"Under the Tuscan Moon" - A yoga, cultural-sensory retreat for women

Antella, Metropolitan City of Florence, Italy

ED
Erin Davidson
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Oct 4 - 11, 2020
Group size: 6 - 12
"Under the Tuscan Moon" - A yoga, cultural-sensory retreat for women
Antella, Metropolitan City of Florence, Italy

Erin Davidson
  • Email address verified
  • Facebook verified
  • LinkedIn verified

Oct 4 - 11, 2020
Group size: 6 - 12

About this trip

Under the Tuscan Moon is a yoga, and sensory-cultural retreat for women in the Tuscan countryside, only 35 minutes from the city center of Florence. Our intention for you is to receive a foundation to develop your divine feminine power, and achieve your personal desires and professional goals through a morning program of yoga, breath-work & somatic movement, with guided meditation, journaling and group interaction, surrounded by the serenity of nature, historic art, culture & cuisine with an intimate group of adventurous and supportive women in the heart of Italy


Our retreat offers daily yoga classes, meditation and breath-work led by Olivia Tassinari-Nakagawara, with option to add massage and womb steaming.  Included for this retreat will be two unique somatic experiences to help align the body, mind & spirit with its new surroundings of colors, scents, sounds and textures. Two experiences led by our hostess Bianca begin on the first day with a sensory walk in the Tuscan countryside.  In addition to the daily yoga classes, Bianca will offer a class of somatic movement and learning of Italian that will be designed specifically for the group to discover through the body, receiving a new language, its culture and its vibrations. 


Our yoga studio at San Bernardo, is a refurbished 15th century church, renovated respecting the principles of sustainability and reduction of CO2 emissions, equipped with a shock-absorbing dance floor whose structure is entirely floating and finished with bamboo parquet.


Villa Il Colle historic residence of 1400’s, today is a welcoming family-run bed & breakfast. We will occupy the west wing, in the total 5 rooms for single, double or triple accommodations, each room having its own bathroom. The villa is just a 10-minute walk from our studio through the olive orchards in Tuscany, with views of Florence and Brunelleschi’s Duomo


You will have unscheduled afternoons, with options to walk into the village of Antella, enjoy the fragrant scents of the farmers market on Thursday, learn the history of the town and enjoy an espresso with Italian pastry at a local café or a mid-afternoon apertivo & Spritz! Osteria Staccia Buratta will host the group for an authentic Italian lunch, a very special gastronomic experience! And just added, we will have a special evening to experience rustic Tuscan cuisine and organic Chianti Classico, at Terreno Vingard in nearby village Greve, in Chianti


We will also have time to go into Florence for sightseeing, shopping and eating outdoors in the Piazza della Signoria under the Tuscan moon listening to the live music and gurgling sounds of the Neptune fountain with a view of many life-size reproductions of the most famous Renaissance sculptures from our dining table. 

Arrival & Departure

You can fly direct to Florence or plan to meet up with us in Rome and we will travel to Florence together by train.  The cost to travel with the group from Rome to Antella is an additional $75.


If you plan to meet us in Rome, make arrangements to arrive by October 3rd, the day before we depart to Florence. You can arrange your own hotel or Airbnb, or can join the group leaders at our hotel near the Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the most beautiful basilicas dedicated to holy mother Mary.  After a celebratory glass of Processco or acqua frizzante (sparkling water) and dinner, it is an easy walk to the Coliseum, which is impressive to see lit up at night! We will enjoy a delicious gelato on the way back to our hotel or Airbnb. 


The following day, we embark on our week retreat to San Bernardo, taking the fast train to meet our van transportation to the B & B Villa Il Colle, where Luisa and Alezio will be waiting for us with dinner and wine!   Train fare and van transportation to Antella is an additional cost to retreat.


Our retreat closes on October 11. We have arranged transportation to the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence


Transportation from Florence airport to and from Antella can be arranged ahead of departure.     

Watch this video from our last retreat

Who We Are

Welcome!  I am Olivia Tassinari-Nakagawara, a womb steaming practitioner, yoga and meditation instructor, and intuitive guide. My deepest passion is assisting women in tapping into their innate power to align with the Divine Feminine within and embody your powerful existence in the modern day world through online courses and in person offerings.  I have a degree in Philosophy and Religious Studies.  Now at 25, I have been exploring holistic modalities for women’s wellbeing for the past five years. What I love most about my work is introducing to women the lost long fact that they are intuitive, creative, worthy and powerful. I have been recognized for guiding women through breakthroughs in trauma and healing layers of oppressive conditioning using the holistic methods of womb steaming, yoga, meditation, and energetic healing. 


