Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini famously remarked, “Life is a combination of magic and pasta”. We couldn’t agree more. That is why are making both this summer in Tuscany.

So we ask, are you a pappardelle person or a linguine lover? Or if you are also one of us who is contributing to the current pasta renaissance according to the Guardian, your answer is probably tutti or all of the above!

The pasta renaissance is alive and well (in fact it never left!) where we are living, creating, and of course eating, on our two-week retreats in the heart of the Tuscan countryside. While there, we will also have the opportunity to make all sorts of different pasta varieties and sauces with our very own nonna. It is a privilege to witness and experience the heart and soul that goes into rolling the perfect little gnocchi. Can you say “tutto bene”?!

Not only does making and eating pasta connect us to the people and the place of our surroundings, but according to the World Health Organization, ‘good’ carbs are essential to a healthy diet. Where better place to live this very truth this summer, where pasta has always been on point than surrounded by nearly 100 acres of olives, wild oleander, and cypress in Italy?

Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, a beautiful bowl of fresh pasta is meant to be shared. It also takes time to be made and even longer to be truly enjoyed. That is how the Italians have been cooking, eating, and living, for centuries, and that is how we will too. We will take an intentional break from always being “on the go” to “taking it slow”. Family style first and foremost, around tables of homemade food, locally-sourced wine, and deep conversation full of new insights and plenty of laughs, is waiting for you this summer.

Pasta, Prosecco, rolling green hills and famiglia-living, what more could you ask for? As Leonardo da Vinci, of another type of Renaissance of sorts, once said, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”.