I am pleased to add this interview to my Taking the Plunge series Here is Chloé Guest who opened a bistrot/microbakery in Florence in 2019 Where do you come from and when did you first have a connection with Italy in your life? I was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. My aunt married an Italian-Australian farmer, who raised sugar cane and cattle. His mother, a
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House Hunters Episode Prompts a Move to Lucca
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 MoreYour 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 MoreMystical Solstice Event in Florence
"The information was lost, we didn't know..." The monk tells me from behind the counter of the monastic shop. "No one had noticed the solstice sun illuminating the zodiac?" "No, we didn't notice." The monk smiles. "It was figured out by Simone Bartolini." Simone Bartolini is an astronomer and cartographer who recently (around 2011) figured out that the marble zodiac on the
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 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 MoreFinding 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
Read MoreThey 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
Read MorePost #4 getting into the health care system
Italian Residency and the health care system Where are you on the path of your dream of living in Italy? Have you got your Italian residency yet? If you read my first post about getting the certificate of residency, you know that you have to wait 45 days after presenting yourself at the Vital Statistics Office, (Ufficio Anagrafe) and the residency certificate may or may
Read MoreHow moving to Calabria changed my life
I am pleased to add this interview to my Expat Stories series Here is Michelle Fabio, who moved to a village in Calabria in 2003 Arrival in Calabria Just a few days into that first visit to Calabria, I knew I had to move there. Although the logic of avoiding motion sickness told me to focus straight ahead, I couldn’t. I was mesmerized by the groves upon groves of
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