As your trip leader, visionary and creator of this retreat, I, Erin Davidson am so honored to have you as a participant on this unique somatic journey and welcome you to this sacred circle of sisters.  My mission is to gather women to explore their potential and experience their senses in a new environment, a place of natural beauty, with art, movement experiences and cultural awareness, that supports a new narrative of the heroine/mother/daughter, totally authentic and in alignment with her deepest desires and destiny.  I am a holistic energy massage practitioner, somatic & functional movement guide, artist, yogi, dancer, kayaker, teacher, mother, and a survivor of multi-generational trauma.  Art, creative movement, energy work, journaling and spiritual practice has been therapeutic and powerful for my personal development and evolutional growth.  Since I began traveling to Italy, I have developed the wisdom and confidence to create the life I so desire.  I believe it is my legacy to guide women on transformative journeys.  I am so grateful that you have decided to join us!

What’s included

  • Movement Experience
    Morning practice of yoga, dance and meditation at San Bernardo with Olivia Tassinari-Nakagawara
  • Nature Experience
    Walk to San Bernardo guided by Bianca Papafava
  • Language Experience
    Somatic Italian dance class led by Bianca Papafava
  • Meals
    7 buffet breakfasts & 4 family-style dinners with wine at the villa, plus 3 lunches at San Bernardo, 0 km (farm to table), local and vegetarian with seasonal herbs and spices, tea, espresso
  • Daily Refreshments
    Fresh fruit, nuts, infused herbal teas and water
  • Tuscan-style lunch
    Hosted by Bianca & Andreas at Osteria Staccia Burrata and historical walk & open-market through Antella
  • Winery dinner
    Van transportation, wine & dinner at Terreno, Greve in Chianti
  • Train Station Transfer
    Van transportation at end of retreat to Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence

What’s not included

  • Air travel to Italy
    Check Norwegian Air for low-fare direct flights from Oakland/SFO, LAX, Boston & JFK to Rome
  • Airport Taxi
    Wherever you fly in, you can flag a taxi, or we can arrange a taxi to meet you, at your cost.
  • Overnight stays in Rome
    If you plan to join group in Rome, arrange to join us at our hotel, details to be announced soon!
  • Rome-Antella Transfer
    On Oct 4th, our group will take non-stop train from Rome to SMN train station in Florence. A van will meet us at the train station to transport us to our housing in Antella. Additional cost $75
  • Travel insurance
    Standard travel insurance is required for activities
  • Activities in Florence
    Bus fare (2 euro), wine tasting, shopping, meals (2 lunches & 2 dinners) and gelato in Florence plus taxi back to villa

Available Packages

Single Room

1 single room and private bathroom at Villa Il Colle B & B on it own floor, with its own in-room service: breakfast: (Espresso, Cappuccino maker, tea kettle, a basket with sweets, jams and fruit to enjoy either in the room or in the courtyard of the Villa.  Every evening fresh croissants will be baked and guests will find them delivered to the rooms.  

$2,495
Deposit: $750
Double room occupancy

Double room at Villa Il Colle B & B, with its own in-room service: breakfast: (Espresso, Cappuccino maker, tea kettle, a basket with sweets, jams and fruit to enjoy either in the room or in the courtyard of the Villa.  Every evening fresh croissants will be baked and guests will find them delivered to the rooms. Double up with a friend, a sister, or ask us to pair you up with another in our group.  Double wide beds, side by side, with a private bath to share.  

$2,295
Deposit: $750
Triple room occupancy

Triple room at Villa Il Colle B & B, with its own in-room service: breakfast: (Espresso, Cappuccino maker, tea kettle, a basket with sweets, jams and fruit to enjoy either in the room or in the courtyard of the Villa.  Every evening fresh croissants will be baked and guests will find them delivered to the rooms. Slumber party for 3, whether friends, sisters, or you'd like us to match you up with compatible roommates.  Double wide beds, side by side, with additional single bed and a private bath to share.  

$2,195
Deposit: $750

Available options



Itinerary

Homecoming
Welcome to the Villa

October 4th, we will depart from Rome to Florence by train and taxi to our destination as a group, unless you are arriving in on your own Florence, you will arrange to join us there. Upon our arrival in Antella, everyone will meet at Villa Il Colle for Sunday evening dinner, beautifully prepared by Luisa and served to us in the family dining room by her charming husband Azelio, who will gladly pour you your choice of locally sourced wines for your enjoyment. Bianca will welcome us, and after a round of introductions we will set a time to commence our morning nature experience.

Each morning at the villa, we will take our breakfast outdoors in the courtyard, to include an eye-pleasing assortment of sliced meats, fruits, breads, cheese and pastries with fresh coffee and tea.  After breakfast we will walk through the olive groves 10 minutes, to San Bernardo where we will spend the remainder of the morning doing our yoga and movement practice in the studio.

Your Organizer


ED
Erin Davidson
Retreat leader and organizer, Ashiatsu massage therapist, yogi, creative movement practitioner and artist. My philosophy for a healthy body, mind & spirit is guided by sensation, flowing upon the river of life with grace & wisdom. I love to travel, embrace new cultures, make new friends, trust my intuition in unfamiliar surroundings and curious to learn how others see the world from abroad. I want to support every woman, to explore her potential, believe that her dream matters and create an experience to fulfill her possibility.