Where to live in Italy? Exploring 6 Cities in 12 Days
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- čas přidán 30. 07. 2024
- Ep.13 Follow us on our journey to find a new home in Italy. From Lucca to Florence, then to Parma, and on to Verona and Venice, before we finish our tour in Bologna. We share beautiful views, foods, and experiences. At the end, we reveal our favorite city.
You can find more info on Italian citizenship judicial cases by visiting these links:
- italiancitizenshipassistance....
- italiancitizenshipassistance....
- italiancitizenshipassistance....
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
02:29 - Lucca
05:42 - Florence
08:26 - Parma
12:46 - Verona
19:16 - Venice
21:38 - Bologna
27:22 - What’s our favorite city in Italy?
28:10 - When we arrived home…
28:20 - In the next episode
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📹 VIDEO EQUIPMENT
* Primary Camera: Sony FX30
* B-Roll Camera: Sony ZV-1, iPhone 14 Pro
* Editing: Final Cut Pro X on an M1 Max MacBook Pro
* Key Light: Aputure Amaran 100d COB LED Light
* Diffuser: Selens Hexadecagon Softbox 65cm/26in
* Color Light: Aputure Amaran MC RGBWW Mini
* Fill Light: Elgato Key Light Professional Studio Light
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* Vocal Microphones: Sony ECM-B10, RODE PodMic
* Audio Recording: RODECasterPro
#findingGinaMarie #worldtraveler #worldtravel #livingthedream #slowtravel #digitalnomad #digitalnomadlife #europetravel #retireearly#retireearlyandtravel #adopted #dualcitizenship #movingtoeurope #fulltimetravel #23andme #ancestrydna #italytravel #verona #florence #earlyretirement #lucca #bologna
I have just found your CZcams channel, I have watched a few videos and I love the content. You offer more information than many of your contemporaries so I shall revisit frequently.
That's very kind of you to say and we appreciate that you've taken the time to post a comment. Do let us know if you have any questions or content ideas. Cheers!
- Kevin
We loved our time in Bologna. For Classical mudic and food, but not enough well treed park space.
Hi Gary, We recently were looking at our footage from Bologna and felt a lot of nostalgia over it. We didn't love it as a place to live, but we had a great time there for sightseeing and vacationing. We plan to be in and out of Italy over a few months this year, and we hope you'll follow along! Thanks for watching and for sharing your experience! -Judy
Italy video series: czcams.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1Tj_VCjUNQTJBMtKpkz5Sk.html
I would prefer Verona too, would love to to the concerts in Summer. And in 20 minutes you are by train from Porta Nuova to the Garda lake at Sirmione. Padova and Trento are also a lovely cities.
We haven't seen these other Italian cities, but we are by no means finished exploring Italy. We hope to retire there at some point when we eventually are tired of traveling, but we hope that won't be for a long, long while. You might also want to see our entire series from Italy (since we've been full-time travelers). We really loved Torino as well. We'll add your suggestions to our locations to explore, and are including a link to our episodes from Italy and our website articles as well. Thanks for watching! -Judy
🎬 Italy video series: czcams.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1Tj_VCjUNQTJBMtKpkz5Sk.html
Website articles from Italy: findingginamarie.com/italy
Living vicariously through you two!!!
We are so glad to have you on this ride with us, Diana! If ever you have questions or places you'd like to see, we'd love to consider adding them to our list of places to visit so we can bring them to you! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie, I don't know if you've been to Pienza, but if you are in Southern Tuscany, do try to get there, although a car may be necessary. Because of you two, Spello is now on my bucket list!
@@dianarider7712 We have not been there yet! Unfortunately, we don't have plans to be that far south for the remainder of the year, but we will add it to our list of places to visit! And we are thrilled that we have inspired you to visit Spello! Please let us know what you think after you travel there. We'd love to hear about your experience with this magical city! -Judy
Judy, I already have our Spello hotel picked out! Like you, I'm the planner!
@@dianarider7712 Hooray! We are so excited for you! Would love to hear what you think of it when you return. 🤩 -Judy
Love this discussion! There are so many options it's certainly difficult to make a decision. Will check out your next videos to see what you decided. Hope wherever you land that you can hit the Cinqueterre (if you have not been) but also head to the south, as there so many interesting and wonderful places to visit.
We haven't been to the Cinque Terre yet, partially because we have so many places still to explore but also because we are waiting for a non-touristy time to visit and that hasn't happened yet. We did love Palermo, Sicily, and are eager to explore more of the south. As a long-term place to live, we worry that it takes a little longer to get there (and back out for travel purposes) and also that the healthcare isn't as good as it is in the north. We haven't ruled it out yet! Spoiler alert, though, we have opted to travel full time and see the world while we are waiting for my dual citizenship to come through, so we still are exploring! -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie - Oh, yes I can understand that there are way more considerations when you're looking for a place to live, and not just traveling as a tourist! Good luck with your search.
