11891 Hello I'm not new here

Great story and with me embarking on the next chapter of my life in Italy within the following few weeks, I hope to be able to make a similar post in 4 years time.

May life continue to be good.

A welcome for you is academic now I guess Ghianda, as you've been here, done a lot of it, and obviously learned to appreciate the 'rural' way of life here - warts and all! :yes:

I'm sure that your experiences mirror that of many 'incomers' here in Italy - it's not a million miles different from the latter part of my own life here. And it's great, isn't it!

Who gives a monkeys toss about all the high falutin' fashionable things to buy/wear/eat/drink or places to live etc. etc. when you can sit down with [U][I]'genuine people[/I][/U]' and share a piece of bread and cheese and drink a glass of wine!

Hi Ghianda

Thanks for that, a great read after the last few days. Yes, I can echo what you and Carol have said, life here is so much more 'real', the people, etc etc etc. (we've done that list before).

Perhaps some of the rest of us should put our arrival stories here...I am sure there are lots of interesting stories out there....

Excellent read and thank heavens you had the guts to take on a new adventure.

:yes: We were in a good situation a few years ago in that we were coming to the end of our mortgage and whilst debating about building our own house on an over inflated plot of land back in the UK decided on a whim to look in Sardinia as we were to holiday there in the May. As I was very familiar with the north of the island we thought it would be relatively easy, however, the prices were out of our budget range and so despondent travelled down to the South for our second week.

We looked at a plot of land which was very keenly priced and was a serious contender. However, it was whilst stumbling (not through drink I hasten to add) into the town of Muravera in order to visit an Autobank my oh duly had his bank card swallowed and thereupon chanced upon a local estate agent.He took us to a property we fell in love with and are very proud to call home.

Now I believe in fate and guardian angels, unfortunately my dad died before he could realise his dream of returning to his homeland (plans were afoot just a few months before he was diagnosed with his illness) and believe we were led to this home. It was in an area we had never even heard of, 250 k from all my family, and the seller who has since become as family together with his siblings, actually said that it was a shame I only had one child. Now as I sadly have a child with a life threatening illness we had never planned more children ad we did not want to take a risk so guess my amazement when just two months later I fell pregnant with a healthy child (thank god)

The upside of all this is that my first child has hugely benefitted from this as our frequent visits means he has managed to stay out of hospital the past 2 years (touch wood) and that means more than anything to us. We have made many friends here and each visit brings fresh acquaintances.

Of course I have a deep love for Sardinia frustrating though it is at times and look forward to the day when i am able to make a permanent move. In the meantime I am enjoying the company of all like minded people on this forum good and bad (aint that the truth) and reading all valuable contributions.

JoJo :smile::smile::smile:

Thanks for the intro.:-)
I saw you mention Cervinia in the Vallee d'Aoste so had to reply - I'm probably going there and across to Zermat tomorrow! I came out for a ski trip to Courmayeur a few years ago when I was made redundant (I actually volunteered out of boredom!). Since then I've been poor, even when a small pension kicked in, but following a 'career' change to teaching English as a second language I decided to move abroad. Where else but Italy (I already spoke some Italian from 40 years ago!), and the mountains instead of the sea.

I'm single so prefer the 'city' as there is more going on. On Monday, for example, I was wandering home after an apperitivo when a couple of friends called out from a passing car. The upshot was that I ended up at the theatre seeing a play - 'Pasticeri' - which I really enjoyed, followed by a late night pizza. Last Saturday I was playing in a session of traditional music (Italian, French, Irish and English tunes!) in a couple of bars, and on Sunday a 3 /4 hour coach trip for an away game with the local footie team - unfortunately I didn't get off the bench:-(..

This afternoon I'm doing dolce far niente after a morning teaching the casinisti at a local scuola primaria.

As it happens I've done virtually no trips around Italy either. To Puglia once with an Italian friend, and I did sail Sardegna - Venezia in 2007, but there are still local places to explore and I'm not sure I can afford trips to places like Roma or Firenze, much as I'd like to. I'd have to disagree about you (or I..) turning into a local though: all the ones round here go off to the Red Sea or the like.:-)

It does seem that people stumble upon "their" part of Italy in a very serendipitous way - for us it was because I am a cheapskate spendthrift (if that's not a contradiction) - we were going to go to London over Easter (2007) but the train prices were hideous so I looked at Ryanair's website - found flights to somewhere called Ancona (when they still had a flight from Liverpool) for £72 for four of us (including 2 bags) - we stayed at the wonderful Casa Montalto - the weather was warm (for Easter), kids ran round in shorts and t shirts, we drove around and strolled around. Shortly after going home we were told that a relative had left her modest house to me and my brother - suddenly we had some money so we did our research, came back. looked at lots of houses, piles of rubble and so on, bought the first house we looked at. Two years later the house is practically finished (although way over budget and we have been hit badly by the deterioration in the pound - had we known how much more there was to pay we could have bought the money at a better rate - reckon that has cost us around £20K extra) but now the rental market had declined so we aren't getting bookings - oh well we'll have to sppend the sumemr ther einstead of renting it out.

