Tuscany Returned!

Incredibly, it's been a month already since I returned; and I am fairly confident my mind is now back in my own Zip code! It is difficult to leave the glorious memories and return to my usual stateside routine (which is hardly ever routine!) Besides the "recovery" and unpacking stage, Thanksgiving was fast on my heels. In our family "Thanksgiving" entails much more than what the average family expects! Our granddaughter was born on November 24 and our wedding anniversary was the 25th. This year it would have been 50 years! So all together, it makes for a wonderful, memory-filled weekend!

The Crafting and Crocheting Tour to Tuscany with Lily Chin was a complete success! Sure there were a few minor glitches; but overall, I was so happy with everything during the 13 days I was gone.
Being together with avid crocheters and crafters of all kinds was a great choice for me to take my first ever "tour."

Our expert crochet teacher was Lily Chin; and we had two evening crochet classes with her. Daily excursions, all nearby in the Tuscany region, filled our time when we weren't crocheting! Since the majority of my blogging centers around crochet and since I journaled during the trip on my Facebook page, I will keep my emphasis this time on just the "yarny and crafty" aspects of the trip

No Lie: It was Fabulous!

Our home base, The Gran Hotel La Pace in Montecatini Terme, was an inspiration in itself!

Our Group of Eighteen

Ceiling: Grand Hotel La Pace

Agnes

Our tour guide, Agnes was from Ireland and an avid crocheter and quilter. She enjoyed us as much as we enjoyed her!

Our first excursion out of town was the Medieval village of San Gimignano-try pronouncing that! Small boutique shops abound there for great shopping!

Design Inspiration in San Gimignano

ball-o-yarn pasta

Venturing out another day, we visited an Italian Yarn Factory where we were amazed colors, texture and process.

After the tour, we shopped to our hearts' content!

Near Florence, we saw how an ancient craft is still one of Italy's treasures when we visited one of Italy's last surviving Mosaic Studios.

Materials used for mosaics

Carefully cutting stone material

I am having difficulty with captions, so I will just include the info in this narrative:

-overlooking Florence with Janet, long-time CGOA member.

-Florence

-El Duomo

-Street Chalk Art (2)

-Even our baggage at leave-taking was colorful!

VIVA ITALY!

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