Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Luca is the Best!







HI Sebastiano & Luca,
Please forgive me for the tardiness of this email. I had intended to write you immediately after our wonderful vacation in Sicily. We look back fondly on our stay in Taormina and our visit with our cousins in the tiny village of Sclafani Bagni in the Madonie Mountains. We can't wait to return to the beautiful island of Sicily. It is my favorite place in the world.
I am sending you some photos from our tour with Luca and I'm also including a few from other places in Taromina. I hope you enjoy them. I kept a diary of our special day with Luca. I thought I'd share it with you.
Up early. 7:30 Room Service for Breakfast. We all got ready for our excursion to Mt. Etna. Riley and I walked out ahead to meet our driver.
Luca Grasso was waiting for us on the street- 23 years old...the NICEST guy!
Soon we were all on our way in a Mercedes van. Luca spoke English very well and knew a lot about his island- born in Catania. The boys were very excited about the trip but were "un po stanchi". We drove through Giardini Naxos, a small fishing village and beach resort next to Taormina, just south. Then we drove up the mountain to Etna...stopped at Santa Venerini where we visited a church and a little open square where Mama Bella met a 94 year old man named Sebastian. Then, to the village of Zafferana Etna where they make honey-"oro d'Etna". We picked up some honey souveniers and tasted some different olive oils and some delicious wines and honey. Josie was the gal there, very nice...saw the bees in the honeycomb. Luca was not afraid one bit of getting stung. Then onward up to Mt. Etna...very touristy area with lots of people and buses. The landscape looked like the moon- lava everywhere. The boys, John and I climbed up to one of the craters while Mama Bella stayed below with Luca. It took about 45 minutes all together.
The boys LOVED running around. The weather was perfect- mid 70s and a little breezy. Fa bel tempo! We walked back down, bought a few souveniers , grabbed some water, and headed down the mountain. We had lunch in Giardini Naxos at Café Angelini , friends of Luca's. We enjoyed a delicious meal of fish, pasta, formaggio-you name it, we ate it. Mangiano bene! Then back to the hotel, said our goodbyes to Luca and got his email address. We must send pictures. We had a fantastic time on Mt. Etna.
So, there you have it. Better late than never. We look forward to our next vacation to Bella Sicilia. I'd love to visit Siracusa and Agrigento some day and look forward to doing it with you.
Felica Anno Nuovo e Saluti a Tutti...with a special hello to Luca.

Robin, John, Devin & Riley Jameson & Mama Bella!

P.S. I appreciate that I can write this letter in English. It would take me FOREVER to write it in Italian. :)

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Excellent tour with Luca.

OUR TOUR IN OCTOBER WITH LUCA WAS WONDERFUL...WE FELT VERY COMFORTABLE AND ENJOYED THE PERSONABLE YET ROYAL TREATMENT THAT HE CONVEYED.
TAROMINA IS LOVELY AND WE ARE PLANNING A TRIP LATE SUMMER FOR AT LEAST 10 DAYS OR MORE.
BUONA NATALIE!!

MICHELE AND ANTONIO
DIIULISNAPLE FLORIDA

Monday, December 15, 2008

Wonderful tour in Palermo with Antonio!

My cousin and I went on a tour of Palermo and Monreale with your collegue, Antonio, a few weeks ago. I just wanted to let you know that we a very good time and he was a great tour guide. We saw a lot of the city and of course had a very nice time in Monreale.

Meredith

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Wonderful tour with Sebastiano & Dominick!




Dear Sebastiano,
We enjoyed our time with you in your beautiful country.
Thank you again for your excellent tour and your kindness. We enjoy looking at the pictures and talking about how much we learned and the fun we had with you and Dominick!
We look forward to the day we can return to your wonderful country and have another tour with you! Please give our best regards to Dominick.

Distinti Saluti and Grazie,
Doug, Cherie, Adrianna, Gregory and Stefan

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Fabulous Etna trip

I am just writing to say thank you to Antonio and Sicily Life.
We booked the etna tour last thursday and all 4 of us had a fabulous day despite the clouds! Antonio was an excellent guide and we shall recomend your company.

Many thanks
Kathryn

Friday, October 17, 2008

Ciao Alessandro e Sebastiano,

Ciao Alessandro e Sebastiano,
Scusami per il ritardo del nostro e-mail.
Quando siamo state in Sicilia ad aprille quest'anno, la nostra mama, mia sorella e io siamo andate con voi agli due posti - una volta all'Etna e seconda il giro del Padrino.
Vi voremmo dire che siamo molto contente per vedere quelli posti meraviglioso.
Adesso, abbiamo visto il film "Il Padrino" di nuovo.
E' stato fantastico per vedere e ricordare i posti che abbiamo visitato con voi.
Le memorie felice - grazie mille.
Quando verremo in Sicilia di nuovo, vorremo vedere piu' dell'isola con voi
( forse, questo tempo Stromboli!!)

