I am pleased to add this interview to my Taking the Plunge series Why did this family move from the US to Lucca? Where do you come from and when did you first have a connection with Italy in your life? I was born in the Philippines but have spent most of my life in Southern California. My first connection to Italy was food. For as long as I can remember, Spaghetti al Ragu has
Read MoreAmericans in Italy
Your Residency and Exiting Italy
Does it affect your Italian residency to leave Italy for a period of time? I am back in the US visiting for the first time since my move to Italy fifteen months ago, and when a home-town friend asked me, "does it affect your Italian residency to come back to the US?" I realized that the answer to this question should be in a post on this part of my site about how to move
Read MoreWhy I Risked Everything to Buy an Apartment in Florence
A personal essay Not long ago I woke up and was fifty years old, with more than half my life already lived. Divorced, and without kids, essentially alone, I decided to follow my lifelong dream of living in Italy, but to do so, I had to “dare greatly” as Dr. Brené Brown calls it. I’d been in love with the city of Florence since age nineteen when I backpacked around
Read MoreTuscany off the beaten path: The Svizzera Pesciatina
Google the Svizzera Pesciatina and not much will show up. These small stone villages are in the hills above Pescia, and I'd not heard of them until I started living in Lucca. My recent visit to them sure felt like Tuscany off the beaten path. Pescia, a simple tow east of Lucca, suffered quite a bit of damage in World War II, and it's not on the tourist track. Above Pescia,
Read MoreWhat you don’t know about Italian rental properties
Are you thinking of moving to Italy and renting a house/apartment? Are you wondering if your house in Italy will be just like the peach colored villa under a warm Tuscan sun you saw in a movie? After the popularity of my post on the challenges of buying property in Italy, I decided to write this post about Italian rental properties, aimed at advising people what to expect
Read MoreWhat you don’t know about buying property in Italy
Disclaimer: This post is to inform my audience (mostly North Americans wondering about moving to Italy) about some of the challenges house-hunting in Italy. This post is not coming from a clueless American who wants to be coddled. It is possible to adore Italy and not adore every single thing about it. My intention is to be helpful and realistic and not to only describe a La La
Read MoreThe Integration Agreement: What your questura may not be telling you
Follow my blog with Bloglovin This is Post 1 of the Integration Agreement (that your questura may not be informing you about) My landlady hates it that I am considered an "immigrant" the same as the Africans and Bangladeshis and other huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Every time I'm in her car with her, she points them out. "Look," She says, gesturing toward the young
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