Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread
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2024: May 25–June 3
Availability: 2024: 7 places Sign up for our newsletter to receive updates This small-group tour takes you to visit the last of what was once a thriving tradition in the region around Lucca, in northwestern Tuscany, producing textiles ranging from rich silks for the church and aristocracy to the hand-spun hemp of farming families. You meet and learn with the artisans who are carrying on the methods of spinning, dyeing and weaving handed down the generations. They invite you into their homes to share meals with them and teach you to cook their traditional dishes, a cuisine with its roots in the farms of the textile artisans. Very small group (only 7 guests). You may also be interested in Tastes & Textiles: Woad & Wool and Tastes & Textiles: Wine to Dye For Click on topics below for more information To request a booking form email [email protected] |
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Itinerary at a glance Pisa to Pieve Fosciana Day 1 — Arrival and welcome dinner Day 2 — Mediaeval card-weaving workshop at a mediaeval fortress, dinner at a vineyard Day 3 — Bake bread with village baker, traditional Garfagnana knitting Day 4 — Make a pair of sandals with luxury market shoemaker Day 5 — Waste not, want not: cooking lesson with agri-chef, sightseeing at Barga, visit handloom weaver, water mill, pizza for dinner Day 6 — Visit ethnographic museum, tour of spinning & weaving mill Day 7 — Lucca: silk tour, visit National Museum Mansi for tapestries, shopping, dinner at hilltop restaurant Pieve Fosciana to Camaiore Day 8 — Visit silkworm breeder, tour Renaissance villa, watch preparation of street carpets for Corpus Domini Day 9 — Festival of street carpets created from dyed sawdust, make broom with broomcorn, visit marble sculpture studio, farewell dinner Day 10 — Departure Highlights of tour Textile experiences
Gastronomic experiences
City sightseeing
Other Activities
For more details, please click Itinerary tab above To request a booking form email [email protected] |
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Pisa to Pieve Fosciana Day 1: Saturday Transfer from Pisa airport, Pisa Centrale or Lucca train station to Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana. Our host Luigi welcomes us to his former Franciscan monastery (see accommodation tab) and prepares a welcome dinner for us. Accommodation: Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana | Meals: dinner Day 2: Sunday Fortezza Verrucole originated in the 11th century and later became the Renaissance stronghold of the Este family, the Dukes of Ferrara, Modena and Reggio, who battled with Lucca for dominion over the Garfagnana. We’re lucky that it’s managed by a husband and wife team who are nearly mediaeval characters themselves. Giulia is an expert on card weaving and wants to share her knowledge with us. You spend the day touring the fortress and weaving a belt of your own design. Down in the valley is Cantina Bravi, the vineyard of Alessandro Bravi, a young man with a passion for making wine. After a tour of the vineyard, we have a wine tasting and dinner prepared by his father who is an agri-chef (more about that on Wednesday). Accommodation: Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana | Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner Day 3: Monday Today we go to the mountain village of Petrognola to learn to make traditional Garfagnana potato bread with the village baker, Paolo Magazzini. While our bread rises, we’ll see the colossal farro-polishing machine. Farro (emmer) is an even more primitive wheat than spelt and is still grown today on terraces around the village. While our loaves bake in the wood-fired oven, we walk down to see the free-range cattle. Lunch, cooked by Paolo’s wife, will be the bread we baked with typical dishes made with farro and washed down with excellent craft beers made with farro by an inhabitant of the village (wine and water also available). After lunch 86-year-old Sestilia drops by to show us how she knits typical peasant socks. She is easily coaxed into talking about her youth, including her encounters with the devil. Supper at Ai Frati. Accommodation: Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana | Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner Day 4: Tuesday Today you're going to make a pair of sandals by hand. We're going to my local town, Bagni di Lucca (Baths of Lucca) known for its thermal springs and illustrious nineteenth-century visitors Byron, Shelley and the Brownings. In an ugly building with no sign on the gate is the Calzaturificio Piacentini. We're met by Diego Piacentini, a smiling young man who, with his father and uncle, makes shoes and sandals for the luxury market. You'll find their brand Fiorina cheek-by-jowl in shops with Gucci and Ferragamo. I'm so excited that they've agreed to teach you their craft. We'll take a break to have an Italian worker's lunch (after all, today we're Italian workers). After a little sightseeing in Bagni di Lucca, dinner will be at a crazy restaurant with a robot waiter and a digestivo called La Bomba. Be prepared! Accommodation: Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana | Meals: breakfast, dinner Day 5: Wednesday We meet