Life experiences
I read with great alarm the premiums and taxes one has to pay in order to buy a house in italy. If you are not buying a fixer-upper this can be a very substantial part of the purchase price from 25% all the way up to 40% for houses classed
Life experiences
As I prepare for my November application to the Italian Consulate I am already assembling the documentation I have been requested to provide. This will also help me from any last minute rush or at least mitigate such rush. Reading other blogs and I thought I would a get a
Life experiences
I am now in full swing getting documents ready for the Visa Application. Among the requirements are letters of references from my banks and financial institutions. But they don't write these things any more. Luckily , one of the banks is First Republic, one of the last old school
Life experiences
This is just a short post to let you know I made a video where I make 4 of the pasta's I have eaten in my travels in 4 Trattoria's. These dishes are extremely easy to make and I did the video with the help of
Life experiences
After consulting a series of consulates I came up with a superset of 20 plus possible documents I needed to get. They were: 1. US Passport 2. National Visa application, signed in the presence of the Consular Office 3. 2 Passport Photographs 4. Letter from applicant explain reason and length
Life experiences
Bologna has been decided. So what now? This blog is going to follow my Journey from innocent San Francisco denizen to harried and exhausted Bolognese. Here are the tasks that are awaiting me and I will take you through my trials a tribulations" 1. Italian Language classes (refresher since
Travel
This concludes my summer trip to Italy. It was a huge success. It was also a great moment of reuniting with Minne. By moving to Italy I will be spending much more time with my daughters and Minne has been very supportive in that. One strange thing is that everyone
Travel
My Last day in Italy for the summer! I will return in October/November to find my new home in Bologna. Early in the morning, Minne, Esther and I drove from Padua to Milano. Where I am staying at a very nice hotel. It took 3 hours to get there.
Travel
The last day in Padua was a redeeming day for the city. We got to enjoy the city much more and no see it for what it wasn't. It's a charming and friendly city. We had a great time meeting with people and, in particular, talking
Travel
Given our lukewarm feelings for Padua, we decided to skip exploring the city further until tomorrow and we headed out to Venice. In the deep of summer, the city was only moderately busy (butt still very busy). Here we are in St. Mark's Square. Smarting from my disparaging
Travel
Well we had our walk through Padua and the environs. It was viciously hot and humid way more unbearable than Bologna. Our landlady even was complaining it was unlivable now until late September. Padua was nice, sweltering walk not withstanding, but it just had nothing of the energy and friendliness
Travel
Our trip to Verona was a success in enjoying the incredible beauty of the touristic center of the city. Outside of the city center the city was less enthralling than either Genoa or Bologna. So that leaves r=today's trip to Padua to see if we can unseat