Cordiali saluti
Karen, Tracey e Barbara Warrendi Londra.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Fantastic day once we got off from our ship.

Hi Sebastiano:

I just wanted to let you know that our tour was very enjoyable.
We were all glad that we decided to do the Godfather Tour.
It was the highlight of our tour, but Taormino is beautiful.
My friend and I went to the Catholic Church at the top of the hill.
Since Mass had started a few minutes before we arrived, we were able to stay for the entire Mass.

The tour guides were very good and were waiting for us when we got off the ship.

Thanks again for a great tour and I will recommend you to my clients.

Grace @Cruises Inc

Great day to Etna with Domenico

Sebastiano,
We have arrived home from beautiful Sicily and wanted to thank you forproviding a wonderful addition to our vacation.
Dominico was a fantasticguide on our trip to Agira and Mount Etna.
His driving skills on thenarrow, mountain roads up to the castle were amazing.
The memory of thisvisit to my husband's ancestral town will last a lifetime.
The stop at thevineyard on the way back to the hotel was a special surprise.
I would be pleased to recommend your company to anyone who is looking for amore personalized tour at an affordable price in Sicily.

Tony & Chris Giunta
Freehold, NJ

Great Day from Messina on September 21

Sebastiano:
My group and I are back home from our cruise and I wanted to let you knowhow pleased we were with Alex and our tour on Sept 21.
Alex spoke very goodEnglish and was a very pleasant and knowledgeable guide. We all had acompletely wonderful day.
The restaurant he recommended was superb - goodservice and great food.
I would be pleased to give Alex and your company a personal reference ifanyone inquires.
Also I will post a good reference on Cruise Critic messageboards.

Thank you again for a great day.

Joan

Thanks Sebastiano!

Sabastiano, thank you for providing us with great, knowledgeable drivers. They made our stay in Sicily easy and convenient. Also thank you for your restaurants recommendations and for sending champagne. It was very thoughtful of your.

Arrivederci

Lena and Lou Casale
Carol and Vincenzo Grippo

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Fantastic day with Antonio!

Dear Sebastiano,
this is the first opportunity I have had to let you know what a fantastic day we had in Catania with Antonio!
He was wonderful, gracious, helpful, friendly, professional, and fun!
He went out of his way to make our day a special one and I would enthusiastically reccommend him and your company to anyone.
I don't know if he will remember our tour, but please tell him that thanks to him and the Catania police department, where he took us to help find any relatives - I did get and email from a distant relative and we are trying to correspond via email.
I don't speak Italian and he doesn't speak English, so it has been interesting!

Thank you and Antonio for a very memorable experience.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Etna Tour with Domenico

Dear Sebastiano,
Now that we are back home in California, I wanted to thank you again for the great service that you and your company provided to us.? Our tour of Etna with Dominic was great.? He was pleasant and knowledgible and kept a good pace for all of us, including my parents who are a bit older.

I will keep your contact information for our next trip and will gladly refer others to Sicily Life.?
Thank you again,

Elaine McCarthy

Lovely day with Luca.

Dear Sebastiano,

Just got home from our trip to Italy. I did want to take the time to tell you how Luca made our day in Taormina so special. He was enthusiastic, informed, and patient-especially when fog prevented us from the drive up to Mt. Etna. He is a great representative for your company.

Many thanks

Lois Lubasch

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thanks Domenico!

Buon Giorno Sebastiano,

We want to thank you, and Domenico in particular, for taking care of our transfer from the Catania Airport to the Caesar Palace Hotel in Giardini Naxos last Monday, September 15th.

Domenico was outstanding ... prompt, polite, attentive, and extremely helpful getting us to our hotel, much less dealing with our luggage replacement problem in Catania.

You are very fortunate to have Domenico working with you. You can be sure we will use your service and request Domenico the next time we are in Sicily.

Mille Grazie!

Elaine Argiro

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Great Birthday!

Hi There,
Just wanted to say a big thank you for our excursion on saturday.
Luca was absolutely fantastic and made my husbands Marks special birthday so enjoyable.
Luca explained everything in great detail and nothing was too much for him.
He is a great guy, with a great personality.

Thank you once again - I will be recomending your company to our friendsand family.

Kind Regards
Caroline Williams

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Etna day trip from Palermo

Have arrived back in Australia. Back to reality and time to restore order in the bank balance.
I just wanted to say how much we enjoyed our day trip from Palermo to Mount Etna & Taormina.
Our guide, Silvano, was a warm, friendly and informative host.
We enjoyed Sicily, the countryside reminded us of home in Adelaide where we also enjoy a Mediteranean climate.
Once again thank you and give our regards to Silvano.
Best Wishes

Paul Reed

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Fantastic Etna day tour.

Sebastiano,
Many thanks for a fantastic tour of Etna.
We had a great time with your guide and would recommend your company to all our friends and family.
Next time we holiday in Sicily I am sure we will contact you to organise our trips and hotels etc.

