Collecting the Colours of Autumn - A festival of words.

Autumn writing retreat contest in Sabina at less then an hour from Rome

The changes in the season can be traced and explored in the physical landscape, the fauna and flora, the foods and within the homes of people. But the changes in the seasons can also be a repository of memories, feelings, thoughts and fears.

On this week long writing retreat, we will use Monteleone Sabino, Lazio, Italy as our base as we collect the colours of autumn and gain experiences which are both external and internal, stretching your imagination and supplying a rich vein of new writing.

In this series of workshops we’ll take a writer’s tour of the area and we’ll write our own narratives and poems exploring the colours of the season through a variety of exercises.

26 May - 2 June 2013

Learning and experiencing healthy and hearty food in the Sabine hills countryside.

With Dr. Uri Mayer-Chissick

Into the roots is a hands-on one week course that weaves together ancient philosophy and profound conversations, with foraging hikes and cooking classes.

We will delve into the secrets of old medicine, finding out how our ancestors understood nature and how they kept their health.

We will hike out to the mountains in search of local wild edible plants,

We will return to find out how to turn them into healthy gourmet dishes and we will learn about the history of our nutrition and how it all evolved.

Find out more here: into the roots workshop

OZU stands for Officina Zone Umane and is a non profit association based near the small village of Monteleone Sabino in the heart of the Sabine Hills territory.

Founded in 2005, this residential cultural and arts centre is the location for the development of creative ideas, exchange and innovative activities from a range of disciplines.

The centre used to be a local sweet factory, but has been colorfully converted to include facilities such as a photography studio, art studio for pottery, sculpture etc, editing room, internet point and exhibition space.

Download the OZU presentational brochure below

Every Autumn the Association Officina Zone Umane (OZU) based near Monteleone Sabino proposes 2 or 3 night olive picking weekends in the heart of the Sabine Hills.

Not only does it offer a chance of experiencing this wonderful unspoilt zone of Lazio but also the rare opportunity of tasting (literally) traditional country life by participating in the harvest of the olives and celebrating the first extra virign olive oil of the season with (probably) the best Bruschetta in Italy!

But not only. You will visit the ‘frantoio’ or mill to see how the oil  is made, learn how to use extra virgin olive oil in basic italian dishes such as home made fettuccine and appreciate the nutritional benefits of olive oil from this particular zone.

View the olive picking flyer here or download pdf version below

The available weekend dates for November 2012 are : 2nd-5th; 9th-12th; or 16th-19th.
You can choose to either stay from Friday to Monday or Friday to Sunday.

This Archaeological Civic Museum in Monteleone Sabino, province of Rieti, exhibits finds from the excavations of the ancient city of Trebula Mutuesca.

Located 1.5 km from the center of Monteleone, this long forgotten city was located on a route which connected the Via Salaria to the Adriatic Coast.

Such was its affluence during the first centuries of the Roman Empire that a number of influential families originated from here.

Head to the locality of Pantano towards the 12th century Sanctuary of Santa Vittoria.

Here you can relive the daily life of this rich Roman city by walking amongst an almost perfectly conserved amphitheater as well as seeing the remains of the city's walls.