living abroad

It seems like a lot of people are thinking about moving to Italy from the U.S. these days. I did it several years ago and it was a magical experience. I’ve had friends ask me what it was like moving to Italy as an American and it certainly requires a lot of patience. Families may be curious about moving to Italy with children. We moved to Milan when my children were 7 and 9 years …

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to live abroad as an expat, a Diplomat, I’m about to spill my secrets. Aside from the Diplomatic passport (best souvenir ever!), there were many perks to being an expat. I’m the adventurous one, so when my husband had an opportunity to move to Milan, Italy for work with the government, I had us packed up before he could say “no”. My kids were only 7 and 9 …

Chris’s grandfather came to the U.S. from Sicily when he was 17 years old. He left behind seven sisters but never returned to his homeland. He wound up a fat, happy Italian man working in the garment district of New York City. Chris’s mother had always retained her strong ties to Italy. She had visited Italy before but had never ventured to the island to re-establish her roots. She had in fact kept in touch with two …

With one year of culture shock under our belts, I invited my mother to come live with us.  After all, she was 68 year old widow, in good health, with no job….when else will she get the opportunity to live in a foreign country and tour exotic destinations. It didn’t take much to convince her. One day, while wrestling with her swimming pool vacuum, I said, “why don’t you leave all this behind and move …

Shortly after our arrival, we decided that we were brave enough to venture out on a driving trip and opted for one of those places you have to go so you can say you’ve been there places –  the Riviera.  So we set off on the winding, twisting mountain roads through the countryside of Liguria.  When we arrived at our destination, on the far western Italian Riviera, we were surprised to find that we were only …