superwoman, beekeeper and agri-chef Francesca Buonagurelli at Gallicano to shop for ingredients for our lunch. We don't have a shopping list, because we're only going to cook what's seasonal and locally available. Up the hill at her agriturismo, we spread out our goods and create our lunch with Francesca's guidance. We eat on the terrace with a view across the valley to Barga where we're heading later to visit its sublime romanesque cathedral and relax with an aperitivo. For now we're expected at the studio of Marina Donati, whose weaving prowess has helped preserve the traditional patterns of the Garfagnana. On our way to Barga we stop at a working water mill where Paolo has his farro ground. It's pizza for dinner at Pizzeria Trovaposo, the best pizzeria in the valley. Accommodation: Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana | Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner Day 6: Thursday This morning we make our way to San Pellegrino in Alpe, high in the Apennines, to its ethnographic museum, full of weird and wonderful objects that will provoke many a game of Twenty Questions. Lunch in the village, after which we follow the crest of the Apennines to Cutigliano and Silio Giannini’s filandra, a carding, spinning and weaving mill where you’ll find yourself knee-deep in boxes and sacks of wool and machines of an uncertain age that surely should have broken down 60 years ago. We end up in his office shop where there are bargains to be had. Dinner cooked by our inimitable host Luigi at Ai Frati. Accommodation: Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana | Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner Day 7: Friday In the morning we have a private tour of the Laboratorio Maria Niemack in Lucca. Niemack made a definitive collection of traditional local textiles and dress, handsome and simple fabrics made of wool, cotton and locally grown hemp; the collection includes a variety of traditional floor looms. Since this museum is truly hanging by a thread and relies totally on volunteer guides, if they can't open for us, I'll take you on a silk tour of Lucca. Lucca’s wealth in the Renaissance was founded on silk and banking. The last of the silk trade disappeared before the Second World War (the banks are still here). You’re free to spend the rest of the morning shopping. There’s an especially good yarn shop and three shops with scarves and clothing woven on the premises. Lunch in a former laundry and dyeing establishment. We return to Ai Frati stopping at the Devil's Bridge. Free time for a dip in the pool and to pack. Dinner at Locanda Belvedere in the picturesque mediaeval village of Sillico. Accommodation: Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana | Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner Pieve Fosciana to Camaiore Day 8: Saturday We bid farewell to Luigi and depart from Ai Frati. Stefania’s ravenous silkworms await us to give them their perpetual lunch. Stefania illuminates the complicated process of turning the cocoons into fabric. For our own lunch we're going to the Osteria di Lammari where owner Dino Lera tempts you with his seasonal specialities. Our next stop is Villa Torrigiani where our private tour takes us behind its extravagant baroque façade to an interior where original silk bedclothes mingle with granddad’s needlepoint. Our driver transports us to Villa Lombardi, Camaiore, our home for the last two days of the tour. We’ve come to Camaiore because on the eve of Corpus Domini the whole town gets involved in creating carpets of coloured sawdust down the middle of the main streets, using a process not unlike screen printing. Since they start after dinner, first we dine at a seafood restaurant on the main street. Accommodation: Villa Lombardi, Camaiore | Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner Day 9: Sunday Despite the delicious breakfast at Villa Lombardi, it’s tempting to rush out early to see the finished street carpets and religious procession. Then we're off to Elena Giannini’s farm. She uses her sales of eucalyptus leaves to European flower markets to subsidise her passion for distilling essential plant oils and preserving the traditional crops of the north Tuscan coastal plain, among them cotton, rice, peanuts and broomcorn. Her octogenarian father teaches us how to make hand-brushes from broomcorn and dusters from marsh grasses, and we have a simple lunch prepared by her family. This afternoon we have the privilege of visiting the sculpture studio of Cynthia Sah and Nicolas Bertoux. Farewell dinner on a glass terrace suspended above a mill stream. Accommodation: Villa Lombardi, Camaiore | Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner Day 10: Monday After breakfast, transfer to Pisa airport or train station. One transfer will be provided no earlier than 9.00 am (allow an hour to get to Pisa plus check in and boarding time). If you need to travel earlier, a taxi can be arranged at your own expense. To request a booking form email [email protected] |
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Erica JarmanFollowing Heather’s careers as archaeologist, orchestra and artist manager and chef, she Italianised her name to Erica and came to Lucca to pursue her passion for traditional artisan food. Her tours, inspired by her infectious curiosity, open captivating new worlds to her guests.
