Description
*************************** NOT HOSTING AT THE MOMENT *******************************
Hi!

My name is Donato, I'm 53 years old and I currently live in Switzerland. I grew up in the beautiful South of Italy and me and my wife built a house there many years ago. We spend our holidays there every summer, together with our two daughters. As we're thinking of moving back to this house in my homecountry in a couple of years, we're additionaly going there several times a year to do some renovations and preparations in and mostly around the house.

From 16th to 30th 28 October, I'll be going there alone for two weeks, to do works around the house and garden. For this, I'd be super happy to have some helping hands! As I only speak Italian, German and Swiss German, it would be great if you speak and understand one of these languages more or less, so communication during work is a bit easier for both of us :)
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
If you're learning Italian, this is the perfect way to improve your language skills! I have friends and family here, so there might be people coming over for a coffee or dinner sometimes. Also, I'm a big fan of my hometown kitchen, so you'll have the possibility to try lots of traditional italian dishes, snacks and drinks. And of course, the caffè will be a part of the day :)
The house is in a little village where there's little tourism, so it's a great way to see Southern Italy apart from mass tourism.
Help
You'd be helping with works outside.
It will be mostly heavy physical work, so please only apply if you already have experience with that and are physically fit.
You'll help 5 hours a day during 5 days a week.
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
Italian: Fluent
Accommodation
You'll have your own room in the house and access to the kitchen, bathroom and living room. The house has a huge garden and a lot of land around where you can also find a beautiful spot to park a van or pitch a tent. In the garden, there's a lot of fruit and olive trees, an outdoor bathroom and beautiful places to stroll around and hang out.

As we'd be working during the day, there will usually be sandwiches for lunch, whereas for dinner there will be a warm meal. You will always have access to a full fridge, fruits and snacks. If you have any allergies or dietary requests, let me know in advance so we can find a way :)
My family and friends live there, so I might go eat or have a coffee at their place sometimes, but in these times you can have the house and kitchen for yourself.
Couples welcome!
What else ...
The house is located in Castrignano dei Greci, in the countryside a bit outside of the village. It's a traditional village, built with the famous "pietra leccese". During your stay, you'll have acces to bikes that you can use to go to the village. There's a supermarket about 5 minutes by bike, a lot of pizzerias, a bakery, bars and cafes to go for a cornetto or gelato and some beautiful old streets to stroll around.
In Martano, a village nearby, there's a big market once a week, where you can find everything from traditional foods to jewelery to handcrafted things. It's definitely worth a trip!

As the house is about 15' by car from the sea, coming with a car or van is recommended. If you have that, it's definitely worth checking out the beaches of "Laghi Alimini"

About 20' by car, there's the village Otranto, a very famous village with a beautiful castle right at the sea. It's usually very touristic, but in Ocotber, you'll have the luck to see it a bit more empty and quiet.

There's a lot more nice things to see around here, and as I grew up here Castrignano, I'm very happy to help you find the right things to visit in your free time!

It's important to know that the public transport system in the area is quite bad, there are very little bus and train connections. As I'm just there for two weeks and there's a lot of work, I won't have the capacity to pick you up far away or to bring you to places regularly. That's why it's very important for me that you are independent and can organize yourself. But then of course, sometime during your stay I'll be happy to invite you for a pizza or gelato some evening or to have a little trip to a nearby place if the schedule allows it! :)

!! IMPORTANT: I will just be in the house during the two weeks that I'm looking for workawayers. This means that it's very important to me that you will hold up your end of the bargain and not cancel last minute !!
A little more information
- Internet access
- Limited internet access
- We have pets
- We are smokers
- Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
4-5 hours/day, 5 days/week maximum - Maximal 4-5 Stunden am Tag, 5 Tage die Woche