It is official. We are now squatters in our former home. Jane and Christie came over, we had wine and toasted their new ownership. They did some measuring. It is definitely bittersweet for me, but I am very happy friends of mine will be enjoying this sweet space. Later Luther and I popped the champagne he bought. We toasted to our new adventure yet to come. 🙂
It was socked in with fog this morning, as is usual for this time of year. It was also the coldest it has been, 4C or 39F.
We tried to buy pellets for the stufa last week where we usually buy and they had none, and no idea when, or if, they would get any 🫤. So we bought two small bags at the grocery store when shopping. Those went into the hopper on the stove and I lit it up this morning. Nice and cozy. We need to do a recon to see if we can find any pellets anywhere. They seem to be a casualty of the Ukrainian war.
I busied myself making soup this morning for my lunches this week. Then I decided to go for a walk. It had warmed up and was sunny by 11:30. Beautiful day. Brilliant blue skies will get up into the 60s today. I had wanted to combine errands with my walk but forgot to bring my purse into which I had put everything I needed to get them done! Oh well, I made the most of the day and took a few photos. I will do captions.
Tomorrow we, and the buyers of our Casa in Centro will go to the Notaio to sign Powers of Attorney for the sale. It is a notable, if bittersweet for us, occasion.
Big news! We got a call from the immobiliare that he had a response to our offer. We walked over (it is in walking distance). To our surprise, the selling couple, were in the office. I don’t think I have ever met the seller of a property we bought in the US. The first you see of them is when you go to closing. Walter and Marcella. They are super nice folks. And cat lovers!
Anyway, they agreed on the price we offered. The only changes they asked for, were for closing to be two months later and that they keep the big wood stove. That was fine with us and I know the buyers of our apartment are OK with us staying after we close. This will give us the money from the sale here to use on the apartment. I was a bit sad about the wood stove. I guess we will have to buy a new one.
It is a relief. But we still have the move ahead of us! This is uncharted territory, a move! A moving company! And I will definitely want to do some work. I have already decided I want a new kitchen upstairs. There is an itty bitty one in the same place where I’d put the new one so the water and all is there already. It will be open plan to the family room. But I guess I have to wait until we get there to get started. Otherwise I think I will want to have it painted, probably.
Anyway, I wanted to tell all those who read this journal. We now have a hiatus. We remain in our beloved house in Centro through two more seasons. I will enjoy another Christmas here. I will enjoy another Autumn. And then, it will be time for change!
Andrà tutto va bene! 🌈
I guess it is time for an announcement. We have sold our home. That’s good, I guess. But still sad for us. The good news is that we sold it to friends! Who will love it as much as we have. Call me sentimental but when I get attached to a house, and I am attached to this one, it matters to me who buys it.
We were already in negotiations with a couple who live in NY. He is a real estate lawyer. We had a zoom showing of our house by our real estate agent, so we virtually met them. Honestly, I didn’t like them…I should say him. She was silent. He was a know-it-all. But he really didn’t have a clue about how things work here. Real estate doesn’t work the same as the US. I love my house, and I love my town. Somehow, this guy just didn’t seem like the right fit to me. They were flying over this coming week to see the apartment. I am sure they would have made an offer. Then…SHAZAM 💥 …I got an email from our friends with an offer to buy. A good offer with time for us to find a place and move. 💕 And I know they will love our place as much as we have.
Now begins our search for a new home. We are starting here in Umbertide. Because we love it here, we are rooted here, we have friends here. There is a place we want to see if the Agent would EVER answer my emails. This is a huge complaint here. The agents just are not motivated or responsive. We have received no reply from the agent. Their office is nearby so we will walk in. I have also sent inquiries to an agent in Spoleto. There are two there that we’d like to see. I also have questions about a third property.
Stay tuned…I will post about the search — if we ever get to see anything 🙄
Today is a beautiful, if cool day. We heard about a little French fest in Città di Castello, this is the next town north of us in the Tiber valley. Luther, myself and our friend Jen decided it would be a fun outing. Off we went in the brilliant sun and blue sky day.
Città di Castello is about twice the size of Umbertide. It has a complete ancient wall enclosing the old Centro Storico. It also has some beautiful towers and buildings.
