Gregor on our front steps. He and Josefin were there just today. Our first visitors! Sign up now, you could be next.

Josefin having lunch in our house in Castelvecchio Subequo. She and Gregor went there for the weekend and figured out the whole public transportation thing. Good to know. I can't believe they were there and I wasn't!

Jim is Home

Made it to the airport with lots of time to spare. Everything went very well and I returned the car. It ended up costing 25 euros a day which is about $30. Not bad really. Had lots of fun with it and got to see lots of stuff. It would be fun sometime to take the train and bus out there and then just spend the whole time just walking around the area. Some other trip.

After a long day, Jim arrived last night at the Tosh household in Brooklyn. Today he will take the train from Penn station to Vermont. And so our little house in Castelvecchio will sit empty till our next visit.

Now Jim and Jessie are both home. We are looking forward to our next trip.

Last Day in Italy

Well this is my last full day here in Italy. Plan to leave about 7 tomorrow morning for Rome. My flight out isn't until the middle of the afternoon, but I want to make sure that I'm there in plenty of time. Plane gets to New York just after 6 in the evening and then to Stephen and Diane's for the evening and in the morning to Penn Station to catch the train to Montpelier. My last day here I went into town to have coffee and a chocolate pastry and to visit the market. Then I drove over to Rocca di Massa, a town about 20 miles away that is where the nearest ski area is. It's very beautiful there and a very active town with lots of tourists there. It's kind of like Stowe like that, even has Swiss chalet like houses. On the way there I passed through a high flat little valley that has a lake out in the middle of it caused by a meteor hitting the earth. Pretty cool. I'm going to make lunch and then start packing up stuff. After dinner I'll turn off the fridge,the gas and the water and drain the pipes. In the morning then I just need to close up the house, turn off the electricity and I'm out of here until next year. this week I've been to dinner at a couple from New Zealand, and been over to some Danes house for a couple of beers. when I walk around town I always see people that call to me and wave. It's very friendly here and I get a feeling that people are happy that I've chosen this place to buy my house. I look forward to returning and next time Jeneane comes with me. Goodbye until we meet in Abruzzo again.

Jim & Gregor Taking a Break

It's been awhile since I wrote last. Gregor has gone now and we had a very nice visit. A lot more traveling around than I would have done on my own. We went up to L'Aquila and saw the incredible earthquake damage. We made a weekend trip up to see Flaminia and her family up in Tuscany and had a very nice time there. Lots of good food and lots of laughs and a few tears. We also made it over to the ocean for a couple of hours on the beach. It's about an hour and a half to this beach, but it's very nice and free. We finished up the painting in the kitchen and have everything up and running. we have running water with no leaks anywhere. we have electricity and everything worked including an old television that was left behind. We also have heat and hot water now, something that we thought was not going to happen this trip, and was going to cost a lot of money. Luckily we found a very good plumber/handyman who was very good. Got everything working and did things like drilling through 2 foot thick walls to put air vents in to bring it all up to code. All of that cost about $400 including all of the materials involved. A very good deal. Well It's market day so I should get going, only 5 more days here and then I travel home. It will be good to be back with Jeneane, but I really wish that she had been with me on this trip.

Views of our valley

Another Great Day

Another great day. Up at dawn and it was completely foggy and nice and cool. Opened the house up and it felt great. It was really nice to have electricity last night. Did my usual of eating fruit and reading and waiting to go and get coffee and now my favorite chocolate pastry. Watched Italian news on TV and waited for the bank to open at strangely enough 8:35. Anyway I wanted to change some American dollars for Euros, the clerk said sure and got on the computer for a short time and then said that they could not do it today and that maybe I could try tomorrow. Not a problem that I saw coming. Anyway no problem I'd use the ATM card for my Italian account. Went out to the ATM and a woman was there complaining that for some reason it would only allow her to take out 100 euros instead of the usual 250. I got on and it would only allow me 100 also. that was enough for today, but what's going on, is the world economic system falling apart and I am so isolated from everything that I don't know what's going on? Well I guess that it will become clear at some point. My stove is not turned on yet, but I got gas for the grill and made my first meal here. a big hamburger patty and zucchini. I was happy. Rained tonight and it was nice. My new system is to go over to Anja's to get onto the Internet at 2 o'clock in the afternoon here so that I can get a hold of Jeneane at 8 o'clock in the morning her time. Works out great and then she doesn't have to worry all day about missing my call. Then I go for a coffee and gelotto and wait for everything else to open at 4:30. Kind of a relaxing day for a change. No big plans for tomorrow, cleaning up the back room where there are no windows and now I can see because of the electric lights. Bye for now time for some fruit and a glass of limoncello.

