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061: Day in the life of running an Italian Villa

Living Villa Cappelli

Release Date: 11/11/2019

065: Paul Cappelli show art 065: Paul Cappelli

Living Villa Cappelli

So, full warning, this is not a happy podcast.  But I just wanted to say a little about Paul and thank you all for your support.   For those of you that don’t know, Paul Cappelli passed away this year after a short battle with cancer.   From all of us at the Cappelli family — Steven, Connie, Nikki, Casey, and Logan — we want to thank you all of you so, so much for all your support.   His creative, amazing, loving, and bigger-than-life spirit and love for all things Italian will live on in everything we do at Villa Cappelli.  Forever.   Thank you.

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064: Translating Pasta show art 064: Translating Pasta

Living Villa Cappelli

We take a lot of pasta names for granted.  Sure, we all enjoy “spaghetti,” but do you know what it means?  How about “penne” or “fusilli”? In this podcast, we talk about the names of various pastas.  And in many cases how the name describes the shape. If you want to see actual pictures of the various pastas, check out all the pics in the show notes. Also, at the end the podcast, we give you a few cooking tips on pasta.

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063: Caremongering, the virus, and gardening — oh my! show art 063: Caremongering, the virus, and gardening — oh my!

Living Villa Cappelli

The title pretty much says it all.  We talk a little more about the coronavirus in Puglia and how Italians are dealing with things.  Luckily the medical system here is very good. We talk Caremongering.  A wonderful movement started in Canada.  Essentially, it is a movement encouraging acts of kindness or assistance, especially to help vulnerable people, during tough times, like the COVID-19 pandemic. And while it’s not an Italian expression, the sentiment is totally Italian. Typically Caremongering revolves about starting your own local Facebook group.  The...

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062: Our experience with the coronavirus in Italy. show art 062: Our experience with the coronavirus in Italy.

Living Villa Cappelli

Not much in the way of show notes for this episode guys. And this might be a trend as we focus more on putting out good audio, and not so much on the show notes, so we can do more podcasts. This episode, we catch you up with what life has been like with the coronavirus here in Italy, and more specifically, Puglia. It is definitely a strange time, but very manageable and fine from our perspective. Do you have a question you'd like answered? Anything we didn't cover? Let us know in the comments. And we'll give you updates very soon in the next podcast. Stay safe everyone! Wash and...

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061: Day in the life of running an Italian Villa show art 061: Day in the life of running an Italian Villa

Living Villa Cappelli

In this episode, we try to give you a bit of behind the scenes look at what it’s like to run a villa, especially from the tour and vacation rental aspect. We cover all sorts of topics, including: •  Breakfasts, as far as what we serve and why a simple breakfast is never a simple breakfast •  Laundry.  Again, while for most a load of laundry here and there during their week is a normal chore.  There’s nothing normal about it when you have 10 bedrooms of sheets and towels to wash each week.  Plus, you have to head down to hang them up to dry, which is another...

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060: Italian Villa Projects show art 060: Italian Villa Projects

Living Villa Cappelli

In this podcast, we catch you up on the projects we’ve been doing at the villa during our “off time” without guests.  From major new interviews to unexpected construction, we’ve had a lot going on.

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The Top 10 reasons to book an Italian villa for your next celebration show art The Top 10 reasons to book an Italian villa for your next celebration

Living Villa Cappelli

Have a big milestone birthday coming up?  Or perhaps an anniversary?  Perhaps you’re just looking to travel with a large group of family and friends.  Then booking a villa in Italy might is the perfect way to celebrate with family and friends.  Here are just a few of the reasons you should book an Italian villa now!   1. It’s more affordable than you think When you stay in a villa in Italy, it will feel like you’re living in luxury, but it’s very affordable.  Definitely more affordable than a hotel or resort. According to Lonely Planet travel site, even a...

