We just got back from Southern Italy and had the most beautiful vacation at a resort we stayed at five years ago. Last visit we stayed only 5 days and promised ourselves that we would return to this most beautiful part of Italy. This year we stayed 12 days and could have stayed longer. The host and his wife have continued to develop this resort with the focus on having guests experience the culture and the natural surroundings like no other place we have ever stayed.

This resort is definitely for those who want to truly enjoy Italy. The host arranged for our group everything from boat excursions to day trips by bus to a beautiful evening of music in the facilitiy's small but accoustically wonderful multipurpose hall. All the meals were served al fresco under a beautiful portico with gorgeous views of the mountains, villages and sea. All the pasta was homemade as well as most of the dishes. Meals were simple but very traditional to Southern Italian cooking. Being on a farm, the resort has the advantage to fresh fruits and vegetables and farm-raised meats. Alfonso the head cook makes the best lasagne this side of heaven.

Rooms were ample in size, but the showers could have been a little larger. The new rooms by the pool and the new three-story structure that will have 18 additional rooms all have nice size bathrooms and showers. We were there during a terrible heat wave, but the air was dry and we brought along a battery operated fan to bring in the cool night air into our room. Since there is no air conditioning, a fan is a must in the summer when a heat wave can hit, like it did during our stay. When the heat wave which brought temperatures above 100 degrees was over, nights were actually chilly as we remembered it to be so in 2002.

The beaches and sea water made up for any heat problems. Take advantage of any boat excursions to the sea caves and secluded beaches along the Cilento Coast. Gelato and Italian ices also were a delicious help.

This may have been our second trip to the Cilento area which by the way is full of neat Greek and Roman history, but it won't be our last. Thanks Il Forno Antico, Aniello, Menola, Carmela, Christina, Caterina and of course Alfonso.