Aielli & Benevento

One of the most overlooked travel opportunities is spending time in Rome during the cooler season. A Roman Holiday in December or January can be an ideal time to relax and savor ‘Bella Italia’. Some of the Eternal City’s best offerings are its shops, restaurants, and museums–all easily consumed when walking the streets requires a heavy coat. Rome WITHOUT the hordes of tourists and the jacked-up hotel rates is something to consider.

Email us at: info@aielli-benevento.it and ask for information about A&B’s private touring Roman Holiday.

Thanks to the hit movie Sideways Merlot wines have gotten something of a bad reputation. Don’t tell the Italians. For years now, Tuscan vintners have made famous their unique blends of Merlot, Sangiovese, and Cabernet grapes. According to a recent wine review, two of Tuscany’s best, Masseto (the maker of Ornellaia) and Redigaffi, are leading the pack with their own distinct Merlots: Masseto ‘03 at $275 per bottle and Tua Rita ‘02 Rosso Toscana.

We’re always on the lookout for new designer products from Italy. When it comes to cappuccino makers the list is never ending. Here are two new additions to put under the Christmas tree: Jura’s Impressa J5 and Krups’ XP7230. The Jura model as the manufacturer describes it is “the best equipped, most elegant and quietest automatic coffee center on the market today.” Price: $3,200 USD. The Krups’ espresso maker is fully automatic with a digital display and goes for one third the price of the Jura.

The Italian journalist Beppe Severgnini spent a year in Washington, DC trying to figure out America. His book, Ciao, America: An Italian Discovers the U.S., was a humorous, adventurous look at our culture from the Italian perspective. Now comes his latest work, La Bella Figura, a “field guide to the Italian mind” as the author so suggests. According to a recent Wall Street Journal Review, Severgnini’s investigation “takes the form of a ten day tour through Tuscany, Rome, Naples and Sardinia” to reveal a very traditional society under global pressures. If his first book is any indication this should be a worthy read.

Aielli & Benevento has been scouring the Tuscan countryside for the last two years looking for the ultimate luxurious property to accommodate our most demanding clients. At the start of the wine harvest last week, eureka… we hit gold at Castello del Nero. Located halfway between Siena and Florence is this newly renovated 12th century castello in very heart of Chianti. Photos do not do justice to this 800-acre villa estate with 50 rooms. Besides its excellent location and designer decorated rooms, what makes this small hotel Tuscany’s new # 1 luxury property, is a state-of-the-art spa built into the villa’s hillside. This place cannot be over-hyped. The spa looks like it belongs in a James Bond movie with its subtle lighting, clear glass and Italian stone tile. The villa itself is out of a dream. We fully expect Castello del Nero will become the vacation home for many Aielli & Benevento customers in the years to come.

Walking Milan’s famous Galleria one gets the clear impression that visitors from Japan can’t live without a trip to this shopping mecca. As each bus rolls up, more and more women from Japan pour out, credit card in hand, ready to buy up every Italian designer from Armani to Zegna. Shopkeepers have gotten wise to their most ardent customers by employing new sales pros fluent in Japanese. Milan’s late-19th-century version of a mall is this wonderful steel-and-glass-covered, cross-shaped arcade built in 1878. The elegant Galleria is the prototype of the enclosed shopping malls that were to become the hallmark of 20th-century consumerism. It’s safe to say that none of the imitators have come close to matching the Galleria for style and flair.

When traveling between Rome/Florence/Venice and Milan we always suggest to savvy travelers they consider using the high speed EuroStar. Its first class service and the fastest way by train. Unfortunately, a problem arises when one tries booking a EuroStar reservation online at the official EuroStar web page the website allows one to pull up Brussels, Paris, London, and even Euro Disney as destinations….but for some unknown reason there’s no listing for Italy’s big four urban centers. Not to worry. We’ve found the solution in one Parivash Lankarani, AKA, the rail specialist at American Express Travel Services. One email to the very professional Ms. Lankarani and your ticket is on its way and in your mailbox in just two days.

One of the greatest challenges in traveling to Sicily is accommodating Americans’ taste for completing one’s travel in seven days or less. Aielli & Benevento has recently designed a luxury tour to the Mediterranean’s isle that does just that. We are using Kempinki’s new five star property in the southwestern part of the island to treat our guests to an outstanding experience that includes Taormina, Agrigento and Etna.

Email us at: info@aielli-benevento.it and ask for information about A&B’s private touring SicilySojourn.

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A recent visit to Florence’s famous Enoteca Pinchiorri (Known as the Renaissance City’s most expensive ristorante) certainly lived up to its reputation. We chose a special “Ravioli Doppio”, the double stuffed version of this popular pasta. On the menu it was listed at 80 euros (about $100). We thought that was a typo until we saw the Red Mullet fillet with black olives, potato and lemon cream, chickpeas with rosemary and crispy pigskin was going for 125 euros (about $157 USD). When the entrée arrived, we counted six raviolis on the plate. It was the best $16 ravioli I have ever eaten. It should be said that in 2004 Pinchiorri received a three star rating by Michelin and has been ranked the best restaurant in all of Italy by the Pirelli Guide.