All the best.

Joe

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The most incredible days of our trip



Dear Sebastiano:
I wanted to take a moment and thank you for one of the most incredible days of our trip.

You are a wonderful person who truly gave us a taste of Sicily.

I am craving your beautiful island and look forward to returning and visiting the places where my ancestors are from.

We promise to contact you (hopefully this next year) when we can do that.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing your beautiful land with us and letting us bring home beautiful memories.
What a beautiful surprise to return home admist pages of e-mails only to find one from you . . .

it made the whole 'coming home' process easier...


Thank you. And in return,

With grateful hearts. . .
The O'Learys (Coleen, Richard, Caitlin, Brigette & Kelsey)

Friday, August 1, 2008

Great Etna experience!







Hi Sebastiano Thank you very much for making my birthday such a great day. The trip was brilliant.Thank you for the drink, the restaurant you booked for us was wonderful , a perfect end to a perfect day. I have attached a couple of pictures for you.Thanks again we shall recommend you to everyone who comes to Sicily. Regards Val & Pete Bailey

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Could have not had a better day on our tour on July 16!


We went on a Sicily tour with Alessandro on July 16, 2008. It was our 20th wedding anniversary on that day, and we could have not had a better day. Alessandro was well informed, thoughtful and a joy to be with. We enjoyed our day, and our time we spent with him. We love Sicily, and your company.
Regards,
Mark and Elaina MolinePeoria, Illinois USA

Una bella giornata - July 4 2008

Ciao Sebastiano,Sfortunatamente io non ho potuto passare una giornata in Sicilia a causa diessere malata. Ma la mia famiglia ed i miei amici mi hanno detto che iltour con Lei era stupendo! Hanno imparato molto della la vita Siciliana esi sono divertiti molto fare un giro con Lei al Monte Etna, alla campagnaSiciliana ed a Taormina. A loro piaciono molto dei suoi storii del volcanoe la cultura della sua isola. Quando ho tempo scrivero' un riassunto buonadi Sicily Life a cruisecritic.com. Grazie per fare la loro giornata inSicilia molto speciale!
Cordiali saluti, Kathy Rice

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Wonderful tour with Alessandro




Dear Alessandro, Ciao~ This is Mia from Hong Kong, hopefully you still remember me whom travelled with 3 of my girlfriends Irene, Yan and Esther early June. Attached pls find the photos that we took together^^ O yes, we have been back from our 5-weeks trip in South Europe and now well-settled . However, we just wanna let you know how much we miss the beautiful Sicily, in particular Taormina and Foza D Agro!!!! And we'd like to thank you for your warm touring which shows us the wonderful side of your hometown . Hopefully, we can visit Sicily again and we shall contact you by then ^^ So Long!!! Best Regards,Mia from Hong Kong (irene, yan, Esther)

Great Etna and Taormina day tour

Hello,I just wanted to write and thank you for the wonderful time we had in Mt. Etna and Taormina.Antonio was a wonderful guide, very knowledgeable and attentive. We had a great time. Joan Levin

Godfather tour on May 29, 2008

Better Late than never. I apologize for my late response regarding our Fabulous Full day tour with you in Sicily on Thursday, May 29th, 2008. Unfortunately after such a wonderful relaxing trip, we returned home to chaos and a fried computer due to a local electrical storm. I can't believe how FAST the time has passed since our vacation. It has taken me a while but now that things are settling down and I am back on track on the home front - I didn’t want to dismiss my chance to give credit where credit was due – to our Excellent DRIVER AND GUIDE – YOU. Sebastiano, you were so well spoken and friendly that it didn’t take us long to all feel comfortable being with you. You were outgoing and knowledgeable and PATIENCE as with 8 in the group – we would sometimes wander off. Thanks to you – we absorbed the highlights as we traveled around in Sicily as we enjoyed our day getting to know each other and the beauty around us. We covered more territory than we ever expected to during our day trip at the Port of Messina and we never would have been able to accomplish so much in a day if it wasn’t for your expertise in knowing how to maneuver around the area getting us in and out of quaint shopping areas but making sure we didn’t miss out on the breathtaking views along the way. It takes a lot of practice and assertiveness to manage on such narrow, winding roads – but you did it all with ease. We enjoyed your humor and “inside stories” on the how the people in each Village live. There are too many personal highlights to list in this email but it was truly a day we will never forget especially “Walking in the Steps of the Godfather” part of the tour and the incredible stop off for a special granite ice and meeting Maria. Looking at our recent vacation photographs it is easy to see why so many people travel to Europe and why we will always consider this a “trip of a lifetime”. Our family would HIGHLY recommend you and Sicily Life Tours to others traveling to Italy. Again, we just wanted you to know how much we enjoyed our tour with you on that wonderful 5/29/08 day in Sicily. Thank you for providing such a well maintained comfortable vehicle and for assigning us with your Best Tour Guide - Sabatinio Thank you again – the Fainelli Family