Chris

Removed to [url]www.italiauncovered.co.uk[/url]

[quote=jepsonclough;113502]It does seem that people stumble upon "their" part of Italy in a very serendipitous way -

but now the rental market had declined so we aren't getting bookings - oh well we'll have to sppend the sumemr ther einstead of renting it out.

Chris[/quote]

True. On the second point, I don't think you're really complaining.;-)

Ciao Tutti

I guess I'm a newby, only here for around six years, but I can say just about the best six years. Aretina, in recognition of my new home city, neat, small, normal, historic, cultural, friendly, gorgeous Arezzo, in Southern Tuscany. Aretina for a girl and ... Aretino for a boy!

I wrote a few articles for the mag. but here is a short summary.
Six years ago, with two daughters - one safely married and the other off to Uni, my then new OH and I decided to do something different before we found out we were too late and we would live the rest of our lives regreting our lack of courage. And, yes it does take courage to make a move overseas whatever your age. I had had enough of teaching and stress management and word 'pensioner' had started to creep over the horizon. OH had sold his company so with the car packed up we set out for a 3 month drive (and thousand of kilometers) around southern Tuscany and Umbria having been shown around 80 properties, including castles, Brunello vineyards, livery stables, pig farms, etc. we didn't find anything we wanted or which would give us an income. We stopped a couple of nights in Arezzo and while there bought a set of prints sold in aid of a cancer charity. (more later!)

So three months on the road and nothing but disappointment which was only matched by the weather and queues on the M25 when we returned to the UK in late June 2003. So, no job for either of us, what next.! OH went back online a couple of days later and found our present house, by this time and after all the on the ground research we knew what we were looking for and what questions to ask. So much so that the agent thought we were another agent. I got a flight the next day, accompanied this time by my daughter, OH couldn't face another house, And, yes it does only take 5 seconds to fall in love with a house. We both had wow moments and with that I called OH and said 'you had better get over because I am just about to buy this house'. Needless to say, he was here the next day, agreed it was gorgeous and we moved in 2 months later......

So yes Jojo I do believe in fate, those prints I bought on one of the two days out of 100 we were in the Arezzo area, one was of the 7th century church in the village below our house and which I look out on everyday - and pinch myself.

The rose-tinted specs. were abandoned some years ago, but despite all the differences and sometimes difficulties of living within a new culture I wouldn't want anything else. Later who knows - again fate will have a hand in that.

So, like others here we haven't travelled too much here in Italy or elswhere come to that. I have taken frequent trips to the UK, children, parents etc. but OH has only spent one day there and for him that was almost too much!
There is still so much around here to see. In five years, a spell in Sicily, a few days in Venice, a few days on the Amalfi and last year a couple of weeks around Liguria. Still haven't got to Bologna and its only a couple of hours up the road, Milan, Naples, Parma, etc etc etc. Although hoping to visit Lucca this weekend as we didn't give it enough time when we were house hunting those six years ago.