Kitchen before and after

Kitchen before.
























Kitchen after.

Fields of Sunflowers

Views of Castelvecchio

Castelvecchio from Castel di Ieri



Castelvecchio from Castel di Ieri


Over looking Castelvecchio

Pictures from Jim

These are views from our balcony looking east, east, west and south.

Gregor's Photos

http://www.dropbox.com/gallery/399593/1/Italy-2010-gs_small?h=79e9b8

This is the link to all Gregor's photos. They are unedited, but are fun to look at. Thanks Gregor!

Emails from Jim

Paid the gas bill this morning and was able to get the tech store to fax the stuff off to the gas company, so we've moved that much closer to getting the gas turned on. early afternoon went up to get on the Internet to talk to Jeneane. she sounded pretty good, in some pain but off of the meeds for it. At Leslies for now but thinks that she can drive to go home. I. Hope that it goes well. Tomorrow I get ip and drive to Rome to pickup Gregor. Plan to leave here at 7:30 and his flight is planned to get in at 10:00. It's suppose to be a 2 hour trip, but I understand now that means if you drive like an Italian. It's been cooler at the beginning of day but picked up a bit in the afternoon, but now it's just beginning to rain a tiny amount. Looking forward to Gregors coming and then I think that I'll be comfortable comfortable taking trips to different places. Plan to go looking for the perfect beach and maybe make a trip up to Tuscany if Flaminia's available. anyway a little tension about getting back to the airport and finding Gregor there, but It will make it easier for the next time I need to do it. Bye for now and hope that all goes well tomorrow for both me and Jeneane.

Picked up Gregor at the airport in Rome today. The trip went well and I only waited about 15 minutes. We were home by early afternoon. I showed him around and visited all of the villages in the valley. We sat around the house and talked and then went off to Da Lisa's for dinner. Had a very good meal and tried a platter of local cheeses that was delicious. Much cooler today and tonight is very pleasant. I seem to be getting these bites and I worry about bed bugs or something and is it going to keep getting worse? Oh well.

One More Reason to Visit Us in Italy!

Balcony with a View

The hills across the valley on an overcast day.

At the Beach

Jim & Gregor went to the beach, sans camera, but it was hot,hot,hot. They didn't stay too long, but thought it was nice and not tourist oriented. It is about one hour and forty minutes away on east coast (not on the side with Rome).

The ceiling has a 2nd coat of paint and I am assured of good photos to come.

Jim took a warm bath. No word on Gregor's bathing habits.

The bathroom is also ready to install a washing machine next summer.

On Our Balcony

Saduko, Sunset, Sunrise.

Sansepolcro, Tusacano, With Moose and family

At Flaminia's house.

Water heater works!

This is a picture of the hot water heater pilot light. Thank you, Gregor for recording this historic moment! The water heater, which also heats the house is working. So all appliances in the house work. We did not know if any would so the price was an even better deal. Sure beats a Florida retirement.

Last thing is for the plumber to drill a hole through the 2 foot thick walls for a vent. He will do that tomorrow while J & G are at the beach. The temp has gone up to hotter than hell so it will be nice to be at the beach.

Back in Castelvecchio

The guys have returned home. Jim said it was nice to be some where that felt like home. they had a great time with Moose and family. Tomorrow the gas guy comes, maybe and Tuesday they go to the beach.
http://www.casa-italia.dk/uk/ukhome.htm
If you want to consider Italy, look at Anja's website. They have rentals, also.

