DRAFT - SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
San Vincenti, Tuscany. Friday/Tuesday 11/15-September-2026.
- London, England. Thursday/Tuesday 27-August/01-September-2026.
- Frankfurt, Germany. Wednesday/Thursday 02/03-September-2026.
- Nuremberg, Germany. Thursday/Saturday 03/05-September-2026.
- Milan, Italy. Sunday/Tuesday 06/08-September-2026.
- Castelnuovo Berardenga, Tuscany. Wednesday/Thursday 09/10-September-2026.
- San Vincenti, Tuscany. Friday/Tuesday 11/15-September-2026.
- Roma, Italy. Wednesday/Saturday 16/19-September-2026.
Introduction.
Our home for five days and the raison d'etre of this rail trip. A Yoga and Pilates retreat in Tuscany, booked about a year ago. As we had to get there from Penrith and then from there to Cisternino, we decided to travel by train, stopping off at other places on the way.
Friday 11-September-2026.
Mary had leapt out of bed early to buy lunch ingredients for the local supermarket as we were being picked up by bright and early from Castelnuovo Berardenga by Martyn so we were the first attendees to arrived; others were due to arrive at various points during the day.
Lunch at Borgo San Vincenti: a group of rooms and apartments set in a small village in a remote location. Sarah Newby, one of the instructors, with us in the background. We ate our lunch as the others trickled in from various directions.
Our main hosts and organisers were Martyn and Amram from Healing Together (Instagram @martynblacklockhealing) assisted by Sarah Newby of Beyond Fitness with Sarah and Em from North Star Holistic. Plus I should include our cook, Pat (Cibo A Casa Crisci), who night after night produced the most amazing and very authentic Italian food like nothing you would get in a normal restaurant.
After introductions the assembled company dined together for the first time. The dining area:
Any concerns that it might be an ascetic event were laid to rest by seeing the amount of wine consumed and hilarity that ensued.
Saturday 12-September-2026.
Sunrise from the complex.
08:00 Martyn - Breathwork, Mantra and Opening Circle. Starting the retreat with our first session to welcome us all. Followed by breakfast.
09:00 No parkrun! It is an odd Saturday that doesn’t involve a trip to a nearby park for our regular fix.
10:30 Sarah - Pilates. I had never done Pilates so a couple of weeks ago I got Sarah to give me an introductory session so I had some idea of what to expect. Pretty straightforward, there only so much you can do with the human body, but it was quite hard work as I am not as fit as I have been.
17:00 Em - Slow Flow Yoga. I have done yoga for many years and I can definitely do “slow” so this was a good session to end the first day.
Another boozy supper with more glasses of wine than was strictly necessary!
Sunday 13-September-2026.
08:00 Sarah - Body Wake-Up. This was a very energetic way to start the day. I needed to go back for my second shower of the day.
10:30 Em - Kundalini. Another first. The breath of fire is certainly one way to make yourself giddy thanks to the hyperventilating. I do not sing, ever, so making noises felt weird. Maybe this practice could help unblock my inhibitions regards singing! File under “Interesting”.
14:00 Cooking experience with Pat. Here Mary helps to prepare the tiramisu.
The finished product. Not to be eaten straightaway, it has to mature overnight in the fridge and would be served the next day.
Next we made gnocchi. Pat made the dough of potato, egg and flour and did most of the rolling and cutting. The assembled team did the forming of the gnocchi using forks and a variety of other implements. Those we did eat that night.
Another fine evening.
Monday 14-September-2026.
08:00 Amram - Tibetan Series. This was a bit too energetic for my liking with everything done 21 times. The first exercise was whirling Dervishes. I’ve got up to about 10 or 12 when my gyro stabiliser went completely berserk and I wobbled all over the place. Note to self: start off slowly! The rest of the exercises were less hazardous.
10:00 Martyn and Amram - Shine. I do not dance (a couple of well structured Scottish dances excepted). So this was uncomfortable for me. It started of well enough but as the session progressed my inhibitions made it very hard for me to loosen up. A practice based around disco dancing just isn't going to fly with me. Sorry, Martyn.
Trip to Siena No 5pm class. A number of the attendees took and afternoon excursion into Sienna. We have been before so sat this one out, relaxing by the pool.
The evening was mre eating and drinking, including yesterday's tiramisu for dessert.
Tuesday 15-September-2026.
08:00 Em - Breathwork and Mantra. We skipped this session because we had to discovered there was a Big Bench nearby and Martin very kindly agreed to drive us over to it before breakfast.
Big Bench #136.
The view from the bench across the Tuscan Hills.
The bench is the grounds of Castello Di Meleto.
This makes our fourth big bench, for previous benches see: Big Benches in Puglia.
Then a return to San Vincenti in time for Sarah’s relaxing stretch.
10:30 Sarah - Relaxing Stretch. It was lovely to do an exercise, mostly lying on your back without lots of energetic jumping about.
16:00 Winery Trip. A number of us walked to a nearby wine producer for a fascinating wine tasting.
Read more: Wine tasting at Tenuta San Vincenti.
18:00 Martyn and Amram - Shine Session and Closing Circle. One last wind down stretch and a chance to share our experiences.
The last supper and so to bed.
Next stop: Rome.
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