21 June 2026 — Coming Home at the Table
There could hardly have been a more meaningful day for the beginning of this journey.
21 June 2026. Solstice.
The longest day of the year. The moment when the light reaches its fullness.
And on this very day, one by one, the students began to arrive at Borgo Orfeo.
First Soba and Izzy.
Then Zoe, Elina and Yungwen.
Five young people from different parts of the world, each carrying their own story, culture and way of seeing life.
They had never met before.
So that first evening was simply about arriving.
Arriving at the place.
Arriving with themselves.
And slowly, arriving with one another.
Maria Grazia had prepared a delicious Italian welcome for our new — temporary — residents.
Around the table sat Marcus and the five students, Koen and me, together with Maria Grazia and her friend Filippo.
We were tired.
And deeply fulfilled.
The journeys were over. Everyone had arrived safely. And now we could simply be here.
Together.
There was something beautiful in the simplicity of that evening.
The food.
The stories.
The laughter.
The little silences.
The first glances and gentle explorations between people who had just met.
No programme.
No expectations.
Just a table.
And the unmistakable warmth of Italian togetherness.
A culture of stare insieme — of being together — where food, time, presence and conversation have a way of opening hearts and creating connection.
Maria Grazia’s cooking did more than welcome us.
It helped us land.
And perhaps that is one of the simplest ways a NEST begins:
someone opens the door, someone prepares food, people sit around a table — and slowly, strangers begin to feel at home.
That evening was our first little taste of what these thirteen days might become.
Before architecture.
Before ideas.
Before co-creation.
First came connection.
We arrived.
And we were together.