The House is Ours!

Jim & Gregor are still at Flaminia's family's house, but in Castelvecchio the papers got signed to sell the house to us. Unfortunately one of the seller's fainted and had to go to the hospital. That took two hours. I wish we could have met the family, but maybe we will be able to write them. It takes serious perseverance to be a realtor in Italy. Thank you Anja & Casper. (on the left)

In Sansepolcro

Jim & Gregor have arrived at Flaminia's house. Lanfranco prepared a large meal and now they are considering their options. Certainly coffee on the square in Arezzo: our favorite place. I got to speak to Moose and her dad. They are having a great time and the only way i can open my deodorant is to put it between my knees.

The Estate Choidi

This is where Flaminia's family live. The yellow building will be holiday apartments with kitchens to rent. Plan your vacation in Tuscano now!
These are pics from the winter, now imagine sunflowers, verdant fruit trees and blue-gray olive trees heavy with olives.

At Flaminia's

Gregor reports that he saw a dozen wild boar in the gully not 75 meters from our front door! Bacon! He & Jim are headed to Flaminia's home for the weekend. Gregor will be in Italy till Aug. 5th.

There is now gas in the house and the oven works. No more cold pizza! Last remaining question is does the hot water heater work? It has been much cooler lately. Gregor did try swimming under a waterfall and said it was, "Cold."

Broken arm

OK not such a good day. Everything was fine here, did the usual morning breakfast and then to the supermarket to get meat and stuff for tonight. got a beautiful bunch of basil for 1 euro and bought salad greens so that I can start having salad again, a must have for every meal. Did some painting and had lunch and then went over to Anja's to get on the Internet early because I knew that Jeneane was going off somewhere early in the morning. when I got there Anja asked if I had hear the bad news about Jeneane. she had broken her arm last night. Oh crap!!! Called on Skype and sure enough she broke her right arm. Can't drive or paint and can barely run a computer. Crap!!! No way that I can leave for home right now in the middle of things, still haven't signed the papers and arranged everything. crap!!! anyway other people are stepping up to help her out with stuff. called here back this evening and she was drugged up on pain killers and said she didn't need an operation on it, l'll wait a few days to see how it's going. Oh yeah Gregor's coming on Sunday too. Life's complicated. In the morning I have to pay 25 euros to the gas company at the postoffice and fax off so forms that I filled out and hopefully I'll get my gas turned on next week. I still have to arrange to have bills paid while I'm gone. Property tax turns out to be about $125. A year. Everything is complicated but seems very cheap. Good night and let's hope that it goes well for Jeneane.

The Grill

What a day. Up at dawn again, doing a little work and then into town to have espresso and this time a chocolate croissant, very good, that's what I'll get from now on. then to the bank to take out 200 euros to go and try to buy the gas BBQ. Today was market day but I wasn't buying any thing. Went to the hardware store and looked at the gas grill. It was perfect and was small enough to fit on the little balcony off of the kitchen.Next I went up to see Anja and see if I could recharge my Ipad and talk to her about plans for the future. She made me coffee and we went through the contract that I'll be signing on Friday. She called the guy about the electricity and gas and he said that he would be over later in the morning to get them turned on. Oh boy. then I asked her about where to by a mattress and she said she could call some one that sells them and she thought that they would deliver it to my house. Sure they said we'll be there in 15 or 20 minutes. Oh crap I didn't have that much money left after buying the grill so I needed to go back to the Bank. Parked at home and walked up the hill to the bank and when I inserted my card in the ATM it told me that I could only take out 50 euros more that was the limit for one day. OK that was just enough to cover the cost of the mattresses. Did it and hurried down the hill and got there just as the guy drove up. Fabulous. A little while later the power guy showed up and looked at stuff and said that he would be back at 2 o'clock to turn on the electricity and that he wasn't sure if he could turn on the gas, but he would check on it. He came back on time and turned the power on. You can't believe what a joy it is to have lights and a fridge. Still no gas but I didn't have any money left to buy anything to cook so I had a dinner of great grapes and apricots and several glasses of good wine that cost me about $1 a liter. I like it here. Took a bath and shaved and am sitting on the terrace writing this. It's dark now but I'll go inside and turn on the lights and get on my new mattress and read until I want to go to sleep. Tomorrow I plan to buy food that I can grill. Man is it beautiful here.

