Florence, the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance is one of the most special cities in the world and perhaps the most important in Western art. Join us for our signature 6-day Yoga and Art Tour, as we study her riches, explore her secrets, and gloriously eat our way through the city. Each day will be grounded by an hour-long yoga practice to help integrate the gifts of our explorations, and keep our bodies strong and supple.

We will begin each day with an expertly guided morning art tour of a significant site, where our resident art historian Sarah will lead us through some of the best art in the world and give us the juicy gossip about the people involved. Italian Renaissance is Sarah's specialty and we don't know anyone who makes art more relevant, so this will be a real treat.

The tour will end in time for lunch. Whether you just grab a slice of pizza or sit down for a long affair, it is sure to be spectacular. The rest of the afternoon is yours to shop for shoes, take up an Italian lover, or stroll along the Arno river.

We meet again at 4pm for yoga with Linda. These 1-hour yoga classes will cater to all levels and will help reset your body and will get you out in perfect time to enjoy the warm Florentine evening. Sip a glass of wine and people-watch fashionable locals zoom around on their scooters. We believe the perfect day should end with gelato but we won't force anyone.

ABOUT LINDA

Linda is the founder and owner of YogaSource Los Gatos, Silicon Valley's premier yoga studio. She leads workshops, conferences and retreats in the US and internationally.

Linda has trained in both the US and India in Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Power, Pilates, Yoga therapeutics, Yin and Vipassana meditation. She is a student of modern Buddhism, Jungian psychology and functional movement. Her yoga classes are a playful and masterful blend of precision, elegance, and breath. Linda lived in Paris for 3 years and still believes it is the most beautiful city in the world.

ABOUT SARAH
Sarah is a devout yogi and a trained art historian who specializes in 16th Century Italian Renaissance Art. Sarah fell in love with Florence in 2008 during her study abroad at the University of Firenze and continued to work, teach, visit and do research in Florence for a decade thereafter. After discovering a relatively unknown painted interior in Brescia, Italy in 2009 while working as a teaching assistant during graduate school, she ventured to do research at dozens of archives in northern and central Italy from 2010 to 2015 before publishing Marking the Condottiere's Interior: The Saletta delle Dame of the Martinengo Salvedego. Sarah has lectured at San Jose State University, UCLA, UCSD, the Renaissance Society of America, and was recently celebrated as a historian of honor at San Jose State University. Sarah formerly worked at the Institute of Contemporary Art before assuming her current role at UC Berkeley. She has a Bachelors Degree in Psychology, a Bachelors Degree Art History and Visual Culture, and a Masters Degree in Art History.

ABOUT THE YOGA
Expect an all-levels 60-minute Vinyasa flow every day that will get your body feeling great and open your mind up to integrate the gifts of the day. Yoga is the practice of paying attention and we will carry this warm curiosity through our tour as we explore the art and wonders of the city, making our explorations more potent and keeping our bodies well tuned. Some yoga experience will be helpful but not required.

ABOUT THE ART TOURS

Florence is the birthplace of contemporary life as we know it. At the dawn of the renaissance, Florence produced the artists - like Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, and Michelangelo - and thinkers - like Petrarch, Dante and Galileo - that would change the world forever. Ending the gothic period and giving birth to humanism, scientific discovery, architectural ingenuity, and of course the most famous art in the world - all with the theatrical drama that you'd expect from such brilliance.

Over the course of six days Sarah will weave you through the dramatic and rapid histories of the formation of Renaissance Florence, exposing you to the city and its visibly layered histories, the architecture, the art and artists, and the tumultuous rivalries and traditions that create our understanding of Italy today.

*Tours will run approximately 1.5-2 hours each day (taking into account lines and our group mobility) and roughly half will require 1-3 miles of walking with lots of stops for breaks and questions.

BUT I DON'T HAVE ANYONE TO GO WITH; SHOULD I STILL GO?

Yes! That's exactly why we are doing this! Being a part of the yoga and art activities, you will meet fantastic people from day one. If you need a roommate, please say that at registration and we will connect all the singles. We will begin with an Orientation on the very first day so that everyone can get to know each other. Always in our trips, friendships arise in the most spontaneous way.

PAYMENTS

Trip cost is $795, due at registration.

Refunds until March 31, 2018:

A $100 administrative fee will be deducted from refund.

Refunds April 1 - July 1:

A $500 administrative fee will be deducted from refund. If documented medical emergency, the fee is reduced to $100.

No refunds after July 1st.

In the event of cancellation on our part, we will issue you a full refund.