Keeping it Real

Moving to Italy is an exciting prospect and it can be tremendous fun house-hunting on the internet. You dream of drinking wine under a vine covered pergola overlooking rolling Tuscan hills. Your lovingly restored farmhouse nestles in the background of this idyllic scene and you feel all the happier knowing you have brought an abandoned ruin back to life with your own bare hands.

Well, stop right there. That is a fantasy and you need to wise up if you are seriously considering a move to the countryside in il bel paese. Real life soon kicks in and you may end up wishing you had never left your native shores.

Before even going through the door of the first property you see, consider your current lifestyle. Where are you living at the moment? Town or country? The suburbs or splendid isolation? You may yearn for scented, poppy- filled fields if you are currently surrounded by concrete and steel, but moving from the town to the countryside can come as a shock if you haven’t done it before, doubly so if the countryside is in Italy.

Italian Country Living – the Facts

Let’s be positive first and look at the plus side:

• You will have fresh air, beautiful scenery and a new lifestyle.
• You will get more for your money than in the UK so a farm with land is possible.
• It is tremendously satisfying to restore a house, grow food and create a garden.
• The pace of life is slower – things get done when they get done.
• People are not obsessed with money. Don’t be surprised to get asked for payment several months after a job is done rather than straight away.
• People are generally kind, helpful and fascinated by stranieri (foreigners.)
• In some parts of Italy you can still leave the key in the front door and no-one will touch anything.
• Life is lived very much according to the seasons, the phases of the moon and so on. (Really.) You will feel much more in touch with the land.
• Getting to know and appreciate a rural community is fascinating and rewarding.
• You can up close and personal with wildlife – porcupine, wild boar, wolves, deer.

But let’s also bear in mind the following:

• The locals in a country village are less likely to speak English, so learning Italian is essential.
• Getting broadband and sometimes even a good landline connection can be tricky, so if that is important for you, check it out first.
• You may be miles away from shops, culture, friends, nightclubs and mental stimulation. This could be a consideration if you have teenagers or are addicted to entertainment.
• It may be hard to track down things that you would take for granted in your country. For example: sand, coloured paint, baked beans… (You will start to miss some foods, believe me!)
• A picturesque little hamlet or house on a hill can be very different in the winter – you may find your buzzing little summer rural retreat turns into hibernation heaven in the colder months. Italian country farmhouses are COLD. Get used to thinking 18 degrees Centigrade is balmy.
• If you have near neighbours you may find being the centre of attention intrusive, especially after the anonymity of a city.
• The locals will most likely have a different attitude to many things – pet animals for example. Dogs are often tied up outside, horses kept on minuscule patches of grass, rabbits are for eating.
• The lack of punctuality and the laid-back attitude may drive you insane if you are used to slicing up your time into little pieces. You have to change, because the locals definitely won’t! This could be seen as a ‘good thing’ though as you will develop a more relaxed attitude.
• Hunting is an important part of life in rural Italy and many country folk do not understand vegetarians, so if you are that way inclined then you will need to develop a tough skin.
• There is lots of mud in the countryside and strade bianche (unmade roads) can be very, very dusty in the summer. The Italian countryside is not a place for you if you are a cleanaholic.
• There are lots of insects, reptiles and other stuff in the countryside. Most of totally harmless. Old farmhouses tend to be a haven for all kinds of creepy crawlies, so if you run screaming at the sight of a spider or a wasp, think again and settle for a nice city apartment!

As long as you are aware of what you are getting into, country life in Italy can be rewarding and fun. But it may be worth renting a farmhouse first just to make sure the rural idyll really is all that you think it is.