Think Sicily wins Best Villa Company in Conde Nast Traveller Readers Awards

Readers of the prestigious travel magazine Condé Nast Traveller have voted Think Sicily the top villa rental company in the world.

Huw and Rossella Beaugié, the founders and managing directors of the company, picked up the award at the ceremony in London on Wednesday night.

"After ranking in the top ten consistently over the last few years, we are hugely proud to receive this accolade," said Huw. "Our thanks go to everyone who voted for us, to all those who have travelled with us over the last 10 years, to our fantastic team and to our wonderful villa owners."

In the voting, Think Sicily never scored less than 82 and sealed the win by receiving top marks for its range of villas and presentation of villas.

In the same awards, readers voted Italy as their favourite country for holidays, while Sicily was voted 11th best island destination in the world. In the overall Top 100 listings, Italy came 5th and Think Sicily was the only specialist Italy operator to make the cut, coming in at a remarkable 83rd.

Think Sicily was founded in 2002 after husband and wife team Huw and Rossella gave up their careers (engineer and cell biologist respectively) to pursue a passion: they thought that Sicily had the most impressive mixture of history, culture, gastronomy, climate and natural beauty of anywhere they had ever visited and they wanted to share it with other discerning travellers.

Think Sicily rapidly grew into the leading up-market villa rental company for Sicily, offering the most desirable villas, specialist knowledge and an on-the-ground support network that was voted the best of any villa company by readers of Condé Nast Traveller a few years ago.

In 2010, the company's passion for the south of Italy saw the launch of Think Puglia, now provider of the most desirable luxury masserie, restored trulli and sea-front villas with pools in the region.

“We've come a long way in 10 years,” said Rossella. “Our clients and our owners have given us so much encouragement and satisfaction and it is thanks to them that we have achieved what we have. Our goal is simple: to hear our clients tell us that they've just had the best holiday of their lives.”


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The Most Expensive, Exquisite Food in the World!

In the world of gourmet foods, there is one treasure that is literally worth its weight in gold. Truffles are the pinnacle of gourmet.  As one of the most sought after foods in the world, is only used in the highest of high cuisine, except in parts of Northern Italy and Umbria where Tartufi are a key ingredient in local dishes.

Truffles are related to mushrooms with their root-like structures but never emerge from the surface. They form below the soil close to a tree's root system, living off its nutrients like another type of ‘fruit'.  The reason why it is so unbelievably expensive is that once the fungus is attached to a root, it produces just one truffle per year from that tree.

Harvested from late summer to early spring by experienced gatherers known as trifolau, they are a secretive lot that keep their special truffle groves to themselves, often taking long winding paths at night or in the early morning fog to confuse those that would try to follow. They have very guarded conversations with each other, lest any "trade secrets" are leaked. These men are the masters of the poker face; you can never tell if it had been a good harvest day or bad - they would never give out that kind of information. This secrecy has ensured that these rare edibles are still around for us to enjoy and not ravaged by poachers, who would not dig with the care to preserve the truffle forming fungus underground. The trifolau does have some help in his hunt, as the actual finding of the truffle is done by either a trained pig or by a mongrel dog (it is said pedigree dogs cannot smell truffles) with its superior sense of smell. Without these four-legged friends, truffles would be virtually unheard of.

Harvested in a time-honored tradition that has little to do with gourmet sophistication, harvest season is a time of celebration for both truffle harvesters (trifolau) and the towns that host the ever-popular truffle festivals. A visit to Piemont or Umbria in autumn will reward you with culinary gold in the form of a variety of regional specialties graced with freshly shaved truffles, probably harvested that very morning.  A gastronomique treat for all who are lucky enough to take part.

Quick - Special Offer details for a Gastronomique Weekend:

We give you a fantastic chance to spend a week end on a truffle quest at the 27th Santagatafeltria National Truffle Fair where the village main square is turned into a huge eating area and all the local restaurants will serve their best traditional dishes using only the best truffle, porcini mushroom and other local autumn produce. You will also have a choice of a Gastronomique Tour Bonanza with wine, cheese and olive oil tasting and lunch in local trattoria or a chance to go back in time with the Cultural and Historical Tour visiting the Medieval Towns of Santarcangelo and Verucchio with their museum, fortress and historical caves. A rare opportunity to enjoy a pure week end of Gastronomique enjoyment and cultural discovery.  http://www.loveitaly.co.uk/special-offers-more.asp?Offer=290

 

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