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Dear Jessica,

Notes about our trip to Italy, 2008

• Rome in 3 days was just about the perfect length of time; didn’t need or want a car because we could walk everywhere. The place that we stayed, Trastevere Family Apartment was located well for us and we had dinner in that area each night. It was also convenient to a taxi stop so that we could easily catch a cab to the train station to pick up our rental car.

• Montepulciano – We stayed at Podere di Montepulciano and Marta and Gabriele were great hosts. Gabriele had a bottle of his wine for us when we arrived and the trees were in bloom. We were the only people staying at the place. He invited us to his other place for a dinner and wine-tasting that was one of the highlights of our entire trip. Very nice people. His suggestion of a place to eat on our first night, LaCosta, was unique and quite a find. We recommended to friends who are in Italy now. Very nice atmosphere – fireplace, etc. We have heard that the views from this place are lovely, but we were there after dark. There is a large supermarket just off the Autostrade, where we grocery shopped so that we could use the kitchen.

• Next stop, Verona Winery, was a lovely spot, though hard to find. Paulo was a super host and couldn’t have made us feel more welcome. The internet on site was a plus for us and he also had some television channels that were in English, which was nice.

• We next flew to Sicily and stayed at the Mondello B&B, and hostess, Silvana, was very hospitable. She has a lovely garden though the place was hard to find and the road was very narrow. Her lemon cake was superb.

• Antico Baglio di Noto was one of our favorite places to stay. We had a beautiful room, with a gorgeous view of the Mediterrean Sea overlooking orange groves. Again, we had a hard time finding the place – even with our GPS. The staff was very pleasant and it was nice to have internet available on site, though it was expensive.

• On to Taormina Villa Hotel. We again had a difficult time finding the place and, once found, we couldn’t park to check in. We wonder if we would have ever found it except that, after driving around for more than an hour and asking several people (including a police officer), we ran into a pedestrian who happened to know where the place was. We stopped in front to possibly unload our luggage and quickly had a long line of traffic behind us. So, we drove back to the parking garage and carried our luggage the more than 2 blocks back to the place. It’s a very nice area, and the room was more than adequate, but no view. The host and hostess were hospitable and there was internet available, if very slow.

• We flew back to Rome and stayed at the Rome Airport Hotel. Their courtesy van picked us up and took us back to the airport the next morning at no cost to us. Our room was first class and we enjoyed dinner right there on the premises. Very convenient, clean, new, secure, hospitable.

• Our flights, rental cars and cellular phone worked out well. Our children in the US purchased a calling card and called us several times, which worked better in some places than others. We only needed to use the phone to call ahead to our hosts or, in Rome, to arrange the pickup by courtesy van, but it was nice to have.

Ginger S.

Hi There

We've been back a couple of weeks now and I think the best thing I can say is that we didn't want to leave! Silvana made us very welcome (what I really liked was that she just left us to get on with things but was available if needed), the accommodation was excellent (the bed was particularly comfortable) and Mondello itself was just what we needed for a short break. All in all fantastic.

John W.

Hi Kristin,

I wanted to send my feedback to you -- the holiday at Mondello B&B was absolutely wonderful, and Sylvana and her sons Eugenio and Antonio were excellent hosts.  Everything was perfect including the location & accommodations.

Thank you :-)
Margaret M.

Hi Kristin,

We loved our stay at the Mondello B and B. Silvana manages the perfect blend of thoughtfulness and respect for privacy. And her jams are to die for. It was the perfect place to land, get our feet wet (literally!) and we most enjoyed being in a spot shared by sicilian vacationers - so we could have a stronger taste of culture before beginning to move around. The view from her breakfast terrace was also very lovely and through the greenery winding around our small terrace we could see the night sky that on one occasion was filled with fireworks - which we watched from our bed!

Also Mondello was an easy hub for travel to Palermo, Segesta, Scopello, Selinunte, etc.

It may have been clear from the site and I overlooked it, but I regretted only not knowing that the house was a hike up from the sea. I had a bike spill 2 days before the trip and I might have worked out other provisions in advance (rented a scooter, etc.). As it was I just creaked slowly up and down and it was fine.

We did by the way end up stopping in Agrigento - Paul refused to leave Sicily without seeing it. It was empty. We arrived noon. It was hot. This may be why.

Sicily was remarkable and our time there in the midst of world travails was fortifying.

