Newsletter - June 2009

Spring Events Summary

Open Air Swimming Pool - Casale Monferrato

Special Offers

News from Treville

Spring Events Summary

Spring has been a busy time as usual with many guests staying with us throughout April and May. Some have come back for the second time and have shared in family events like Alberto's 70th birthday party when Paola put together a menue for a king!

The family also saw about 25 couples coming to Villa Mimma to celebrate Claudia's 40th birthday. On Easter Monday Claudia organised a reunion of friends from school, uni, social networks and even work. People came from Switzerland, the UK, as well as from various parts of Italy, such as the Riviera, Milan, Pavia, Rome, Bologna...The day was gorgeous and everybody enjoyed the tranquillity of Villa Mimma's courtyard, the local wine and the buffet of salami, pizzas and pasta that was prepared. The children (approximately 25, aged between 2 and 12) mingled in groups, with the boys kicking the football for most of the day on the road. Even if some people knew only a few of the others, everybody joined in the chatty atmosphere and had a great time. Claudia certainly will never forget this celebration and the many wishes she recived throughout the day, including all the messages she received from those who could not be there: they will always be special.

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In May Treville took part in the Riso & Rose festivities and Villa Mimma hosted book presentations and painting exibitions. One of the events of the day saw the classic guitarrist Marco Panzarino playing with the flute of Manuela Santagata in the Romanic church of San Quirico. Marco and his wife, who is a pianist, were guests of Villa Mimma and left us this memory of their stay: "Il mio soggiorno a Villa Mimma e' stato un momento intenso di serenita' e calma, che mi ha permesso di esprimermi musicalmente in un ambiente simpatico, sereno ed artistico. (My stay at Villa Mimma was an intense moment of tranquillity and serenity that allowed me to express myself through my music in a serene, peaceful and artistic location.)"

Open Air Swimming Pool - Casale Monferrato

Often people ask if there is a pool at Villa Mimma. At the moment no, but this is a big dilemma as we often wonder whether it would be worth it having a private pool. In fact, not far away from Villa Mimma, at the edges of Casale Monferrato, there is a beautiful complex that offers an open air swimming pool with changing facilities, deck chairs, pic-nic areas. There is also a play ground with a football pitch and volleyball court, trampolines and areas shaded by two large gazebos. For the summer 2009 we have decided to offer our guests FREE ENTRY to this pool, so check it out and book soon to take advantage of this great opportunity!

Special offers

Golfers - 10% discount on the accommodation

Schools in the UK - 20% discount on the accommodation

TCI, ANBBA, Surrey Alumni - 10% discount on the accommodation

News from Treville

Congratulations to Piero Coppo who was reconfirmed major of Treville for another 5 years with 84.75% of the votes!

Newsletter - December 08

Villa Mimma: overview of the year
And here we are at the end of another year, under the snow and with the fire on! Too many things to tell, but I will try to catch some of the highlights.

• Back again
  This year we had many guests who came back for the second time, some who were here only a few months before and some (Jean and Ginette) who came back all the way from Canada and enjoyed another holiday with us. This is most rewarding, especially when guests become friends, spends time in the courtyard and in the veranda! I have asked Jean and Ginette: "Why did you come back to Villa Mimma?" and this is their answer: "why did we return at Villa Mimma....we find that we are returning home in Italy. We feel part of the family. Your parents and Andrea make you very comfortable when you arrive. They always give you a warmth welcome. when we got to our house....she had bought 2 kinds of cheese....some cold meat (she remembered thatJean loved it) orange juice and some milk....its little attention like this that you appreciate. In Treville it is a small quiet village with beautiful people. It is a place that you never forget in your heart. At night sometimes your mother came and chatted with us. we were always having supper outside in the gazebo....after playing cards. we had time to relax before heading the other big cities. we also met your Dads mom. she is quite in shape for her age. We had a visit of the basement and the other part of the house....very special. We wish Villa Mimma a long lasting life and God bless you all. .. Jean and ginette "
  
  
• Children writer Anna Vivarelli presents her books.
  On the 12th of April Villa Mimma hosted a workshop organised by the village library aimed at children, where the writer Anna Vivarelli presented some of her books, interpreting her stories for an audience of little readers and their parents. The children were captivated by her fantasy tales and most of them went home with books under their arms.
  
  
• Tapestry exposition
  One of the highlights of the year was the carpetry exposition of Vera Vermeersch's work. From the 3rd to the 11th of May in the ex-church of San Giacomo in Treville, people had the opportunity to come and appreciate the beautiful rugs in wool produced by hand tufting in Vera's atelier in Belgium.
  



• Cooking with Paola
  Sharing an Italian meal with my family is always one of the hights of people's vacation, especially those who stay for a few nights. Although we cannot offer proper cooking classes or proper restaurant meals, it is always possible to prepare a meal together and to sit around the table to eat it in good company. We now have two agas, one is in my Mum's kitchen and one is in the veranda, so it will be possible to cook using a stove with wood birning fire instead of electricity or gas!If you are after a proper cuisine class, instead, we know where it is possible to arrange a cooking lesson for something between €20 and €60 per person, depending on the duration of the teaching session.
  
  
• Wifi at Villa Mimma
  Thanks to Glen hard work we now have a wifi network at Villa Mimma. It is linked to my family's private line but if you really cannot stay away from your emails and need to connect to the Internet, I am sure you can beg a password from my Dad!

Reviews are important
Reviews are proving to be vital for Villa Mimma survival! We now have quite a number especially on TripAdvisor. If you have been and want to leave your comment, even very brief, or if you want to read what people say about Villa Mimma, these are the sites to check:
Trip Advisor Website
Trip Advisor Website
Slow Travel
Italia Dream
Homelidays

I think I have summarised an exciting 2008 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 2009!

Claudia

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.