Pelousey le 30 avril 2007

Chers Giuseppe et Marie,

nous vous envoyons ces quelques mots pour vous saluer et vous remercier pour votre hospitalité.

Nous avons beaucoup apprécié notre séjour dans votre Bed and Breakfast de Piazza Armérina. Les chambres sont silencieuses, spacieuses et tenues avec soin, les petits déjeuners autour de la grande table sont abondants, délicieux et...internationaux, et votre chaleureux acceuil et votre grande disponibilité font que le séjour au B.and B Giucalem ne peut pas s'oublier.

Après deux jours passés en votre compagnie on a l'impression de faire partie de la maison.

Merci madame Maria pour vos grands éclats de rire, vos mots gentils..., vos bonnes confitures et votre "pane cunzato"(merci pour la recette du "caffè colla schiuma"). Merci Giuseppe pour ta présence, ta disponibilité et tes conseils. Pour tous les touristes qui se rendent à Piazza Armérina votre B. and B. est à conseiller. Compliments à tous et au plaisir de vous revoir.

Gentilissimi Giuseppe e Maria,

Vi salutiamo e vi ringraziamo per la vostra cortese e accurata ospitalità. Il nostro soggiorno nel vostro Bed and Breakfast è stato meraviglioso. Le camere sono silenziose, spaziose e pulitissime, le colazioni sono abbondanti, ricche, squisite e...internazionali e la vostra calorosa accoglienza, la vostra generosa disponibilità rendono il soggiorno indimenticabile. Dopo due giorni passati con voi abbiamo l'impressione di essere "di casa".

Grazie signora Maria per le Sue belle risate, le Sue gentili parole, senza dimenticare le marmellate e il "pane cunzato" (grazie per la ricetta del caffè colla schiuma).

Grazie Giuseppe per la tua presenza, la tua disponibilità e i tuoi consigli.

Per chi vuole recarsi a Piazza Armerina, il vostro B. and B. è da consigliare.

Complimenti a tutti.

Amichevoli saluti a tutti ( Maria, Giuseppe, Romina, zio Paolo, e tutta la vostra famiglia)

Denis et Geneviève, i vostri ospiti francesi dal 16 al 26 aprile.

Accludiamo a questa lettera alcune foto del soggiorno.

Ambiance familiale très sympathique. Les spécialités de la ''Mama'' sont délicieuses! Merci pour l''accueil chaleureux
Jean Peyron

Dear Giuseppe!
We remember very warmly your
hospitality and kindness,excellent
room,tasty big breafast. Ideal place for people loving nature and horses!! Thanks a lot!
Inessa and Anatoly Golod
Montreal,Canada/

Our stay at the Giucalem was one of the highlights of our visit to Sicily. The family who operate it were great hosts. In the afternoon, they gave us some of their homemade wine and a wonderful breakfast the following day. The room was fine, although not fancy. I enjoyed practicing my limited italian with them. The B&B was a little difficult to find, but the effort was well worth it. It was easy to drive from the B&B to the Roman Villa del Casale. Out of gratitude, I wound up paying them 10 euro more than they charged.
Edina, Minnesota, USA

L''accueil a été très chaleureux. Les chambres sont neuves et confortables. il faisait froid et Jussepe a mis le chauffage. Le petit déjeuner est royal. Des confitures maisons réalisées par la mamamn de Guissepe, du jus d''orange frais, et le must du petit déjeuner du pain imprégné d''huile d''olive et d''herbe, chauffé au four et réalisé par la maman de Guissepe. Cette famille fera que nous garderons un excellent souvenir de la Sicile et de ses habitants. Merci encore pour cet accueil. Hélène Fonteneau

Sehr freundliche und aufmerksame Gastgeber, gute und saubere Zimmer, sehr gutes Frühstück, gute Parkmöglichkeiten. Würde ich weiter empfehlen.

Eberhard Fisher, DE

As we pulled onto the small dirt road, we quickly noticed that this was not your usual B&B. This was a no-nonsense vegetable farm. A building here, another over there, a couple of abandoned vehicles, and vegetable gardens everywhere. At first we were a little apprehensive, but our concerns were quickly washed away by the greeting from the entire family as we approached with bags in hand.

