, all of Cilento, with their historical and naturalistic beauties and food and wine excellences. But there are also stops in the Cilento hinterland, such as the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park and numerous sites of historical and archaeological interest.
Your week in Cilento will include quick Basic Italian lessons (one per day), a tour to Capo
Palinuro and its beautiful grottos on a boat, some hands-on cooking experiences, “wine-tours”, a “Lamparata” (a nocturnal fishing experience with the local fishermen), and then guided tours to a “Caseificio” (mozzarella factory!), to the Archeological areas of Paestum and Velia, to a “Terracotta” lab, to the Certosa of Padula, to the Aragonese Castle of Agropoli, and MORE!
