Great cooking class with Mariolina, Cesarine in Desenzano Del Garda. - Mariolina is a tremendous host, cook and teacher. She reached out to soon after I made my booking and made me welcome. She was helpful in answering to all my questions about the upcoming experience at her home, which proved to be easy to find and a nice walk, which helped me work up the appetite I needed to enjoy all that Mariolina had to offer. From the southern exit of the Desenzano Del Garda train station, it is a relatively short and relaxing walk along a curving road that has a good mix of greenery and buildings on the way. The neighborhood itself is very beautiful. The class began with Mariolina explaining the dishes we were going to prepare during the 3-hour session and the skills I would be equipped with by the end of the class. After getting the pasta dough ready and in the fridge, we went into Mariolina’s beautiful sunroom and enjoyed the amazing spread of appetizers that Mariolina had prepared in advance. And what a feast it was! I can say it confidently now, after having experienced the cooking class, that everything worked out exactly as Mariolina described. I loved every minute of the 3 hours, which passed as if in a jiffy! Before I knew it, we were sitting down for dinner and enjoying the pastas, a bottle of wine, dessert and Mariolina’s own homemade limoncello. Throughout this experience, Mariolina was a great host. She kept the conversation going with both the cooking lesson and a thumbnail sketch of her life — her three loving sons, her professional journey (professional basketball player, basketball coach and physical education teacher!) — all laced with a great sense of humour. All in all, I had a great experience thanks to Mariolina. I would recommend this cooking class to anyone who wants to not only learn traditional Italian cooking, but also enjoy the journey.