DAY 1 — ARRIVAL
Before you can look, you have to stop.
Evening Welcome. A glass of wine, something on the table. One single instruction for the week: bring a notebook, a pencil, an open gaze.
After dinner. First observation - Five minutes outside, in the dark, just listening. No photographs yet — only presence.
DAY 2 — THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EYE
The sea as first subject.
06:30 Sunrise at the sea. We go out before the day makes up its mind. The light at half past six resembles nothing else. Camera or smartphone — the tool doesn't matter.
08:00 Breakfast & sharing. Back home, we look at what we captured together. No judgement — only observation.
10:00 Workshop · Landscape photography. How to read a scene. Light, shadow, waiting. We go out into the nearby territory with a different gaze from a tourist's one.
13:00 Lunch at home. Slow, with garden products.
15:00 Free afternoon. Go wherever you like with the camera. The harbour, the alleys, the countryside.
17:00 Workshop · Long-rise pizza dough. Hands on something else, while the mind processes the day's images. We prepare the dough — tomorrow evening it goes in the oven.
20:00 Dinner & viewing. Photos from the day are shared. Everyone picks their favourite and says why.
DAY 3 — THE WRITTEN WORD
A village, a story to tell.
07:00 Morning swim. Short swim, breakfast at the seafront coffee bar.
10:00 Guided visit · Belmonte Calabro. We walk with the look of who will write about it later. Notes go on paper — not on the phone.
13:00 Lunch on site. Village trattoria or picnic with local products.
15:00 Workshop · Writing from life. Sitting with the notebook, we write about the place we just visited. Not a review — a fragment. Three paragraphs, one impression, one scene. Read aloud only if you want to.
17:00 Free time. Independent walk, rest, holistic massage on request.
20:00 Pizza from the wood-fired oven. Last night's dough is ready. We fire the oven, eat together, talk about what we wrote — or completely about something else.
DAY 4 — SLOW DRAWING
Drawing is not about knowing how to draw.
07:00 Morning swim. Sunrise observation or swim — your choice.
10:00 Workshop · Drawing from life. We draw what we see — a corner of the garden, a window, an object on the table. No expectation of results. Slow drawing is a form of meditation.
12:30 Lunch at home. Light, colourful.
15:00 Guided visit · Amantea (~12 km). The hilltop old town, the Aragonese walls, the seafront. We walk with pencil and notebook in pocket — whoever wants to stop and sketch or jot something down, stops.
18:00 Artisanal gelato on the seafront. A necessary pause.
20:00 Dinner at home. Shared table. Everyone shows what they drew during the day — no judgement, only curiosity.
DAY 5 — SILENCE AS MATERIAL
Some of the best things are made by not doing.
Morning. Free at the sea. No workshop. Just the sea, the body, the sky.
10:00 Holistic massage. A session to put the body back at the centre, after days of eyes and mind at work.
13:00 Light lunch. At home, simple.
17:00 Fiumefreddo Bruzio (~6 km). Walk up to the medieval village at sunset. Bring the notebook — or the camera. Or nothing at all.
20:00 Dinner on site or return. Village trattoria if open, otherwise back home for dinner.
DAY 6 — GATHERING THE THREADS
Everything you have seen, written, drawn: it is already a work.
07:00 Last sunrise. Go out at dawn for the week's final photography session.
10:00 Workshop · Seasonal preserves. Hands take care of something concrete and fragrant while the mind sorts through the week's memories.
12:30 Lunch at home. With the freshly made jam, bread, a long coffee.
15:00 Workshop · Editing & storytelling. We go back over photos, sketches, notes. Each of us choose one image, one text, one drawing to take home as a memory of the week. Those who wants to, shares it.
18:00 Free time. Last afternoon at the sea or in the garden.
20:00 Final conscious dinner, local wine. A toast to what was made — and to what will be made when we get home.
DAY 7 — DEPARTURE
You leave with a different gaze from the one you arrived with.
Morning. Slow breakfast. Coffee, bread, yesterday's jam. No rush.
Before leaving . Something to take home. A jar of preserve, the recipe, a printed photo, a drawing. And promise to keep looking at the world this way, even back home.
Departure. Flexible according to travel times.
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change