Thank you so much, Dan! We are in Genova now and Torino next week. So far Genova has been lovely! So many interesting places to explore. I don't know if a lifetime of travel throughout only Italy would ever be enough for us! -Judy
If you're wanting northern Italy, I'd suggest you check out Turin first and then Genoa second. Turin has the history and architecture you talked about wanting in your previous vid, and the Piedmont region has a LOT to offer: It's where the "slow food" movement began, the Monferrate region is a Unesco World Heritage site; home of Barolo wines, close to the foothills of the Alps... and it's 1-2 hours closer to various European locations you may want to travel to. And it's going to be less expensive than Florence or Verona?
@thospeterson Wow, thank you for the thoughtful comment and suggestions! We will look into both! Seems like we briefly considered them both, but I don’t know why we didn’t look further. We have to be out of Schengen next week, but we will carve out time to visit both! -Judy
Turin is the snowiest city in all of Italy! Where do people go in winter?!!
We stayed in Verona for 10 days in the Porta Vescovo neighborhood east of the city. It was a regular, working class neighborhood (with many native Italians and many recent immigrants) and we had a renovated AIRBNB apartment that faced a garden and was very quiet. We regularly walked to the market, passing the regulars who might be hanging out at a bar. There was a bus line in front of our apartment. There was a laundromat, a bakery, and perhaps the best restaurant we ate in all of Verona: Carlo Re. I could and could not imagine myself living in Verona, but it would have to be far from the forum. And I would not want to live near Porta Nuova or Porta Vescovo train stations. The nicest sections were along the river, near the top of the "thumb" of Verona along the Adige. We also, quite by accident, walked across the river to the swinging 1960s neighborhood of Borgo Trento with a large amount of well-to-do elderly people, widows in high rise buildings. We hiked up to the gorgeous Santuario della Madonna di Lourdes. And we also had a great sandwich and a nice impression of the less touristy hood near Basilica di San Zeno Maggiore. Verona has both good and bad. The bad is : crowds, cigarettes everywhere, crazy automobile drivers. The good is everything else. (I forgot to mention the wonderful $5 bus that brought us to Lake Garda and Sirmione in less than an hour. That was remarkable.)
Hi Andrew, Thanks so much for watching and for sharing your experiences regarding Verona. I love that you had the experience of living among the locals. We've typically stayed close to the Piazza della Erbe and absolutely loved the area, but our visit there was before we started traveling full time and using Airbnbs. We did consider the area near the Arena, and I don't think that area would have been a problem for us. It's cool to know that the areas we visited also were areas you explored. Unfortunately, cigarettes are in way too many European cities, and ditto for automobile drivers (and even scooters for that matter)! We think there's a lot good. The architecture absolutely captivated us. I'd be curious how you think Turin will compare. We would like to try them back to back next year just for grins and we'll need to check out Carlo Re and the part of the city where you spent your vacation. The problem is that there are so many new Italian cities also to explore! We've never taken buses, but we do love the affordable train system! -Judy
I realize that the size of the town would be too small for you. However, you owe it to yourself to check out the town of Pietrasanta...The Little Athens. Culture, great restaurants, artists, and did I mention it is 3.5 km to the Italian Riviera. A truly chill vibe. Good Luck on your travels
Thanks for sending us this info! We still have open minds and would love to investigate Pietrasanta further. We have tentative plans to spend Nov/Dec in Verona, so we could detour there quite easily. Our biggest challenge is that until my dual citizenship comes through (or Italy suddenly offers more details on their digital nomad program), we are at the mercy of the Schengen 90/180 day rule. ❤️ -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie If you can, stay overnight the town comes alive...Ciao
I was reading about it. It sounds fascinating! And we love hearing about all the art that is there! Thanks for sharing! Question: Can you get by without a car? We’d really prefer not to own one. ❤️ -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie There is no problem getting there by train, and from there you can get to the Cinque Terre, Viareggio, Pisa. However, among the many charms of Pietrasanta is it's location and all that surrounds it. Smack dab between the mountains and the sea and a car rental for a few days would be great... but not necessary. All I ask is that you keep Pietrasanta a secret if you can. It truly is a gem.
We aren't going to be able to make it to Pietrasanta this time, unfortunately, but I've added it to our list for the next round that opens up for us in mid May. Thank you again for the suggestion, and our lips are sealed!
