# Abruzzo bound



## PamelaFL (Jul 17, 2021)

we are so excited! ...wondering if I am crazy... but after years of dreaming about it, sellers just accepted our offer to buy a home “Sight unseen” in Abruzzo Italy near Casalbordino.
Any expats in the area?
Plan to live there part time the next few years and then relocate permanently.
So many questions, not sure where to start!


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## jeffinco (Aug 19, 2021)

PamelaFL said:


> Casalbordino


Hi Pamela,

I lived in Abruzzo in the late 80's, early 90's. So my take is pretty dated. Here are some random notes.

1) The mountains are absolutely beautiful.
2) Never, ever get out of your car to pet the lovely sheepdogs. I never got bit, but my car did....
3) The food is amazing. Duh.
4) Many, many of the older folks in tiny villages left Italy to work abroad when times were tough, then came home. Don't be too surprised if you're in a village that time forgot and a local comes up to you and speaks perfect English with an Australian accent.
5) Italians are omniscient. (Maybe this has changed with the internet...) My girlfriend approached a police officer to report a creepy guy who had been following her for 10 minutes. A bystander chimed in and told her that this other guy had been following her for half an hour... Also, if you're in Rome and see the cars triple-parked and wonder HITH can this be, just walk up to one of the cars and look inside: the keys are in the ignition! Everybody knows this, but they know there's zero chance of driving away with someone else's car without being noticed.
6) If you're a language buff, pay attention in the open air markets or in small towns. Sometimes you'll hear people use grammatical endings that are "wrong". An Italian friend told me that they are actually using endings that never changed from Latin.
6) Bring your walking shoes. *THE* thing to do in Italy is walk. Not a hike, but the passegiata: you walk up the main street, turn around and walk back. Then do it again. And again. As your skills develop, you'll acquire the air of not caring if you get anywhere, the skill of making eyes with a sexy man(?) while your OH makes eyes with a sexy woman(?), and the casual ease to let your kids/grandkids run around in the street until midnight. The biggest challenge for an American is to walk slowly enough.
7) Plan A never, ever works. Always have a plan B. Learn to delight in the unending variety of unforeseeable ways in which plan A can fail. And keep in mind that when it does, your plan B is now your plan A. You might print this one out and paste it on your bathroom mirror, front door, and/or forehead. 
8) When eating out, try asking for "vino sfuso", literally, "loose wine". It's wine that never got bottled; they sell it by the pitcher. It's super cheap and can be quite good. Like so many things, it's not on the menu, you just ask. In fact, I started wondering why they other with menus at all; if it _is_ on the menu, there's a good chance they don't have it. In general, Italians tend to be talkers, not readers. They are much more face-to-face than Americans.
9) When eating out, learn to spend 2-3 relaxed hours on dinner (and lunch!). You won't have much choice. Italians consider a meal to be a very important occasion for relaxation, togetherness, enjoyment. It doesn't fit into their conception of the world that someone could possibly want this to end quickly. It would be inexcusably rude for a waiter to rush things along, or take your plates away before being asked, or to hover over your table like Americans do. You need to learn the art of (almost) shouting "senta" (or "senti") to get the waiters attention. If you just wait, it could easily be 20 minutes before you can make eye contact.
10) You are _never_ overdressed. I remember seeing 3 women on a (yes 1) moped, two of them wearing fur coats.


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## gatta_coco (Jun 29, 2021)

Thank you for the advice!


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## PamelaFL (Jul 17, 2021)

jeffinco said:


> Hi Pamela,
> 
> I lived in Abruzzo in the late 80's, early 90's. So my take is pretty dated. Here are some random notes.
> 
> ...


This is great info! Thank you for the nuances and some good advice. 
I went to visit my new house pre-closing and it surpassed expectations. I have 2 years to get residency straightened out and plan the big move. Will be going there over Christmas holidays with all the kids.


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## gatta_coco (Jun 29, 2021)

Hi, Pamela, would you share where did you bought your house from?


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## modicasa (May 29, 2021)

You have 18 months to sort out your residency. One day over the limit and you will have to pay back all the money saved plus sanctions - if you bought as prima casa. If yuo buy as a second home you have all the time you want to decide if you want to take residency.


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## PamelaFL (Jul 17, 2021)

modicasa said:


> You have 18 months to sort out your residency. One day over the limit and you will have to pay back all the money saved plus sanctions - if you bought as prima casa. If yuo buy as a second home you have all the time you want to decide if you want to take residency.


Thank you. Didn’t know that but fortunately I am buying as second home for now. Which I hope gives me enough time to get my ducks in a row to apply for the elective residency visa. I thought it would be an easy process, but since learned that im going to need to do more homework etc. to set up the required passive income stream.


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## PamelaFL (Jul 17, 2021)

gatta_coco said:


> Hi, Pamela, would you share where did you bought your house from?


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## PamelaFL (Jul 17, 2021)

I messenged you privately ok. (At least I tried to)


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## gatta_coco (Jun 29, 2021)

PamelaFL said:


> I messenged you privately ok. (At least I tried to)


Please do, Thank you so much!


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