I spoke to Jim today. He now has electricity, the result of finally buying a lantern, and the fridge works as well as every light in the place. He got two mattresses, one for him and one for Gregor and he bought a little gas grill that fits on the little balcony off the kitchen. He was going to cook his own dinner tonight.

He was in Salmona Italy today. It is a town not far from our town. The funny thing is I was painting at Morse Farm on Sunday and I met a man from Salmona. He lives in Boston now, but I got to practice my Italian. He pleasantly corrected every thing I said. Gregor will be arriving on Sunday and then Jim hopes to do some vacation sort of stuff. He hasn't been much in the mood to do a lot of exploring and since even a trip to the gas station is new and exciting why go looking for more adventures? He is keeping a diary and taking pictures so once he is back there will be new pictures of our house. We will be booking reservations for next summer so don't wait too long!!

Here is Jim's address if you want to send a letter, but do it today!

Via Nazionale n.179
67024 Castelvecchio Subequo (AQ)
Italia

I read through the contract today and he will sign it on Friday. Anja says that he now has electricity, but still no gas.
This a painting of somewhere I was in Italy. Jessie took the picture.

Jim called!

Jim called today, Monday. He is doing well. He says that he feels better than he has in a long time. Asama is not a problem and all his joints feel better. The guy who is supposed to come and turn on the gas and the electricity has not arrived. So Jim is sitting in the dark. He said that he has had to change his life style to fit the weather. He gets up early, eats fruit on the terrace, goes to a cafe for pastry and coffee, comes home does some work on the house, takes a siesta in the afternoon and then the shops open again at 4:30. He is eating a lunch/dinner combo everyday so at some point he goes out to find that. Sometime everyday he has lemon gelatto and coffee. He finally bought a battery powered light so now he can read at night.

Luckily the woman at the hardware store speaks perfect English. They have been so nice to him, lowering prices on things and telling him where to go to buy things like a mattress. He had to blow up his air mattress himself. The woman at his favorite restaurant is from Canada and speaks English as well. Already people are recognizing him around the village. He went to the market on Friday. It also happens on Tuesdays. There is a truck with fruits and vegetables that drives around playing music to gather customers like ice cream trucks here. It was parked right outside our house.

Friday night seems to be serious party night. Jim said that everyone who owns a motorcycle seemed to be racing around the village. He filled up the car for the first time since he arrived. But, he didn't know how to do it and there is no one at the gas stations. Luckily a man helped him. He asked Jim if it was diesel or not, but Jim had no idea. I guess they figured it out.

There has been no rain and temperatures around 104, but it is dry. Jim says he can't figure out how it is so lush. There is local corn and sunflowers are blooming. Unfortunately he can't find a place to swim except a water park 30 minutes away that blares disco music. Luckily the beach is not much further than that. He did find an Internet cafe, but you have to have some document to become a member so he is hoping Anja or Casper will help him with that.

He went to a party this week at Anja and Casper's and spent the evening with 30 Danes. Pretty funny.

He is painting the kitchen and has taken down some ugly stuff. He is so pleased with how it looks. I think he has been surprised. He said that the bathroom is also very nice. Now this may be more than you want to know, but I thought it was funny. One faucet is still leaking a little bit, so he fills up the bathtub with water everyday and then when he is too hot he gets in the tub. He also ladles that water to flush the toilet. He did not know when he would be able to call again, but he was concerned about how I was doing making coffee. He gave me some more tips.

