About
Welcome! We love Italy, and adore sharing her pleasures and magic. Bill first hit Italy's shores for several years as a youth in the middle 1960's. Kristi made her first trip with Bill in 1993. Together, we have been returning ever since. In 2003 we began leading trips with special character. With us, you are immersed in the Italian culture. You are led to discover and experience Italy, not as a tourist, but as a participant. We design our learning vacations so you see, taste, touch, feel, and hear Italy as a native. It is rich, enlightening, educational, fun and, quite possibly, life changing.
Learn more about us and our adventures.
Who We Are
How We Design Our Trips
How We Are Different
Why We Do Adventures In Italy
10 Reasons to travel with us (pdf printable format)
Who We Are
First, we have been traveling to Orvieto for seven years, working with local government and organizations. Over that time we have developed close friendships and relationships with a host of Orvietani. For Italians, relationships are everything. The result for you is that you receive exceptional treatment from our friends, behind the scenes looks that no tourist sees, and opportunities to explore that only happens between friends. It truly is a journey of discovery.
Kristi is the teacher. She has been in love with fabric, journaling and creativity since she was a tiny girl. Her passion for this self-expression led her to the quilt world where she's created, designed, taught and written about quilts nationally for 30 years. In her books, A Southern Album and most recently, At Piece with Time: A Woman's Journey Stitched in Cloth, Kristin encourages other women to celebrate their unique story by documenting it in cloth. Since 2003, she has been absorbed in the “altered” world. She finds visual journaling allows her to use her beloved fabric in both book and journal formats.
Bill is the culture guy. He was born overseas, has lived abroad and loves nothing more than immersing himself in another culture. His work life before launching Adventures in Italy was in historic preservation, downtown revitalization, and community planning, and took him to Scotland, China, and Italy. In 2003, he began leading learning trips on community planning to Orvieto. Thus began the knowledge and relationships with Orvieto and its people that has produced Adventures In Italy.
Kristi and Bill bring their skills, backgrounds, and relationships with Orvietani together in creating exceptional Journeys of Discovery.
How We Design Our Trips
Our trips are designed to be exhilarating, thoughtful, joyful, warm memorable experiences of discovery. You:
• Gain insights into the uniquely exuberant Italian way of life,
• Touch intimately the things Italians value and enjoy,
experiencing (and enjoying!) them as well,
• Are led to see and observe in ways that provide deeper
understanding of Italy and living,
• Take part in a variety of learning activities that complement the
above.
As a result, our trips have two major components: cultural experiences and learning activities, which, combined, lead to discovery.
Welcome! We love Italy, and adore sharing her pleasures and magic. Bill first hit Italy's shores for several years as a youth in the middle 1960's. Kristi made her first trip with Bill in 1993. Together, we have been returning ever since. In 2003 we began leading trips with special character. With us, you are immersed in the Italian culture. You are led to discover and experience Italy, not as a tourist, but as a participant. We design our learning vacations so you see, taste, touch, feel, and hear Italy as a native. It is rich, enlightening, educational, fun and, quite possibly, life changing.
Learn more about us and our adventures.
Who We Are
How We Design Our Trips
How We Are Different
Why We Do Adventures In Italy
10 Reasons to travel with us (pdf printable format)
Who We Are
First, we have been traveling to Orvieto for seven years, working with local government and organizations. Over that time we have developed close friendships and relationships with a host of Orvietani. For Italians, relationships are everything. The result for you is that you receive exceptional treatment from our friends, behind the scenes looks that no tourist sees, and opportunities to explore that only happens between friends. It truly is a journey of discovery.
Kristi is the teacher. She has been in love with fabric, journaling and creativity since she was a tiny girl. Her passion for this self-expression led her to the quilt world where she's created, designed, taught and written about quilts nationally for 30 years. In her books, A Southern Album and most recently, At Piece with Time: A Woman's Journey Stitched in Cloth, Kristin encourages other women to celebrate their unique story by documenting it in cloth. Since 2003, she has been absorbed in the “altered” world. She finds visual journaling allows her to use her beloved fabric in both book and journal formats.
Bill is the culture guy. He was born overseas, has lived abroad and loves nothing more than immersing himself in another culture. His work life before launching Adventures in Italy was in historic preservation, downtown revitalization, and community planning, and took him to Scotland, China, and Italy. In 2003, he began leading learning trips on community planning to Orvieto. Thus began the knowledge and relationships with Orvieto and its people that has produced Adventures In Italy.
Kristi and Bill bring their skills, backgrounds, and relationships with Orvietani together in creating exceptional Journeys of Discovery.
