April arrived and so did summer - like someone throwing a switch. The last week of March had been wet and cold with early morning frosts and fog, but the first week of April and everything changed, the sun came out with temperatures between 18c and 23c and nights at a minimum of 5 but hovering around 10 degrees. The bulbs, trees and weeds exploded into growth ensuring our days were spent outside catching up and taming the wilder areas daily. After the long wet winter this was no hardship but we had under estimated the power of the ‘spring’ sun and quickly burnt our shoulders and necks wearing T-shirts to work in, adding new fruit trees to our small orchard and strimming the grass in the sunshine was a pleasure. There was an earthquake about 3 hours drive south east of us centred on a town called L’Aquilia it was about 6.5 on the Richter scale and devastated the area, causing many deaths as it occurred at 3.30 in the morning. We didn’t feel a thing, probably as the mountain range between us near Perugia absorbed the shock wave but is also appeared to be travelling south, as both Rome and Naples felt something but sustained no damage. Umbria and Tuscany were not considered areas at risk of seismic events but a few years ago the whole of Italy was redesignated and as such it is impossible to ensure against volcanic activity but the area does get several small shakes each year. Milan had experienced a 2.4 quake a few months previously but so slight that only the experts noticed as it registered on their machines, the U.K. had experienced stronger tremors in the past. In some ways we shouldn’t be surprised as there are hot springs all around this area and where do these hot waters come from? Sometimes we do miss the obvious!

As the growing season gathered pace we were puzzled by the appearance of lots of Manx type lizards. We wondered if we had a new breed but the mystery was quickly solved by Mach1 in hot pursuit of a green jewel like reptile that shed it’s tail in the hope of escape. The cat eats his breakfast and disappears for most of the day and only repeated yelling, waking every dog in the area, will get him to return, in a state of near collapse, having hunted the poor local fauna into a state of tailess hysterics.

We collected and assembled a new metal pergola from a DIY centre for the back of the house where the previous wooden one had been sited before it’s collapse. Although the back of the house doesn’t benefit from the sun in the afternoons, as it is Easterly facing, the pergola would afford us some privacy from the rooms above should any of our guests decide to look out and view our private area at the back of the property.

The weather decided to turn showery on every other day towards the end of the month, so the grass grew between cuttings. Mike swore he could hear it growing behind him as he mowed. We went to start at the olive grove, cleaning the grass from below the trees and were astounded to discover the grass was 4 feet high in places. Totally daunted we approached the owner to ask advice and she suggested she contact a neighbour to ask him to run his flock of 100 sheep through the grounds to help keep the grass under control.

To thank everyone for putting up with us being totally absorbed in the building works, and boring them on the subject when we did meet up, we decided to celebrate, the end of the major construction, spring, Mikes birthday - any and every excuse our friends could come up with - by having a garden party the first weekend in May. 25 people were able to attend and the weather was wonderful despite a gloomy forecast of high winds and storms. The two mountain fore and aft of us and the two nearby lakes seem to create their own weather conditions and much of what is predicted never happens. As the last guests were leaving at around 6pm the skies darkened and the first clap of thunder announced the storms arrival.

We learned that several of our new friends were leaving Italy and going back to the USA some for family or business reasons others because their tenure had ended and three of our English friends were also on the move, subject to house selling. Strange as it seemed to be losing those who’d pioneered into this almost unknown region over 15 years ago it appeared that 3 years past there had been a new influx, we are two of many, of new people. We had met Scottish, Welsh, English, Belgians, Dutch, German, Rumanians, Ukrainian, Albanian, Signalise and Cubans at our language classes and most agreed it takes easily between 2-3 years to get the hang of living in a new place and become integrated locally.

The following week the temperatures improved and the grass simply bolted upwards and Mike seemed to spend all day either following the mower or man handling the strimmer up the banks, returning periodically hot, sweaty and green around the edges. We wondered if a ride-on type would speed things up. Most ride-ons were shiny red with grass collectors on the back under a high glossy black seat and were so flimsy they’d collapse after a single circuit of our grounds. The man we bought the original mower escorted us to the rear of his premises and showed us two remarkable machines. The first had two handles like upright oars to steer and it could spin like a top on the spot, ideal for tight spaces. The second looked like a cross between a go-cart and a tank, this was a lot more expensive but having a very low centre of gravity it was able to do slopes in excess of 30 degrees and had small tractor like tyres for gripping uneven ground it also cost as much as a small car. We asked for a demonstration of the machine to see if it could manage our terrain as well as he thought it would. He spent about an hour here going over every bump and blade of grass and saying you'll not be able to use the sit on here, and this is too steep or too narrow and so on. By the time I counted up all the areas it amounted to about 20% of the terrain.