We park in a free parking lot. It is just outside the walls. There is a crosswalk and a small door through the wall and then escalators up. It is not that far because Città is not a hill town. You come out in a lovely park just next to the Duomo. Then it’s a short walk to the main piazza. All the vendors are French. It was nice to hear French. We first came to a spice and tea vendor. These two are the ones I bought. They smell devine!
We walked. And looked. We were here on the first day of the fair and many stands were not finished setting up. On the good side, there were no crowds. I am sure tomorrow and Sunday will be very crowded. We also bought French soap, mustard from Dijon, and cherry preserves. I bought a new scarf, because a lady can’t have too many scarves!
Suddenly! There were cheeses! Beautiful French cheeses. We used to live in Germany very near France. The Alsace was our favorite place. Lo and behold there was Munster cheese. It must hold the prize for the stinkiest cheese. But it has a lovely mild taste. It has been many years since I had it. I bought half a round of it. and another very pretty cheese. Here’s a picture.
The next stand had a guy behind a plastic partition with multiple ovens and he was producing the most amazing things to eat. I bought a lovely baguette and a seeded bread to go with the cheeses. We bought lunch, I got a baguettino with goat cheese and almonds. Jen got the same. Luther got an individual quiche Lorraine. All very yummy.
It was an excellent outing to enjoy this cool spring day.
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Today, we also have an apartment viewing at 6 o’clock. We have been working very hard to not open the frig because inside lives the Munster cheese. And honestly, it can permeate the entire house with its pungent aroma in an instant! Could be off putting to potential buyers. 😁
Buono fine di settimana…much easier to say have a good weekend!
I think everyone reading this knows our apartment is for sale here in Umbria. [Listing] Not that this is new. We listed it about 3 years ago. Things move slowly here during normal times, but two years of this listing time has been severely Covid affected. We essentially lost two years of any possible activity. Now that things are loosening up and people are again out and about and traveling, we are seeing an uptick in interest. I feel certain we will sell this year.
So, anyway, last week we had some folks come look. British expats, they had just sold their big country house here where they had lived for 28 years. I could tell it was hard for them to have given it up. They wanted a smaller ”bolt-hole” as the Brits call it. A place where they could still return to their beloved Umbria, but without the upkeep. A place they could lock and leave. I could tell they really liked our casa. They wasted no time, we got an offer on Sunday. It was a bit low so we countered with what we thought was a reasonable price. Then silence. Finally I wrote the agent to enquire. Turns out, in the meantime, they had had second thoughts. They had wanted to replace their beloved Casa Anna. Buying our apartment would have been like getting married on the rebound. I totally get it. It was probably too soon.
At any rate, the possibility of it happening kind of lit a fire under us for a couple of days, contemplating where we would go – with some panic on my part, I don’t mind saying. The nice thing about the offer was the people were very flexible on the closing date. It would have given us the time we need to find someplace. Anyway, we did some looking during those two days and have a few possibilities. We will definitely start recon in earnest of places we might like to move.
Lunch with Archie yesterday at Calagrana to celebrate the birthday of a friend.
Hi everyone. I thought I would take this opportunity to mention again that we are selling our nice apartment here in one of the most convenient little towns I’ve ever encountered here in Italy. Literally anything you could need or wish for is within walking distance of our apartment. You go to the normal little medieval towns in Umbria, or Tuscany, or to a pretty hill town, and they steal your heart. But there is no “there” there. There are no services. You have to drive everywhere. But not here. It is all close by, reachable on foot. In a flat riverside town, surrounded by mountains. You will get integrated into the Italian life. You will know the shopkeepers, and they will know you. This is not to say Umbertide is not pretty with historic sights because it is also that.
We have the best of both worlds in our apartment, a town view of our main piazza, and a bucolic view of the mountains, river and fields from the back. We LIVE on our terrace in the summer. The people here in the Centro, which is like a town within a town, are super friendly. There are two nice bar/coffee shops just downstairs and the two weekly farmers markets are just out our front door. Here is a link. Umbertide Apartment.
If you dream of Italy. Maybe my apartment will make your dream come true! Nancy22314 at yahoo dot com. We can do the sale directly without a realtor’s fees. My real estate agent from when we bought will handle all the legal paperwork and obtain a Notiao. 🌈