How We Design Our Trips
Our trips are designed to be exhilarating, thoughtful, joyful, warm memorable experiences of discovery. You:
• Gain insights into the uniquely exuberant Italian way of life,
• Touch intimately the things Italians value and enjoy,
experiencing (and enjoying!) them as well,
• Are led to see and observe in ways that provide deeper
understanding of Italy and living,
• Take part in a variety of learning activities that complement the
above.
As a result, our trips have two major components: cultural experiences and learning activities, which, combined, lead to discovery.
"This exceeded expectations. I would like
to come back and get to know it better."
"The cultural events were a wonderful part
of the week. You and Bill are a
marvelous couple. The experience was
bella, bella. You really went our of your
way to make sure we were all
comfortable and happy."
"Orvieto has given me time for reflection,
living in the moment. I will look for “well
being” and laugh more often as a result."
"What I had previously defined as beauty
changed. Details I saw by being able to
slow down enabled me to see new
beauty."
"Gordon enjoyed buying cheese in Rome
as he learned to do watching Bill. This
was our first time to travel in a foreign
country unescorted. We learned so much
by being in Orvieto with you first. The
time with you was educational, exciting
and fun."
"You and Bill made it wonderful, with your
contacts and knowledge of the city and
just the kind, warm people you are.
Thanks again for a wonderful trip."
"Sharing this time in Orvieto with you and
the small group attracted by your talents
was so much more than just a week in
Italy. How else could I
~Go behind the scenes with an elected
council woman?
~Cook and gourmand at Zeppelin
Restaurant?
~Visit a vineyard, meet the vintner, taste
the wines?
~Begin to feel connected to this city and
my own home place in a new way?
I especially appreciate basking in your
generosity of time, interest and spirit."
Adventures in Italy, 1 Nob Hill, Columbia, SC 29210, 803.233.3164, info@AdventuresInItaly.net
Copyright © Steiner Studio LLC. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Steiner Studio LLC. All rights reserved.
Kristi and Bill Steiner with Orvieto friend
Cultural Experiences Include
• Cooking class with one of our favorite chefs
• Vineyard tour with Giovanni, who is passionate about wine
• Olive oil tasting with Graziella to begin to understand its
characteristics
• Wine tastings to learn about Orvieto's own unique wine
• Spending time with our Italian friends who provide windows
onto Italian life and passion
• Depending on the trip, history, architecture, and more,
again with friends who are trained and certified.
Less formal, but equally compelling experiences:
• Italians pay special attention to meals and food, which are
of great importance. They are for us as well. We prearrange
few meals so you can experience the same joy around food
Italians do. We provide much guidance, we know the best
restaurants and their owners. You'll never eat alone, but
you will be free to eat where and what entices you.
• You will attend the twice weekly market, a quintessential
Italian activity.
• We do picnics giving you the chance to interact with
Italians as you buy your picnic goods.
• You will mingle in the “passeggiata” - the evening walk
where people meet, greet, converse and share.
• You will have a rare, heart warming glimpse of Italian life
daily as you watch the comings and goings of children and
their parents at our convent Bed and Breakfast, San
Lodovico. It provides a window into Italy that no hotel can
ever give you.
• Cooking class with one of our favorite chefs
• Vineyard tour with Giovanni, who is passionate about wine
• Olive oil tasting with Graziella to begin to understand its
characteristics
• Wine tastings to learn about Orvieto's own unique wine
• Spending time with our Italian friends who provide windows
onto Italian life and passion
• Depending on the trip, history, architecture, and more,
again with friends who are trained and certified.
Less formal, but equally compelling experiences:
• Italians pay special attention to meals and food, which are
of great importance. They are for us as well. We prearrange
few meals so you can experience the same joy around food
Italians do. We provide much guidance, we know the best
restaurants and their owners. You'll never eat alone, but
you will be free to eat where and what entices you.
• You will attend the twice weekly market, a quintessential
Italian activity.
• We do picnics giving you the chance to interact with
Italians as you buy your picnic goods.
• You will mingle in the “passeggiata” - the evening walk
where people meet, greet, converse and share.
• You will have a rare, heart warming glimpse of Italian life
daily as you watch the comings and goings of children and
their parents at our convent Bed and Breakfast, San
Lodovico. It provides a window into Italy that no hotel can
ever give you.
Explore your trip options on our Trips page. Read the latest developments of upcoming trips on our blog Make Haste Slowly. See pictures of the Orvieto experience and what fun your "journey of discovery" will be. Sign up for our Newsletter. View Past Trips.
Learning Activities
A fabulous way to discover Italy, your own country and yourself is by looking at Italy through a different lens and with another learning purpose. All our trips have learning activities which enrich your understanding of Italy and yourself. We offer two different types of activities.
