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UPDATE: we have now left our life in Italy behind, but we are setting up a self sufficient life in the U.K. which is to replicate what we had in Italy. We are therefore now seeking help from volunteers who have an interest in self sufficiency; growing one’s own food from scratch and living off the land. If this is something you are interested in, we would love to hear from you. You should be practical and willing to help with getting the veggie plots built and up and running. You should be keen gardeners and it have an interest in learning about gardening.
We have a large plot of land and welcome volunteers to help with the gardening and self sufficient life we’ve created for ourselves.
We are a friendly, married, young at heart couple but we are by no means in the slippers brigade and are a lively couple who don't take life too seriously. We love our food and grow much of our own produce.
We have a small rescue dog so should be avid animal lovers as they are a definite part of our life.
We are situated in a beautiful location, with the house sitting on its own 9 acre hill with the most amazing 360 degree views across rolling countryside. The nearest city is Matera, which is famous for being the film location for Mel Gibsons Passion of the Christ; Mary’ Magdeleine; Superwoman and the new James Bond movie which is about to launch. Matera became a Unesco World Heritage site in 1993 and is a 15 minute drive away. The old town known as the Sassi is where people have dwelled in caves for 9000 years. It's an amazing place particularly if you enjoy cultural experiences, history and architecture. There are jaw dropping landscapes if you enjoy painting or photography. Matera was European Capital of Culture 2019.
We enjoy hosting. We see it as a win/win on both sides. You help us with our daily projects so that everything remains in tip top condition: extra pairs of hands are much appreciated. We welcome you into our life - where you will work hard but also have fun and laughter plus plenty of free time. You will be well fed on your work days when we enjoy lunch together after the working hours. Our cooking style is modern, using traditional home grown veggies which we grow and preserve. We prepare healthy meals. Vegetarians are welcome but we are sorry we cannot cater for vegans as we do cook with dairy produce. We prefer hosting COUPLES over the age of 25 but will consider single volunteers if your skills match the tasks we are undertaking. We are both non smokers and do not welcome smokers - sorry!Types of help and learning opportunities
Language practice
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainablity goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are happy to share how we decided to move from the rat race of stressful professional careers in the UK to an almost self sufficient life in the depths of Italy - La Dolce Vita. We try to be as Eco friendly as possible ..... Collecting and harvesting our own rain water; using solar energy for hot water and growing most of our own fruit and vegetables. We'll teach you as much as you wish to learn and ask that volunteers embrace our eco friendly resources.
You'll have the opportunity to visit and explore the second oldest continuously inhabited settlement in the world, where people have lived in caves for over 9000 years (and still do!). A rare opportunity not to be missed.
Having both been professional employers and recruiters we are happy to discuss and give careers advice and guidance if you wish.Help
We need help with the upkeep of the grounds, gardens, veggie plots and new landscaping around the property. Volunteers should enjoy general gardening; weeding; pruning; garden maintenance. The vegetable plot and fruit orchard requires continuous attention. In Autumn we pick the olives.
We have some eco-projects underway and there is always painting and oiling of outside furniture; pergolas and barns which has to be done every year. The tasks you’ll help with depends on the time of year and the weather. The list is endless and ever evolving!
We can host volunteers for short or longer stays if we are in a busy period. Please do check with us what dates are available as we fill up very quickly and can only host one couple at a time.
HOW TO GET OUR ATTENTION: We get a LOT of requests so thought we would share our side... We like just a few lines about why you would like to share our life having read our profile, what skills you have, what you'd like to learn. Please insert the words LA DOLCE VITA into the title of your message. Writing these things in your covering note shows you've read our profile to here! And please have a photo of just you/both of you, not a group of people at a party.....).Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Italian: BeginnerAccommodation
You will be living in a private, self contained, insulated studio with its own outside seating area. This area is totally private so that in your free time you can enjoy the peace and quiet of the countryside. There is an outside kitchenette area and basic cooking facilities so that you can prepare food during your free time. There is also a small BBQ provided.
What else ...
If you wish to go exploring every afternoon, it’s best you have your own transport. On non work days we are happy to drop you off in Matera so you may discover this beautiful city. Lots of churches, museums and guided tours if you are interested.
Please note - the local town is not accessible on public transport and is too far to walk. You are of course free to go exploring on your days off but we only go into town once a week.
On your free days you are responsible for your own food. Bring your own provisions if you need anything in the evenings. There is a fridge in the studio. Bring good working shoes and a happy, enthusiastic approach to get stuck in.
