Hi Matteo,
We had a fantastic trip and are happy to give you a little feedback. The combination of the places we went, the experiences we had and the people we met (guides and individuals who directed our activities) made the trip very memorable. Really it was all about the human resources aspect. On top of that was the beautiful landscape steeped in history.
All our drivers were good, and we particularly liked Donnie who we had for 2 days. The guides for the various sights were all very professional and knowledgeable, and we appreciated all of them. It would be hard to choose or rate our different experiences: the winery where we had the place to ourselves, the small olive oil business where we ended up in the kitchen tasting the excellent oils, the pecorino farm where the owner gave us a private tour and gave us a good idea of his life there, the truffle hunting with dogs in the woods and going to the market with the chef in Florence and ending up eating at her kitchen table. These were all really great, unforgettable experiences. We were at kitchen tables with friendly people on this trip, and that really made it special for us. It’s a luxury to do something so private, but all these encounters made it worthwhile.
Lucca was probably our favorite town. We had our best meal there at All’Oliva
Rome was the place we struggled with a little bit. Somehow it was so big and kind of overwhelming to land there and find ourselves trying to negotiate where we were going. We didn’t realize at first that the recommended restaurants were in the neighborhood. Our third day there – our free day- was not great. We were lucky to find a tour of the Borghese- everything was booked up- and I think the free day was not a good idea: too early in the trip and too tricky to figure things out on our own. Barbara was in touch with us during this time.
We appreciate that you got this tour together so well and so quickly. You managed to answer all the questions and come up with some wonderful people and things to do and great places to stay. It really was a once in a lifetime kind of trip. Thank you very much!
Best wishes, happy holidays and aloha,
Lucia Rhodehamel & Mark Lorenzi – (Kula, HI) – November 2022