Some Forum members have Italy in their blood. As a child dried pasta came in deep blue wrapping paper, the colour that Giotto used to paint the ceilings in the church at Assisi. Olive oil was bought in very small bottles, from the chemist and somehow, tinned tomato puree was acquired. We ate pasta pomodoro in England in the 1950’s, but there is no nostalgia for Mama’s cooking in my family!
I have childhood memories of many sad, young Italian women who had married English soldiers in the 1940’s longing for Lazio, Abruzzo and le Marche, and making the best of things. My Mother’s sister had done better. She had married an American soldier and she sent us wonderful parcels from the land of plenty. Not until I was an adult did I realise that my zia Maria had in fact married an unhappy man, and that she was completely cut off from Italian life, because his family had German roots and there were no Italian friends or neighbours. Both sisters stoically accepted their lot and made the best of things. They pushed and cajoled their children to work hard and to eventually become successful.
So my husband and I, get to our 50’s, and have been reasonably successful, we’re still married, so what next? A new challenge perhaps? Fate or foolishness brought us to Umbria in 1998. My Italian was antique and rusty, his non existent. Oh, how far we both have come since then.
At that time parts of Italy were being “sold hard” to foreigners seeking houses, both ruined and restored. The attractions of Italy are many and a ruined house on a hillside captures the heart, soul and wallet.
So much has been written about the timeless beauty of Tuscany and Umbria - the wealth of cultural attractions, the gastronomic delights, but in 1999 we were more concerned with persuading ENEL, to let us have an electricity supply. As for a telephone line … magari!, and yet we were hardly 500 yards from a hill top village near Lago Trasimeno. It all seemed very backward, as I flew regularly from Rome to London, leaving my husband to learn Italian, and discover the way that things worked or not, in rural Umbria.
At the beginning of the twenty first century the green heart of Italy, despite wireless internet, remains much the same. The countryside and those who live in it, are slow to change the way they live their everyday lives. Old ladies still go out with their wrap-around aprons and a knife to cut green leaves from the meadows for campagnola . Mushrooms are gathered, chickens are fed and the table groans at pranzo under the weight of the genuine hearty food, almost all home produced.
We discovered our ruined house and barn by chance, and perhaps with more money than sense, our adventure began. We may have had a vivid image of the Italy we wanted to live in, but we did not know how passionate we would become about Italy and all things Italian, or how we would eventually share our lives with strangers who in turn became friends.
So many images are stuck in our memories. The well being dug deeper and deeper and still no water. The swimming pool being dug and days and days of rain and too much water. Generous, talented artisans working skilfully through bitter cold and scorching heat. Our Geometra, Angiolino, a real angelo custodio, working with us on every detail to achieve our dream of a home in Italy.
I am no different from the other posters here and sincerely hope that those of you wanting to live in Italy, will somehow find a way of achieving your own Italian dream.

Hi,

I [I]am[/I] new here. I loved your post. My husband and I are nearly to the stage of just chucking everything here in London and moving permanently to our home in Basilicata. We bought a house 4 years ago that needed major renovations and have just finished. Well....when I say finished, the phone doesn't work and we have no kitchen...but the major work is done and done beautifully. Now if the economy would just cooperate we can sell up and move there!

It was really nice to read about your adjustments and experiences.

Thanks

Sandy

If it FEELS right do it. °çé* the exchange rate. There is a buck to be made everywhere. I've been celebrating the proper start of spring today. It's been a terrible week or so personally plus L'Aquila after a financially difficult winter. I've had a few pacatelli down the bar, a Bud Spencer pizza. Loads of friends and acquaintances to commiserate with, you get one life, do it if it feels right. (but better if you have a bit in the bank). A few words of warning though... if either of you is only luke warm, do NOT do it.

Thanks for the tips. But I have a question: What is a 'Bud Spencer' pizza?

I have never done the intro thing either. I started using this forum when we started house hunting in 2002.

I lived near Stansted airport with my first husband. He was retraining at university and my job was long hours and lots of travelling. I was constantly on a plane or at an airport. Whenever I took a holiday (never longer than 1 week as it was my own company and I couldn't afford to be away for too long) I got sick. Tiredness, constant travel, stress - all the usual reasons I suspect. At one point my husband said "do you realise you haven't been in the garden for 3 months?" It was an eye opener.

We'd seen an article in the Sunday Times about Marche and my OH had been to Pesaro on holiday as a chils a few times so we thought we'd go for a weekend for our anniversary. Easy for us being so near Stansted. Well, we loved it and immediately started talking about buying a holiday home. Prices were a LOT cheaper then which helped. But I immediately started thinking about giving it all up and moving there. I think my friends moving to Spain at the same time probably got me thinking seriously about it.

Anyway to cut a long story short, we looked at 80 houses (we had fairly specific ideas of what we wanted, having already renovated a couple of rundown cottages in the UK and my husband was [B]very[/B] fussy). My OH came over by himself one time and found the house we ended up buying. If I'm honest, I was tired of looking and he seemed to love it so much and I just agreed. There were lots of things I loved about it. Beautiful stone, wonderful cobbled terraces etc. etc. so I'm not saying it was a bad choice but not exactly what I would have chosen by myself.

We took a hit on the exchange rate (not as bad as now but cost us about €30,000 at the time). This meant the renovation budget was severely hit so we ended up doing a lot of work ourselves. We took on too much. We separated (amicably) and he returned to England. He found it harder being here than I did in as much as he found the usual paperwork hold-ups and other frustrations really difficult to deal with. I, on the other hand was revelling in not working and absolutely loved the life here. I found all the crazy rules fun to be honest. Just as David Uno said. You have to both want it as much and keep wanting it as much or it is a recipe for relationship disaster.

