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Évaluation d'hôte
100 %
Last replied
17 avr. 2024
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90.8 %
Usually responds ≤ 3 jours
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10
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Séjour min. souhaité : Au moins deux semaines
Infos
Description
We have a villa in Sicily on the lower slopes 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 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, archaeological 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.
Please note we can't assist with workawayers seeking Italian citizenship/residence
Workawayers should be fully vaccinated against Covid.
Please read the 'Important' section below.
Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre
Jardinage
Bricolage et construction
Aide à la maison
Entretien général
Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre
Sicily has a rich cultural lanscape and there is plenty of sightseeing of both architectural and natural sites including Mount Etna, Taormina, beaches, many heritage sites 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.
Aide
There is always garden maintenance to be done: clearing leaves, weeds and brambles, cutting back growth.
To dispose of garden waste some experience of shredding, composting and controlled burning (from October-April) is important. The garden is about 2000 sqm.
Cordless electric hedgecutter, reciprocating saw, strimmer, sander and leaf blower available as well as a corded electric shredder, pressure washer; familiarity with such tools would be a considerable help, they also make your work much easier.
current DIY tasks:
Some indoor painting of areas of walls and ceilings in a couple of rooms where there is some peeling paint - not whole rooms.
Painting a small part of a wall of an outbuilding, filling cracks and painting the surrounds of some exterior steps (a small area).
We would also like to substitute two shower fixtures and kitchen taps so some plumbing skills would be a big bonus.
Alternatively, we are also considering a shorter term option of sanding and spray painting these fixtures with a few thin layers of ad hoc spray paint.
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The house, a little over 200 sqm, also needs to be given a thorough clean and check to see everything is in place. Although none of the requested tasks are particularly complicated, attention to detail is a must.
Responsive communication is essential, including a willingness to check details and exchange photos to facilitate completing tasks and handing over to subsequent guests.
*** Please note that at the moment you would be on your own, though one of us will likely come for a few days.
When that happens, some help with grocery shopping is requested.
When we are not at the villa, we provide a weekly grocery allowance.
Our pets are not at the villa so there is *no* pet care involved.
We would be in regular contact to supervise the tasks.
You would need to be quite self-sufficient, mature and responsible, able to hold the fort and show initiative in alerting us to any potential repairs, especially if/when we are not at the villa.
It might suit a couple wanting a more independent experience with very flexible hours and of course volunteers can engage in their own online work in their spare time.
Non-smokers only, and currently looking for couples/2 friends
* Minimum age of about 24 preferred unless you are exceptionally mature and experienced.*
Having your own transport would also be a great help, if you don't, *a driving license is a must.*
Travel Insurance strongly advised.
IMPORTANT:
*** Ensure you read our profile carefully if you'd like to get in touch, clearly indicating you are aware that you would be on your own in the house though one of us will probably come for a few days ***
*** Please also give us an idea of your familiarity with the requested tasks ***
*** Enquiries that are personalised and directed specifically to us rather than generic, copy-and-paste messages sent to multiple hosts are greatly preferred ***
Langues parlées
Anglais: Courant
Italien: Courant
Français: Intermédiaire
Hébergement
A comfortable bedroom and private ensuite bathroom available in the house, suitable for one or two people.
We are very mindful about energy consumption and expect the same from our workawayers.
Autres infos...
There is a scenic vintage railway called the Circumetnea stopping at a nearby station, connecting various towns around Mount Etna including Catania.
That said, local public transport is quite limited though there are a few bus connections.
Many of our volunteers without a vehicle have found it easy to hitch a ride though having your own transport would be a bonus to enjoy the area as fully as possible.
The villa is very well connected to the motorway, about 2 km away, and is about a 45 minute drive from Catania airport.
Apart from the nearby world-famous resort of Taormina (20 minutes away) and stunning Mount Etna, further afield are the beautiful baroque towns of southeast Sicily such as Siracusa, Noto, Ragusa and Modica.
Several of these sites, including Catania, are UNESCO world heritage sites.
On Mount Etna you can hike or go donkey or horse back riding. Several local vineyards offer wine tasting tours.
Taormina holds international film and music festivals in its Greek amphitheatre with views of the sea and Etna and has more upscale shops, hotels and restaurants including two Michelin starred eateries. It was recently the main location for The White Lotus.
Our local village, in easy walking distance, is pretty and has basic shops, ATM, a handful of pizzerie, restaurants, trattorie, gelaterie and bars but is very quiet so not suitable if you want a very lively local town.
The next neighbouring village has a Michelin star restaurant, boutique hotel and spa.
Informations complémentaires
Accès Internet
Accès Internet limité
Nous avons des animaux
Nous sommes fumeurs
Familles bienvenues
Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads
Plenty of table space to work from, *wifi connection via mobile hotspot*
Espace pour garer des vans
Plenty of room to park within the property
Possibilité d'accueillir les animaux
well behaved dog or cat.
Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?
Deux
Nombre d'heures attendues
5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (5)
They did plenty of garden clearing, including removing some tough growth on part of an outbuilding, and efficiently disposed of cuttings by burning and shredding.
They also nicely… read more
As Ama and Angeria would not be able to get to Italy we had the place to ourselves. This meant the cultural aspect of Work-away was a bit less but we really got the feeling we lived in Sicily for a week :)
The communication… read more
Feedback
Ce sont des évaluations supplémentaires en option lorsque les membres laissent un feedback. La note moyenne pour chaque option est affichée.
Exactitude du profil:
(5.0)
Échange culturel:
(3.8)
Communication:
(4.8)
They did plenty of garden clearing, including removing some tough growth on part of an outbuilding, and efficiently disposed of cuttings by burning and shredding.
They also nicely… read more
As Ama and Angeria would not be able to get to Italy we had the place to ourselves. This meant the cultural aspect of Work-away was a bit less but we really got the feeling we lived in Sicily for a week :)
The communication… read more
I believe it was a huge trust from them to let someone in their house who they haven't even met.
We were in contact via WhatsApp all the time. They were really nice and kind… read more
We also enjoyed some pleasant conversations, outings in the area, and dinners and it was… read more