They put us up in the big room overlooking the fields (and the highway, but fear not, all was peaceful & quiet from early evening on). The room was very large, spotless & tastefully decorated with little traditional touches in every corner.

We were asked to wait for Mama Maria's son Giuseppe to come back since he spoke some English, and something was said about trying some bread which was being baked, at that very moment, in Giuseppe's sister's house. When Guiseppe arrived, we asked him if he could recommend a good restaurant for dinner. He invited us to the kitchen and treated us to some amazingly rich orange-cello (from the freezer), as he made a reservation for us at one of the recommended restaurants.

Soon the freshly baked bread arrived and, since we had some time to kill before heading out for dinner, we sat down to sample the bread. The aroma alone was to die for. The bread was in the form a giant doughnut, which Mama Maria proceeded to slice into half (horizontally), then sprinkled the cut bread with a generous amount of olive oil, oregano, sun dried tomatoes & salt/pepper, closed it up again, and sliced in up for everyone to try. WOW! This was the best bread we have ever tasted (and we know bread!). Washed down with some wine, we were set.

The family then suggested we go see the newly born (the day before) colt in the stables. Then they brought in their 4 week old puppy. My wife was in animal heaven. As we were about to start heading out to the restaurant, more bread was brought in (they had taken the leftover dough and stuffed it with creamy spinach then proceeded to baked it into buns). As good as the first bread was, the buns were even better! More bread, more wine. Olives were put on the table, then came desert and more orange-cello.

Needless to say, we had to ask Giuseppe to call the restaurant and cancel our reservations, as we could eat no more. By the way, most of the ingredients used, from the tomatoes to the various herbs, come right from their gardens.

Since we liked Mama Maria's orange-cello and mentioned that we would like to buy some to take home, she realized that she was running out and proceeded to make some right then and there, showing us how to do it, step by step.

The next morning, breakfast was wonderful (and plentiful). We were sent off on our way as if we were members of the family leaving on a long trip. This was the closest to a real Sicilian family experience that one can have. They are warm, welcoming, sincere and proud of their way of life. Do not miss this chance. All this comes cheaper than any other B&B we've come across.

From Minneapolis , USA

A great website , which included a link to Google Earth so you could see exactly where the B&B was, hooked us. And the actuality more than matched the expectation. For a good start, it is easy to find as it's signposted from every direction - finding your accommodation can be challenging in Sicily ! We had a warm welcome from Giuseppe and were shown to a spacious room with good ensuite, tv and a sofa. It was October, so not sitting outside weather, but there were plenty of tables and chairs in the surrounding garden. Breakfast was an amazing experience, with Mama Maria everyone's idea of a real Italian mama. A huge spread of food, delicious hot bread with olive oil and sundried tomatoes, Mama Maria's home made jams (the fig is particularly good). When we expressed a desire for more fruit, she rushed into the garden and came back with figs and persimmons straight from the trees. When we left, we were both kissed warmly, and she dashed out to the car to give us a bag of more of her special bread, which made a very good picnic lunch when we got to Syracusa. The Roman villa is spectacular, and it's well worth visiting the ancient site of Morgantina, the other side of Piazza Armerina - it's barely excavated but has excellent information boards in English and Italian and superb views.

SFS, England

Fatevi raccontare da Giuseppe,siciliano doc orgoglioso, volitivo e generoso,perchè la casa si chiama anche GIUCALEM e soprattutto fatevi coccolare e viziare da mamma Maria, vera forza della natura che riesce a comunicare con tutti col suo colorito dialetto,la sua simpatia e le sue marmellate. Marco e Stefania, con Yuri e Diana, di Roma

Buongiorno Giuseppe,

Ancora una volta vogliamo ringraziarvi per la vostra eccezionale ospitalita.
Conserverammo un particular ricordo del nostro soggiorno da voi. Camere
confortevole, collazione ottime, e soppratutto la gentillezza della vostra
famiglia.
Vi auguriamo un bel successo per il vostro B..B. che raccommanderemmo ai
nostri amicci.
Michel e suoi amicci francese.