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Agriturismo Ai Frati, Pieve Fosciana A 14th-century monastery in an idyllic mountainside setting. Each ample apartment is composed of three monk’s cells. Despite its tranquil hidden location, Napoleon’s troops found it and destroyed its chapel, but left the cloisters and their frescoes for us to admire. Swimming pool, wifi, magnificent views. |
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Villa Lombardi, Camaiore A family villa that has been restored preserving its historic features. Maria Grazia Lombardi is the perfect hostess and serves mouthwatering breakfasts. Swimming pool, wifi. www.villalombardi.it |
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Price Per person: 3230 Euros Single supplement: none (single room included in fee) Deposit: €300 when you book Balance: due 8 weeks before tour starts Claim your 5% loyalty discount if you've booked a small group tour with us before. Includes Friendly knowledgeable English-speaking guide throughout your stay 9 nights welcoming, relaxing accommodation, en suite bathrooms Local ground transportation for 10 days (includes one group transfer between meeting point and accommodation and one return after the tour). Please check with us before you book your travel to make sure it fits the tour schedule. Transfers at times other than those provided for the group will be at your own expense. Daily continental breakfast, 8 lunches, 9 dinners Guided visits with artisans, lessons, museum and villa entrance fees Does not include Airfares Travel and cancellation insurance (compulsory) Wine and drinks other than those served with meals, additional meals Personal expenses Meeting point Pisa airport, Pisa Centrale train station, Lucca train station. Please arrive by 2 pm at the latest. Exact pick-up time at each place will depend on arrival times of people on the tour, and will be advised nearer the tour date. If you are flying from outside Europe, we suggest you arrive a couple of days early to recover from jet lag so you can fully enjoy your time with us. We are happy to advise about where to stay and eat and what to do before and after your tour. Departure point One transfer to Pisa airport or railway station (not Lucca) will be provided no earlier than 9.00 am (allow an hour to get to the airport or station plus check in and boarding time). If you need to travel earlier, a taxi can be arranged at your own expense. Diet Most dietary requirements can be accommodated as long as you tell us in advance. There is a space on the Booking Form for this information. Please bear in mind that as well as textiles, the tour focuses on the art of choosing, cooking and eating good food. If your diet is very restricted, you may not get full enjoyment from it. Physical fitness Tour takes place in the mountains. You must be fit enough to walk on steep cobbled streets and rough farm tracks. Dress Informal. Jeans or smart trousers are acceptable everywhere. Raincoat/jacket advisable. Good walking shoes are required for farm visits, steep cobbled streets and optional walks. Weather in May / June Weather is no longer average, but here’s what the statistics say: 12–24°C/54–75˚F, precipitation 43 mm/1.7 in The itinerary is subject to change if necessary due to weather or agricultural conditions or other events outside our control. To request a booking form email [email protected] |
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I am home but my heart is still in Italy!!!! I think like our wonderful multi-course Italian meals I will be “digesting“ this trip for some time !!! I was SO inspired by all the lovely families we had the honor to meet and learn from !! I have such an appreciation for the Italian lifestyle and am taking steps to incorporate some of the wisdom into my own!!! Thank you Erica for setting the tone of our whole trip! I think my approach to foreign travel will forever be altered!!
Amy Burkart, USA, Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread, June 2023
In 2019 I signed up to go on a tour with Erica in 2020 but because of Covid that tour had to be cancelled. In 2022 Erica could offer her tours again but that year because of life situations I couldn’t go. It wasn’t until 2023 I finally got to go and it was well worth the wait. A small group of us spent nine glorious days with Erica in beautiful Tuscany. We were kept busy with cheese making, felt making, baking, making shoes, weaving, food making, etc. We enjoyed the fresh food in the area and amazing wines. It was very special to meet silk artisan Stefania Maffei in her home. To see how she raises silk worms and how she spins amazing fine silk yarns. The highlight of my tour was to get to make my own pair of shoes with guidance from Fausto and his sons. I would love to go on another tour with Erica. See you again Erica.
