Sunday 7 February 2010

Where in the world.....

Where in the world are we?

In April it will be my 4 year anniversary of living (mostly) in Italy. Before that I lived the majority of my life in Melbourne and a few years in London. I have lived in Portugal for 3 months and moved around Italy spending summers in Rome, Taormina and Sorrento. The bel ragazzo and I have seen many countries, worked in a few and have finally decided where we are going to live (or try to live anyway.)

We have moved to a beautiful, small town where the air is clean, the pace of life more relaxed, where there are next to no tourists. What? I hear you say. 'Next to no tourists?' As you know we work in the tourist industry so what are we doing in a non-touristy town?

Well....we have quit our jobs for a start! Good bye stupid tourists...there will be no more 'stupid tourist comments of the day!' The next time I go away I want to be the tourist!

We have moved to a town where no one speaks English, except the odd person who lived in Canada or America many years ago. No more going to an Italian restaurant and seeing pizza with ham and pineapple on the menu, no more!

After travelling for so many years it is time for us to settle in one place. We are sick and tired of living out of a suitcase and we have so many plans for the future that we are beginning to put those plans into action.

So where are we?

Come on, you can all guess!



We are in Malito, in Calabria, in bel ragazzo's lovely little hilltop town of 800 odd people. We have been back for three weeks and the gods are definitely on my side. I have already found a job, this week we are moving into our own apartment and other then that I have no complaints - well not really. Since I am moving into a small Calabrese village, there are certainly going to be issues, times when my patience is tested and where I feel I am going mad. I've only been here 3 weeks and have had some issues with water connection and the like...but hey - we're here, we're willing to give it a try and see how it goes.

So stay tuned for tales of my new life in a small, hilltop, Calabrese town living with my bel fidanzato (we are engaged now, so maybe I should change his name???)

13 comments:

Bitter Chocolate said...

Aww, congratulations on the engagement! Some big changes coming around! I totally understand that moving around gets very tiring in a while, good luck with settling down :)

Gil said...

Congratulations on your move HOME! One of these days we hope to get back to Calabria and see more that the ferry terminal.

LindyLouMac said...

Welcome! I will be looking forward to reading your tales of settling in.

Andrea said...

Congrats on the move. Sounds like you'll be much happier there.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations,

especially for having found a job in Calabria !!!I didn't think it was possible during these times, anywhere in the world !!

Anonymous said...

Good luck with everything Leanne.

Cherrye at My Bella Vita said...

Welcome to Calabria and congrats on your engagement. I hope we can get together again soon.

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

Woohoo especially on the job and the apartment (I believe I've already congratulated you on the engagement, but if not, that too)! Hope to see you soon :)

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

Well congratulations on settling back in Italy and on your engagement!

Thank goodness NO more tourists for you...Not sure if it is Thank goodness for you or for the Tourists..ha ha ha.

Where have you seen Ham and Pineapple pizza on the menu??

Leanne was in Italy now in Australia said...

Hi BC,
You're right - one does get over moving around all the time, as fun as it is...it is also somewhat annoying!

Hi Gil,
You have got to see more then the ferry terminal here - especially since the ferry terminal is not even nice!

Hi LindyLouMac,
There will be many tales coming your way.

Hi Andrea,
I think we will be much happier here!

Hi Anonymous,
You know what - I too was worried about finding work here, but things seemed to work out well for me (touch wood.)

Hi Cathy,
Thanks for the warm wishes!

Hi Cherrye at My Bella Vita,
When the snow stops we will get together again, I work now down near your part of Calabria too.

Hi Michelle | Bleeding Espresso,
Thanks! Hope to see you girls soon, as I said above to Cherrye - once the weather improves.

Hi Anne in Oxfordshire,
I saw ham and pineapple on the menu on the Amalfi coast at a lovely little restaurant, and to make matters worse it was last year, when i was with my boss and HE ordered it! Oh the shame...

Carolina said...

Congrats on the new job and apartment too! It will certainly be a new experience for you! (as I can attest too :)!!)... Keep us posted and I look forward to hearing about your job experiences as well! All the best!

deb at nonna's house said...

Congratulations Leanne! I'll let you know next time I'm in Grimaldi. :)

Leanne was in Italy now in Australia said...

Hi Carolina,
Thanks for the warm wishes, I shall keep you posted on my progress in Malito!

Hi Deb,
You SO have to let me know when you are next in Grimaldi!