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058: Real News, Fake Food show art 058: Real News, Fake Food

Living Villa Cappelli

In this podcast, we take a dive into the culinary world and explore where there is a lot of “fake food” out there. From doctored extra virgin olive oils and grated cheese to wine and balsamic vinegar, we give you the real news on fake food. Topics we cover: •  How we’ve had a few podcast fans visit this year, including Kendra and her new business:  •  How often we don’t realize the wool is being pulled over our eyes in regards to food. Here’s a list.  Do you have others?  Let us know in the comments. Extra Virgin Olive Oil •  The corrupt...

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057: It's Not Only Rock 'n' Roll show art 057: It's Not Only Rock 'n' Roll

Living Villa Cappelli

We move outdoors to sit among the olive trees for our second part of our interview with rock ’n’ roll royalty Jenny Boyd.  We talk music, creativity, and her book . Topics we cover: •  We talk about Jenny’s second husband •  The British invasion •  How Brits saw America a land of opportunity •  What musicians drive was during the creative process, what they experience when writing a son •  What part drugs and alcohol played in the creative process •  If they believed everyone has the potential to be creative and how to express yourself...

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056: Jenny Boyd 056: Jenny Boyd "Rock 'n' Roll Nobility"

Living Villa Cappelli

We are finally back after a very very very busy summer.  But we couldn't resist making some time to sit down with one of our guests, Jenny Boyd, and talk to her about creative and music and her book . Topics we cover: •  We introduce Jenny Boyd, a recent guest at Villa Cappelli •  She wrote the book It’s Not Only Rock and Roll  . •  How Paul grew up with the music Jenny had a first-hand account of this music •  How Jenny is a part of rock and roll nobility if you will •  How music today doesn’t have the same social relevance as it did in the 60s...

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More Episodes

In this episode, we try to give you a bit of behind the scenes look at what it’s like to run a villa, especially from the tour and vacation rental aspect.

We cover all sorts of topics, including:

  Breakfasts, as far as what we serve and why a simple breakfast is never a simple breakfast

  Laundry.  Again, while for most a load of laundry here and there during their week is a normal chore.  There’s nothing normal about it when you have 10 bedrooms of sheets and towels to wash each week.  Plus, you have to head down to hang them up to dry, which is another trip in and of itself.

  Meals.  How we design meals and cook them, with and without guests.  If you’ve ever made a big holiday meal for your family, you probably have some idea the amount of work that goes into that.  So when are cooking for say 15 to 20 people each day, the chopping, cooking, and cleaning all add up.

• Touring.  Paul is the man who drives everyone around on tours.  So after breakfast, he’s driving everyone to the next site and leading the tour at that location.  He also sticks with everyone to order everything for each meal, and make sure everyone is taken care of at the restaurant.

• Shopping.  This is never a quick task when food shopping in Italy. You could just go to a supermarket, but we never do.  So you head to your butcher.  Then the local produce vendor (aka farm stand essentially).  The baker/breadman.  The local cheesemaker.  Etc. Etc. Etc.  We, of course, have our favorites spread all over town.  So Paul is either driving guests around to visit each store during our tour.  Or if we are making meals for guests, he is doing the shopping for that.

  Cleaning.  This isn’t just about a turnover day, which is always a very long day, but also about during the week.  On the turnover day, you have to clean up the whole villa. Which meals cleaning 10 bedrooms, 2 common rooms, the kitchen, and all the outside spaces.  During the week, there’s just normal everyday cleaning, but also clean up after a meal with guests. Which if you are serving a four-course meal to 20 people means 80 plates alone, not counting pots, glasses, etc.

  Entertaining.  Probably the most fun, but this would include handling happy hour drinks, taking guests on special outings, and at as a concierge. 

• Product work.  So when we don’t have guests, we switch to making products to sell to mainly the U.S.  So this includes, of course, harvesting olives, taking them to the mill, etc.  It includes catching up on inventory and making other products like our conserves.  It’s putting labels on all the packaging and making sure everything is ready to ship the states.  All the stuff you might think of with a business like that.

 

So, that’s just a bit of our excuse for being so tardy with doing more podcasts, but we do hope to do more very soon!