This is quite a lengthy account of an extremely productive week in northernmost Tuscany, getting things started following our purchase of a small house there. Even if you are not interested in all the details, there are some useful insights that might be of value to those of you trying, or thinking of trying, to get your own property in Italy.
My wife and I live in Tring, Hertfordshire. We're around 50 and we share a love of Italy, to the extent that we were married in Ravello a couple of years ago. At our wedding my good friend Pete was best man. Pete and I met at Bristol University from where we graduated in 1980. In the early 90s Pete went to work in Milan, and he soon went native, currently living in Sarzana (near La Spezia in Liguria) with his partner Franca. Some years ago he bought a 'pile of rocks' in a tiny village called Malgrate in Lunigiana at the northernmost tip of Tuscany, about half an hour inland from Sarzana. This is not the Florence, Siena, Chianti, rolling hills, cypress trees and beautiful farmhouses of Tuscany as most of us know it. It's far more rugged and has a character all of its own. It's a great place to buy a property because it's affordable, there are few tourists except in the height of summer, but it is within an hour of Lucca, Pisa, the Cinque Terre, Portofino, Porto Venere, Golfo dei Poeti and so on.
Pete has been renovating his pile of rocks over the past several years. About seven years ago the neighbouring house (with which Pete shares a large terrace) was done up by a local chap, who then sold it to another Englishman, Bruno. We bought Bruno's house in May, but we're starting afresh due to the fact that the previous renovations were a bit 'quick and dirty'.
Pete is project managing the work. He has the contacts, speaks the language, and knows the system. It's no small job for him, and we're paying him a fee for his efforts. Pete is available to offer a professional house-buying and renovating service to those who, like us, need a man on the ground. We needed to sort the place out and get some quotes from plumbers, electricians, builders and so on, so Pete and I decided to spend seven days out there. Pete had been in the UK for a couple of weeks and we travelled together, setting off from Tring on Friday morning (3rd June 2005). It was an inauspicious start when Pete missed the M11 turnoff for Stansted. Did you know the next junction is about ten miles further north?
We arrived on time at Pisa where we then waited in the searing heat for 15 minutes in the car park - Franca was running late having been to aqua-gym after work! We did a spot of shopping on the way to Malgrate, getting there at about 6pm. Pete then revealed a new side (new to me) as a bit of a Hitler, starting with an immediate launch into clearing the house. No quick aperitif on the terrace followed by a spot of dinner. No unpacking and getting one's bearings. No careful planning of the week ahead. Just a pre-emptive strike in case any of the furniture was thinking of ganging up against us. Within an hour we had carried out most of the furniture and put it in various piles. This furniture was mostly old rubbish: for example there was a 'bookshelf', weighing a ton and looking as though it was made by a blind, one-armed scaffolder.
Having been away for a couple of weeks, Pete sensibly went home to see Franca in Sarzana. There was nothing for me to do but carry on sorting. Bruno had only taken from the house what he and his mate could carry home on Ryanair - not much in other words - so the place was fully furnished and littered with knick-knacks, smelly linen, chipped crockery, old food and so on. Then I looked in the fridge. No surprise, it was all mouldy, so I had to spend an hour cleaning it. After that I 'sorted' all the knick-knacks by dumping them into three boxes. It was a late night.
Come back on next week for the second part of Hard Labour in Lunigiana!