We went to Lipari and Vulcano for an overnight, on the spur of the moment and will definitely return there for a longer stay - adding to it Naples and Pompeii, so I'll be perusing your site again, I'm sure.

Thanks for inquiring,
all best,
Gail S.

Julie,

We had a marvelous time and were disappointed that Alitalia didn't stay on strike so we could have extended our stay. Mondello was beautiful and our hosts were very friendly & helpful. Sylvana has a good friend that speaks good English and we had her stop over for suggestions. I forgot her name but she was a very interesting person. No suggestions or recommendations as this is exactly what we needed after visiting 5 cities on the mainland in 11 days. Just laid back and restful. We need to see more of Sicily and want to go back in 2-3 years. All in all, we were very happy with the accommodations even if we felt they were a little "pricey" compared to full service hotels in the area.

Regards,
Steven A. S.

Dear Julie,

We had a wonderful month in Italy, 10 days of which we spent touring Sicily. We had not been to Sicily before however were attracted by its many, many centuries of history particularly the influence of the Greeks, Arabs and Normans. Apart from layers of history the culture, food and physical beauty were also drawing cards. We proportioned 4 days of our trip to Mondello, the seaside suburb of Palermo and stayed at a B&B owned by Silvana and Eugenio. Palermo is about the fourth biggest city in Italy and is congested, noisy and driving there will put you out of your comfort zone. Mondello B&B is an oasis a 30-minute bus ride from the city centre. We immediately felt comfortable and at home in chic surroundings, looking out through our wisteria covered balcony onto Silvana's garden. Silvana is gracious, friendly, helpful and has a beautiful smile. Nothing is too much trouble and we were served deliciously healthy breakfasts in Silvana's breakfast room. We loved our stay with Silvana and would not hesitate if the opportunity arose to stay at Mondello again. Palermo is an architectural contrast from the jewel like beauty of The Palatine Chapel to the decay manifested by the ramshackle appearance of many inner city buildings. Sicily is an island of extremes, a sensual chiascuro not to be missed but the better appreciated particularly through an understanding of its history.

Kind regards
Christine & John G.

Julie,

Thanks for the welcome home. Our trip was way too short. Notes for your future reference. We took the overnight train from Rome: 1) Very little English is spoken. Bring a phrase book.
2) Breakfast is a cup of coffee.
3) If you have more than one large and one small piece of luggage, you will be very crowded.
4) On trip down the train left on time, BUT a/c did not work. It was a sauna and the six of us got very little sleep. They bring each person one small bottle of water. Thank goodness we had some extra.
5) On the trip back to Rome, we left late, but the a/c worked like a charm. What a difference it makes! The train station in Palermo is much smaller than Rome and fewer amenities. Each car rental company is at a different local. Ours was by the port, one was at that train station, another was at another train station. Getting that information took being fluent in Italian. A phrase book did not help. I could write a book about driving, but I won't now. An EXTREMELY detailed map of Palermo and the surrounding area (ie Mondello) is very, very necessary. Do the maps suggested on the reservation confirmation show every street? If so, make it part of the package that you sell. It is that important.

Gabriella is wonderful. She made sure that we went to the Greek ruins at Segesta and the Natural Reserve della Zingera. What a wonderful experience. We enjoyed her hospitality and her dining suggestions. Let me know where there is a SUPER, SUPER, SUPER saver fare to Sicily. I want to go back!

Joyce M.

Everything about Mondello B&B was wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone.

Dennis & Lois L.

Dear Cynthia,

We had a wonderful time! Our trip was great. The Mondello B & B worked out very well for us and Silvana was such an accommodating Hostess. Her hospitality was genuine and she did her best to help us with maps and information about Palermo. She even did our laundry for 12 Euros! (Which we really appreciated) The apartment was comfortable and spacious. She even hooked up a VCR for us because they had a lot of movies on the bookshelf, however they turned out to be mostly in Italian! Even though breakfast was not included, she was so sweet she provided coffee, milk, and biscotti cookies in the kitchen for us to make some breakfast for ourselves. She even gave us some fresh eggs from her own chickens! She showed us her whole house and we took pictures with her before we left because she made us feel like family.

I would definitely recommend staying there. Mondello is a beautiful beach town that's fun to walk around and have diner in the evenings and enjoy the beach in the day. I was glad we had a car while we were there, though, because her house is close to town but you have to turn back and forth uphill to get there. She did meet us in town to lead us there, which we appreciated.

All in all we had a very good experience. Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,
Geri G.

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