I’ve never been one for the annual holiday in the same park, staying in the same lot, at the same time, seeing the same people…over ‘n over.

But I’ve got to ask, how cool would it be to have a holiday home in Italy?
It wouldn’t need to be a picture book country villa, or an overpriced matchbox in Roma, just a small apartment down south…somewhere in Calabria or Puglia would be nice.

Rosemary and Bob have a great story to tell. Well worth a read and food for the soul.

Molto tranquillo. A place to chill out, un posto di riposo, passeggiare, parlare con i vicini di casa…It’d be nice to visit for a few weeks, even every couple of years, then let the place out in the meantime.

Just need to find out the rules for foreigners owning property in Italia? Bleeding Espresso has a great rundown on the process of tracing and claiming jure sanguins citizenship.
Hmmm, that’ll be for another post.

I wonder if anyone has stories to tell? I’d love to hear them.

Check out the wonderful Bleeding Espresso for Michelle’s gorgeous descriptions of life in Calabria. Dio mio!  If only I could write like THAT!  What a blessing…and to have those sort of roots is breathtaking. 
You know what really gets to me?  It’s the sense that once the present elderly generation dies out, then the quintessential character, the base traditions and culture will wither as i giovane migrate to wherever the work is.  What a tragedy.  I desperately want to try and capture their story before is is lost forever, because we’ll never see the likes of them again.  Their way of life may be doomed but it’s priceless and timeless… and we should do all we can to hang on to it for as long as possible.  So the more I dwell on this, the more I find myself being drawn inexorably towards buying a place in Reggio di Calabria if for no other reason than to preserve it for another generatoin.  Futile?  Probably.  Romantic?  Unashamedly.