Where to start? I guess at the beginning upon arrival of each group of guests at the villa. Train pickup in a neighboring village of Asti was the primary mode of arrival which was easy for Paul who is comfortable driving in European cities. For those brave enough to rent a car, the first step was ensuring they arrived in the right village, found the property and got properly parked. This is no small feat in small Italian hill villages with narrow cobblestone streets and limited parking. We were lucky there were several parking lots just down the hill in Castagnole delle Lanza. After a meet and greet, which included a welcome toast, we moved on to “the tour.” The villa was a 200 year old 5 story home with an incredibly confusing layout, probably due to numerous ways of living and various forms of use over the centuries. There were two separate large old kitchens/dining areas, four separate reading/lounging areas, six bedrooms (accommodating 12+ guests), six bathrooms and various other nooks and crannies throughout. There were three park like outdoor spaces, one of which housed four turtles that thrived on our vegetable scrapes. Plus, there were numerous balconies from which to view the majestic vine covered hills below with the Alps in the background. This didn’t include several owner “lock out” areas that we were very curious about. The only things missing were air conditioning and a pool, both of which would have been greatly appreciated during hot humid Italian summers. Although it cooled down in the evenings, heat and mosquito/knat mitigation was a challenge and we ended up buying a fan and sleeping under a mosquito net. After the tour, we made sure our guests were settled into their respective rooms after which time they wandered around lost for a while eventually getting the lay of the land.
Excursion management in a rural area of a foreign country where most visitors were dependent upon us for orchestration and transportation was no small feat but Paul stepped up and made it happen. He scheduled at least two excursions a week in advance with additional activities decided upon the day prior to or the day of additional excursions. We tried not to schedule more than one excursion a day and those with agenda’s and/or rental cars often went off and did their own thing. My cousin and her son rented e-bikes and quasi peddled through the countryside which was a highlight for them. My sister, Sandy, and her boyfriend went to the Cinque Terra (Italian Riviera) one day to hike and tour the area and another couple headed to Turin for an overnight stay. A two vehicle caravan carried all guests to our various area destinations which worked well when the car in the rear kept Paul in his/her sight. We needed to be flexible on departure times as herding a houseful of cats was no small feat and we hated to get too militant with people on vacation. We saw numerous and participated in several summer “sagras” which are traditional community gatherings that celebrate all manner of things. An evening dinner and classical music concert was a highlight in our village for one group of guests.
Guest turnover was on Saturdays when one group moved out and another settled in following the same routine described above. We had the house caretaker come to change sheets and tidy up a bit before each group arrived. There were organizers and tidy up sorts in each group so many hands made for fast work in keeping things orderly throughout the week. One daily highlight for self-selected members in each group was the daily morning trek down the hill to the bakery for breakfast breads/pastries and/or the daily visit to the market to purchase necessary household items. After a later breakfast and daily outings we chose to prepare group dinners at the villa most evenings. This required Paul and/or another guest or two to step up to plan and prepare the evening meal. Our guests included several chefs, experienced cooks and willing helpers during the entire month so this process went quite smoothly. There was always a table clearing/dishwasher loading duo that stepped up in one room and I was often on dinner prep cleanup and big pot washing detail in the second area kitchen on the main floor. I am sure this whole process mimics what goes on with all big family gatherings surrounding meal preparation and cleanup; all chaos at its finest!
With regard to financial management of the vacation house, all guests pre-paid their share of lodging costs about the time the second half of the villa payment was due in the spring. Paul calculated a daily rate for the rental car expense, all communal receipts for the week were collected in one place and Paul did an accounting at the end of each week at which time all guests were presented with their bill to settle up before departure. When we went out for dinner only one bill was presented to the group, divided equally and one person put the bill on their credit card with other individuals/couples paying that person cash for their share. If this process is rotated everyone ends up with more cash to avoid ATM use/fees.
One might wonder how we coped with so many (24) different people coming and going throughout the month? Patience is the name of the game accommodating individual styles and reactions in new surroundings. It was really no different than dealing with the challenges associated with any kind of group dynamics that most of us successfully navigate every day. One should think through whether they want to deal with this while on vacation before committing to a group vacation house experience.
In closing, the question is would we do it again? First of all, we loved sharing this kind of rich experience with so many of our close friends and family and enjoyed seeing important people in our lives meet and get to know each other. Next time, we would choose a more urban environment with more activity options and public transportation so guests had more independence, thus, allowing them to choose participation in planned excursions or doing their own thing. This would give everyone more choices with the opportunity for time together and experience sharing in the evenings. Not sure we would do it for so long as we are exhausted and it might take us the rest of the summer to recover now that we have “come home.” 2018