Cathy's Place: Craft Tour to Tuscany

I booked this tour a few months ago because it duplicated a tour I saw on PBS show called Jim West's Craft Tours. I have wanted to go to Florence for about 50 years and I thought it would be fun to learn some of the artistic crafts for which Italy is known. I could not find anyone to go with me so I paid the single supplement and went for it. I flew out Sunday October 15 and arrived in Florence Monday morning. A driver met me at the airport and drove me the hour to our hotel in Montecatini Terme. The afternoon was free so because it was a resort and spa I had a massage. At 5pm I met the other 11 people on the tour and our leader, Jim West. There were 4 other ladies traveling alone, a pair of sisters from Illinois, 3 folks from Colorado who were connected with a couple from Texas. The Texas couple are producers for Jim's TV show.

View from my hotel room at Montecatini Terme

Tuesday we drove to Florence and had an Italian ceramics workshop. Using clay from the banks of the Arno we learned to make fruit like that found on Della Robbia sculpture. I made a lemon and it is drying out. I have to get it fired, then glaze it with yellow and green glaze, then fire it again. I hope I can find someone to help me with that.

In the afternoon we had a tour of a leather school near the Piazza Santa Croce. So my free time for lunch was spent touring the Basilica of Santa Croce. I was so moved by the tombs of all the famous people buried there including Galileo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rossini. There's a monument to Dante though he is not buried there. He was exiled from Florence though he was born and raised there. There are frescoes by Giotto and his pupil, Gaddi, in the sanctuary and the marvelous Pazzi Chapel by Brunelleschi that has white pilaster insets of the apostles by Luca della Robbia. This church was one of the main things I wanted to see in Florence so I was very glad I was able to do so.

After the leather school tour we visited a mosaic artist who makes pictures with little cut pieces of stone, like you might make a quilt with fabric of a picture. It was amazing. After a bus ride back to Montecatini Terme, we took a funicular up to Montecatini Alto and had dinner but it was dark so we didn't see much.

View of Florence with the Ponte Vecchio over the Arno River and Duomo

Ceramics work shop making Della Robbia type fruit

Della Robbia portal covering in the Basilica Santa Croce

Facade of the Basilica Santa Croce

Brunelleschi cloister at Santa Croce

On Wednesday we went back to Florence for a walking tour. We saw the outsides of lots of places but did not go inside at all. We walked by the main piazzas stopping for quite a while at the Duomo. I was engrossed by the east doors of the Baptistry called the "Gates of Paradise" fashioned by Ghiberti in the early 15th C. Brunelleschi's dome on the basilica is the most identifying feature in Florence. We walked by several of the tower houses which were common in medieval times including Dante's home. We saw the Palazzo Vecchio which was the town hall completed in 1322. The bell in the campanile called citizens to the parlamento meetings. It sits in the Piazza della Signoria surrounded by many famous statues. We passed by the Uffizi (Duke Cosimo I built for administrative offices) and the Galleria dell' Accademia where the original David statue was moved. We saw a copy that now stands in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. While we walked past San Lorenzo, it is too bad we did not go inside to see the Medici tombs designed by Michelangelo. We passed through the Piazza della Repubblica which stands where the original Roman forum was located. The food market was torn down and replaced by a triumphant arch in recognition of Florence being the capital of the newly-formed nation of Italy in the 1860's. We crossed over the Ponte Vecchio (built in 1345) and walked in the Oltrano passed the Pitti Palace. I took a picture of the Ponte Santa Trinita which was destroyed by the Nazi's leaving Florence. The bridge was rebuilt using only tools and the found materials remaining using the original plans for the bridge construction. Michelangelo is credited with its design.

After the tour we had our fresco painting workshop. I drew my picture on paper then poked holes along the lines. Placing the paper over my tile with wet plaster, I dabbed a powder on over the lines to transfer the drawing to the tile. Then, using water colors, I painted the Ponte Santa Trinita from the photo I had just taken. After lunch we had our marbled paper workshop. It was a lot of fun, but son't think I can do more because you need a lot of supplies and equipment.

Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise doors at the baptistry at the Duomo

Duomo featuring Brunelleschi's dome

Tower house in Florence (11th C)

Michelangelo's David (copy in the Piazza della Signoria)

Palazzo Vecchio

Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women in the Piazza della Signoria

Ponte Santa Trinita

My marbled paper

Ponte Vecchio

My fresco of the Ponte Santa Trinita

We rode the bus up to Il Poggio Winery where we had a cooking class, wine tasting, and multi-course dinner. We learned to make Bolognese and hand made pasta.

On Thursday we drove northwest to tour the Cinque Terre which are little medieval towns that were only accessible from the Sea. We took a train between the towns though there is a trail for folks who like to hike up and down hills. We spent about 2 hours in each town and then took a 10 minute train to get to the next town.

Cinque Terre town of Manorola

church in Vernazza

Square in the middle Cinque Terre town, Vernazza

Beach front at the last Cinque Terre town, Monterosso

On Friday we left Tuscany and drove 4 hours up to Milan. We toured the Aurifil Thread Factory which was very interesting. After lunch we spend the afternoon with Pino Grasso in his haute coutour embroidery studio. His daughter gave us the tour but Pino kept pulling out samples to show us their incredible hand-embroidered designs. They do all the embroidery for the big names in Italian fashion. Only Arabian princesses and Hollywood stars can afford their dresses.

Beautiful quilt shown at the Aurifil Thread Factory near Milan

threads

Sequined top on display at Pino Grasso Embroidery

Pino Grasso and his daughter

Saturday we decided to go up to Lake Como rather than taking a 4-hour bus ride to San Gimignano. It was a foggy day but our ferry ride with a tour guide was very interesting.

Linden Wood trees in Como

My favorite villa on Lake Como

Little town street on Lake Como

My fig mousse dessert by the lake

view of lake on drive back

Sunday morning was free time and then at 1pm we had a 2-hour bus tour of Milan. After seeing the sights on bus, I spent the rest of the daylight hours taking a tram back down to the Duomo and going into the Teatro alla Scala. I really enjoyed being in the theatre and going through the museum. They had a special exhibit about Maria Callas which was very interesting to me. After her 1954-55 debut season at La Scala she reformed her physical image to be reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn. I tried to get into see Da Vinci's Last Supper but you needed time tickets which are sold out months in advance. I found my way back to the hotel and enjoyed our farewell dinner. Rose early for a 6:30am transfer to the airport and flights to JFK, then to RDU. A bad storm in NC kept us from landing so we went to Richmond, refueled and tried again. Got home around 1am. Very tiring! I enjoyed the tour but need to return to Florence for a longer time and opportunity to see inside all those wonderful places that I only walked by.