Trip Report Continued....

We drove up the hills of Mandeville into an upper class residential area and stopped before big iron gates. A guard emerged and slowly swung open the gates for us. We drove inside to a big curving drive way.

I knew The Mountaintop villa was going to be beautiful, but I wasn't prepared for how huge it was. It was like a mansion. 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. My cousin manages the property and rents it out to groups. Luciano stays here when he performs in Mandeville.

My Jaw dropped...I was in awe. We were going to stay here?!



We unloaded our luggage and the guard brought it into the foyer. This was surreal.

Diana gave us a tour of the property.. the different rooms... the entertainment area...huge kitchen...the lanai and backyard pool with a view overlooking Mandeville...

“You can choose any room you want”, She said. “We have no other guests tonight, so the entire Villa is yours to enjoy”

“Surely I'm dreaming right now. “ I whispered.

My cousin left for a few hours to give us some time to get settled. I immediately fell asleep on the big comfortable bed in one of the top floor rooms...I was just so exhausted and overwhelmed by everything I had experienced. Markus was too excited to sleep, he stripped down to his bathing trunks and jumped into the pool.

I woke up when Diana returned. She had brought her laptop and a bottle of wine. We cracked open the bottle together and went through some video footage from one of my cousin's recent weddings (the one at St. Andrews church) and some family pictures. It's really amazing how you can feel so connected to family you just met for the first time. She really made me feel at home and shared so much. The best part was when she put on some music and we all danced. She has some moves that I really wish I had.