WE'RE LEAVING TUSCANY & MY HONEST THOUGHTS ABOUT ITALY

One of my sisters told me before that Italy is a fantastic place to visit... but not really to live there. After 2 weeks in Italy, I must agree with her... 😉

Italy is the most beautiful place on earth. As is the Italian language. I will agree that the narrow roads are frightful. It takes a few months to get used to a new culture. I lived in Italy for 3 and a half years. There is no other place more beautiful.

If the state of the roads and slow driving are that important to you why did you go to Italy? I also think evaluating a country after10 days is plain silly

Unfortunately 10 days is not much to grasp the culture and way of life here. I’m American, I moved from Los Angeles to Tuscany back in 2017 when I was 29. When we moved when didn’t know the language or anyone, but we knew we wanted to change our lives. It wasn’t easy but we have made amazing lives here. I admit this place lacks Many things but it also gives you soooo much. It depends what you expect from it. Tourist come here and expect similar things to what they have at home but Tuscany is mostly a rural place. For the most part it’s like time has stood still and that is what makes it so very special. I wish you the best and hope you one day return to this very special place.

So, you want picturesque villages but no narrow roads, quiet and seclusion and in the same time all amenities and services, moving to a foreign country, but wanting that everyone speaks your native language, you want the Italian/Latin charm but want the German organization skills in the same time. It is like wanting to have first class Russian ballet and French Haute Couture in the desert of Arizona or in the Ozarks of Arkansas.

The funny (and fake) idea is that everything outside Italy is a paradise. I had not found a recruiter giving me a job interview for years in UK and NZ despite being ultraqualified (engineer). I ended up working as shelf stocker in supermarkets during the night for desperation. Finally, when I got back in Italy 1 year ago, in a few days I found my dream job. I hope young italians will remain in Italy. The mith of meritocracy outside of Italy most of the times is just a big lie.

LOL You're surprised that Italians don't make an effort to accommodate all the tourists? 😅😅😅 I remember speaking to some Italians during the Pandemic and they said basically that they could FINALLY have a chance to have Italy to themselves. One mother told me that there were places they hadn't been because of the tourists all the time. I live in a Scandinavian country and am so glad we don't have millions of tourists descending on us every year. I can't imagine.

Cara Helena, I respect your experience and opinion, but modernity and relaxation, idyllic landscapes and state-of-the-art services are usually not compatible. They are places where you seem to go back in time, if a 4-lane highway passed through them, they would no longer be. If they were easy to reach, you would not be able to take pictures without being invaded by a thousand other tourists as is already the case in Venice or Rome. In Italy you can find everything, but not everything in the same place. You speak of "Italy" but it seems from your video that you have only been to S. Giminiano and some other village (for us Italians it is considered countryside / a remote place) even Florence is not one of our main cities, very famous for history, arts but not one of the main. I think it's a bit like saying I thought I visited Australia after only visiting the Outback.

I've been to the United States several times and you can't imagine how surprised I was to discover that there are very few Americans capable of speaking Italian... Then they explained to me that if I go to another country, I have to speak their language and not they have to speak mine...then I add that you must be a genius since you have understood everything about Italy in just two weeks: congratulations

Same happened to me in Australia, nobody speaks spanish….

I lived in Italy 5 months last year and rented a car there. Your experience is totally opposite mine. I do speak Italian. My goodness I traveled solo everywhere and met great individuals who guided me where to next, I love driving in Italy. It’s intuitive driving. You’re looking out for each other yet getting to where you want to go. I feel alive, enriched, and taken care of in Italy. People are incredible and friendly & welcoming. Italy has rhythm. You’ll jive or not. I certainly did and will as I continue to visit. Italians will teach you things. One must be open. If you’re set in your ways you then elsewhere is better for you. I love Italy and a new adventure is around the corner. I’ve driven many of the roads this woman is discussing. And I love them. Also food is always available. Italy cannot cheat you! Your descriptions has more to do with your psychological state. I’m organized and many Italians are organized. It’s sad if you think she is discussing Italy. She’s talking about herself. Not Italy.

No you might not be happy in Italy - first of all you should speak well italian to get the essence of the real italian soul and way of living. You have to be more relaxed in Italy. Italy is not this sterile super organized country. If you compare everything to Australia then you can forget the whole south of Europe. Such as France Spain Greece etc. Go to Switzerland they are over well organized if its what you are looking for. Anyway there is no perfect country on this planet and overall Italy is one of the very best.

10 days???

Do you know what it takes to keep all those literally millions of homes, buildings that are CENTURIES and sometimes MILLENNIA old in proper shape 24/7/365 with 60 million inhabitants PLUS 60+ million tourist? I just saw a video where they are working on the inside of the Duomo in Florence that is being refurbished and has probably million+ mosaics will take 6 years. Now imagine the entire country where the most works of art and highest amount of World Heritage sites are located in addition to running the country and handling all those tourist, I don't know how they do it, the costs and work involved is overwhelming.. Despite that, Italy manages to be a top 10 economy, military, trading nation, wealthiest citizens in the WORLD, have the #1 history in the WORLD, a list of companies dozens long, world renown in every category from autos, motorbikes, super yachts (Italy produces 40% of the world's) fashion goods, food products (#1 most popular in the world) aerospace, appliances, etc. Yet your complaints are of roads which are winding all over Italy due to it's mountainous terrain, Australia is FLAT, and closed shops. If your sister visited also neither of you know shops close during the day at certain hours and people there just can't always keep up with all the tourists and endless tours with tourist expecting perfection and service 12 hours a day, 365 a year? I just recently saw a video of a tourist complaining of the same closures in Germany and I highly doubt Australia is immune from that and bad roads given the heat/rain/desert conditions. Seems you're Polish, why not live there? Guess it's because most Poles leave to live a better life elsewhere despite the EU's largest net BENEFACTOR of EU money?

I’m American with Italian heritage, have lived in Germany, and drove through Italy 4 times. My experience is the same as yours. The driving mainly was utterly maddening, especially after being around Germans so much. And I am a very fast driver, but not chaotic. Italians drive down the center of two lanes, I can pick them out anywhere. I don’t think I would want to live in Italy for the same reasons as you. I could love living in many other western countries of Europe though.

In the states you can also do a Google search for a place and find their hours are not accurate either!!!😂 My daughter and I have looked up places several times where this has happened. We will find a restaurant or shop (for example) and drive thirty minutes to the city only to find they are closed and NOT the hours listed on Google! 😮

I would choose Italy over America any day, I’ve been to Italy 12 times and planning on moving there.

I lived in Northern Italy near Venice for a couple years. I'm planning my retirement home as an expat in Sardegna. The draw is the blue water, fantastic beaches, and amazing food. It will be my home base for travels throughout Europe. I've also been to Australia 3 times, and it is fantastic too, although I found it a bit expensive; and I was living in Hawaii at the time. Best wishes on your journeys.

the fact that you were able have a connection with people is the most important thing and should not be taken for granted...not everyone has that level of social ease away from their own homeland

I am from Tuscany and I think your points are valid but they are just the tip of the iceberg. If you'd move to Italy you would find a diabolical bureaucracy and you would see that generally speaking public services are not the best. Health, judicial system, city councils, tax authorities... pretty bad compared to say most countries in northern Europe. Of course it also depends where in Italy, the North is very different from the South of Italy. If you have been annoyed by the roads, lack of care and Italians often not speaking English, I think that's just scratching the surface and you would be extremely unhappy if you moved to Italy, there are many worse things 😢 but the question is: do the pros outweigh these problems? And that is down to each individual