So what did I think? I want to talk about a couple of major things here.

The hotel in Cecina Mare (The Settebello) was as many previous reviewers have said really good. I have NEVER been in a hotel where all the staff treat you like friends. Rita, Salvatore and ALL their staff are wonderful, wonderful people and nothing was too much trouble for them. The food was good, in fact very good although I would have liked a choice of dessert. We had an amazing party evening on the last night which was stunning. As others have said beware the drinks measures at the bar! 😛 And thank you to Jonathan and the chef for sorting the apple juice for me. :thumbup:

What also made this holiday for me was our Tour Manager Jonathan Clarke (waves to Jonathan because I know he comes on here when he can) and his "sidekick" Mario the driver throughout. Best driver I have ever had on any trip. :thumbup:

The resort was okay. Very, very quiet right at the end of season but the walk in the pine woods was really nice and I felt completely safe being out and about on my own.

Going back to the hotel. Spotlessly clean, and my room was a nice one on the first (second) floor with even a partial sea view. Constant hot water for the shower, heating on when we needed it and good, albeit noisy air conditioning. Lovely sun terrace.

I enjoyed all the trips I went on although the weather was very changeable. Pisa was a delight, everything within a very short walk and the Field of Miracles is just stunning. Very, very busy. Siena and San Gimenago was somewhat wrecked by torrential rain (we had had the mother and father of all thunderstorms during the night, and all ended up very very wet. I took the optional trip to Elba which was a complete delight, very tranquil at this time of the year, wonderful scenery and just nice. Loved the ferry crossing.

Florence? What can I say? Stunning but cannot even be touched in the small amount of time that we were there. Again it was incredibly busy and somewhat pricey for eating. Enjoyed the Florentine tripe.!

A generally nice group of people who seemed to gel well together but I personally have had more sociability on other JY holidays. Nobody's fault as I was the only smoker.

Would I go back? Personally not although I would like to see Florence properly and I think the city tour would be very useful to do. I don't want to make this sound like a detriment to the hotel which I would go back to anytime. 😃

What can I say, first time in Italy, exceeded ALL expectations. The only shock I had all week (apart from the storm on Saturday!) was my BAR BILL at the end of the week. Didn't realise I was such an alcoholic!

Unfortunately they never corked my bottle of wine for the next day when I had one at Dinner, mainly because I finished it before dinner was over! I'm going back to moonshine, cheaper and quicker effect.

The Holiday,

Wonderful throughout. Great location, great Hotel and staff/owners, great weather all but one day, Great Tour Manager and Driver, Jonathan and Mario, need a special mention. How they manage to make you feel like you are the only group when they have different ones every week is an asset JUST YOU should recognise and reward. They both went out of their way many times to ensure we were all looked after, it showed that they both cared about the group and ensuring we had a great time, which we did. THANK YOU TO BOTH.

The staff and owners of the hotel were amazing, really friendly and helpful.

the trips - Pisa was great. loved wandering around on my own and soaking up all the sights you usually only see on TV.

Siena and San Grimangano, lovely places, only spoilt by the weather, which means I will definately be going back at some point! Local guide was great, very informative.

Day off on Sunday was needed to dry out!

Monday, - Elba, lovely Island. Only thing I missed was not being shown where Napolean supossudly stayed, which for me was one of the reasons for going. Maybe this could be looked at for future trips???

Tuesday - Florence, WOW! so much culture and history it kept slapping you around the face! you just did not know where to turn, great guide again. a great taster for a longer break there. Did find the Hard Rock Cafe though! $18.00 bbucks (euros) for a basball cap!

Wednesday - Lucca, lovely walled town, really enjoyed cycling on top of the wall seeing the sights, as well as the church and museum.

Leaving at the airport hassle free, with Jonathan on hand to see us off and wait for the next group!

it seems to have flown by, it all went seamlessly, mostly down to Jonathan and Mario, great fun and great knowledge, I can see why he loves Italy and his job so much.

Things I would do differently - I would next time take a travel kettle and teabags, need that in your room. I would take an MP3 or something to listen to, got fed up with BBC World News looping the same stories! Although I did get into my 3rd Jack Reacher book. I will also take some wet weather gear, just in case! I would also try not to have a cold whilst on holiday, it did knock me out a bit!

The group were all very friendly, hi to the bridge club, linda, lorriane, Denise, etc, a very enjoyable week.

This holiday gives you a taster of places you can go back to and spend more time in, especially Florence. I'm now a big convert to Italy and would like to try Apulia, as reccommended by Jonathan.

CHOW everyone!

Very good review of the holiday. Looks like you both had a good time. At least now Puer Aetemus knows that he is an alcoholic!! But, hey life is too short to worry about such things....

Regards

Jaya

Glad to know that you enjoyed your trip to Tuscany. I did it in October 2010 and had a lovely time. One point I should pick up on from your review - I went on the expedition to Elba on about the only day we had miserable weather. Our TM, Vanessa, did take us up to see the villa Napoleon stayed in while on the island. You really didn't miss much. It's quite a long way up a track (as far as I recall) and you can't get any nearer than peeping through the ironwork of the gates. In our case, a party of German tourists led by an SS-trained guide came up while we were there and we were told in no uncertain terms to get out of their way and be quiet!

Ann

Looks like this is going to be my holiday in April, bosuncat! I think i may just be following you- am one trip behind!

Bless you. I wish you could have made Slovenia. I hope you DO this trip though! It is a nice taster for Tuscany. As you can gather I LOVED the hotel, great, great people. And if you get Jonathan as Tour Manager you are quids in. Really nice bloke! :thumbup: