Meet the Owners

Button

Jim and Lynette Romagnesi

Jim and Lynette are passionate travellers and both have proud Italian backgrounds. They have developed Italian Delights tours over the past 15 years or so, based on their sound knowledge of what intrepid small group travellers (both singles and couples) are looking for whilst on tour. Their tours uncover the hidden delights of Italy, and they specialise in catering to the needs of mature travellers in small groups. Many of their guests are looking for new and beautiful places to experience on an intimate level. Personal service and the 'local' experience is assured with the typical group size of their tours being around 5-6 guests. They make sure that their guests have all their needs taken care of whilst on tour, which gives them plenty of time to relax and enjoy themselves!

Lynette Romagnesi

Lynette was born to Italian parents in the small seaside town of Portland, in South Eastern Australia. Her father hails from the Friuli region of North Eastern Italy, whilst her mother’s family emigrated to Australia from a small town in the “Alto Piano” (High Plains) area in the Veneto region. Lynette is a dual citizen who is proud of both her Australian and Italian backgrounds.

She is passionate about gardening and cooking, and in particular Italian cooking! She takes great pride and delight in preparing traditional Italian meals for her friends and family, when in Italy and Australia, and particularly appreciates the cuisine of the Southern Lombardy region. She has a background in teaching and has primarily taught special needs young adults, who will always have a special place in her heart. While she was teaching these young adults about literacy, she felt strongly that they were teaching her about enjoying life.

Lynette is now very keen to employ her skills in the area of teaching, communication and cooking, so that she can be the best possible host for her guests when participating in Italian Delight’s tours! She first travelled to Italy on her and Jim’s honeymoon. Put simply, she fell in love with all things Italian and always dreamed that one day she would return. Ten years later her dream came true. Spending two years in the region of Lombardy with her Jim, and their two sons Jason and Marcus. During this time her love for Italy grew as she was able to watch and learn from the local people in the little town near to where they were staying in.

Jim Romagnesi

Jim was born in Melbourne, Australia and is also a dual citizen of Italy and Australia. His father was born in Varzi, the small medieval village in the heart of the area where the tours are undertaken. Jim is a true “Italophile”. He soaks up any information he can gather about Italy and longs for all things Italian – its wine, food, the blessed football or “calcio”, motor cars and of course the coffee!!

His father nourished his love for Italy throughout his life by taking him back to his hometown on several trips when only a young boy. Jim has frequented this area on many occasions over the last 30 years and as a result has forged some special friendships with the local people. As a child he loved the attention and fuss that the Italian mothers and nonnas (Grandmothers) would make of him on his visits.

As a teenager he came to appreciate the beautiful Italian girls. And during his adulthood he developed a deeper, culturally-based interest in Northern Italy, and in particular the region of Lombardy. A former University lecturer, Jim is committed to discovering all sorts of information about the area where the tours are conducted, and is very proud to share this knowledge with his guests on the tours.