Terry says that our interest in making a trip to Europe began with my study of his family history in late spring of 2018. His Slovenian grandfather, and numbers of his siblings, immigrated to the U S around 1911, settling in Cleveland, Ohio. Surely, we did become fascinated with the project and, thanks to Google maps, were able to see and, visually at least, wander through the tiny village of Hudi Vhr where his grandfather grew up. Thoughts of traveling to Slovenia and truly walking through his ancestral home began to be a fun topic of speculation. I’m not sure how or exactly when this began to translate to the idea of living abroad, but our investigation of Italy began soon after.
Before long, we decided to spend September of 2019 in Florence. We reserved an apartment, arranged for a dog sitter, and decided we would look for property while there. Terry was fluent in Italian after his decade of going to school in Italy, so there was really no question of the most fitting destination. And, since we both had a strong interest in the arts, we imagined immersing ourselves in Italy’s rich artistic resources.
Did we then settle back and wait for a year to pass like mature adults? Not at all. The internet was our best friend as we looked at property for rent, property for sale, and the best place to live. Pretty quickly we found that any place near Florence would be too expensive, so Terry began looking further afield, though primarily in Tuscany. Simply by chance, a site touting the virtues of Anghiari popped up one day.
Anghiari is a medieval, hilltop town, recognized as one of the most beautiful in Italy. With a population of around 5,000, it is a quiet town, but one that attracts visitors and offers a range of activities and sights for the tourist. Part of its fame stems from the lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci, “The Battle of Anghiari.” The battle did, indeed, take place in Anghiari, at the base of the hill on which the village sits. Not much of a battle, actually–only one death is recorded and that resulting from a combatant’s fall from his horse. Still, da Vinci made much of the scene and it was later replicated by Peter Paul Rubens.
So now we had a preferred location–this was getting exciting, and dangerous, as now an actual plan was beginning to take shape. But what is a location without a house to live in? Thus began our property search, now in Anghiari or nearby towns. Pretty quickly we settled on a couple of real estate sites, Gate-Way and Romolini. The latter was based in Anghiari and before long we were exchanging emails with Anna, who was so helpful that we couldn’t help but respond.
Lurching towards Italy 