A tidbit

After the longest stretch of not talking to each other in 25 years, I managed to miss a call from Jim today. I just can not get it together with my cell phone. Anyway, Jim says that a guy either came to turn on the gas or is coming. He and Anja have gotten a lot done, but I don't think the final papers have been signed yet. He sounded upbeat. The only Internet connection he has access to is a long way off at Anja's house so it is very disappointing to miss a call.

By the way if you are intrigued by the idea of buying a house in Italy let me suggest you looks at Anja's website: Casa-Italia.dk

This is Jim's latest email. As you can see, his Italian has really improved.

Bone jurno, (buongiorno)

Or how ever you spell that. Had a hard time falling to sleep last night, but once I did I slept very well. There's a bell tower just outside my window and they ring the bells every 15 minutes. So it works like this....if it's 10:30, one bell rings 10 times and then a slightly different pitched bell rings 2 times. Then just 15 minutes later it rings 10 more time plus 3. Very nice during the day, but not in the middle of the night. Well,

I'm all packed and ready to take off to move into our new
house. I'll be just camping there until the electricity and gas get turned on. No Internet for me there so I don't know when I can write again. I'm pretty sure we made the right choice, It's so beautiful here.

I am happy to know the bells are near his apt and not our house. It seems like people don't need to know the time so often, but it has probably been going on for centuries.

Heard from Jim today and all is going well. He got checks at the bank so he is all set for the closing. It was supposed to be Friday, but will not be till sometime next week. However, he is moving in to our house on Friday after breakfast at his nice apt. The toilet will flush, there is a new fuse box installed, but I don't know if he is going to run an extension cord for that or not. It turns out their are plates, pots and pans, an Italian coffee maker, mop and broom and other cleaning supplies. He thinks that the last time someone used the place was 1994. There are lots of family pictures, but the owners don't even want those. He is going to try to find a pump to blow up his mattress, but he assures me he can put a few blankets and a piece of cardboard on the springs (remember summer camp?) and sleep on that if he has to. He is also perfectly capable of eating out of a ice chest if he has to. He met the neighbor and he said I would like her. He said that everyone has been very nice. He also met the woman at the bank that I had talked to on the phone.

Ok here's the food news. Last night he had a pitcher of Rose, which he really could not finish, a bottle of water, although that is not really an Italian thing to do and linguine with truffles for 10E. There is a good grocery store near by that includes a meat market and there is a fish market down the street.

The downside is that there really isn't free internet in the town and no one has ever heard of something like an internet cafe. That could be bad news for this blog. I could tell you all how I had Ramen noodles for dinner last night, did the laundry without soap and can't make a strong cup of coffee, but would you care? I did do a pastel at Morse Farm today. First in almost four years and I had a creamie.

Jim arrives in Italy

Jim arrived in Italy today, Wednesday July 14, in the morning. Although he had called our credit card company to say he would be in Italy, his credit card would not clear so he could rent his car. He had to wait until 3pm Italian time for the credit union here to open. He had expected to be in Castelvecchio Subequo by around noon, but instead had to wait in the airport. When he finally talked to the credit union they said it was entirely their fault. (hummmm will they pay for the car?)
He got a smart car with all the bells and whistles including mag wheels. It only had 4km on it when he started driving it. Jim called over skype to say that he was in the little apartment he is renting for three days. He is loving his ipad and used it to call me on the phone. Instead of getting in early he didn't arrive till around 8pm Italian time.

In the beginning

It all started in 2006 when we had a foreign exchange student from Italy. Winter vacation the next year, 2008, we visited our student and her family. We had such a great time. When we returned Jim started looking at houses in Italy. He must have looked at 10,000 places. Our idea of what we wanted changed weekly. 

First it was a house in the country with lots of olive trees, then an episode of House Hunters International made us think we might be too lonely in the country so we looked at houses in towns. Some were built in the 1400s. Jim looked in regions south of Tuscany. Finally he found a great web site that was well organized and easy to understand. The people running the website were from Denmark. We emailed them back and forth and figured out which houses we would like to see. We planned a second trip to Italy for winter vacation in 2010. We looked at most of the houses we had seen on the internet and decided on one that had been a big contender from the website.