Hi! I have travelled the world over from the time I was very young. Born in Sri Lanka , I went to England and Europe for education. Then, as a concert pianist I had to travel a lot - from East to West , by air, by sea , by land. I married a diplomat and that resulted in further travel and living in different countries and cultures. After my husband's death, I still continue my musical career mainly by teaching as professor at a university, and I travel to satisfy my desire to meet a variety of people and to enjoy the beauty of this wonderful world in which we live. I have done so with Grand Circle Travel, and Overseas Adventure Travel in the USA for about 24 or 25 trips. I have enjoyed all these trips and the excellent guides they gave us. I am 85 years old and I need good guides and GCT has provided me with them. However, there is one guide who stands out in my mind out of all the wonderful guides who shepherded me through various countries. That guide is Marcello Torrisi. I ask myself why Marcello stands out among this marvellous array of talented guides. I think he not only made Sicily and its beauty and history alive for me. He had an energy and enthusiasm that was infectious. He thought of different ways to fire us up like the late night drink on the top of a mountain, the interesting talk on the Mafia in Corleone , the meeting with his family and so on. It was not what he arranged that made me love the trip - it was that he had the capacity to draw all of us into his world and allow us to participate in it almost as insiders for a little while. This is a gift and a talent and I am grateful that I had the opportunity to have him as my guide during my trip to Sicily. He has much to offer. He made each person in our group feel special and cared for and that is a difficult task. We ranged from younger to older people and he had the capacity for making each one of us feel special. I hope he goes far in the Tourist world. Tourism is fortunate to have him. Thank you for giving me the opportunity of writing about this very special guide. (Chitra) Malinee Peris - de Silva Web site:- malineeoeris.com

Having been a Tour Director and Group Tour Leader myself, I know, first-hand how much love and attention, hours of detail work and constant smiling goes into being a GREAT Guide, and our Grand Circle Guide in Sicily this past October was wonderful!!! Marcello is a workaholic, making sure every detail of our bus tour was well-orchestrated, finding us the best restaurants, walking tours, boat ventures and off the beaten path adventures as well. He catered to every whim, walked me to the nearest pharmacy when I ran out of contact lens solution, and somehow found the time, in the wee hours of the mornings, to put together a video of our entire voyage, for us to enjoy on our last evening together. You won't find a more dedicated guide, who clearly loves his beautiful island! His English is near perfect and he speaks Japanese as well. We have adopted him already, as our favorite Sicilian "son".

I have taken many group tours. By far Marcello stands out as the best guide I have ever experienced. He put his heart and soul into the tour. He went above and beyond what is expected of a tour guide. What a surprise when on a routine rest stop we pulled up at his family's business. We met his mom, his brothers and his nephew. They provided us with a wonderful spread of local treats. It was obvious right from the start of the tour that Marcello loves what he does. If you ever go to Sicily go via Marcello.