Italy
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We have a villa in Sicily on the foothills of Mount Etna, just outside a small town, and divide our time between UK and Sicily and are a bilingual household.
Our house is spacious, with beautiful views of Mount Etna, the sea, and Taormina in the distance. Etna is ideal for nature lovers (spectacular landscape, donkey and horse riding, hiking, quad biking), and there are several pretty towns in Eastern Sicily, vineyards, archeaological sites as well as beaches. We've welcomed guests here from around the world for many years. Our background and interests are the arts, travel and animal welfare.
Gardening
General Maintenance
Help in the house
Sicily has a rich cultural lanscape and there is plenty of sightseeing of both architectural and natural sites including Mount Etna, Taormina, beaches etc.
We also have a house full of books if travellers want a quieter stay.
In the surrounding area, English is not necessarily always spoken if travellers want a fuller immersion into the Italian language.
UPDATE: Availability will be updated in due course.
The main current task is autumn garden clearing, mainly leaves, weeds and some brambles to clear, Volunteers should preferably have some experience of burning leaves/brambles and/or making compost heaps to dispose of garden waste. The garden is quite large and on 2 levels so this requires some energy and willingness to be outdoors.
English. Italian. French
A comfortable bedroom and private ensuite bathroom available in the house, suitable for one or two people.
Volunteers are expected to keep and leave their space clean and tidy and help with daily household tasks, ie. washing up/taking out trash in addition to the main work. Central heating not currently available but temperatures are still quite mild.
We do not provide transport but there are buses from the nearby town going to Catania, and to nearby villages in the surrounding area.
There is also little train called the Circumetnea which can be taken for a sightseeing tour, stopping at various small towns around Mount Etna.
That said, local transport is quite limited but all our volunteers have found it easy to hitch a ride.
Apart from the nearby world-famous resort of Taormina and stunning Mount Etna, further afield are the beautiful baroque towns of southeast Sicily.
Several of these sites, including Catania, are UNESCO world heritage sites.
The local village is pretty and has basic shops and a bar but it's very quiet so not suitable if you want a very lively local town.
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Two
5 hours a day, 5 days a week