For arrival arrangements - the closest airport is BARI. The closest bus or train terminal is MATERA. We will gladly pick you up from either the bus or train station in Matera.
We offer private accommodation; breakfast; snacks and a main lunchtime meal on workdays. This will be served at lunchtime, after helping hours, in keeping with the local way of life. In exchange we require 25-30 hours help per week per person. We are flexible with the hours but usually do 8am to 1pm so as to avoid the afternoon heat. The afternoons and evenings are your free time to explore the local area or simply to relax. On your last day we ask you to thoroughly clean the studio ready for the next guests.
Ideal applicants should be 25-65 age bracket (active, agile and fit) with a friendly, mature outlook on life who are willing to help out with our various projects.
This is not suitable for someone looking for a hectic night life! We are in an isolated location (yet only a 15 min drive into the city). It will appeal to anyone who likes gardening, landscaping, painting; art; architecture; meditation.A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
5 hours per day, 5 days a week
Feedback (50)
Where do we start with giving a review for this wonderful couple. We’d like to give 10 stars if we could. They were absolutely amazing. We achieved so much in the ti è they were with us and finished many projects which had been outstanding for so long. Oty and Napo are a joyful, happy, intelligent couple who are really hardworking; self… read more
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Where do we start with giving a review for this wonderful couple. We’d like to give 10 stars if we could. They were absolutely amazing. We achieved so much in the ti è they were with us and finished many projects which had been outstanding for so long. Oty and Napo are a joyful, happy, intelligent couple who are really hardworking; self… read more
Esther and Richard are the most lovely, joyful and respectful hosts and made us feel at home since day one. We appreciated… read more
The masseria and the view was beautiful. The masseria is in the middle of green fields and on top of a hill, so the only thing you hear are the birds and the bees and an… read more
We were happy to work on a wide variety of different tasks around the house and the garden, like pruning olive trees, cutting bushes, wood painting and many other jobs. All… read more
Fortunately they prepared us the guest room to stay, what maked it very confortable. In any way we had a marvelous time with Esther and Richard. We enjoyed the beautiful place with all its… read more
We can't say enough complimentary things about Pina and Lucas. They're lovely people, worked really well and enjoyed having their own projects to complete. More importantly, they were able to be left to work on their own initiative, meaning we could get on with other jobs which needed doing. We were delighted to host them and very… read more
We only stayed with them for… read more
Richard and Esther are warm, welcoming and so very kind to start with! They… read more
We liked it so much that we stayed two times at their wonderful property. The first stay was two weeks in October 2018 and the second stay was in December :)
We had so much fun together, while working on the land and also while… read more
As described the property and the accomodation are 5 star, situated between Matera, with all its history and… read more
Basilicata is a beautiful region with very nice, kind, friendly people.
Esther&Richard are likewise. We felt at home with them, enjoying the work and all the other time we had the occasion to spend together. Their place is like a nice resort: elegant, clean,… read more
They were kind all the time as well as friendly and they were smilling during our accomodation.
We had pleasure of tasting italian food, carnival visit and their tolerance because of our imperfect english language.
Richard is by the way… read more
We worked well together finishing off building a pond which has been a long term project.… read more
Esther and Richard are a welcoming and friendly couple and we shared in lots of interesting and funny conversations. They were both really helpful and always offered to drive us into town so we could explore. We… read more
Even if the weather was not the best we helped them with many tasks, mainly gardening and weeding.
Their property is an incredible… read more
The work was hard, but very organized so We didn´t have any problem, and Esther was always taking care of us,… read more
Work was mainly in the garden but was not limited to weeding; they let me do the fun portions as well like picking beans and peas, planting tomatoes, and painting the shed. Of… read more
Our tasks were discussed over breakfast in the morning (wonderful croissants plus fruit, toast and cornflakes) and consisted of weeding around Esther and Richards beautiful home which we stayed at for 2 weeks.
The house is stunning! I remember our first day being shown around the house and meeting their… read more
This was Sara and Nicks first workaway experience and they were a pleasure to have as part of our family. Sara is a pastry chef and spent many hours baking cakes, cookies and pastries for our freezer which I really appreciated in the run up to Christmas as I have overseas visitors arriving in a few days. Nick did a good job raking our long… read more
The work consisted of 5 hours per day with tasks varying from weeding to heavy labour.… read more