Dream Italian Villas & Tours

08/15/2024

The cutest & most talented chef duo in Seattle at Il Nido; Katie & Matt. Flowers for Katie’s birthday yesterday & a huge thank you to all the years Matt has been at Katie’s side before he rides into the sunset to take his talent to teaching aspiring chefs instead of cooking for the lucky patrons of Il Nido. Luckily their kitchen is filled with all the other talented chefs & team members who will continue to deliver amazing experiences to their diners.

08/15/2024

The cutest & most talented chef duo in Seattle at Il Nido; Katie & Matt. Flowers for Katie’s birthday yesterday & a huge thank you to all the years Matt has been at Katie’s side before he rides into the sunset to take his talent to teaching aspiring chefs instead of cooking for the lucky patrons of Il Nido

08/03/2024

07/12/2024

Under the Tuscan Stars! Choose from many amazing venues this summer for outdoor movie goers. Ridley Scoot’s A Good Year, while sipping and savouring glasses of Chianti Classico or a gin-based cocktail crafted by the makers. Popcorn, of course, completes the scene, with the gorgeous vineyard view as a backdrop.

05/20/2024

List includes where to eat them.

And my 10 most memorable pasta dishes

04/24/2024

Clients celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary dinner here. I am so happy for them🍾🍾🎉

04/19/2024

$1200 USD per person for a week. Is it time to give yourself the gift of travel? This beauty is half way between Rome and Tuscany. Tuscany is calling… will you answer?

04/18/2024

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04/17/2024

Join us for a virtual tour of this beautiful villa. Watch this space, or DM for a link.

04/11/2024

When in Venice, Eat Like a Venetian
Each year, 20 million tourists visit Venice. The vast majority will pay too much for indifferent food eaten mostly in the company of other tourists.

But there’s one way to eat great Venetian food that’s thrilling, filling and authentic. You’ll find it at a place where you’re almost certain to rub and bend elbows with locals. Visit a bacaro.

Like Spain’s tapas bars, the bacaro serves infinitely varied, kaleidoscopically colorful small plates at prices even a budget traveler can afford. What makes the Venetian version unique is that the menu changes not only seasonally (you’re in Italy after all), but day by day and hour by hour.

Venetians call these small plates cicchetti (pronounced “chi-KET-tee”) — said to derive from the Latin “ciccus,” meaning “little” or “nothing.” The term embraces a broad range of dishes: polpette (fried meatballs), crostini (small open-faced sandwiches), panini (small sandwiches on crusty rolls), tramezzini (triangular white bread sandwiches) — and a scintillating array of pickled, baked, stuffed or sauced seafoods and vegetables.

You find cicchetti at a bacaro(wine bar), but also at a botegòn, cantina, cicchetteria, enotecaand osteria — confused yet? And likely at your neighborhood bar. Depending on whom you ask, bacaro comes from the Venetian word for “wine” or “a good bar,” or even from the ancient Roman god of wine, Bacchus.

Giorgia who I met many years ago offers such a walking tour and will take you away from the tourists into the many tiny alleyways that make up Venice to really taste Venetian food. Sadly it’s true.. finding authentic food away from the tourists is a challenge.
DM and I will hook you up!

02/26/2024

Need an escape plan to the Amalfi Coast? Gather your friends & family or your girlfriends and let me help you plan 2025… and 2024 it’s not too late but this destination sells out early as does this villa.

02/23/2024

https://youtu.be/RSK4zOxGPgk?si=bsnc0CrSoIsp_690

March straight to the sofa and join Maya Jama, Lawrence Dallaglio and I as we experience the sights, sounds and flavours of Italy in the new Tv Series Live I...

01/06/2024

“What do you pack when you pursue a dream & what do you leave behind?”
Sandra Sharp

12/18/2023

TUSCANY ANDREA BOCELLI CONCERT TEATRO DEL SILENZIO. On Wed 17 & Fri 19 July 2024 at 8:30 pm
Tickets, Dinner Pre-Show, Hotel, Transfers etc., can be arranged.

