Pre-Departure

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends,

but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers.

The mind can never break off from the journey.” 
― Pat Conroy

Greetings, Family & Friends,

Welcome to the blog for my Spring 2018 travels in Italy! Our September 2015 month in Southern Tuscany was such a wonderful experience that, in March 2017, we began hatching plans for a return journey.  I'll be staying for three weeks at Sassaia, a restored farmhouse at the magical place called La Foce near Montepulciano, halfway between Florence and Rome.  

Sassaia (1924)

Various terrific friends will be arriving for Weeks One, Two & Three, joining me in returning to wonderful medieval hill towns we enjoyed in 2015 ... and discovering new ones.    

We have thirty enthusiastic Tuscan Travelers on the trip ... half who went on the 2015 trip, half who are new.  For some, this is their most recent of many trips to Italy; for others, it's their first trip there ... for still others, their first time in Europe.  We hail from all over the United States:  NC, NY, FL, MO, TX, CO and GA.  

Our local Raleigh travelers have been gathering for a series of dinners, wine tastings, informational gatherings over the past year, getting to know new friends and sharing trip planning ideas with one another.  Most of us will be exploring other regions of Italy before or after our days in Tuscany ... Venice, Cinque Terre, Lake Como, Rome, Milan, Assisi, Florence, just to name a few.

Mary McAndrew and I will be flying to Rome from Boston the evening of Tuesday, May 15th.  (Mary & I have been friends since 1964 when she was 5 years old and I was her babysitter!)  Watch for my blog posts to begin after we arrive in Rome.

Hope you enjoy following us along on our adventures in Bella, Bella Italia!

Much love, many hugs to all!

Laurette (aka Francesca ... "my Italian name")