admin April 30th, 2007
If you’re planning to visit Scotland, you may be looking for a fun alternative to staying in yet another hotel? What if you were offered the opportunity to rent a castle, for example? LTR (Loyd & Townsend Rose) can offer just that.
Scotland has many privately owned historic houses, mansions and castles, but most of these are not accessible to the public. But some are available for private rentals and LTR can offer this from its prestigious portfolio.
These luxury homes have huge character and offer a glimpse into a bygone era. They were built for entertaining and they effortlessly accommodate large numbers of guests. They are the perfect venue for an intimate gathering of family and old friends or a group of business colleagues who need to escape the pressures of the office and chat in a more sedate environment.
admin April 29th, 2007
I’ve already talked about Gengenbach, an old medieval village very well mantained, but I found in my photo archive some more interesting images, so I’ve decided to post a quick overview. Starting from this wonderful old well in wood/stone (the flowers fit in really well!):
Below instead there’s one of the town main gates. The town is all surrounded by walls indeed. That tower has even a working clock! Note also the main gate grid … maybe once there was even a castle drawbridge!
But what is really amazing, are the buildings themselves! Everywhere there are pastel colours, flowers hanging out from terraces and in the streets, nearby benches. Below you can see the main square:
And those other houses below, aren’t they beautiful? you can also spot another small well hidden well behind those flowers…
And this angle is something magic! it seems that the time never passed… we found yet another well (or water pump), a tower in the background and of course the classic green present in all the german towns.
The last picture is probably the most curious: it is a sort of resume, painted on a the wall of a townhouse, of Gegenbach’s past history, with some dates…. the only thing I was able to understand for sure was the great fire in 1689 that burned most of the town, which was later rebuild in the year 1700. They rebuilt it really well!
admin April 25th, 2007
The “Val di Taro” zone is located nearby liguria and tuscany. Taro is the name of the river that flows through the whole valley. It is a very good place to start tours in all the surrounding zones, like the famous Cinque Terre national park, or the Tuscany marvelous places, like “Lunigiana” which is very close. If you prefer mountains, you can also reach Cuneo or the “Langhe” zone within a couple of hours of driving.
So it is really a great spot as “starting base”, because it is a strategic position, since from it you can reach many different wonderful places that represent some of the most interesting areas in Italy.
The nearest airports are in Parma, Pisa and Geneva, so it is really possible to get there easily and quickly in less than 4-5h of travel with airplane+train from almost anywhere in europe.
Surprisingly, it is a very cheap real estate zone, because it is not a very industrialized area. But for someone looking to buy a holiday home, it is even better: it means less pollution, less traffic, and more quality in the services. There’s a big hospital in Borgo val di Taro, which is the biggest town of the valley, in which you also can find a train station.
From this train station you can reach comfortably the Cinque Terre, or travel to Pontremoli in Tuscany, or get to Parma in just 1h. So, a ideal holiday place for everyone that’s looking to stay in a quiet zone, yet with great restaurants serving excellent local dishes (like the famous mushroom “porcino”) and quality services, in a very unpolluted zone, probably one of the most clean of the whole north Italy since it is underpopulated. Recently I saw a TV show in which they were talking about this zone as one of the best italian deal in real-estate for the next 5 years.
Prices are very low compared to other zones of Italy. For example you can get a house with 600m of garden (with main fruit trees) nearby Borgo val di Taro in good conditions for only 159k euros! such a house in other regions of Italy would cost at least twice. Prices are starting to rise though, so even if you’re just looking to make an investment, would be a good idea to take a look at this zone.