12/03/2023

Birthdays deserve to be celebrated. Here is to Cynthia’s🍾🍾🍾

03/28/2023

Visit my other FB page with more posts: https://www.facebook.com/claudia.alfierigallego?mibextid=LQQJ4d

02/19/2023

Could the guest of honor be IL Nido’s mascot.. served with dessert? yes… the bird who reigns over a restaurant’s name that translated means the “nest”. Bday dinner even more special when the chef gets to join us.

01/29/2023

Shopping for cured meats in Rome! Notice what is hanging in the different sections & in the ceiling at the end of the clip.

12/30/2022

A rare treat to have a dear friend share Florence during the holidays
❣️🍾🍾❣️ Thank you Lucia!

12/02/2022

Where is your happy place in the winter? My first villa experience was in February & is still one of the most memorable experiences for all of us!

11/08/2022

Positano. Still need an excuse? This beauty is sold out in 2023. I suspect if we don’t grab you a week by Jan, Feb latest- 2024 will not be in your travel plans. Oh, coffee from your bedroom terrace? Private chef for meals on the verandah. $1500 deposits per person for 8 couples will get you here.

10/21/2022

Tuscan Pici a regional favorite. Pasta making class in the villa.

10/01/2022

Most villas average 5-6 bedrooms. This beauty has 8 bedrooms all en-suite. Important to have owners engaged with excellent staff; this one checks all of the boxes! https://dreamitalianvillastours.com/villa/villa-caterina/

09/29/2022

View from our backyard at the villa last night.

09/26/2021

Great girls weekend in Walla Walla. Besides 160 wineries, downtown has several blocks of outdoor restaurants. Loved Peggy’s General Store, Grosgrain Winery, Slight of Hand, Caprio Cellars & Valdemar Estates. If you can’t go to Italy, we’d love to introduce you to Walla Walla. Can fly in with a connection through Seattle, or in greater Seattle area it is a 4 hour drive.

09/26/2021

Repost-Daughters and sisterly love, such a blessing.

05/29/2021

Aperol Spritz for soaking in Tuscan view. Great summer cocktail & refreshing! If you enjoy ordering these when you are out, here is the recipe & its origins.

Can buy Aperol at most grocery stores that sell alcohol. Costco has it on & off. Prosecco is from the Veneto (Venice) region, but any sparkling wine will work.

Prosecco, Aperol, splash of club soda, orange slice, lots of ice.

If you nerd out on back stories like me, here is the history…

The Italian aperitif Aperol was created in Padua in 1919 by the Barbieri brothers. The original recipe has supposedly remained unchanged over time but it wasn't until the 1950s that Aperol Spritz became a popular alternative to the usual Venetian mix of white wine and soda.

In 2003 the Aperol brand was acquired by Campari Group. The Group positioned Aperol Spritz as "the perfect drink for social occasions", increasing sales to four times the pre-acquisition levels.

05/26/2021

Tuscany is calling, so your friends booked this villa…will you be there? Francesco, owner & sommelier of Perbacco Wine Club in Montepulciano will join us for a wine tasting during dinner.

We booked a cheese tasting at Podere il Casale featured on the new travel series with Bobby Flay & Giada De Laurentiis (episode #3).

Later in the week they will visit the famous Tuscan hillside town of Montalcino for Brunello Wine Tasting at Ciacci Piccolomini Wine Estate.

… and your friends booked a private chef for the week.

Did you say you will be there? Only one room left, don’t wait too long to decide!

05/19/2021

Season Two Starts This Sunday, Free, Must Register. Open to those needing to dream, escape, have a trip planned, or one day might like us to curate your dream vacation in Italy & most importantly because travel even if it’s virtually… inspires us❣️ https://conta.cc/3fq8xJm

05/14/2021

On a break…