Italy July 2021
A whirlwind trip to Italy to say goodbye to our house;
The views from the house never disappoint
Preparing it for sale involved checking everything worked, removing the contents and cleaning it thoroughly.
As we had not been there since mid 2019, lots to be done.
Deciding what to ship to where, had to be done ahead of our visit from guess work and photos. On arrival, we found we had more stuff to sort than anticipated, mainly boxes not opened since moved to Italy. Needless to say, Sarah and I spent almost 2 weeks sorting, itemising, packing, chucking, cleaning, scrubbing, until the house was spick and span and everything sorted. We went to the Isola Ecologica (local recycling centre) with 7 car loads; 2 extra car loads went to the clothes recycling bin. Surprising what you take with you around the world. Sarah had not had a sort out like this since she left the UK in the 90s. Evenso, professional packing and removal took 4 more days.
It was sad to leave, but also a big relief. In one word: maintenance: no more pruning of roses; 2-3 hours mowing the lawn; tending the garden. No more negotiation in Italian with the electrician, plumber, security man, shutter man, heating engineer, gas man, WIFI provider, gardener, cleaner, DIY person; local farmer; pool man; person to mend the track; to sort out the latest issue.
We will miss the pool, the fresh produce, the beautiful evening light, the excellent food and wine,
the cycling, the Sibillini mountains; all the characters we met along the way; holidays with friends and family. Our time in Le Marche is something we will always cherish.
We had to leave Italy via Pisa (closest place where we could find a COVID test result in English) in order to comply with UK regulations.
This gave us a few days spare to cram in a quick visit to Sienna
where the truffles are as big as rocks.
2 operas in Torre Del Lago (home of Puccini)
a sculpture park outside Sienna; we met the owners and had a tour of their house. Last 5 nannies were all from NZ!
Gourmet dinners in Volterra;
paddling at sunset on the beach at Via Reggio, after everyone else has gone for dinner
hair raising/dusty tour of the Carrara marble mines; Huge blocks cut from the side and from inside the mountains
the garden at Villa Reale Di Marlia, now owned by the Swiss;
wall walking in Lucca;
and Pisa (up and around the leaning tower).
Sarah in her Waiheke T shirt with the famous tower behind.
So far we have avoided quarantine in Italy but had to isolate with my parents on return to UK.
After 3 negative COVID tests in 6 days, we are now free to roam. Let the fun begin.
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