2005
Sei nella sezione: guest book
March 2005
Dear Elena and Tommaso,
What a wonderful time we've had! You are the perfect hosts and your home is an ideal vacation spot. We òeave today with many many memories and pictures – and plan to return soon. I'll miss writing with Tommaso via internet , but I'll check your website and feel like I'm back in Pistoia . Thank you for all your kindness and hospitality. Until next time - best wishes,
Barbara Smith-Davis and J.B. Davis
OUR NOTE : Barbara and J.B. are not only special people but also famous opera singers, we are proud to have hosted them in the country house.
March 2005 ( Home exchange Pistoia- Amsterdam )
Dear Tommaso, Elena, her sister (and of course Antonio who was a great help!) and especially zio Luciano who gave us a ride from the airport into Pistoia and invited us for a perfect pranzo, together with his son Federico. This great welcome was the beginning of a perfect week. Every morning we were greeted by all these green shapes: cars, hares, all kinds of animals and things, even an airplane. Very special indeed! Primavera started the day after our arrival and the tree in front of the house started blooming. Like real Dutch people we took the bicycles into Pistoia and though we went to Florence, Lucca etc (where we had been before) we think Pistoia is a wonderful town that is still genuine and full of character, without all those hordes of tourists. Especially the Piazza della Sala around 5 pm is everything you could wish to see in Italy . We understand you had a good time in Amsterdam too, so this was a very successful exchange for all of us. Arrivederci e grazie!
Ineke and Helmer
Ineke & Helmer
April 2005
What a find the Agostini Country House is! We found it a perfect base for exploring all of Tuscany and beyond. We did most of the trips as suggested by Tommaso's book of secrets, with the Five Lands being our favourite. The drive is well worth the effort. We as a family, two adults and three children, parked the car as suggested, at La Spezia, took a train to Monterosso and walked to Riomaggiore trough a National Park with breathtaking scenery. Except when Sarah got stung by a bee this was our favourite day out. Although, as we have said, the Agostini Country House was a great find… the greatest find was Elena! After a fortnight here we feel as though we have made a new dear friend. Thanks for everything. We will be back.
Lots of love
The Parry Family , Glasgow , Scotland .
May 2005
Dear Elena & Tommaso,
We enjoyed thoroughly your hospitality, your sense of humour, your pleasant house and your lovely garden. You have both been extremely helpful and charming. Thanks, in particular, Tommaso, for your “book of secrets” whose contents we recommend to all future gusts. I, for one, appreciated immensely the collection of art books you so kindly let us browse through. They're a genuine mirror to the wealth of art that this country offers to all those interested in fine arts. You've been constantly ready and willing to give a concrete hand or practical advice, and, as guests, we found your co-operation both warning and positive. Good luck for your future projects and, again, our hearth-felt gratitude for those lovely two weeks.
Gabriel & Suzanne K., Montreal , Canada
Un petit note au Francais maintenant : merci beaucoup Elena and Tommaso pour votre chaleureuse hospitalitè. Grace a vous , la Toscane est inscrite a jamais dans nos coeurs… de meme fue le Limoncello !
Jocelyne G. , Quebec , Canada
May 2005
Dear Tommaso and Elena,
We thank you for your wonderful hospitality. Tommaso, we appreciated your suggestions of where to go. This is a beautiful area and near all the things we wanted to see. Lucca was a favourite of our group, sweet and not so many tourists. We had a wonderful time. Thanks for making your house like a home. Beautiful mountains to look at.
Best wishes,
Anna, Danny, Robert, Debi , US
May 2005
Dear Elena & Tommaso,
We can't thank you enough for our stay here in Tuscany . It was “FANTASTICO!” Your warm welcome and assistance was soooo…… much appreciated by all of us. The farmhouse is charming, well equipped, and perfect accommodation for us. The evening out in the garden sharing chilled imoncello was very special, and will be in our memories for years to come. Tommaso, the happy birthday candle for John on the wine bottle was also a priceless memory. Tuscany was everything we hoped it would be, and more. Now we feel like we have made two new friends here, who will maybe come and visit us in Canada someday???
Love Elizabeth , Canada
P.s. The lettuce + fresh veggies out of the garden were wonderful!
Ora, piu' che mai, voglio imparare questa bella lingua… la lingua di questo bel paese.
Richard , Canada
Dear Elena and Tommaso,
We so enjoyed our time in Italy , at your country home. Your Hospitality has been second to none. John's birthday candle wine and flowers were very special. We take back to Canada many fond memories and images. The views- the mountains, the lovely plants, twinkling ights on the hillsides, the sunsets. When we prepare Italian dishes in Canada we will remember our Italian holiday and our newfound Italian friends.
Ciao,
Barb and John, Ontario, Canada
We had a lovely time visiting the beautiful cities of Italy from your country home. The weather has been especially wonderful from our viewpoint. The bikes were fun to use to explore the surrounding area. We will always remember our Italian holiday.
Best wishes,
Linda and Barry
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June 2005
A week is not enough to see this part of Tuscany ! We must return for a longer stay. Cinque Terre, Lucca , Vinci are all must see locations. We really appreciated the opportunity to be able to stay in such a lovely home, all because of Tommaso's web site. One of the highlights of our stay was the bike ride with Elena. You are a wonderful family. Thanks for hosting us + helping to make our holiday so special.
With aloha,
Carolyn S., Carol C. and Jan Z., Hawaii , USA
June 2005
Dear Elena and Tommaso,
Thank you so much for a super week's holiday here in your beautiful old Tuscan farmhouse. We will remember your kindness & hospitality and we look forward to returning and being with you again. Our morning cup of tea with you Elena was very special- thank you so much.
