Setting the prima materia. Myth, memory, and the archetypal foundations. We walk through ancient thresholds—the Pantheon, the Colosseum, the Vatican—encountering the eternal city as sacred text. [3 Days]

The alchemical furnace of Renaissance. Here, we engage with the genius of Ficino, the sacred proportions of Brunelleschi, and the angelic clarity of Michelangelo’s David. This portion includes a private villa retreat honoring spiritual imagination with wine, food, and writing. [4 Days]

The final distillation. Water, dream, and light. Our journey culminates in Venice, city of reflection and refinement—an immersion into the imaginal world, where even the shadows shimmer. [3 Days]

Rome: Three Nights in the Eternal City
4-star lodging in the heart of Rome- Classic Rooms with Breakfast Included

Day 1 - December 27th, 2025 - Arrival and the Taste of La Dolce Vita
As you step into the mythic breath of Rome, private transfers will usher you from the airport to your elegant sanctuary in the historic heart of the city. In the afternoon, the journey truly begins, an intimate, guided introduction to Rome's golden soul. With each step through Bernini’s sculpted mysteries and the Pantheon’s timeless dome, you’ll toss your intentions into the Trevi Fountain, ensuring not just your return, but your deeper descent into the Eternal. The tour unfolds like poetry: part orientation, part initiation, teaching you not just how to navigate Rome, but how to be in Rome—unhurried, attuned, alive. (Duration: 3.5 hours)

Day 2 – Echoes of Empire: The Colosseum and Roman Forum
The morning calls you backward through time. With your guide and private drivers, you’ll enter the mighty Colosseum—once alive with spectacle, power, and myth. You’ll hear the hidden stories: of emperors and rebels, sea battles conjured in stone, and the blood-slick sand that once echoed with roars of tens of thousands. Then, walking the ancient stones of the Roman Forum, your imagination will ignite: the Temple of the Vestals, the black stone of the Lapis Niger, and the ruins of civic grandeur whisper the religious, political, and cosmic narratives that shaped a world. The morning culminates on Capitoline Hill, where Rome’s gods once gathered, and where you’ll behold the city like a returning pilgrim. (Duration: 3 hours – Skip-the-line access included)

Day 3 – The Vatican: Vision and Revelation
Today, your morning begins with a journey into the sacred heart of Catholic Christendom. Accompanied by your guide and private transfer, you’ll explore the vast and radiant corridors of the Vatican Museums—home to civilization’s most cherished treasures. In the Sistine Chapel, beneath the trembling sky of Michelangelo’s frescoes, your guide will reveal the veiled meanings and esoteric symbols hidden in the paint. From there, you’ll enter the sanctum of St. Peter’s Basilica, where art, architecture, and sanctity converge: gaze upon the Pietà, the baroque canopy of Bernini, and the final resting place of saints and popes, including John Paul II. This is more than a tour—it is a contemplation in stone and light. (Duration: 4 hours – Skip-the-line access included)

Florence: Four Nights in the Cradle of the Renaissance
4-star dwelling - Classic Rooms with Breakfast Included

Day 4 – December 30th, 2025 - Arrival in the City of Light
The morning begins with departure from Rome, where your drivers will escort you to the train station for a swift and elegant journey through the heart of Italy. Onboard the high-speed train in business class, watch the landscape shift—from the solemn grandeur of Rome to the refined beauty of Florence. Upon arrival, a private transfer welcomes you into the city’s historic soul and leads you to your hotel.
In the afternoon, a guide will meet you at your door to begin a walking pilgrimage through Florence’s luminous history. You’ll stand at the very heart of ancient roads in the Piazza della Repubblica, then move into the spiritual center of the city—the Duomo complex. There, Brunelleschi’s impossible dome still crowns the skyline like a celestial puzzle solved, and Ghiberti’s gilded “Gates of Paradise” still whisper stories of divine craftsmanship. You’ll cross the Ponte Vecchio, the jewel of the Arno, and conclude your tour in the Accademia Gallery, where Michelangelo’s David waits—not simply as sculpture, but as prophetic symbol. (Duration: 3 hours – Skip-the-line access included)

Day 5 - Wednesday, December 31, 2025 – A Day for Wandering & Welcoming the New
This day is yours to wander—through narrow streets, open piazzas, artisan shops, or gardens brushed with winter sun. For those drawn to the heights, the optional Brunelleschi Pass offers timed access to the cathedral dome climb, the Baptistery, Bell Tower, Crypt, and Duomo Museum—a layered initiation into Florentine sacred architecture.
As evening falls, we gather for a special New Year’s Eve dinner (reservation secured; cost included)—to honor endings, beginnings, and the timeless moment between.

