We arrived in Cittanova, the home of my husband's grandparents, on a stormy afternoon with no advance reservations. We did have the address of the Villa Lopez, and after asking directions in our broken Italian at the local tobacco shop, we rang the bell at the gate of Villa Lopez. Manolita, the proprietess, answered and kindly asked us to return in an hour at which time she would have a room ready for us. We took refuge in the church up the street for the hour as the heavens let loose and thunder cracked, returning to the Villa to find a lovely and spotlessly clean room -- queen size bed and private bath.

We were in Cittanova to visit the Municipal Hall and ensure that our marriage certificate was properly registered in order for me to apply for dual citizenship by marriage (by husband already has his dual citizenship). Problem is that we barely speak Italian. Manolita accompanied us the next morning to Municipal Hall and after an hour or so of back and forth conversation it was determined that the proper documents were indeed present. Then the city hall man asked my husband (through Manolita) if he'd like to meet his relatives. We didn't even know there were relatives left in Cittanova seeing as his grandparents left there in 1907! Twenty minutes later, my husband's 2nd cousin arrived with her husband and we spent an incredible 11 hours with them! Two huge meals, a trip to the sea, a trip up the mountain, all the local sights, a visit to their house. Absolutely amazing! And none of this would have happened if we hadn't ended up at Villa Lopez. Manolita will absolutely go out of her way to make your visit a memorable occasion. She has an adorable little dog (Bennie) but he's not allowed in the B&B part of the residence so don't worry if you are allergic or don't like dogs (although it's impossible not to like Bennie!). She gave us fresh oranges from an orange grove she owns. And she also gave us some homemade marmelade when we left! Breakfast every morning was great with, of course, cappocino and fresh croissants.

We will definitely return and bring more family members with us!