Ciao and all our Good wishes
Sandra, Alex & Irene
June 2005
We really enjoyed our stay here and the weather cooperated with beautiful sunshine nearly everyday. We found the surrounding villages full of charm . The location was central and our journeys were well within a reasonable driving time, leaving us the time to drink our wine in the beautiful garden under the Tuscan sun. Elena & Tommaso were excellent hosts and catered for any of our needs,
Best wishes from Sheila and Anthony, B.B., Canada
June 2005
Many thanks Elena and Tommaso for a fantastic two weeks vacation to celebrate a 65 th birthday, we all enjoyed the house and our 2 y.o. grandson really enjoyed the garden. Hope to be returning again to this location in the near future. Tommaso, the blue book is an excellent idea and helped us to plan our trips.
Best wishes
Anne and Brian , UK
Thank you very much for your kindness to let us stay! We very appreciate it! We had a great time in your house, and thank you so much for letting us use your soccer net! Many thank
Love,
Madelyn, Leslie, Seder
Thank you Elena & Tommaso for a very nice visit in Pistoia . We enjoyed ourselves and were very comfortable in your home. We will tell our friends back in the States!
Many thanks!
Leslie, Madelyn, Diana, Mike, Claremont , CA , USA
July 2005
Thank you to the Agostini family for helping to make our holiday very special. From the first day we were made to feel very welcome and felt very comfortable. The house is wonderful and the garden is a delight. We would like to thank Tommaso for the “book of secrets” . It was very useful in providing a ready made itinerary. Also for his helpful suggestion and advice. Thank you Elena for your kindness and help and your special treatment of our four year old twins Pietro & Cristina. Thank you for your generosity and patience with them. We will recommend Tuscany and “Agohouse” to all our friends. We hope we can come back to see you again.
Peter, Lynn, Pietro e Cristina
Pietro Junior & Cristina
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July 2005
Dear Agostini Family,
Thank you for sharing your home with us for the past 2 weeks. We have enjoyed our first visit to Tuscany very much. The garden is lovely and peaceful and I have been totally relaxed here. Thank you to Elena+Tommaso+Antonio+Giovanni who have been helpful+friendly to us. Tomasso your book of secrets has been our guide and without it we would not have known about the little “gems”.
Grazie, love Angela xx
Dear all, thanks for all your kindness, I enjoyed my conversations with Tommaso, you live in a very beautiful place. I liked visiting Lucca , Florence & Vinci, the only problem is crazy Italian drivers.
Thanks Norman Mc Laren
Dear Elena, Tomasso, Antonio, Giovanni
Thank you so much for our fantastic holiday and thanks for making it very special. Thanks especially to Elena for my special present on my birthday.
Thanks again
Ciao Jo xxx
Thank you Agostini Family. I liked being in your house. I didn't like the flies and the bites from mosquitos and it was very hot. I like the DVD player and swinging in the hammock and visiting Vinci and seeing the inventions,
Love,
Andrew
Mc Larens
August 2005
Thank you very much Agostinis for a lovely week here in Pistoia . We have eaten a lot from the garden, driven to a various places and taken the train to Florence and Pisa . We recommend going places by train- we paid about 19 euros for 5 of us to Florence and back and both trains were on time! It did take ages to set the tickets, and we missed the first train we'd planned to get. We bought tickets for Pisa the day before we went. The staff at the station spoke English and were friendly.
The children loved playing table-tennis and enjoyed the hammocks. We love the Limoncello! And good luck Elena with your next agricultural venture. We're sure it will be a success!!!
Many thanks again,
McFaull Family , Northampton , England
August 2005
The Agostini Country House is ideally situated for touring Northern and Central Tuscany . Using the autostrada we could reach Lucca and Pisa in less than an hour and Siena is just 1 and half hours away. Our two boys (ages 1+11) enjoyed having a background to play in; and made use of the soccer net and ping pong table. We took morning bike rides through the many nurseries in the neighbourhood. Bring along Tomasso's detailed map and it is easy to take an hour ride along quiet country streets. One highlight of our week of many highlights was a day trip to the Cinque Terre to hike and swim. Although it was difficult to find the train station in La Spezia and even more difficult to find a parking space near the station, once at the station everything went easily. A one-day Cinque Terre card allows unlimited train travel between La Spezia and the five beautiful coastal owns and access to the hiking trails between the towns. We hiked between Monterosso and Vernazza(1 and half hours and rugged path) and between Manarola and Riomaggiore. We also highly recommend spending at least half a day in Lucca . The walled city is just ideal for roaming. There are two towers to climb and, if you like biking you can rent a bike in Piazza Santa Maria for just 2 euros an hour, which is plenty of time to circle the city walls twice. Finally, Tomasso and his mother Elena are very nice and helpful and their garden was a source of vegetables for our meals all week. Enjoy your stay.
Kostka Family + Tita Y., Chicago , IL
by the Duomo Florence
August 2005
Dear Elena, Tomaso & the rest of the Agostini Family,
From the moment we got in contact with you, we've felt at home, even through email. Now, after spending a week in your beautiful villa, we are truly grateful, and feel even more so like we have acquired a new family, thank you for everything.
We will never forget our “Angel” Elena, who come to our rescue. May God always bless you. You are a special lady.
To Tomaso: your English is very good. Thank you for making us feel so comfortable. Your home is beautiful and we appreciate you sharing it with us for 1 week!
My family has asked to stay with them if we return, however we will contact you, our “new famiglia” !
The Pinto Family, Long Island , NY
Below, the Luke family, during Xmas 2005 :
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