” I was referred to Carlo through a mutual acquaintance. My wife and I
wanted to honeymoon in Tuscany and so badly wanted to avoid the tourist
traps. We’re both seasoned travelers and internet savvy, but this
needed to be the trip of trips, within our budget, of course. We
sought the kind of Italian vacation experience that could best be
provided by, well, an Italian who listened closely enough to is to
understand what we were looking for, and who knew Italy well enough to
be able to find it for us. Carlo discussed with us our transportation
preferences, travel dislikes, things we really wanted to see, budget,
trip length, options we wanted to have, and many other expectations and
areas of confidence and lack thereof. We commissioned him with slight
trepidation because were completely unfamiliar with his work, and we
were not personally developing (i.e. controlling) our honeymoon
planning. We pretty much didn’t trust any one to honor our interests.
Carlo’s listening skills really came through for us; our trip was
indeed customized for us.
We could not have been more pleased with Carlo’s work. Taking into
account our probable condition after crossing 9 time zones, he planned
for us to drive not too far to the PERFECT first night honeymoon
experience. Wow. Camogli is barely mentioned in the tour guides, and
the place we stayed in was somewhat difficult to find, but we woke up
on the first morning of our honeymoon with the Mediterranean Sea
greeting us. It was pricey, but Carlo knew that on our first night we
wanted special and romantic, not necessarily inexpensive. It was still
a good value, we thought.
The rest of the trip was spent lazily exploring Tuscan hill towns, from
a very special base. Carlo arranged for us to stay in an elegant,
rustic, comfortable agriturismo B&B, which was on a real olive orchard,
with a hilltop view that allowed Pienza and Sienna, an Again, spot on
with our needs.
Could we have planned our own Tuscan honeymoon? Sure, and we might have
even felt in control our trip planning in an unfamiliar country where
we don’t speak the language. But our trip was better than I could have
thought possible, and the memories of our little of-the-beaten-path
vacation will warm us for a lifetime. Isn’t that really the reason you
go on vacation? ”
Preston Davis
Portland, Oregon
Customized trip to Italy September, 2002