For three nights, our home will be Antico Palazzo Rospigliosi, a historic palazzo in the heart of Rome. It was a home of the noble Rospigliosi family, which gave the world one pope and few cardinals. 

Its central location allows us to do most of our explorations on foot and makes it easy to return to the hotel between activities. 

Breakfast is included.

Our first evening together is about getting to know each other and beginning to discover the many layers of Rome.

Inspired by The Passenger: Rome, we’ll explore the political, economic and social forces that have shaped and transformed the city throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. We’ll discuss how these changes have influenced Rome’s identity, its neighbourhoods and the everyday lives of its inhabitants.

We’ll also share our first impressions of the city and reflect on the difference between the Rome we imagine and the Rome we encounter.

A relaxed evening of introductions, conversation and a glass of wine – the beginning of our literary journey together.

We will enter some of Rome’s most spiritually significant Christian spaces.

These visits are not simply about art history.

We will use some of these spaces for observation, contemplation and meditation, experiencing feeling rather than seeing. 

No previous meditation experience is needed.

How has Rome changed between Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) and Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty (2013)? And how much has remained the same?

Through these two iconic films, we’ll explore Rome as a city of beauty, ambition, excess and loneliness. We’ll discuss the lives of its intellectual and artistic circles, the search for meaning, and the relationship between the Eternal City’s magnificent past and its contemporary identity.

Our conversation may also draw on Gianfranco Calligarich’s novel Last Summer in the City, offering another perspective on Rome, its inhabitants and the experience of belonging — or not belonging — to the city.

An informal cinema discussion in a Roman art gallery, accompanied by an aperitivo. No film expertise required — just curiosity and a willingness to share your impressions.

One of the most exclusive parts of our trip will be meeting Rome-based writer Emiliano Reali.

Emiliano is sharing an English translation of one of his bestselling books and has agreed to make the translated text available (to our group only!) before its English publication.

So we will have the unusual opportunity to read the work in advance — and then sit down in Rome with the person who wrote it.

Emiliano practices Qigong for more than 30 years! Emiliano will combine two seemingly different sides of his practice: a Qigong session followed by a conversation about his book, writing and contemporary life.

Details of this encounter are subject to final confirmation.

There will be an organised wine tasting (included in the total price). 

We’ll do the book and wine pairing during our trip. 

Some of our best discussions may happen after the official programme has finished for the day.

At the same time, lunches and dinners remain flexible and are generally paid individually. You can join the group, choose somewhere else, eat very little, eat extremely well — or occasionally escape from all of us for the evening.

This is a retreat for adults. Freedom is part of the programme.

Lunches and dinners are deliberately not included. People eat, drink, and travel in very different ways, and I want to leave room for individual choice.
We’ll have opportunities to eat and drink together, but you will always be free to order exactly what you want, skip a meal, or leave the group for an evening and discover somewhere on your own or with a new friend.

We’ll walk in the less touristy areas with locals.  We will walk through Rome like literary characters and writers.

We’ll relax afterwards in the hotel’s inner courtyard or library, and discuss books and the city over a glass of wine.

Conversations about everyday matters are prohibited!