Palazzo Catalani: First Impressions

It's a quaint and charming lodging in a quaint village up in the hills. Their directions could be better but we found our there with the help of a friendly local resident.

The manager on duty, Matteo, is a charming young fellow quite fluent in English who was at one point a student at Santa Barbara High School when his journalist-father worked in Los Angeles.

He has made us feel very welcome and insisted on carrying our roll-aboard up the 56 steps to our room on the very top floor. Our room was very warm when we arrived, but we've turned off the heat and opened the windows. We don't have a view, other than that of the building across the very narrow street...



but all we have to do is step outside for some wonderful vistas.

We're happy we opted for a one-bedroom instead of the basic "efficiency" or studio unit. If we discover that such units are lower down with great views, our opinion might change.

Last night's meal was generous and reasonably priced, as we previously mentioned. So far so good...