Newsletter - April 2008 - Theme holidays, special offers, events

THEME HOLIDAYS

There are many ways to spend your time while at Villa Mimma, whether you are a sporty person or an art lover. Here are only a few suggestions:
Golfing
Piedmont and the North-West of Italy boast some great golf courses where you can play occasionally.
Imagine swinging your golf club with the Alps in front of you or while strolling in the park of an ancient Italian Villa. Some of the clubs have also swimming pools and club houses where other members of the party could spend the day if they don't want to join the golfers around the golf course.
I have gathered info on quite a few places and published them on Villa Mimma's blog and I will post comments as I receive them. Also, as an incentive to encourage golf holidays, Villa Mimma is offering 10% discount on the accommodation cost - simply mention this at the booking time and present your receipt of the green fee/s at the time of settling the balance.
Tennis
In Treville there is a private tennis court that can be booked hourly or, alternatively, people can gain unlimited access by joining the private club that the owners run. It is a tennis court in earth (not in the peak of its condition but good for a fun match), surrounded by beautiful trees and with a gorgeous view of the hills. The court is mainly used in Spring time, but it is available through the Summer and Autumn months too. Please ask for details at the time of booking your stay.
Cooking with Paola
This is not a cooking course by all means, but you can always enjoy helping Paola preparing an Italian meal that you can then share. Please ask at the booking time if you wish to try this experience.
Wine safari and grapes harvesting
During the harvesting season (September/October) we can arrange for you to enjoy
picking the grapes and making wine. There are various options so it all depends on how keen you are and whether you want to include a wine tasting experience or not. Let us know and we will go through the various possibilities with you.
How is "salame" prepared?
If you are at Villa Mimma when the local butcher is preparing his famous salame, you can go to his atelier and watch the process while it happens! You cannot help because of health and safety reasons, but you are more than welcome to watch....
Bees and beauty - an art altogether.
Near Villa Mimma there is a bee-farm with a factory that produces honey, but also creams and beauty products, all from natural extracts.
Wine tasting.
In Monferrato you are in the heart of a wine country and wine tasting occasions are not to be missed. You can arrange an appointment with one of the local wineries or you can take part in a proper experience guided by a sommelier. Whatever are your wishes, we will try to arrange the right thing for you. Simply ask!
The rice country and the old ways.
Not far from the hills of the Monferrato there are endless rice fields that are like mirrors of water that transform into these infinite green fields when the rice is growing to end up like brown squares after the harvest has finished. Well, about 30 minutes' drive from Villa Mimma there is a museum where they can show you how the rice used to be processed at the beginning of the century, with machinery still operated by the power of a water mill.
Horse Riding.
If stables are what you are after, there are a couple of places within a few kilometres of Villa Mimma where you can go for a ride and possibly a lesson.
Strolling around the Monferrato Casltes .
Giarole and Camino are two of the best preserved castles in the Monferrato region. Thanks to a collaboration with local experts, we can arrange guided day trips to view these castles, normally closed to the public. The day involves quite a lot, including traditional lunch and evening dinners and a horse ride in one of the best stables of North-West Italy. Ask for details if you are interested.
Venaria Reale and the Savoys .
This magnificent palace and the park surrounding it has been recently restored and is now open to the public. The palace, dated back to the XVII century used to be a hunting residence for the Savoy family before it became the country residence of the Royals with the first King in the Savoy dynasty, Vittorio Amedeo II, at the beginning of the XVIII century. It is definitely worth a visit and there is so much to see that you can spend a whole day here.

SPECIAL OFFERS
We have introduced a new special offer for golfers of 10% discount on the accommodation.
Check our website and our offers because we have several discounts for people belonging to different groups or associations (schools in the UK, TCI, ANBBA, Surrey Alumni, etc.)

NEWS FROM TREVILLE
3rd May : The artist Vera Vermeersch will exhibit her carpets and tapestries in Treville. It is an exciting event, so if you are in the area, do try to come to Treville and pay a visit to this unique exhibition.
6th, 13th, 20th June: Jazz concerts on the village square. More details on the programme of each evening will be available nearer the time on the Events page of Villa Mimma's website.

Many thanks again to those who came to Villa Mimma over the past few months and have taken the time to post reviews of their stay! We really appreciate your effort because having online reviews means that new guests can taste our hospitality even before getting to Villa Mimma. Thanks a lot!!!

Newsletter - December 2007

Villa Mimma: overview of the year

...another year has passed and our guest book is filled with new messages from people from all over the World, who chose Villa Mimma as their accommodation in Piedmont. They came from Japan, New Zealand, Israel, the UK, Australia, Canada, USA, France, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, The Netherlands, Germany, Cape Vert, Russia, Panama, and Italy. I hope I haven't missed any! We had some lovely messages and many artists. Check our online guest book and enjoy your reading as well as the lovely drawings.

Highlights of the year are too many to recount, but here are some:

• "Riso & Rose"
  Once again Villa Mimma took part in "Riso & Rose", the spring festival that involves all the Monferrato villages through May. This year we had several exhibitors of craftsmanship and paintings. It was again a successful day with several people visiting the courtyard and all our guests certainly enjoyed the typical Italian village festival atmosphere.
  
• Tennis fun
  Thanks to Shane's love for tennis, we got in touch with Mr. Luigi Boltri who owns a tennis court in Treville and went to have a few games there. It is only 10 minutes walk from Villa Mimma and if our guests want to play, Mr. Luigi is happy to have people around. He runs a small club to keep it going, but the fees are really reasonable.
  
• Paola & Alberto 40th wedding anniversary
  Well, believe it or not, Elena, Andrea and I managed to organise a surprise party for our parent's 40th wedding anniversary. We invited friends from all over the place and asked them to turn up at Church on a specific Sunday. We even managed to prepare the veranda with tables and chairs on the Saturday when by chance our parents were away for the whole day and keep it all secret. It was really emotional when they realised what was going on. It was a gorgeous day and we couldn't be more blessed! Thanks to everybody who put up with it all, those who came from quite a distance and especially a warm thanks to all who helped.
  

• Grapes harvesting with Isabella and Lorenzo
  Grape harvesting or the "vendemmia" has always been a great memory for me as a child. I remember going to my Grandad’s vineyards on the tractor and spend what seemed like hours helping cut grapes - and also eating them! This year, while organising my parent's party, we got in touch again with a dear friend, Isabella, who invited us to visit Lorenzo's organic vineyard for an afternoon of late-season grape harvesting. The children absolutely LOVED it and kept filling more and more baskets, up and down the lines, with black marks on their hands and faces. Lorenzo was great with them and when we had done enough picking - more than expected, he showed us how to "make the wine": the children even tasted it! We ended the afternoon warming up by a massive wood-burning fireplace, with some delicious salame (i.e., the Italian for salami) from the area and Isabella's "focaccia ligure", while tasting some of Lorenzo's unique wines (he is actually studying and experimenting with organic grapes in the Asti region). It was certainly a great day!

• Cooking with Paola
  Italian hosting nature is in my Mum's blood and she cannot resist from sharing an Italian meal with our guests when the occasion arises, sometimes giving away some of the basic cooking secrets (e.g., not too much garlic!), while preparing dinner together. So, it seems to become a recurrent theme the hand-making of "gnocchi" and "malfatti", with my Mum's "magic book" becoming whiter and whiter from the flour. This is certainly not a cooking class, but a lovely way to welcome people from all over the world, who have chosen to stay with us instead of all the other possible places in Italy.

Reviews are important
Thank you to those of our guests who took some time to write a review of their stay at Villa Mimma. Whether it is a line or a full account of their vacation or just a photo and a comment, it does help. Take your time to read what they say about us and if you have a spare minute maybe add your comments too:

Trip Advisor Website (you need to register)

Slow Travel (you need to register)

Italia Dream (Italian website)

Homelidays (you need to register)


Looking forward to next year
The year 2008 is starting with an event straight away: "La cantina dei presepi" (The cellar of the nativities) is opened again to the public with new creations by Andrea. It has been cited amongst other Italian presepi (nativities) in a national brochure. This year we will lengthen the time it is possible to view the nativities to the end of January, although only by appointment from the 6th of January onward.

