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,
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What 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
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Finding Happiness with a Move to Florence
I am pleased to add this interview to my Taking the Plunge series Sophie Charlotte flourished in ways she never dreamed of after a move to Florence: When did you move to Florence, and what motivated you to make the move? I turned my long distance relationship with Italy into a long-term commitment in 2010, and I chose Florence. Florence has always represented
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They Bought a Villa in Italy Sight Unseen
I am pleased to add this interview to my Taking the Plunge series Here is April M. Lee who took a massive "plunge" buying her villa in Italy, and with her relocation to Italy: Where do you come from and when did you first have a connection with Italy in your life? I am from a small mining town in northern Idaho, USA. I am half-Italian and my Italian grandparents lived next door
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Post #3 What to do after receiving the Permesso
The Road to Italian Citizenship is Long It is long even when you have Italian grandparents, and when you don't have that, or EU citizenship, the road is ten-years long. I'm five months into my ten-year process and here's how it's stacking up: I received my coveted permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) in June about a month after I applied. Unfortunately, on June
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Post #2 What happens at the Permesso appointment
What will happen at your Permesso di Soggiorno Appointment? My process and what you can learn from it: Most expats get nervous about their permesso di soggiorno appointment at the questura (police office). But, because my paper work had been done by INAC, I was confident. What could go wrong? But then on an expat forum I was told to "have a thick skin" and
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The Cost of Moving to Italy
Moving Abroad (again) A year and nine months ago I moved from Qatar back to the United States. I came back exhausted. I was exhausted from the dust storms, the lack of fresh air and the tension of going to battle on Qatar's roads, and the rigidity of a culture I wasn't use to. I could have used years of being back home. It's so easy in Santa Cruz. Living at my
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