Sew Many Places with Jim

Today I am sitting at the Rome airport as we wait to fly back home to the United States.  What a great time this quilting trip turned out to be.  We ended our trip with two exciting days in Rome. It started when we first arrived and our guide Francesco came onboard our bus to give us a wonderful panoramic overview of the city.

We stopped at the major sights all over the city, including St. Mary Major Basilica, which has some of the best Cosmoti tile floors in all of Italy.  These floors are great samples of quilt patterns that, of course, originated here and not back home one hundred years ago.  These patterns are hundreds of years old.

We had time to shop and explore the city on our own in the evening.

The second day in Rome started with a four hour tour of the Vatican Museums and St. Peter’s Basilica.  Again, Francesco provided an excellent guide experience for our group.

The afternoon was free to explore again on our own.  With the extraordinary food in out door cafe’s all over the city to monuments and churches dating back to 2ad, one can only experience it to know of it’s unbelievable effect it has on the people who see them.

I had a great opportunity also to confirm the hotel we will be staying in next year when McCalls Quilting Magazine hosts this Tuscany trip.  Everything about that tour is going to be deluxe, including the five-star hotel in rome, the Westin Excelsior Hotel on the famous Via Veneto.  There are only 40 seats available on that tour and we are already half sold out.

So be sure to check out our website and confirm your space as soon as possible.  It will sell out very fast, even before they have a chance to advertise it in their magazine.

So Gratzie to all those who participated on this tour!

Today we went to the bustling city of Florence and had a fantastic day.  Most of the group went to see one of the oldest quilts in the world, which is being restored in a very private restoration facility in the heart of the city. 

After pulling a lot of strings to get this arranged, we were able to see firsthand and up close the restoration being done to this quilt-coverlet, dating back to the 14th century. It was a very special moment for all our quilters.

The rest of our day was filled with sightseeing, shopping, eating in outdoor cafe’s and basically enjoying the 70 degree sunny weather.

We ended our day with a spectacular view of Florence high above the city from the Piazza Michelangelo.

Tomorrow we are off to Rome with a lot of exciting things planned for our day.  Until then, bon appetito!

Jim

Hi everyone, blogging from the little town of Lucca, in the heart  of the Tucany Valley in Italy.  We just finished an incredible cooking class with a very charming Italian grandma, followed by a wine demonstration at a local Tuscan winery.  Lunch was included, and the seven different wines we all had an opportunity to sample were really great. 

As you can imagine, with sunny 69 degree weather, clear blue skies, rolling green Tuscan hills and snow capped mountains in the distance, we are all savoring this day.

We arrived a couple days ago, and are staying in the charming resort town of Montecatini Terme.  The hotel is modern and nice, only six months old.

Our first full day here, we toured the historic town of Siena. Our local guide was passionate about telling us of her wonderful city, and the entire group loved the day. Again, we had sunny beautiful weather.

Tomorrow we are off to the renaissance city of Florence, which will include sightseeing, great food, wonderful shopping and a chance to visit the oldest quilt in the world, which is under restoration.

I will let you know more later in the trip.  Until then, gratzie and ciao!

Jim