Il Vecchio Frantoio is a farm house on a beautiful plot of land dotted by ancient, gnarly olive trees, almond and orange groves. We were given a warm welcome by Ottavio & Elena over shots of the owner’s own made Limoncello and Mandarineto. Elena made ricotta cheese from fresh goat’s milk from the farm’s two goats and shared some of the just made cheese – an amazing taste otherwise unavailable. Later they shared with us some of the fresh milk. The farm is large for strolling and has many animals (goats, turtles, chickens, geese, turkeys, …) for viewing, all a refreshing and welcome change from the hectic car-filled streets you’ll find in the towns of Italy.
The facility is top notch and spacious with everything functioning, equipped, and clean. Full kitchen, breakfast items stocked including fresh fruit and homemade jams, muffins, and tarts, full bath with a strong hot shower, A/C in the bedroom, good bed, and, rarely found in Italy but highly appreciated, window screens against the pesky and ubiquitous “zanzara”.
But the best part of our stay was the welcoming and warm conversations we had with the host and hostess, Ottavio and Elena, the adult children, and friends they had over at night times. We talked about our different countries and language and despite the different languages managed to have a great time getting to know our hosts and share the evening with them under two impressive ancient olive trees.
Ottavio’s place was the last stop of our Southern Italy trip and without hesitation we can say that staying at Ottavio’s place is absolutely the highlight of our Sicilian BnB experience. We will stay with Ottavio if we come back to Sicily again. Highly recommended!