A fabulous way to discover Italy, your own country and yourself is by looking at Italy through a different lens and with another learning purpose. All our trips have learning activities which enrich your understanding of Italy and yourself. We offer two different types of activities.
• “Discover Orvieto” is held every week and can serve as a parallel trip to our creative exploration workshops
(described next). You enjoy experiences and insights with thought provoking activities that deepen your
appreciation of Italy, your country and yourself. Find more details at Discover Orvieto.
• Creative exploration workshops employ some of our country's (and England's and Australia's) most talented
teachers in a variety of fields. The workshops engage you in ways that have you exploring Orvieto from a
totally different perspective. You develop a deeper understanding and greater insights about Italy and
yourself. All of our teachers are adept at working with people of all abilities. You have fun and learn
regardless of your skill level. The Trips Page has details.
(described next). You enjoy experiences and insights with thought provoking activities that deepen your
appreciation of Italy, your country and yourself. Find more details at Discover Orvieto.
• Creative exploration workshops employ some of our country's (and England's and Australia's) most talented
teachers in a variety of fields. The workshops engage you in ways that have you exploring Orvieto from a
totally different perspective. You develop a deeper understanding and greater insights about Italy and
yourself. All of our teachers are adept at working with people of all abilities. You have fun and learn
regardless of your skill level. The Trips Page has details.
How We Are Different
Adventures in Italy provides an exceptionally fun, memorable and, ultimately, life enriching experience. You benefit from unusually intimate cultural experiences made possible by our years of building friendships in Orvieto paired with a variety of learning activities. These complement each other, resulting in a true journey of discovery.
Our trips reintroduce wonder into your life – not unlike the wonder you experienced as a child when all was new and different and novel. With us, you get below the surface to experience Italy as a participant in its life. You experience the familiar, but with a different emphasis because it is through the ways of a different culture. It reawakens you, opens your eyes again to the joys of discovery, reconnects you to the simple things in life that bring meaning and pleasure and joy.
This is not a "group tour" as you know them. We are a group engaged in a unique form of discovery and exploration. You are actively involved, not a passive receptor of lectures and information. It is much more alive!
Adventures in Italy provides an exceptionally fun, memorable and, ultimately, life enriching experience. You benefit from unusually intimate cultural experiences made possible by our years of building friendships in Orvieto paired with a variety of learning activities. These complement each other, resulting in a true journey of discovery.
Our trips reintroduce wonder into your life – not unlike the wonder you experienced as a child when all was new and different and novel. With us, you get below the surface to experience Italy as a participant in its life. You experience the familiar, but with a different emphasis because it is through the ways of a different culture. It reawakens you, opens your eyes again to the joys of discovery, reconnects you to the simple things in life that bring meaning and pleasure and joy.
This is not a "group tour" as you know them. We are a group engaged in a unique form of discovery and exploration. You are actively involved, not a passive receptor of lectures and information. It is much more alive!
Why We Do Adventures In Italy
We do Adventures in Italy because we love the country, the people, their take on life, and because we want to share it with others. We do it because it changes us for the better. We do it because it enriches life. We do it because it
is fun. Finally, selfishly, we do it because we believe we can learn and bring home an outlook and approach that will make our lives and communities better.
The learning that takes place and the fulfilling experiences we have are tremendously rewarding. It fills us (Kristi and Bill) up. And it fills us up to see others finding their inner child again, becoming enthralled with Orvieto and its people, rediscovering the wonder that exists in life.
Being in Orvieto for a week is like the stop in a musical piece, that moment with no sound, so full of meaning
and import. Orvieto is the stop in busy lives, where we take the opportunity to slow down, to breathe, to pause - in order to find meaning. What could be more rewarding than doing this with other people who become our friends?
We hope you will join us.
Kristi and Bill
We do Adventures in Italy because we love the country, the people, their take on life, and because we want to share it with others. We do it because it changes us for the better. We do it because it enriches life. We do it because it
is fun. Finally, selfishly, we do it because we believe we can learn and bring home an outlook and approach that will make our lives and communities better.
The learning that takes place and the fulfilling experiences we have are tremendously rewarding. It fills us (Kristi and Bill) up. And it fills us up to see others finding their inner child again, becoming enthralled with Orvieto and its people, rediscovering the wonder that exists in life.
Being in Orvieto for a week is like the stop in a musical piece, that moment with no sound, so full of meaning
and import. Orvieto is the stop in busy lives, where we take the opportunity to slow down, to breathe, to pause - in order to find meaning. What could be more rewarding than doing this with other people who become our friends?
We hope you will join us.
Kristi and Bill
