Day 1, Thursday:

Arrival Day: you are met at the airport or train station and transported to Selva where sparkling wine and Tuscan specialties welcome you. Then you may unpack, settle in and perhaps take a walk around your home for the next seven days, most probably take a photo or two! Before dinner you'll begin the homemade limoncello process; then, Pat and Emi will introduce to you to the workshop and the week’s activities and discuss goals and challenges. Dinner is prepared for you by the Abbondanza Toscana staff and served under the leafy pergola.

Throughout the week, Pat and Emi will be available for consultation, hints, suggestions and conversation. Toward the end of the week, you will be asked to choose your favorite photographs for a display shared with other workshop participants. Pat and Emi will also use these selections to publish a book of photographs for the group.

Day 2, Friday:

Greet a beautiful Tuscan morning! Your first day is "at home." After brunch Pat and Emil will conduct an informal tutorial; and then you may choose to work around the farmhouse, its gardens, in the olive groves, among the grapevines or many other places on the estate. In the late afternoon, our chef leads you in preparation of the evening's dinner.

Day 3, Saturday:

An introduction to Lucca begins with the very best cappuccino in the world followed by a stroll down the most useful shopping street in the world, filled with stores chockfull of baskets and pans and brooms and seeds and all manner of things. You’ll meet Anna for a short cultural tour of Lucca, including its Romanesque churches and Roman amphitheater and, of course, the famous walls. Then you’re on your own to explore the city’s visual treasures, including a Renaissance garden. Back to Selva to review your work so far with Pat and Emi, and then enjoy dinner by our chef.

Day 4, Sunday:

From the seaside to the hilltop: today you will visit the small fishing town of Lerici on the Gulf of Poets and have lunch in a tiny hill town overlooking the bay, with enchanting nooks and doorways. In the late afternoon, you will return to Selva for dinner prepared by our chef.

Day 5, Monday:

After breakfast, you will have a review session with Pat and Emi and the opportunity for more photography around the estate. After lunch you leave for Lucca for a wine-tasting in caves underneath the city, a one-hour Puccini concert and dinner at one of our favorite restaurants.

Day 6, Tuesday:

West of Lucca is the Mediterranean and the famed Cinque Terre, the five towns perched on cliffs over the water. You can walk, train or boat among the villages and enjoy scenic views from the cliffs or the sea.

Day 7, Wednesday:

After a morning review session, you go to the nearby enclosed hill town of Montecarlo, with its 12th century fortezza, winding streets and ancient gates. Lunch is at a winery where you will also enjoy a wine tour and be able to photograph the cellars and vineyards. Upon your return to Selva, we’ll have a pre-dinner display of favorite pictures, then the highly-popular pizza night with Eduardo and sample the limoncello you made earlier in the week.

Day 8, Thursday:

After breakfast, we wish you arrivederci, until we meet again. The van transports you back to the train station or airport.