1998 tuscany journal

This is a page from my 1998 journal from an artist-led trip my husb and I took to Tuscany. The trip was truly a life changing experience and I was in Italy when I accepted that I was an artist and that I had a gift. Looking back on my journal, I'm instantly transported back to the experience:the sites, the food, the architecture, even the smells and voices. I'm thrilled to be going back to Italy a dozen years later in May 2010. I really hope you can join me!

10 Reasons go sign up for my “Bella Italia: Orvieto Sketchbook” May 23-29, 2010.

Dreaming of travel in Italy? Come with us as we share the treasures of this beautiful country through our Adventures in Italy - journeys of discovery. In this small group tour, we eat, breathe, touch, and feel the REAL Italy through authentic experiences designed to embrace you with the magnificent Italian culture.

1. Our hosts: Kristi and Bill Steiner, have vast knowledge an experience in Italy and Orvieto. They’ve been traveling to Italy for 17 years and to Orvieto for 7. Through the years, they’ve built friendships and relationships that allow them to share experiences with us that most travelers never get.

2. A journey of discovery: You’ll spend a week in beautiful Orvieto in what is called slow travel. By staying in one place, you sink into the daily rhythm of Italy, discovering the passion of Italian living. Linger over a morning's cappuccino, wander through tiny ancient alleyways, and savor long delicious meals created from the freshest local ingredients. Discover insights into artful living and within yourself.

3. A learning vacation: Learn a new skill of drawing and watercolor or deepen your existing skills one as you share the week with me and other like-minded folks. Use the colors and textures, the history and architecture of Italy to inspire your creativity as you capture priceless memories of your week on your journal pages.

I will gently guide beginners as well as the more experienced to draw what you see, to capture the small details of a place, while savoring sounds, smells, and breezes around you. We’ll slow down, sit quietly and really ‘be’ in a place, while we sketch and watercolor and journal artfully. The skills you learn here will be with you always.

If a friend or spouse wants to join you on the trip, and not take my workshop, they can pay a lesser fee and still join us for all the other fabulous activities! (or you can take my workshop and they can take a photography workshop with Jan Phillips in the same location.)

4. A most fabulous cooking class: Make pasta from scratch with a world renowned chef as he shows you his trade secrets. Then sit with your new friends as your pasta dish and many others are served, accompanied by local wines.

5. Explore a vineyard and taste local wines: Spend an afternoon at the exquisite Palazzone where Giovanni shares his passion for creating excellent wines. The site is beautiful, with views back to Orvieto. The original house dates to 1300 and is now a locanda (B&B.) Giovanni will introduce you to several of his wines and help you understand what it means to make wine in Italy. He loves answering your questions. You will not forget this day!

6. The nuances of olive oil: Begin with a fascinating look at olive oil as you sample local selections in an afternoon of olive oil tasting. An official olive oil taster will show you how a true tasting is done.

7. Shop with the locals on Market Day: The weekly market is essential to life in Orvieto. Join locals as you shop for produce picked hours before, just a few kilometers away. Here you have the chance to see Italians up close as they warmly greet each other, boisterously argue with vendors, and lovingly select seasonal flowers to adorn a table at home.

8. Retreat and renew in your restful convent B&B: San Lodovico, the convent B&B, where you stay provides, in many ways, the anchor for your visit. It is a retreat, a quiet, peaceful place, a calm presence as you go about your week. There are places to look out over the countryside, places to sit and think places to enjoy the sun’s warmth, a garden to wander through, grand spaces to marvel at, and flowers to enjoy.

9. Personal Attention: You deserve and expect it. Our hosts Bill and Kristi are committed to making your week in Italy everything you are dreaming of and more. They offer detailed travel information and are available to advise you on every aspect of your trip
Including guidance on plane tickets, itineraries and travel beyond your week in Orvieto.
Once in Italy, they ensure you have everything you need for a comfortable stay. They are your hosts, accompanying you on all cultural events and guiding you around town.

10. An Adventure of a lifetime Travel is enthralling and enriching. Exploring a new country with its fabulous food and wine, its warm hearted people, its ancient history and its breathtaking landscape energizes and enlivens. It is like being 10 years old again, exploring, discovering, and seeing the world with eyes wide open. Isn't it time you had a grand adventure? Join me for “Bella Italia: Orvieto Sketchbook”