Stories & Blogs
Read what other expats have to say about living in Italy and how they did it.
Originally we kept all of the stories which we received via our questionnaire on one big page Expat Questionnaire Results but this was a little too long to read. Because of this the old page still stands but we will now be adding a page for each interviewee on the site. Here is our current list of interviews:
If you would like to start a discussion on the forum about a story, you can do so via our Instant Topic system by clicking here.
For some other stories and points of views:
BLOGS
One of the great things that has begun in the past couple of years are Blogs. A blog is a web log of someone's life. Expats use this means of communication to keep in contact with their friends back in their home country as well as a way to get things of their chests (living in Italy creates a need for a place like this).
If you would like to know how life is living in Italy, then check out or list of favorite expat blogs.
AboutAbruzzo - DeeBee's blog. http://villasfor2.com/aboutabruzzo/
A Straniera's View - Irene writes a straniera's view on life in Italy. http://erin.gentile.googlepages.com/
Annika's Blog - a Swedish hairdresser dreams of Italy and spills her heart out in her writings. This is a blog written by our very own Annika, moderator on our forum. http://expatsinitaly.com/annika/
Alpine Settler - A life in the Alps, so peaceful and quiet; just what is needed for an ageing Alpine Settler! http://www.expatsinitaly.com/blogs/carole/
Anything but Dull - Autumn and Bryan's adventures in Milano http://www.anythingbutdull.blogspot.com/
At Home in Rome - Shelley in Rome's blog. http://reallyrome.com/blog/
Barb & Art Live in Italy - Barb and Art have moved from Kentucky to Umbria. These are their adventures. Barb describes herself as "Bossy, opinionated, and impatient. Determined and stubborn. Quick tempered. Fiscally conservative and politically liberal. A realist, not a dreamer. A detail person and a planner. "
www.artnbarb.com
Bella Vita in Liguria Blog - American girl (Megan) marries Italian boy and settles in a Ligurian seaside village. Owns & operates a "Personal Travel Concierge" business for visitors to Italy. http://bellavitaitalia.blogspot.com/
Bellissima Tina - I'm Italian-American, I enjoy reading maps and drinking red wine, and I'm about to pack it all up and experience life in Italy..
http://www.expatsinitaly.com/tina
Bleeding Espresso (testa dura's blog) - and other little-known side effects of moving to Italy http://bleedingespresso.com
Bocconcini e Pomodorini - Shirley Roma's Italian journal. http://www.shirlitalia.blogspot.com/
Confessions of a 20-something Caffeine Addict - Em, her husband and little daughter live in Florence. This is LoPorto's story. http://web.mac.com/eclancy
Eurobimbo's Journey to Enlightenment – The Tuscany Files - In March 2005 we packed our life into storage and moved from The O.C. (SoCal) to Cortona, Italy with Porter the dog. I photoblog about the journey, life in Italy, our always amusing misadventures and try to include detailed information on the local area. http://www.eurobimbo.vonbarkenhagen.com
Gia-Gina Across the Pond - Gia-Gina decided to follow her husband to his native Italy. Part food blog, part photo blog but mostly her rants and raves. After their two years in Italy, they located across the Atlantic "pond" and are back in the States. http://gia-gina.blogspot.com
Italian Simplicity (Anne C.'s blog) - A food blog about living in Italy and the simple, yet delicious food that every region of the country has to offer. http://www.italiansimplicity.blogspot.com/
Jeff in Puglia - A Midwestern Surburban boy tries out life in rural heel of Italy (Brindisi). http://jeffinitaly.com/
Jen in Torino - American living in Italy for the 3rd time in her life (not counting all the trips and summers...), but who is finally returning for a job she is looking forward to at an innovative new University in Turin. http://jenintorino.blogspot.com/
Jessica in Rome - http://www.jessicainrome.com/
Judith's Think on it - Just what I think day to day, and what I cook, where I go, nothing all that much, really. http://www.judithgreenwood.com/thinkonit/
Kataroma (Ramona's blog) - I recently moved to Italy to join my boyfriend and am going through culture shock. This blog is a stand in for hours on psychiatrist's couch. http://www.kataroma.blogspot.com/
La Nostra Vita in Umbria - Our life in Umbria. What an exciting thought for two people from Seattle, WA! Come along with us on this journal through these pages and enjoy our experiences. http://expatsinitaly.com/cjumbria/
La Tavola Marche - http://www.latavolamarche.blogspot.com/
Left my Heart in Italy - The story of a military wife, homeschooling mom to 3 children who's dream it is to live in Italy...one day soon.
