We were late arriving but Vincenzo and his family made us very welcome. His hospitality was second to none and he went out of his way on several occasions to help us.
Vincenzos place was lovely and truly everything we wanted from a traditional Sicilian house. But It was more than a house, it quickly became our home for 10 days and our 3 year old son quickly fell in love with it and his bedroom. The home is very comfortable, very clean and functional for a family. All windows and doors have shutters and locks and mosquito screens so although we stayed in September and temperatures only peaked at 32C it was nice to close the house down in the day to stay cool and open it up at night for fresh air, we didn't need air-con and rarely needed the fans provided.
The outside space is wonderful and that is one of the truly beautiful things about Vincenzos place, it is peaceful and quiet because you are away from the road, surrounded by farmland, olive trees and a plant nursery and not overlooked by anyone so it feels really private. The garden is large with some lovely plants, flowers and herbs; the smell early in the morning is incredible. We picked basil from the garden to make our own pesto and used the bay leaves, mint and parsley for cooking in the kitchen which was a good space for preparing family meals all of which we ate outside on one of the large tables. When our son was in bed we were never more than a few meters from him and spent much time outside on the veranda in the evening.
The location of Vincenzos place is perfect for visiting Pachino for shopping or any of the many beaches on the nature reserve by car and for cycling in to Marzememi (15 mins) which we did on a few occasions using the bikes. The local beach at Marzememi is not that great but the beaches on the nature reserve make this unnecessary, our favourite was Eloro and we truly loved coming home to our house after spending a day there.
Thank you Vincenzo for letting us stay in your home.