Vacations.com

Recent worries about high levels of public debt in Europe have meant belt-tightening for a lot of countries in the European Union, especially Greece.  It is bad economic news for the countries involved, but good news for travelers from the United States who were planning Europe vacations this summer. The value of the Euro has fallen almost 20% against the dollar since January, making those Frankfurt and Florence hotels look like better deals than they did last year.

Many vacationers dream of spending time at a villa in Italy. Ever since Frances Mayes waxed poetically about living in Italy in her book Under the Tuscan Sun, booking cheap flights and spending a week or two of leisure among the olive trees and vineyards of Il Bel Paese has gained near mythical stature in the minds of many armchair travelers. Even though the Euro has devalued a bit, renting out a villa in Italy is beyond the pocketbooks of most travelers. That doesn’t mean that you can’t have the villa experience however. You just need a dose of Italian agriturismo.

Agriturismo, translated directly as “agricultural tourism”, is a travel concept in Italy where families rent out rooms in their villas or farm estates to vacationers who want to experience life in the country. Don’t worry, this isn’t one of those “work on a farm” adventures that has you cleaning out the pig pen at the crack of dawn. Rather, it’s a chance to slow down, enjoy excellent food, and practice Italian in some of the most idyllic countryside in the world.

My husband and I recently had a delightful agriturismo experience in the vineyards south of Cividale del Fruili. We were driving from Cividale towards Trieste with no real agenda for the rest of the day when we spotted an agriturismo sign pointing towards a small village down the road. The rolling hills, terraced with grape plantings and dotted with estate houses, looked like a place we could handle spending some time.
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