This summer was different from past summers. Where do I start?

I could start writing about our road trip through Italy #onthewaytoPizzo ... or say we felt it was overall less hot than last summer... I have thousand of photos on my phone and almost as many memories in my head.... It was a great summer! The food, the sea ... always fantastic in Southern Italy.

For us, above all, it was a very busy summer! Our guests beat all records. We had non-stop guests from all over the world. We had double occupancies and check-out and -in on the same day... in our own house! We loved it!! Family and friends getting together in one big house. That was the purpose of it all.

My favorite moments that I enjoyed with all guests was the aperitivo on our balcony. One, two glasses of Aperol Spritz, some ice cubes and watching the sun going down, disappearing in the sea and the sky a canvas for vespertine spectacles of nature.

When I browsed through all the photos of this summer, I came across the photo above - that one of our lovely guest had posted to our Facebook page - and I felt it all over again. The spirit of our summer 2016. The photo has it alI: summer, sun, beach, the crystal clear sea that stands in such a beautiful complementary colour contrast to the Aperol Spritz, which I only drink in Southern Italy because it doesn't taste anywhere better. Relaxing & refreshing after a hot day at the sea. And the hand crafted wrought iron balcony railing, that I designed after an old pattern for our new project which turns out to be lovely, no, gorgeous! (more about it soon) Last but not least, it's a guest's photo. It shows what makes me most happy: guests see the beauty of this place, this little spot in the South of Italy which is almost paradise. It makes me happy to see that our guests feel the same. Double happiness.

We didn't launch a photo contest for guest or so yet. It could be an idea for next year! This photo (above) for sure is a winner. Other great photos by lovely guests can be found in my album "Great shots by lovely Guests" on Facebook. If you have been staying with us, feel free to upload yours! I love to see photos of Pizzo. I am constantly checking #pizzocalabro on instagram as I miss it already. For us summer 2016 is over. For most Italians summer ends right the week after Ferragosto. But Pizzo only gets better again after the crowd has left! In fact, with the ice cream and tartufo varieties of Pizzo the summer never ends!

So I hope you had, are still having or going to have a lovely summer holiday! In Pizzo Calabro or somewhere else with lots of sunshine and some refreshing aperitivo.

more soon....

The recipe for Aperol Spritz is easy: