Impressions from Pizzo at Sundown

The other evening, shortly before sunset, the sky over Pizzo Calabro was of an amazing colour - kind of deep turquoise with some pinkish clouds. In the twilight the colours of the facades of the old houses became more intense. It was a beautiful moment, almost surreal.

Top 10 Impressions from the Renovation Work

In the last five days I have taken many pictures from the house and the work progress. Every day, I am on site measuring, looking into details, unpacking, helping whatever I can do. Yesterday, while showing friends around, I realized that I have some new favorite spots that I want to show you too:

My first favorite spot is the small sunny piazza infront of the house.

Here, at the main entrance three generations of (future) inhabitants are posing happily.

Angelo's art work at entrance #37

more stucco and paint art work on ceilings

my favorite bathroom in the vaulted cellar

good news: we found enough original floral tiles for the main entrance

measuring and calculating the floor space in the vaulted cellar (seminterrato),

we will have natural oak wook parquet since Angelo had insolated the floor perfectly.

It is difficult to say which is my favorite floor, but I really like this unique basement!

father and son at work in the living room

we bought stucco deco borders for the walls and sample colours to try out the effect (soon). Can't wait to see the trial paint on the walls....

my favorite room for the moment is our guest room with view into orange trees, the yellow of the ceiling is so warm and friendly - even the chandelier, that is not really my taste, can stay.

interesting perspective on the primo piano - the door frames turned out nice!

My favorite spot for the view is our balcony on the piano terra

Of course there are many more beautiful spots in the house, but these are the top 10 of the last five days. More is coming. 

Impressions from Pizzo

Pizzo view from above

Today is the forth day after our arrival in Bella Italia. The house looks spectacular, we are very happy to see everything in reality. It even looks better than in the pictures Angelo has sent!

So far, we have been super busy and efficient. We could call our holidays quasi "vacation on the building site" and "vacation in building centers" (Ferien auf der Baustelle oder Ferien auf dem Baumarkt!).

I am also very happy to be in Pizzo. The weather is great, we have incredible deep blue skies and a fantastic sunset last night. I met some old friends and very nice new people. I realised that I have not posted about Pizzo, the village itself, for a long time. So I am going to intruduce you (again) to the centro storico of Pizzo with some photo impressions:

Impressions of Pizzo copyright Suzie @ PalazzoPizzo

Departure tonight and still packing ....

Today I am packing. Actually, I am STILL packing! I started packing already yesterday. I am such a sloooow packer... It takes me hours. Always! Does anybody has a packing secret for fast and efficient packing to share?!

I really should be better prepared for travelling. We not only travel overseas quite often but also do escape the city almost every weekend. I should have an extra beauty bag ready just for travel, including my favorite cremes, mascara, Labello, nose spray, mosquito repellent, sun protection...(ha ha! yes, that's me)  I just need everything double. The 1l plastic zipper bag(s) for flights - with cremes for face and hands, lipcare, nose spray and other emergency medicine for son -  should be packed and ready anytime. I have no idea why I have to re-pack my beauty bag all the time.

Since our holiday home becomes livable now, I also need to store things there. Shampoo, soaps and clothes of course. So I might have to pack less. Might...

Thinking of that, the other night, I came across an interview with Ivana Trump (yellow press from the plane). She poses in front of her summer house in Palm Beach with her Rolls and LV suitcases. Her saying, that she does not know how many rooms her villa got, was highlighted ... Hey, come on, how could she know, when she has so many houses?! Nothing unusual. (I have not counted my rooms either, ha ha!)

But the interesting question was, whether Ivana Trump travels with tons of luggage in between her properties. - Her answer: No! - She said, she would never carry with her basic casual clothes or pyjamas. This is all on site. Also Florida requires different outfits than New York. So each residence has its own selection suitable for each climate and activities. She just carries her actual favorite things. - Probably she also has someone who files her outfits by photo, so she knows what she has where - and if not she just drives in her Rolls to a boutique.

Actually, that's how my husband packs: He is done in 15 minutes, more or less. He packs passport, credit cards and ticket. And if he forgets his tooth brush, so what? He buys a new one.  

Now, I checked the weather forecast and also the pictures of last year Easter holiday. My son was wearing a woolen hat and scarf... so I opened our metal travel boxes in where I store my winter clothes here in Thailand. When we are landing, there will be chilly 14 degrees Celsius only!

But now, I really have to run. I still need to stop buy the Apple store to buy the "iPad Camera Connection Kit" to enable the download of photos from my camera to our ipad. I want to try out to blog from the ipad while travelling. And I would love a last food massage, but maybe no more time left before a parents teacher conference this afternoon.... and then the beauty case, is always last.

How to rent out a holiday home

"How to rent out a holiday home?", I asked myself just recently.

Although we bought the "palazzo" already five years ago, I never really thought about "HOW" to rent it out. When I re-organized my blog a little bit by putting up "pages" (the taps below the headline), I called one page as "Guest Residence". Aha! Yes, I would love to share our little gem with visitors! But how to find the interested traveler? Online?

A friend recommended me to look at a cottage in Southern France. They rent out via VRBO. Aha!

A few google keywords and a bit of surfing later, I found the following:

1. VRBO.com - Vacation Rental By Owner - aims mainly towards the US market, 7 rentals were available in Calabria, 2 of them in Pizzo.
2. Ownersdirect.co.uk - aims more to UK and Canadian customers with half of the rentals in Canada and only 818 in Europe, mainly in Italy (470), thereof 152 in Southern Italy, thereof only 3 in Calabria, however none in Pizzo.
3. HomeAway holiday-rentals.co.uk - is mainly focusing on UK costumers with 16,724 self-catering holiday homes in Italy, in Calabria there are 116 rentals registered, thereof 8 rentals in Pizzo.

After that analysis, I know less than before.

I have more readers from the US than from the UK, but would more traveler from the US come to visit Calabria than from the UK? - From several UK airports and even from Toronto, Canada there are direct flights to Lamezia, which is only 20 minutes drive from our holiday home. Pizzo gets lots of visitors from the UK.

I have not yet inquired the fees of the different sites, which will not make a big difference, I guess. But the VRBO site looks most appealing to me, I have to admit.

Have you ever rented a holiday home? How did you find it? What was your experience? Which rental portal would you consider? Your comments are very much appreciated! Grazie mille!

Thanks for reading until here! I will share this French cottage finds. I downloaded these photos just to show my family, how beautiful a rental can (or should?!) look:

What a beautiful guest bedroom!

I can't believe that someone makes a rental sooo nice!

But I think this is what we need to do!

Another bathroom with a natural stone wall - and the cast iron bathtub looks just like ours!

Angelo, CC, please note, a simple clothes rack can do! I like that!

Last but not least, the kitchen:

Simple country style BUT with stunning stainless steel appliances!

And a wrought iron gate that leads to a garden - we have that too!

Love that cottage!!! Great renovation work, complimenti ! It's located in South of France and renovated by a family based in Seattle. The cottage and its village are featured in a blog called Stephmodo by Stephanie. She not only writes about practical and pretty things, but also has filed the renovation project of "La Maisonette", which can be rented via VRBO here or via the link on her blog.

photo source: Stephmodo

 

 

Remark:

All three platforms mentioned above are owned by homeaway.com and were acquisted in 2006 and 2007)

Update May 2013:

Our Guest Residence is ready for rent! If you plan to visit Calabria in the South of Italy, you should include our lovely village Pizzo! The best time to visit is May-September. But April and October can be very pleasant too. If you like to spent here a few more days, maybe you want to stay with us? Please contact me directly for availability and price at writing.Suzie(at)yahoo.com.

 

Update October 2013:

After more research and my own first experiences with holiday lettings, I wrote these posts:

HOW to rent out your house or vacation property - or should I open a B&B?

WHY renting out your holiday home - Six good reasons!