I had a go, and was literally hanging on for my life, it bumped along, rattled every filling and was very noisy. It didn't have any seat restraints so I slid from side to side if it was at an angle. He did suggest keeping the original one and buy the bigger unit to cover all our area, less the bits that do have to be strimmed either way. This was not the way to go. In the end we bought a second smaller petrol mower for the flatter areas and kept the original machine for the bumpier bits. By dividing the workload we would get to see each other instead of just meeting up for meals.

We cut all the dead acacia trees down and stacked the useful wood into piles to make fences in the winter months when the ground softened up again. Several people have suggested they died because of a airborne virus as a few years ago nearly all the sliver birch trees also suddenly died off. There were still a lot of acacias left so our privacy hadn't been lost. We also created 2 enormous bonfire but they too will have to wait until the late autumn as to light them before is a fire risk and illegal with stiff penalties imposed.

The pool was opened and the daily cleaning routine re-established to hoist out the blossom, leaves and the occasional lizard. Then family and friends began to arrive late in May and all through June, bearing gifts and goodies that we either couldn’t get here or were so much cheaper in the UK. It was wonderful to see everyone again and show them the changes we’d made, places we’d found and new family restaurants to eat at. The time evaporated and we were soon saying goodbye and getting ready for our paying guests to arrive, strimming under the olives and ordering next winters wood.

Three years pasted by so fast and looking back we made the right decision to move for all the right reasons.

In Summery We have learned a lot, some things the hard way, others were not so difficult.

Would we do it again? Yes but we’d ask a LOT more questions first, especially about running a business, the health system, local taxes, etc. Moving here to retire is very easy, working is very complex.

Do we have any regrets about leaving the UK? Other than wishing our family and friends from the UK were here too, no, maybe we should have done it earlier but that’s wishful thinking.

Would we recommend anyone else to move abroad? No matter where you decide to live you need support. We were lucky that our family and friends were always there with words of encouragement, support and aid when needed. We couldn’t have done so much with out them. We have met others who have not had the backing we have and they have ultimately returned to the UK to try something else.

Advice?

1) Learn the language! It has been our greatest stumbling block as they are only now teaching English in schools, previously it was French or German so without help from friends here and a lot of luck things would have been harder to accomplish. In 20 years we’ll be understood by the next generation, hopefully.

2) Take your time, it’s not a race. We moved here for the slower pace of life, so how can we complain when it is slower!

3) There are three ways to do anything, listen to the people giving you advice, they really are there to help, you can’t do things the way you used to. The wiring is different, the plumbing is very strange the electric is normally just 1.5kw, that’s enough for 10 light bulbs!! You need to up your supply fuse or blow it when the cooker or fridge comes on and DIY is a novel idea so bring all you can to get by until you know your suppliers and your legal limitations.

4) Mix with the locals, you’ll learn a lot.

5) Anticipate everything costing at least twice as much as your thought. A standard bath costs 500 euros, we imported a beautiful roll top from the UK delivered for the same price because it looked much better and holds a lot more water, bliss.

6) Remember it IS a Catholic country and many celebrations revolve around this. Towns have 2 saints days and they are local holidays. Sunday opening is becoming less rare but don’t count on it and most offices, petrol stations and shops close for 3 hour lunch breaks.

7) Small shops, market stall holders, restaurants and post offices do not accept cheques or credit cards, cash is king, but there are many hole in the wall service outlets to provide you with money.

8) Children are indulged and doted on. They play in the streets, dine out with their parents and have June till September off. They are in school from 8.30 until lunch time 6 days a week and only start school at age of 6. The parents pay for all school books and accessories.

9) Don’t leave it too late to try, you’ll always wonder, ‘what if…..’ Ciao, Prossima volta Michael & Peggy Hunt