Twenty years after their graduation, two college roommates have reunited to conduct uncommon Italian tours focusing on art appreciation and cooking lessons.

Josianne Pennington and Deborah Patterson, both AS '78, created Italian Gusto, a business that integrates their love of travel and wealth of experience in touring with their already established college friendship.

The pair leads small groups--as few as 10 in number but no larger than 25--in activities catered toward their interests. One of their most popular tours takes participants to Florence for a week, focusing on art, cooking and wine in Tuscany.

The group takes cooking lessons at a villa and farm in Chianti called Vivaio, which is home to the Latini family of the Il Latini restaurant in Florence. Participants take private guided tours of art collections and make trips to neighboring Tuscan towns, while staying at the Astoria, one of Florence's most elegant hotels.

Conducted once in the spring and again in the fall, this tour attracts people from various parts of the country, Pennington says, but most participants are from the mid-Atlantic area.

The co-owners say they believe the balance of activities and choice of cities are responsible for this tour's popularity. "Most Americans are really struck by the variety of cultures in each area of Italy," Patterson says.

"Florence is a gorgeous city to spend a week," Pennington says. "There are charming neighborhoods and enclaves that aren't necessarily tourist attractions."

She also attributes the successes of the Tuscan program to the phenomenal art in Florence and the modest town size that allows the tourists to get around and involved in the city.

In addition to Tuscany, other tours visit Venice, Umbria and Portofino.

Depending on the size of the group and the collective interests, Pennington says each tour is adjusted accordingly. "None of our tours is a cookie-cutter tour," she says. "We custom design as the group sees fit."

The former roommates, who had lost contact with one another for almost 15 years, were brought together again when Pennington noticed Patterson's picture in a publication from Roland Park Country School, a private school in Baltimore. Patterson was teaching conversational Italian for the school's extension program.

Pennington says she and Patterson found that their paths were "along the same lines, just on different ends."

Patterson, who lived in Italy for 10 years, had been guiding tours of the Vatican, while Pennington managed corporate conferences internationally, eventually opening her own firm, Pennington & Associates, to design and market business seminars.

The pair decided to combine their talents and successes. Patterson says the combination of an artist and a businessperson is the "perfect integration of skills."

Patterson, who holds a bachelor's degree in art history from UD and a master of arts in religion and the arts from Yale, creates the itinerary and conducts much of the guiding. An accomplished artist, her limited-edition watercolors can be found for sale on the company web site, which she also designs [www.italiangusto.com].

Pennington says Patterson has the expertise to provide an in-depth perspective into the artwork and to contribute the religious viewpoint of the work.

"The tourists get a multifaceted aspect of the artwork," Patterson says, "allowing them to see the art in a fuller context."

Because Pennington possesses the most experience with management and entrepreneurial skills, she does much of the contract negotiation, accounting, correspondence and marketing for the business.

However, the final decisions are made only when both sides are in agreement. "It's still a collaborative effort," Pennington says. "We don't go any further until we discuss things with one another."

The prices of their tours range from $2,000 to the low $3,000s, and include roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodations, transportation for scheduled trips and other amenities. Although they do not associate with any particular hotel exclusively, Pennington says, because of the rapport they have built, they usually choose to stay in the Astoria.

"We're putting roots into the community," Patterson says. "It also keeps tourists from constantly having to repack, losing the connection they have with the hotel and the surrounding town."

This bond carries beyond the tour, as many participants continue to communicate with one another or return to the towns.

One participant, who had her hair styled while in Florence, so enjoyed the interaction between herself and the people in the salon that she made a trip back to Italy for a second appointment.

Before they travel, tour participants get the opportunity to meet one another at a small cocktail party, creating a more social, friendly, informal environment, Patterson says. Sometimes, people who initially meet on the tour travel together on subsequent trips, she says.

Because the tours are kept small and intimate, Pennington says she believes the friendship shared between Patterson and herself influences camaraderie among the participants.

"We've received baby announcements from people who have been on our tours," Pennington says.

On some occasions, the people in the communities visited honor the participants. After the events of Sept. 11, some Italians were grateful that the participants chose to visit Italy, Patterson says.

While receiving cooking lessons, Patterson says, one of the Italian chefs in Lucca presented the group with baseball caps with the word "staff" written on the back, making them honorary staff members of the restaurant.

In a private villa, the guests were treated to a meal in the dining room of the host's home. She then offered an expensive bottle of balsamic vinegar, Pennington says, which was then mixed with homemade ice cream, to show her gratitude to the guests.

Over the last three years, business has been building because of mailing lists and newspaper articles. However, Patterson says, much of the publicity they receive is word of mouth from past participants.

"People want to know about Italy and its rich culture," Patterson says.

Their ability to provide more information than just touring a town on one's own, or with a big tour group, she adds, makes them successful.

"It takes a lot of hard work," she says, "but the rewards have been worth it all."

--Imani Powell, AS 2003