As winter harshness descends with another cold blast this week, I find myself beginning to turn thoughts towards our upcoming trips this spring in Italy. It is not just the warmer weather but the warmth of Orvieto and Italy that draw me. What is it that attracts? Why do we Americans so love this country? Many things. It is, in part, the integrated life. It is the way of life, the texture of life, the living with all the senses engaged all the time that appeals. It’s life on the street. It’s looking anywhere and being met by sights that delight and engage the eye. It’s the food that

Simple,delicious food

unfailingly rewards with incredible flavors and tastes that are so pleasant you look at each other, smile, and exclaim. It’s the movement of people providing endless diversion. It’s the intimacy of the spaces and places that evoke security and contentment and well being. It’s diversity in food, environment, people.

People mix readily during the passeggiata

In Italy there is a continuity to places and the day. It occurs in part because you are on your feet walking, in touch with the surrounding environment. You sit in a restaurant, rich in historic detail and emerge onto a street equally rich in detail, full of people, and built to a human scale. These kinds of transitions occur all day long. There is art everywhere, from the great masterpieces to the way food is displayed in the market. It seduces, it envelops, it warms

And so as the cold invades again this week I begin to warm myself with thoughts of what’s to come in the not-too-distant future. I can handle the cold with those warming images!

Kristi and Bill Steiner began leading “learning vacations” to Orvieto, Italy in 2003 and were founding members of Slow Travel Tours. Through Adventures in Italy they provided a cultural immersion experience. Many trips included the pursuit of some kind of creative work that complemented and reinforced exploration of Italy’s culture. Relationships built over the years enabled Kristi and Bill to provide experiences that a typical visitor to Orvieto never gets. The Steiners retired in 2017 and sold Adventures in Italy to Michelle Logue, who has continued as a member of the Slow Travel Tours group. Michelle continues to offer trips in the same format and with the same spirit that Kristi and Bill hosted for 14 years. Learn more about Adventures in Italy small group trips in Orvieto. Slow Travel Tours is an affiliation of small-group tour operators who offer personalized trips in Italy, France and other European countries.