Portovenere, Liguria, Italy

Italy Retreat for Women 2016 begins!  We have arrived in beautiful Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera for my Italy Retreat For Women to live La Dolce Vita Retreat!
The Italy Retreat I teach includes a transformational workshop with a setting that is beyond beautiful on the Italian Riviera and then this year we also stay in a villa near Cortona,Tuscany. I call this a transformational travel workshop where we are nourished and ripened like the food grown in Italy’s rich soil.

We enjoy adventuring to 10 different towns, interspersed with 12 hours of workshop time.  During the 11-day retreat each woman has time to discover her heart’s desire and learn tools so that she can continue to create her Sweet Life, La Dolce Vita.

We have visited beautiful Portovenere (Port of Venus) and today we’ll visit Riomaggiore with the bright red building in the front.

Portovenere, Bay of Poets

Living in a beautiful part of the world for awhile makes it easy to feel happier and more peaceful.  Eating delicious aromatic food, surrounded by beauty and great conversations with others is satisfying on a deep level.  Part of living the sweet life was that our meals were created from fresh locally grown ingredients.

It’s special to drink wine and eat local dishes on the soil where the food, olive oil and grapes are grown or to try the food the sea has to offer us. Local cuisine is infused with luscious olive oil and pungent herbs.

Italy is home to some of the greatest art on the planet with its art museums, sculptures, churches, representing centuries of artistic achievement.  Some of the most wonderful art ever was created in Italy. Whether or not we’re in museums, everywhere we look is pleasing to the eye, like an open-air museum.

I’m having difficulties uploading more photos so perhaps later more photos of Monterosso al Mare. In Monterosso, where we stay for four nights, orange and white umbrellas line the beaches.  Bright colorful blue, green, and red fishing boats depart from the shore each day to bring back dinner.  Bottles of olive oil, orange mandarin colored honey, local wine grown on the terraced hillsides, and mortar and pestles made from olive wood are artistically displayed.  More than that, the fragrance from the hillside herbs, lemon trees and vineyards filled the air. There was an unusual peace in the area also because the 5 Cinque Terre towns do not allow cars to be driven.

Here’s to living la dolce vita!