About hosts Ellen and Riccardo

On the Posada patio, hosts Ellen Hoffman
and Riccardo Accurso meet with a
local writer and a coordinator of art events to
discuss cultural activities in Mendoza

Ellen and Riccardo are mature adults from the U.S. who, in lieu of retiring, have “reinvented” themselves by moving to Mendoza to take on the challenge of living in a different culture. They've had a ton of worldwide travel experience, including living in Spain for several years.

Ellen and Riccardo have owned and operated the Posada de Rosas inn for several years and have attained a top rating on Trip Advisor.com .Their tour company, Amazing Mendoza Tours, LLC, can arrange tours of wineries,excursions to the Andes and other special activities such as cooking classes. They have also created a non–profit whose goal is to encourage intercultural exchange between Mendocinos and non–Argentine visitors and residents.

For several years Ellen and Riccardo have been immersed in continuous research on the latest developments in the rapidly changing tourism industry and the cultural and artistic life of Mendoza. They know Mendoza intimately, and are able to provide a level of security and comfort — as well as travel and touring information — that enables guests to maximize their enjoyment of Mendoza’s Mediterranean lifestyle, world–class wineries and Andes mountain scenery.

Riccardo lived in Spain continuously for three years while teaching English as a foreign language to executives of a Spanish book publishing company. He also studied psycholinguistics and linguistics at the University of Illinois, obtaining a MA degree in 1964. In the late 70s he spent blocks of time in Mexico researching everyday Spanish conversational styles that resulted in a book titled Practical Spanish: A Simplified Approach. The combination of practical experience in language instruction and formal study provides a special perspective for teaching Spanish. Learn more about the method by clicking on the METHOD tab.

Ellen is a free–lance writer and speaker with a long career in journalism. Her writing specialties are retirement, personal finance and travel. A former Washington Post reporter, she’s been a retirement columnist for Business Week Online, a contributor to Business Week, Money Magazine, the AARP Bulletin and dozens of other magazines, and is the author of four books — two on travel and two on retirement. She’s lived in Spain and, like Riccardo, is fluent in Spanish.

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