At the end of March we are proposing again "Le quattro serate dell'Infernot" (The four evenings of the infernot". Each evening a party of minimum 5 people is introduced to the secrets of wine making by visiting major wineries in the Monferrato region. Wine tasting with a professional sommelier is accompanied by food, with a final evening at a proper restaurant where entertainment will also be arranged. If you are thinking of a special long weekend with friends, consider that this is a really excellent and unique opportunity (it can be arranged at different times too). Do not hesitate to ask for further details.

The month of May will see us busy again with "Riso & Rose", although plans are going to be clarified later on in the year. It is normally the second or third weekend in May. Keep an eye on our website for further news.

Finally, we are always open to new ideas and initiatives to make Villa Mimma a special place. Please do get in touch if you have any particular need that you would like to be met while on holiday.

Special offers
If you are thinking of coming to Villa Mimma next year (2008), you may be pleased to know that we have decided to freeze our apartments' prices through the next season!

Check our website and our offers because we have several discounts for people belonging to different groups or associations (families who have children in schools in the UK, TCI, ANBBA, Surrey Alumni, etc.)


I think I have summarised an exciting 2007 year for Villa Mimma. We are now looking forward to the festivities and the year to come.

From Paola, Alberto and Andrea I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2008!

Claudia

Newsletter - December 06

Villa Mimma: overview of the year
Well... as the end of the year 2006 approaches, I feel quite satisfied with what we have achieved this year!

We opened the B&B in January and started off with a great success during the winter Olympics. A heavy snow fall threatened to complicate matters, but in the end it gave way to the sunshine which accompanied most of February. All our guests had a great time at the Games and enjoyed their stay with us. Most of their testimonials are still live on http://www.villamimma.com/testimonials.html

In March we had the porch converted and restored to a beautiful area which can now host events, meetings and parties, although Villa Mimma will remain mainly a relaxing and peaceful place for holidays.

May was a lovely month with the "Riso&Rose" festival. The weather was definitely on our side again and the exibition had a great success. The photos are so nice that they are still on our website if you haven't seen them yet.

From May we started to have a stream of guests from all over the world, from families with young and old kids to couples and groups of friends.

A great success was also our "tagliatelle" making session with Ottavia, who masters the art of doing this pasta all by hand! I remember trays and trays of tagliatelle that she had made for my Nan (and for us of course!) when occasions saw the whole family gathering at Villa Mimma. Our first guinea-pigs were Andrew and his friends from New Zeland. The evening ended up with a lovely meal all together, a tour of Villa Mimma's cellar and a piano concert by my dad in the painted drawing room! James and Helen from the UK and Esther and Richard from the Republic of Panama had a go at it as well. Unfortunately my dad wasn't there so they missed the piano concert bit, but they thoroughly enjoyed the evening too.

Helen and James had a go at grape harvesting too. We arranged for them to join one of the local producers for a morning, but they could have done the whole day... It all depends on how fit you are because grape harvesting can be quite tiring. This year the harvesting season started late so we could not arrange this experience for our guests at the beginning of September. It's a nice thing to do but it's always a last minute one too!

September was quite busy in terms of events. One thing a bit out of the ordinary was that the Parish Priest of Treville, Don Franco, celebrated his 60 years of Mass and the village organised a trip to Cannobio, at the top of Lake Maggiore, with a boat trip across the entire length of the lake. Lunch and a special celebration for Don Franco were organised in the renouned Sanctuary of the Most Holy Pieta'. Our guests, Julie and Graham from the UK, and Jean and Ginette from Canada, joined the trip too and happily mixed up with the locals! This time the weather unfortunately was quite wet, but the fun was not spoiled!

Now that Christmas is approaching we are looking forward to decorate one of the trees in the courtyard to be our Christmas tree and to be able to open Villa Mimma for people who wish to see Andrea's Nativity scenes.