April 19-26 , 2023
$4100
(based on single)
Thrive Members 30% off coupon DOES NOT apply to this retreat
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If you are ready to enjoy unforgettable flavors, fill your soul with abundant creativity and feel the joy and love of a supportive group, you are ready for this never-to be-forgotten retreat located in Fiesole, Italy, just outside of Florence.
Get ready for seven nights of bliss as you get inspired by amazing art in the Uffizi in Florence, get creative with cooking from experts in a hands on class, experience the finest wines with a tasting and lunch in Chianti, enjoy world famous gelato in San Gimignano, feel the zen with a garden yoga class and capture it all in your travel journal.
Join us for a perfect blend of inspiring travel and creative journaling with your engaging and fun guides, Kathy Beekman and Carol Fennell.
Located just 20 minutes outside of Florence in Fiesole, you will feel the charm and enchanting atmosphere of the past in its brick and stone ceilings and gardens at the charming agriturisimo, Fattoria di Poggiopiano, where Chianti wine, grappa and olive oil are still produced.
Get inspired by Italian chefs as you delight in learning the secrets of the traditional Tuscan cuisine with a cooking class.
Ah, the delights of a Tuscan sanctuary, a community, and a retreat, where people from all walks of life come to experience its inspiration, culture and peace from the stress of their daily lives.
Let us tell you more…
…so imagine wine tasting at a Chianti farm where they prepare a special lunch before journeying to medieval city San Gimignano for a heavenly taste of world famous gelato.
Let it all go as we breath together and move our bodies during Hatha Yoga in the Factorial Garden surrounded by sweet fragrant blooms and inviting shade trees.
Are you ready?
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Seven nights in Italy
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Walk in the footsteps of the Renaissance, visit Florence and the Uffizi with a guided walking trip of the city
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Cook in paradise as you learn the secrets of traditional Tuscan cuisine and have lunch together
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Feel the call to be creatively inspired and learn about creatively recording travels in your journal
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Experience Chianti wine region with tasting and a lunch made for you at the Tuscan farm
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Stroll the medieval streets of San Gimignano and get inspired to record the sites with watercolor and gouache.
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Experience adventure and the space to connect with other like-minded creatives as we tour a historic artist shop in Florence
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Move and appreciate your body with yoga
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Take a walk along the Stilicone Trail with a local guide and experience an area once inhabited by Etruscans and now covered in a vast array of plants and wildflowers
We are ready for you!
This carefully curated experience was designed for YOU combining the ultimate adventure with a creativity experience that you’ll remember for a life-time.
There’s something magical about being someplace new to inspire and renew the spirit!
Sign me up for this amazing journey!
What you will walk away with…
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Inspiring travel
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Greater self-awareness
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A delectable adventure in wine
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Creative ways to record your travels in your travel journal that include watercolor and collaging (no art experience necessary)
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A renewed spirit from walks and yoga
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An authentic Italian cooking class experience
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An appreciation of the amazing ART and CULTURE of Tuscany
Your home for a week!
Fattoria di Poggiopiano is the typical Tuscan farmhouse which offers comfort while keeping an enchanting atmosphere of the past with stone and brick vaulted ceilings and beautiful gardens.
The Cuisine
All meals served at the breakfast buffet are organic and locally grown. Think freshly baked bread, homemade jams and honey from the farms own bees. You can look forward to fruit that has been dried or fresh fruit that is in season and picked right from the farms trees.
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Day 1- Arrival in Florence. Welcome to Italy! On your arrival, private transfer by motor coach to Fiesole at Fattoria di Poggiopiano. Today is a day to adjust and relax. Overnight at hotel.
Day 2- In the footsteps of the Renaissance: Visit to Uffizi Gallery in Florence.
After breakfast, departure by private coach to Florence to visit the Uffizi, preserving the masterpieces of Renaissance. A private guide will give us a walking tour of beautiful Florence, where we will find a spot to record in our first travel journaling session. Lunch at Piazza Santa Croce. (BB, L) included.
Day 3: Cooking in Paradise
After breakfast, we will immerse ourselves in an intense and fun cooking school class. We will learn the secrets of the traditional Tuscan cuisine and will eat what we created together over lunch. In the afternoon, spend time together in the beautiful gardens and create watercolor paintings in our journals. In the afternoon, wine and olive tasting in the Fattoria. (BB, L) included
Note: The cooking class may be done in a location nearby due to timing. We will confirm this as it gets closer.
Day 4: Wine experience in Chianti and San Gimignano gelato
After breakfast, depart by private coach and tour the Chianti region by private coach. Our destination is San Gimignano. The first stop will be a famous farm where we will visit the wine cellar, imbibe in wine tasting and have a delicious lunch. Continue to San Gimignano center to admire the city and to have an unforgettable tasting at Dondoli Gelateria, awarded World Champion Title for gelato. We will spend time exploring and take in the breathtaking views from San Gimignano and learn to quickly develop sketches in our journal. (BB, L) included.
