Welcome to my story! I am a retired Graphic artist and Web designer. My husband and I lived in Germany for a number of years and ever since returning to the US our dream has been to return to Europe.
During subsequent trips after our return, Italy became our go-to destination. Soon it became our dream to live there.
Here are maps. First one of Italy with Umbria marked. As you can see we are smack in the middle of the country. We are in the only landlocked state (with no foreign border) but we are exactly an hour and a half from both the Mediterranean and the Adriatic seas. Next you will see a map of Umbria with our town marked. Now you know where we are and can orient yourself. Click for larger versions. The name of our town is Umbertide. It is pronounced Um-BER-tee-day. Accent on the second syllable. Just think of Umberto, whom it is named after, and you’ll pronounce it right.
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To navigate the site in chronological order you need to go to the navigation on the right and chose December 2013 in the archives. This will start you from the beginning of our adventure.
And this is our town!
Hi David, lots of reasons. It is a real town. Not a restored Disneyesque hilltown. Actual life goes on in Umbertide. It is active all seasons. It is flat. Easy to walk to everything. It has two weekly markets. It has a train to connect with the main line. It sits in the beautiful Upper Tiber valley and is next to the river. It is a couple hours from Florence and Rome. It has a nice walled centro with a ninth century fortress. It has many restaurants, butchers, bakers, pizzerie, groceries, a theater, a cinema, a hospital. It isn’t fancy. It isn’t pretentious. It is inexpensive. And it isn’t overly touristed but it is popular with summer residents from all over. I am an Umbertide booster. 🙂 🇮🇹
why umbertide?
Buonasera, I am italian and I am reading your blog, very interesting for me to understand how non-italian people see and appreciate italian culture, and not only for negative well-known aspects.
Nancy, we are arriving on an elective residency visa and will be seeking a rental property. Should you know of any….well send ’em my way! I read somewhere else in one of your blogs that you are leaving Umbria after you sell your home due to the limits on residency available to foreigners and the cumbersome re-application for your PdS each year. Have you decided what region is more open to foreign residency? I’d hate to get to comfortable only to know there wasn’t a path to residency after 5 years. Thanks – Margaret