http://left-my-heart-in-italy.blogspot.com/
Life in Italy - The life and times of the Alotta family in Belforte all'Isauro, Italy.
http://www.szandlarry.blogspot.com/
Life in The City of Flowers - Me, 2 kids and sometimes a husband (!) living in Firenze, Italy. What we love here and what we don't! Must sees, must haves and more besides. Hopefully you will see our love and enthusiasm for this beautiful city. http://alyson-lifeinthecityofflowers.blogspot.com/
Living in Florence - An American moves to Florence with her husband and this is what happens . . . http://www.melindagallo.com/blog/
Lori's Magician Nights - http://magiciannites.blogspot.com/
Mi Chiamo Giovanna - It took me 18 years to be able to say the words "my name is Giovanna". Now, 21 years later, I am ready to find out what that really means. This is my journey. http://www.expatsinitaly.com/giovanna
Michellenea (mschoen) - http://michellanea.blogspot.com/
Not All Who Wander Are Lost - life and love of two travelin' fools in Sicily http://www.tokenandtracie.blogspot.com/
NYC/Caribbean Ragazza - http://www.sistergirltales.blogspot.com/
Olio di Oliva e Sogni di Vino - Katerinafiore is a freelance travel writer and enjoys expressing herself anyway possible by taking one step at a time to Imperfection. http://blog.katerinafiore.com/
Quasi Catanese - http://www.quasicatanese.blogspot.com/
Re-Boot A New Life in Italy - Four years ago I met "The Italian" and we quickly became friends. After a few years (and tons of miles) we became engaged. On November 4, 2004 I landed in Italy with two frightened cats by my side. This is my new life in a very old country http://reboot-anewlifeinitaly.blogspot.com
Senso Unico - Life in Rome for an American couple with three children, two businesses, and a partridge in a pear tree http://www.the-beehive.com/blog/
Spike Goes to Venice - The Story of Susan's Year in Venice--Leading the Charmed Life! http://spikegoestovenice.blogspot.com
Stelle in Italia - Two eager American ragazze and their adventures in Italy; Jackie in Macerata, Corrie writing from the Hoosier state--the two American ragazze are back, but writing from opposite corners of the globe. http://stelleinitalia.blogspot.com/
The Big Move - http://carola-jon.blogspot.com/
The Flavors of Abruzzo - MB's blog http://palmch.com/blog2/
The View from Il Loggino - Musing on Moving to the Val d'Orcia http://www.expatsinitaly.com/joanna/
Under an Olive Tree - is where Diane sits when she get a spare moment! She has lots to choose from in rural Italy, about 80 miles South East of Rome. http://www.diane-underanolivetree.blogspot.com/
Under the Neapolitan Son - Or, Kicked in the Shin: Naples and the Italian Experience to Tear Down Your Tuscan Farmhouse Fantasy http://undertheneapolitanson.blogspot.com/
A special note on blogs:
I used to have all of these blogs listed in my Links in Favorites. Every morning I would click on each link to see if someone had posted. As you can imagine by the quantity of blogs listed above, this took quite a while on my slow dial-up. To ease my frustration with the slowness, I set up an account at Bloglines to receive feeds and then I set up a favorite link to Sub With Bloglines. This link sits in my menu bar and when I find a new blog I just have to click the Sub with Bloglines link and it will set up a subscription to that blog for me. Now I click on a link I set up on my menu bar called My Blogs (http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs) which is the address where all of your subscriptions lay. In this it will show on the left column which blogs have been updated and if you click on the title of the blog (still in the left column) it will bring up the posts on the right. You can set it to only show the title of the post, a partial clip of the post or the whole thing. It makes browsing much easier. Now I seem to check in a couple of times a day as it is so quick.
Another thing about blogs. Many people are hosted by Blogger so if you see an address that has blogspot in it, you will see a blogger blog. Unfortunately, blogger does not seem to be very stable and many times the pages will not open. If you are hosted by blogger, see if you could switch to WordPress.
If you would like to have your blog hosted by us (Expats in Italy) you can by taking out Premium Membership. Just let me know.
