Italian Adventures – We Bought a House in Italy!

March 2022

About a month or so before I flew to Italy in April, I met a woman named Karen in the ‘Living in Italy’ Facebook group. We had both responded to a question posed by another member and quickly learned that we were neighbors in Monteleone d’Orvieto. What a small world.

We PM’d each other and shared email addresses and began an early friendship through email. It was so genuine and pure, like in the olden days when people wrote each other letters. I looked forward to our next set of communications and learning more about Karen & her husband Erik, their experiences in Monteleone, and in Florida. Karen was so helpful and generous in offering me guidance and advice. She offered me access to her house, which turned out to be about a 1 -2 minute walk up the road, in case my house wasn’t ready. Like my new friendship with Emma, which was built on trust and gut feeling, Karen and I quickly established a new friendship, and we both had that gut feeling of honesty and trust.

I was in Italy a few weeks before Karen and her husband arrived, and when they did, they hit the ground running with their own personal task list. I wandered up the street on Sunday to introduce myself in person and see how they were settling in. Karen greeted me with open arms and a long needed hug, it was delightful.

This picture is from Cantine Aperte in May – a future blog post.

After a while of visiting and getting a tour of their house, we stepped outside to take a look at the work ahead for them, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a blonde English woman came bounding down the driveway. It was Terry, the woman Karen had told me about who lives just up the road and runs the AirBnB at Casa Mimosa.

Terry was like a whirlwind of fresh air and butterflies – I couldn’t help but smile. I can’t wait to actually get to know her!