Sew Many Places with Jim

OUR WONDERFUL GUIDE CHARLIE

As I sit in the hotel near the San Francisco Airport, I am getting very, very excited. Tomorrow I leave on my 23rd China Expedition, and I am as excited about this one as I was each and everyone I have traveled on in the past.

For many years now, Sew Many Places has been taking quilters to China on a once in a lifetime journey, and I think after doing it this long, there is no doubt in my mind, we have it down to a science.  From the deluxe hotels, to the incredible guides, to the first rate restaurants and outstanding sightseeing, there isn’t a rock unturned that we haven’t uncovered.  It is all working like clockwork.

KAYE ENGLAND WITH A NEW CHINESE FRIEND!

I will post photographs when I return the beginning of November, I just wanted to mention how excited I was getting ,sitting here waiting for tomorrow to come.

IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY

By the way, we are traveling to China again in 2010, and the expedition will be off the charts exciting and awesome. If you are interested in going, contact Bobbie and Denise in my office info@SewManyPlaces.com and have your name down on a waiting list.  This trip sells out every year, and you will be the first contacted when the information is available next week.

Where to start……………….well, how about the food and wine?  I mean, come on, how can anyone think they are going to Tuscany and not going to enjoy the delicious homemade Italian food and that incredible Tuscany and Chianti wines, right?  Well our entire group did really well in both categories.  We went to two different wineries, one where we actually participated in a Tuscany Cooking class, taught by a retired professional chef.  We called him “papa” and he was as charming as one could ever imagine.  Our group learned to make homemade pasta, crostini, limoncello and a wonderful meat sauce.

BEING THAT OUR ITALIAN "PAPA" IS A TRUE ITALIAN MALE, ONE OF OUR QUILTERS RECEIVED SOME SPECIAL ATTENTION. (YOU CAN USE YOUR IMAGINATION!)

We also enjoy the luxury of staying at a deluxe five star hotel, which was our home the entire time we were there.  How nice it was to unpack just once and go out each day to some fantastic places-Siena, Florence, Vinci, the Cinque Terre, Viareggio, San Gimignano, San Donato and Montecatini Terme and Alto.

THE PICTURESQUE TUSCAN COUNTRYSIDE OF MONTECATINI ALTO.

We traveled with a quilter’s eye, and saw incredible architecture, cosmoti tile floors, unique moldings inside museums and basilicas and learned from expert tour guides about the different places we visited.

I SEE A QUILT BLOCK, HOW ABOUT YOU?

Truly and extraordinary tour and everyone who participated were wonderful people with a great sense of fun and humor.  So of course we did a lot of laughing on this trip!

At the end of our tour, some of the group went home and 8 others traveled to Rome with me to enjoy three days of joy in the Eternal City.  We visited the Vatican, went on a Panoramic Tour of Rome, visited the beautiful Tivoli Gardens and Fountains and had a wonderful time capturing all the exciting things this wonderful cityhas to offer.

Truly a truimphant experience, and one that all of us will remember in years to come!

I want to say a special Grazie to our bus driver Adriano and also our terrific guides during our expedition.  They were all fantastic!