Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
29 Apr 2025
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 8 days
Feedback
31
Email verified
Badges (3)
Details
Description
**AT THE MOMENT I AM SEARCHING A WA to start by may the 11th and onwards for a minimum of 3 weeks. The ideal would be upt to June the 18th.**
Dear Workawayer we live in Catania (Sicily - Italy); my family is composed of my two children Francesca (17 yo) and Alessandro (15 yo), and me (Valeria 54 yo). I teach at the University of Catania in the master degree of Pharmacy and my children attend schoool. Moreover, we have 2 cats.
We live in a beautiful and comfortable mansion on one single level with a large garden around and a swimming pool. The conformation of the land is typical of the Etna's area. The endemic vegetation, the Mediterranean scrub and fruit trees find space among the centuries-old lava stones. The villa is very close to the city center (15 min walking and 10 min by bus) and located in a residential area of the upper area of Catania. The bus stop is very close to the house, 50 mt.
The focus of the volunteering is sharing different cultures and having help around the mansion. Help requested will only be for my private residence. The type of help is mainly focused on garden/simming pool maintenance and help around the house with cleaning mansion. In addition, upon request by the workawayer, we can mutually agree on DYI and building projects. The garden is huge and there is always something to do! I would say that our family is very easy going. We love the outdoors, going to the seaside, traveling, playing with children, and staying with friends. I have plenty of experience with workawayers and with au-pairs since we had more than 30 in the past 15 years. All of us speak fluently English and I speak also Spanish.
The city of Catania is directly on the sea. The weather is generally very warm and lovely and it is possible to go to the seaside. In Catania, by night during the whole week there are some nice pub with live music and many college students coming from Sicily and many Erasmus students coming from foreign country. It is possible to attend class of Italian language and improve/learn this beautiful language. In addition, the city is near Etna volcano (the biggest active one in Europe), Taromina, Siracusa and Piazza Armerina, all of them beautiful place for one day trip.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Interests
Culture
Sustainability
Cooking & food
Gardening
Books
Yoga / Wellness
Hiking
Nature
Outdoor activities
Water sports
Winter sports
Sailing / Boating
Beach
Adventure sports
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
The travellers can benefit from the cultural excanghe by being soaked in a true Sicilian family. They can learn Sicilian cooking, culture and, why not, some italian.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
The property as you can easily from pictures is very big and comfortable.
It is appreciated previous experience with in helping around the house with regular cleanings and gardening tools such as lawn mower, blower, etc.
Your help is requested for a maximum of 4-5 hours per day on a 5 days basis in the following activities (mostly depending on the season):
Help around the house daily with general cleaning such as do the dishwashers and the washing machine, iron the loundry, vaccum and mop the floor, etc.
Maintenance and cleaning of the swimming pool and the surrounding terrace: daily (only during the summer)
Feeding pets: daily
Take out the garbage: daily
Remove the fallen leaves: daily (mostrly during the summer)
Manually remove unwanted weeds in the garden: twice a week
Watering some parts of the garden 3 times per week (mostly during the summer)
Keep your own bedroom and bathroom cleaned: daily
Cooking meals: couple of times per week (not mandatory)
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Spanish: IntermediateThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
PRIVATE BEDROOM WITH A SMALL OFFICE ON THE MEZZANINE FLOOR, AND A PRIVATE BATHROOM. No air conditioning in the bedroom. STRONG INTERNET CONNECTION
What else ...
Catania - sandwiched between the Ionian Sea and a volcano, is a city shaped by lava Catania. After dark, it really came alive. Bars open up and spill out onto the sidestreets left vacant in the daylight. Streets fill out with young people and students and bands play their live music. There are plenty of unforgettable experiences to live in Catania and in Sicily. Below some of them:
Appreciate Sicilian Baroque
Spend a Morning at the Fishmarket
Visit the Ampitheatre of Catania
The Monastery of Benedettini and the Church of San Nicolò l'Arena
Visit Bellini Theater and Piazza Duomo
The Flea Market at Piazza Carlo Alberto di Savoia
Taste Etna Wine
Devour amazing Sicilian food and Catania’s street food (arancino, cannolo, cassata siciliana, etc)
Taste an amazing Italian pizza
A Day Trip Catania Beaches, La Plaja, Aci Trezza or Aci Castello
A Day Trip to Mount Etna
A Day Trip to Siracusa
A Day Trip to Taormina
A Day Trip to Piazza Armerina to see the ancient Roman villa
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
The workawayer will have a private small office with free internet available
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
Can possibly accept pets
No
How many Workawayers can stay?
One
Feedback (15)
Valeria e i figli sono sempre molto gentili e rispettosi mi sono sentita subito a mio agio, nonostante gli impegni della famiglia non sono mancati i momenti di chiacchiere e confidenze.
Ho già chiesto a Valeria di poter tornare.
La casa è… read more
Valeria is an amazing person.She is very generous,warm-hearted and made me feel like I was at home.
I really enjoyed their company and having dinner together with very good… read more
Photos
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(4.8)
Cultural exchange:
(4.9)
Communication:
(4.9)
Valeria e i figli sono sempre molto gentili e rispettosi mi sono sentita subito a mio agio, nonostante gli impegni della famiglia non sono mancati i momenti di chiacchiere e confidenze.
Ho già chiesto a Valeria di poter tornare.
La casa è… read more
Valeria is an amazing person.She is very generous,warm-hearted and made me feel like I was at home.
I really enjoyed their company and having dinner together with very good… read more
I can only say good thing and I can definitely… read more
For the work, I cleaned swimming pool and the area around every morning. Feed the cats and a dog. I continued to keep the house clean,… read more
The highlights for me were eating together with the family and visiting the beautiful market in the neighborhood with Valeria once a week, early in the morning.
I would like to thank Valeria for taking the time to do this, despite her busy daily… read more
He is a quick learner, super organized and reliable - during the time he stayed with us he never missed a duty, hir work was always perfect!
His gentle presence will be missed!
We would be more than happy to have you with us again!
Best of luck Titus!
I can definitely recommend Nora as your next future workaway!
I got to enjoy a lot of delicious Italian food and try new things which was so fun. I felt… read more
Valeria is an amazing host, who has a heart of gold. Franci and Ale are great kids, sweet and lots of fun. Salvo is warm and… read more