Luckily he wanted to buy me out in the divorce and I got the opportunity to buy again. I did and this time a small renovated house right in town, with a beautiful garden and a set of 15th century cantinas to restore, which I planned to let out. Moving back to the UK was never an option for me. I seriously thought about it but really wanted to stay here. It is difficult as a young (ish) single woman to stay here with no family etc. etc. but it is what I wanted. I had work, via the internet so that really helped and I started working for the Italian estate agency I had bought the house from doing translations into English. That helped me make friends and really helped my Italian.

In the meantime I met a wonderful English man who was in the kind of reverse situation to me. His partner never made it over here but he loved it. Suddenly I started doing all the things I had wanted to do when I got here (working on the house was never part of my oroiginal plans). We visited churches and museums, spent time on the beach, went to festas, toured all the local towns and generally had a fantastic time. We got married last year.

So my experience here is probably different to most, although plenty of relationships break up here. It has definitely been a game of two halves. The first half, I was just revelling in not working 60-70 hours weeks and enjoying my environment and having time for friends for the first time in years. The second half, I got to fall in love with Italy all over again (not to mention with my gorgeous husband!). I still have to pinch myself that I found such a perfect partner all this way from Britain, in a very small community of Brits. Life's strange sometimes.

My little house is just too small for us now so we'll be selling both our houses and buying again soon and even though the finances are [B]very[/B], [B]very[/B] tight at the moment, I wouldn't change a thing. We are looking forward to getting our own house, putting down some roots and becoming part of a community, not something that has been very easy with all the ups and downs. The future is looking quite exciting really. If only that exchange rate would move a bit :winki:...........

Hi Penny,

I love your story. I too fell in the love with Italy the first time I visited (1989). I was just there on holiday but I just loved the people, the food, the style, everything. About 4 years ago my husband (then boyfriend we got married a year ago in Nov) and I decided we would look for a house in to buy in Italy. We were looking in the South (Campania, Calabria, Basilicata) mostly because of cheaper prices. We drove around for a couple of weeks and didn't find anything. We came back to the UK and I signed up to a property website. About 3 months later I was sent details of house in Basilicata. We flew out and put in an offer the same day. It was the only property we looked at!

The renovations have taken two and half years (spent some time getting plans, planning permission, and builders lined up). We are in the centro storico, so we don't have any garden, but we do have 4 lovely roof terraces. We both love the house and the people in our little hill village have been absolutely wonderful.

We need to learn italian (I muddle through at the level of a 3 year old) and my husband (Keith) makes so many really funny mistakes that he has all of the locals in stitches. He asks for prosciutto to drink instead of prosecco. Buon giornale instead of buon giorno! But, he is willing to try. I want to do a residential course before we make the big move. Have you studied italian or picked it up over there?

We had planned to try to move out this June...but the property prices in London right now aren't the best and I really want to have a nest egg ...so we may be a little delayed.

thanks for sharing your experience and congratulations on your marriage!

Ciao,

Sandy

Just to answer your question Sandy, I did the Michel Thomas Foundation CD's in the UK before coming then my comune ran 6 months of free Italian lessons (2 hrs a week) which helped with the grammar. The rest I picked up here and working in an office really helped.

I would definitely do a residential course but I would say only do it if you live here otherwise the danger is "use it or lose it".

Now, I really need to do some verbs - definitely my weak point!

Them verbs [I]is[/I] important :bigergrin: so am tenses :laughs:

My 'boss' (her indoors), keeps asking me after my feeble attempts at Italian........'where's the verb' ???

Hard work this Italian stuff!!:eerr:

Tonight's verb is "Donate", to donate - Ghianda's definition is to give something that you have to someone else who has not, or who is in need of help. Please help if you haven't already, and no apologies to myself for going off thread on my thread:smile:

[url=http://www.justgiving.com/italy-abruzzo-earthquake]Justgiving - ITALY Magazine Abruzzo Earthquake Appeal[/url]

You were awesome last night Mr A :yes: will you do it all over again at six grand?

allora...donare

[url=http://www.justgiving.com/italy-abruzzo-earthquake]Justgiving - ITALY Magazine Abruzzo Earthquake Appeal[/url]

I must have watched it 20 times and it still makes me chuckle, you are a good sport.