Day 5: Art and Meditation Day
After breakfast, enjoy yoga in the Fattoria garden by the pool with a Yogi. The afternoon will include a free afternoon to explore the city and countryside on your own. (BB) included.
Note: Yoga is pending (confirming a teacher) and they will reconfirm closer to day.
Day 6: Visit historic artists shop in Florence.
After breakfast we will visit an historical “bottega” in Florence. Entering the Studio Musivo Lastrucci is like stepping back into the Renaissance. Learn, from artisan masters Bruno and Iacopo, about “Florentine Commesso”, a particular kind of mosaic, developed in the 16th century in Florence. Visit the ancient Spedale, housing Lastrucci’s private collection of mosaics. The studio is located in ancient Spedale di San Francesco de’ Macci in Florence, a few steps from Basiclica di Santa Croce. The medieval building dates to 1335 and has housed the famous “Madonna of Harpies”, a painting by Andrea del Sarta, now at the Uffizi. Learn how the mosaics are produced according to the original techniques dating back to the 16th century. We will explore Florence on our own in the afternoon and capture a favorite memory, using found objects, in our travel journal. (BB) included
Day 7: Explore the grounds
After breakfast, grab your art journals as we transfer to the starting point of a historic hiking path: Stilicone Trail. The Stilicone Trail goes from Fiesole to Olmo and was created to celebrate the victory of the Roman general who defeated the Osstrogoths of King Radagasius on 23 August 406 AD. The Stilicone Path crosses the green countryside of Fiesole, home of famous artists, characterized by vineyards and olive groves, watchtowers and medieval churches, in an area frequented since the Estrucan age. The route, which partly uses these ancient trail, is covered in numerous species of plants and wildlife. We will use our journals to capture the essence of the countryside along this trail. On arrival in Olmo, a minivan will take us back to the farmhouse.
12 km. (BB)included
Day 8:
Morning check out and private transfer to Florence airport. Arrivederci Italia!
Included
-7 nights in Fiesole at Fattoria di Poggiopiano
-Transfers to/from Florence airport
-Daily Breakfast (BB), Lunch when indicated (L) Private transfer from Florence airport to hotel and back
-Hatha Yoga lesson at Fattoria
-Full day excursion in Florence including round trip transfer, licensed guide, Uffizi admission with skip line, lunch at restaurant in Florence
-Full day excursion to San Gimignano for city visit: private coach, tour escort, visit at wine producer with tasting and lunch, visit at gelateria with tasting
-Cooking Class and lunch at Fattoria
-Round trip transfer from Fiesole to Florence and visit of mosaic art studio
-Hiking excursion including: tour leader and transfer back to hotel
-Creative journaling classes include sketching, watercolor, pastels, gouache, and collaging with paper keepsakes
Step ONE: I am in! Sign me up!
Thrive Creative Community reserves the right to cancel this retreat, and will refund the full balance. Participants who cancel a paid enrollment by December 1 2022 will receive a full refund*. If cancellations are made after this deadline, the fee will not be refunded. There are no exceptions to this policy.
*Full refund excludes $100 fee for credit card payments.
By providing your registration and signing the agreement in the attached word document
you are officially part of the journey! Please download, fill out, and return this document to us at Thrive.
The Creativity
There is something special about being in a new place.
Come along, get inspired, learn something new and connect with others!
You will walk the same paths artists have for centuries and will be inspired by medieval architecture and glorious landscapes around every turn. You will gather techniques to record travels in your own journal including watercolor, sketching, writing prompts, and collage, all while be surrounded by a supportive creative community. Learn to see with a creative eye and capture it all in your journal.
Art Inclusions
· Travel journal, stabilo pencils and travel watercolor set
· Use of our art making supplies
· And of course we have surprises!
Items not included in the price of the retreat
· Some meals
· Some art supplies- you will receive a list of supplies
· Air fair
· Any attractions or activities not specifically listed
· Personal, medical or trip cancellation insurance
· Medical expenses
· Souvenir shopping, extras and spa services
Kathy Beekman
Kathy is a professional artist, art career coach, greeting card designer and author. She favors color, texture, and a sense of humor in her creative endeavors. Kathy is a resident of Bailey, Colorado, the wife of an archaeologist, and a mother of two fur-babies. Her inspiration comes from many places but is rooted in a sense of community, family, relationships, and overall positive energy found from living a creative life. Kathy’s artwork can be found in collections throughout the world and her most recent line of greeting cards, The Right Words, finds its roots in art journaling and can be found on Etsy and in retail stores.
Carol Fennell
Carol Fennell is a visual artist who bridges art and life through exploration, discovery, curiosity and creativity. Her work is found in galleries, private collections and custom installations across the country. Inspired by the colors, patterns and textures found in the Colorado landscape, Carol’s mixed media canvases often begin as a page in her art journal. She currently resides in Denver with her husband and two boys.
Come with us, won’t you?