Inge Dam, Canada, Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread, June 2023
I enjoyed every single day of the Hanging by a Thread tour! In the course of ten days we made: bread, cheese, luxury sandals, a seven course lunch with an agri-chef, a broom and we wove on an antique hand loom. We spent time with local craftspeople who: farm, make cheese, grow silk worms, practice blacksmithing at a water powered mill and a weaver who weaves on industrial fly shuttle looms. We ate wonderful meals with local wines at local restaurants. We were able to relax in accommodations that were comfortable and private and welcomed us warmly and made such wonderful hospitality for us as a small group. I appreciated being able to learn about Tuscany and the Garfagnana with Erica who cares very deeply for her region and has cultivated relationships with local craftspeople. I enjoyed each day and will relive this tour in my memories for years to come.
Barbara Fornoff, USA, Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread, June 2023
You showed us such a kaleidoscope of old and new crafts and their practitioners, that we came away inspired and thrilled with what we had seen and learnt. Lucky, the people who will share Sardinia with you.
Alice & Bruce Bray, Australia, Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread, June 2019
The tour was amazing. Every day was full of new adventures. I learned a lot and met wonderful people. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
Pam Upton, USA, Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread, May 2018
The textile visits were a great treat, with a chance to visit artisans' homes an opportunity a regular tourist seldom experiences. And I have never, ever eaten such wonderful food! All in all, great memories.
Marilyn McDowell, Canada, Tastes & Textiles: Hanging by a Thread, May 2018
We have so many great memories of the tour – it was a huge privilege to be able to have such a personal glimpse into the lives of real people, and we so enjoyed focusing on a small piece of Italy at a relaxed pace. It was exactly the kind of experience we were hoping for – thank you so very much!
Penny & Jon Stewart, Canada, Tastes & Textiles, May 2016
Because of you, I had the trip that I had always wanted to make to Italy. I am thanking you for all the research, hard work and patience. I urge anyone who is able to travel to go with you. I believe that your tour was the best I have ever been on.
Diana McClure, USA, Tastes & Textiles, May 2015
I was so impressed with your knowledge of the locals and local sites to visit. It was a very impressive selection and the mountain vistas are with me every day still.
Gail Grasso, USA, Tastes & Textiles, May 2015
The tour was great. The food was amazing and I really enjoyed the meals, including the four courses, the wine and the great company and conversation. Very civilized. I also enjoyed wandering around the chestnut grove and their history, as well as the history of the region. Ai Frati was a wonderful place to start the tour, so restful.
Robin Nixon, Canada, Tastes & Textiles, May 2016
Thank you for the tour and the insight into Tuscan life both old and new. The company was wonderful as was the accommodation and the food. Highlights for me: the taste of wild strawberries at Ai Frati, seeing Paolo's limousine cattle, seeing inside Marina's weaving studio, the Museo Etnografico Don Luigi Pellegrini, walking in the gentians at the crest of the Apennines, and the street carpets at Camaiore in the rain.
Joan McLaughlin, New Zealand, Tastes & Textiles, May 2016
As we travel on our own after your tour, I have come to realize what value you added by sourcing some of the best cuisine. It’s very hard to do this on our own, and I have been disappointed in our attempts to find authentic Piemontese food, for example.
Marilyn Geary, USA, Tastes & Textiles, May 2015
I joined the course with Erica last May as a break from home, my husband was very ill. It was the most wonderful week! We had the privilege to meet many people in their own homes and experience their passion and enthusiasm for their cheese, textiles, bread, life. The small group allowed us to be flexible and experience things a larger group would not be able to — hands on cooking, dinner in a family home. The people on the course had an interest in textiles, weaving, dyeing, woodworking making looms and spindles, as well as other varied interests. Spending a week with this group, I have met people from Canada and Vienna as well as the UK. I am currently booking my next course for next spring.
Jenny Phillips, England, May 2013, Tastes & Textiles
This is a tour for those who want to get below the surface. You will meet extraordinary people, share meals with them in their homes and watch as they keep ancient traditions alive. Heather’s knowledge comes from her love for the Garfagnana and its people and it is infectious.
Janette Gross, USA, May 2011, Tastes & Textiles
Thank you so much for organising such a wonderful tour. We all had a great trip! As much as we have enjoyed everything that we have seen, and done (and eaten), the best part is who we have met and shared stories with.
Joanne Loui, Canada, May 2013, Tastes & Textiles
I want to thank you so much for the wonderful week we had with you. It was so much fun. I’m telling everyone about it.
Marian Sticht, USA, May 2011, Tastes & Textiles