I guess I'll see you in Verona 😁
We’d love that! ❤️
But the water taxis are so cheap and easy to use and to get around Venice
Thank you for watching. They are inexpensive, but we had to wait a while and think it's still a hassle. In theory the canals and islands are beautiful, but it has become so overtouristed that it's hard to find authentic Venice. -Judy
Agree! We loved Verona and Lucca. Several visits to Firenze and Venezia, but wouldn't want to live there. Bologna was ok, same for Parma.
Each place has its own unique personality. We still have so much to explore! It's hard to balance because the rest of the world also is calling! Firenze has so much charm, but it's getting to be too touristy in some parts. But we'd visit in a heartbeat, and I do love Visconti fountain pens, which are made there! -Judy
Hello. This is a helpful video. I've lived my lifetime so far in Mill Valley - working in SF as a court reporter - so I feel we've a similarities. and, yes, it will be hard to beat the beautiful sunny but cool bay area weather anywhere in Italy - but, hey, I've been spoiled. I too am seeking citizenship via JS - but am not 1948 so I am looking for a place to settle in Italy where filing JS at the local comune will be an option. The good news is that it gives me a right to stay longer than the 90 days . My plan was to settle in Lucca - get my citizenship from there - while traveling about to search and 'find my spot' - make sure it's Lucca - but I am attracted to the southern regions offering the 7% tax incentive - have you folks given this incentive any place in your deliberations as to where to settle?
What a small world! It's helped over this last six months that the Bay Area hasn't had the best weather, so we don't feel quite as bad no longer living in the area. But it's very hard to beat otherwise! Italy was way colder in winter than we realized! Lucky you regarding citizenship. I wish you well. It was disappointing to learn we weren't eligible while we were in Verona. It definitely sucked the air out of the room when we found out. Lucca is very lovely, but it was a little smaller than we'd prefer. It didn't help that we had other cities to explore, and I think we were anxious to see them. I've also learned to travel with more comfortable shoes, because I recall that trip being very hard on my feet-I'm doing so much better with some Clifton 9 Hoka sneakers versus trendy shoes.
We haven't really looked at the places with the 7% tax incentives, in part because we don't want to own a car and still would like to travel throughout Europe and the smaller towns aren't as easy to get in and out of. However, now that we are full-time travelers for the foreseeable future, when we are finally ready to settle down, those areas may have more pros than cons. We have at least two or three years to travel before my dual citizenship is finalized.
Have you seen our playlist for Italy? We have videos about Naples, Palermo (Sicily), Assisi and Spello, and Lecce, which is in Puglia. Puglia is one of the places with the 7% tax break, so you can maybe get a small sense of whether one of the nearby towns might be interesting. After France, we are visiting Genoa, Nervi, and Turin at the suggestion of our viewers. So many lovely places in Italy to experience! czcams.com/play/PLNT98lWfwdF1Tj_VCjUNQTJBMtKpkz5Sk.html
Thank you for watching, and please keep us posted on your search for a new Italian home. Do you have a time frame for your eventual move? -Judy
@@FindingGinaMarie Oh, I didn't realize you'd tried through a comune. How was that in Verona? Verona is such a lovely destination, it's been on my shortlist, but you know everyone advises that the smaller comuni are best for JS. So a recent video I saw, says you are 'midway' through your JS, did you get redirected to a 1948 path, or something? Yes, I've seen the video on Spello - very enticing - do you feel one could live there comfortably? I'll have a car. In order to qualify for the 7%, it needs to be a smaller village but I hope to find a place that has markets and restaurants - meets the basic daily needs - Spello is beautiful.
I may not have made myself clear. I have always been in a 1948 case path. Those cases now have to go through the court in your Italian ancestor's comune that you are using to qualify for dual citizenship (versus the court in Rome, where it had been until last June). There isn't a lot of precedent to know how local comunes will respond to the cases, but my fingers are crossed they will be amenable. If the court approves you, you get dual citizenship, but you still have to apply for residency in whatever comune you choose to reside in. This is because you are not allowed to live in Italy merely because you have a 1948 case pending (unlike JS). I'm still in the document gathering portion, which I think is the most time consuming (outside of waiting for trial). Unfortunately, New York State is very protective of providing birth and death certificates, so I've had to file a lawsuit to get the birth certificate of my grandmother.
I do think Spello is a beautiful city and very livable. You'd have to be comfortable with all the hills because there are a lot of them there. I'm not finding a website that lists what towns or cities qualify for the 7% tax beyond the broad municipalities. It would seem there should be some map highlighting the areas so you can drill down and explore those locations in more depth. If you are aware of one, I'd love you to share it! -Judy
This website includes villages that may be suitable, but they aren’t a full list (limited to Lazio, Marche, and Umbria): www.studiolegalemetta.com/en/italian-7-per-cent-flat-tax/
@@FindingGinaMarie Thank you!