Day 6 - January 1, 2026 – A Ficinian Villa Retreat
The new year opens with sacred intention. Your drivers will bring you to Villa once home to the author of The Prince, nestled in the Tuscan hills. Amidst terraced gardens and views of the Duomo in the distance, you’ll explore a 13th-century wine cellar, walk through a secret tunnel to Italy’s oldest inn, and enjoy a feast of wine and food on the villa terrace (included). Here, we’ll hold a private retreat in honor of Marsilio Ficino—philosopher, translator of Plato, and soul physician of the Renaissance. His spirit will guide us as we reflect on the harmony of cosmos and soul, and invoke the archetypal muses stirring within. Dr. Mansoor Abidi’s lecture on Alchemy and Q&A. Your driver will bring you back to hotel in Florence. (Duration: 6 hours)

Day 7 – Medici Splendor and Renaissance Flame
In the morning, your guide will lead you into the political and artistic heart of Florence—the Piazza della Signoria—where tales of power, beauty, and betrayal echo among sculptures by Giambologna, Cellini, and the replica of David. You’ll learn how the Medici rose from humble wool merchants to become the architects of cultural rebirth. From there, you’ll enter the Uffizi Gallery, a temple of aesthetic memory, where the breath of the Renaissance lives in brushstroke and pigment. Stand before the works of Botticelli, Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and more—each a threshold to the imaginal world. (Duration: 3 hours – Skip-the-line access included)

Venice: Three Nights in the City of Dream and Reflection
4-star H10 Palazzo Canova – Superior Rooms with Breakfast Included

Day 8 - Saturday, January 3 – Arrival in the Floating City
The day begins in Florence, cradle of the Renaissance, and flows northward like a myth unfolding. Drivers will escort you to the train station, where your business-class seats await on the high-speed rail to Venice. Upon arrival, a private water transfer carries you into a new realm—one where streets are canals, and the ordinary is always a little enchanted. Your hotel, nestled in the historic heart, welcomes you into the embrace of La Serenissima.
In the afternoon, your guide will take you through the soul of Venice, beginning in the storied expanse of St. Mark’s Square. There, the golden mosaics of the Basilica shimmer like eternal memory, their Byzantine stories whispering from the stone. Winding through intimate alleys and secret courtyards, you’ll arrive at La Fenice, Venice’s phoenix-like opera house, reborn time and again. And then—like slipping into a dream—you’ll conclude the tour with a private gondola ride, floating gently through the arteries of a city built on water. (Duration: 2.5 hours – Tickets included)

Day 9 – The Islands of Art and Color: Murano & Burano
This morning, you’ll step onto a private boat, skimming across the Venetian Lagoon toward islands where beauty is crafted by hand. First, Murano—where fire and breath shape glass into fragile wonder. You’ll witness the ancient art of glassblowing, visit a museum devoted to this glowing tradition, and stroll among palazzi and sacred sites adorned in 12th-century mosaic and memory.
Next, Burano beckons like a painted dream—its canals lined with houses in vivid hues of cobalt, saffron, and rose. Once famed for lace that adorned the courts of Europe, Burano is still a living tapestry of craftsmanship. You’ll explore its lace museum and linger in a café with an aperitivo, the light playing on water and walls in a way only Venice can offer. (Duration: 4 hours)

Day 10 – Mysteries of Venice: Basilica, Doge, and Sighs
Your final morning in Venice opens with sacred steps across the stones of St. Mark’s Square. There, beneath domes that hold the breath of centuries, you’ll enter St. Mark’s Basilica—a masterpiece of East and West, born from Venetian trade, piety, and myth. From there, you’ll walk into the Doge’s Palace, once the heart of Venetian power. Its halls and staircases speak of justice and intrigue, adorned with the glories of Tintoretto, Veronese, and gold leaf diplomacy. You’ll exit through the Bridge of Sighs, where prisoners once caught their final glimpse of sky—an echoing moment of beauty and melancholy that lingers long after. (Duration: 3 hours – Tickets included)

Day 11 - Tuesday, January 6 – Departure
On your final morning, private water taxis will guide you one last time through the city’s labyrinth of canals, offering a silent farewell. As you move toward the airport, Venice recedes like a vision remembered—a city not left behind, but carried inward.