NIU

Le Marche villas

Posted by Stacy on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 7:54 PM

I was tired, my 5 euro panini was soggy, and someone just pick pocketed my cell phone. Frankly, Rome was not all it was hyped to be as I stood on the Ponte Sant'Angelo last summer. I vaguely looked at the rows of fake handbags on sale on the sidewalk in front of me and walked dejectedly back to the hostel. My initial expectations of Italy were shattered, but my experience hardly constituted an accurate description of Italy as a whole, let alone Europe. One of my coworkers started talking about his dream of packing his bags and buying one of the many Italian villas that are for sale along the Mediterranean coasts of Italy. Umbria villas, Le Marche villas, Cinque Terre apartments - all of them are located in beautiful, quaint towns with wonderful views. He was describing homes he saw in catalogues of newly built, large homes with sandstone architecture and safe neighborhoods. More and more foreigners were moving out there. He told me of a Georgia retired couple spending the rest of their lives among Le Marche villas and loving it, even while taking Italian lessons. At first I was a bit skeptical of moving out there since it was a whole new environment. I mean, it might be good to visit once in a while, or even stay there a couple months for an extended summer, but to live there? Plus, I wasn't too crazy about Rome given my experiences. Still, he said that as he did his research, Italian villas seemed to live up to the hype. Of course, you'll need a certain amount of money to live or rent one of the Umbria villas, for example, but it may be well worth it to enjoy your retirement or free time in a new environment. Just the new culture itself will be an ample source of interest and relaxation, without the need for fancy entertainment complexes or swimming pools. Of course, many of these villas do have swimming pools. I started to think that maybe in the future, relaxing in one of the Cinque Terre apartments wouldn't be too bad. Plus, Cinque Terre is not close to Rome!