One of the things I love about Italy is the people and so, whilst Bookings For You affords me the opportunity to research and select villas all over Italy (which I absolutely love doing), one of the things I love even more is meeting the owners of these villa rentals. Most of our villas in Italy are owned by Italians. For me, Italians are always larger than life characters, with a zest and passion for living that is second to none. Their warmth, generosity, sheer enthusiasm and love of life is something that will always have endless appeal for me. I like to think (and hope!) that some elements of their infectious personalities might one day rub off on me! Today, we meet Antonio, the owner of a stunning eco villa in Sicily, to hear a snippet of his story. As with a lot of Italians, Antonio really can talk! He is also someone that always has his fingers in many pies (he tells me he gets bored easily so is always looking for a new challenge) so I think that to ever pin him down for long enough for him to tell us his whole tale would be impossible! The last few months have seen him focused on making improvements to his beautiful villa in Sicily. But, we did manage to get him to sit down long enough to at least share some of the early years with us. And since his childhood and early career have clearly had a real impact on what he is doing now, we think it makes a fascinating read. We hope you do too. Over to Antonio… Perhaps we can start this story by saying that as a child I was a troublemaker…. My parents, after trying to tame me in various private schools in Palermo where I was born, and tired of my rebellious behaviour, decided to ship me to California to my famous Uncle Tom! This was an uncle that I had only ever met a couple of times when he was visiting Italy on his way around the world. If I’m honest, all I knew was that he was very rich!! In Italy we all have an American uncle somewhere, it’s part of our heritage! I was just fortunate that mine had a bit of money behind him! At tha