Italy and Coronavirus

Buona pasqua a tutti le amici do Fchat!

 

Buona pasqua

 

One of my best friends and his wife left today for 18 days in Italy. Their first time ever. Starting with a few days outside Napoli where he is visiting his father's home town.

 

first time in Italy is really special!

 

Dai: We told them. Beautiful food, people and scenery. Then there is the history, Plus the wine. And husband and wife both have Italian ancestors, mother and father on Linda's side; Dad on Marc's side.

 

always a humbling experience to see from where you came! having serious thoughts of getting a place in Rome instead of Florida...LOL

 

Rome versus Florida???? Is that a serious question? Roma please!

 

...not in the least!...LOL...we will be back at the end of August & 1st week of Sept. (12 days) told her to get in touch with any RE contacts she has there and see about costs of renting fully furnished and just buying outright...still working, have less than 5 years before I call it arriverderci!

 

Dai...I'm certain you know...moving to Italy has a lot of hoops to jump through. You have juice at the embassy?

 

I'm an Italian Citizen but I wouldn't live there full time. My children are here, I just really feel at piece in Italy

 

Ahhh! My good friend Gene DiStefano wanted to go back to live for a year or two in Ladispoli, where his family has had a home for over a 100 years. He never could get the proper authorization, even meeting with teh embassy in Philly, using his brother's influence, etc. He was able to stay 6 months, that's it. We are putting together a trip in the fall to visit my wife's family in France, friends in Brugges, and a couple of weeks in Italy. We rent a villa in Pietrasanta in Tuscany for 5 days or so when we go back.

 

Was this recently?? Because it would seem that Italia is more amenable now. Sounds like a very nice trip you have planned! I've never been to Pietrasanta, Lucca yes. That part of Tuscany is special, a stones throw from Forte dei Marmi. A Presto!

 

Just prior Covid. We know Forte dei Marmi well. (The town was full of wealthy Russians when we last visited). Our villa is up overlooking the sea, above Capezzano Monte. It's called La Gigia and you can look it up. I think there were something like 75 turns (some of them 180 degree- first gear jobs) - from sea level up to La Gigia. Lucca is a treat. We also have a special fondness for Greve in Chianti as well.

 

Sitting in front of the desktop just now I was curious to look so I put in google maps Capezzano Monte and this awesome villa with a phenomenal view , pops up La Gigia. Is that your residence or a place you stay at?

Bella!

 

Yes, Al it is. Owned by a banker in Rome who grew up in Pietrasanta. We are merely regular guests who rent it. If that was my residence I would not be sitting here typing in Raleigh. Cheers! (We used to live in Scarsdale, back in mid 80's)

 

lol, small world , if you recall the neighborhood you would know my house , it was a large dilapidated Colonial Victorian on Drake that we repaired and updated in '96.

Well if that Villa is open to tourists I would def consider a stay , such a majestic view , and the pool . I am bias towards the southern area but have stayed in a few nice areas of Tuscany


Cheers

 

Hello everyone. I wrote in a post above my dear friends were on a 16 day TAUCK small group (18 total) tour through Italy. 5 days into the tour, one couple got sick and tested positive. The next day another couple went down. Both couples removed from the tour. Five days after that, my friend gets sick and then he and 8 others test positive. His wife, fortunately, remained negative. The tour ended yesterday in Venice, and my friend's wife was able to get out and fly home today. He, unfortunately, is stuck with 8 other tour members in a hotel outside of Venice near the airport until he can get a negative test and then a pharmacy confirmed negative. He thinks he might be able to get out Wednesday at the earliest.

 

That is a terrible story .
In my area it seems like many more people are getting it yet there is no alarm in the news (which I am happy for) . Good thing is same number of people are getting better in 2 to 3 days. I hope we have passed the critical stage of this virus.
I want to get back to Italy this summer.


Good luck to your friend

 

Thank you Al. This guy has the worst vacation luck one can imagine. Hurricane is Mexico kept him stranded 2 weeks in damaged hotel without power IN THE SUMMER. Rented a high end house for his family a couple of years back for a week and septic system exploded and then total electrical failure as a result. Then there's the Las Vegas episode....

 

Your poor friend has incredibly bad vacation luck!!
That is really my only concern when in France or Italy, testing positive! They take you off to some lousy hotel and you are confined to your room until you test negative. All of which you are paying for (thanks to insurance). I feel so badly for them. This past Easter & also Mother's Day we had people's plans squashed because of positive tests.
BUT me and the bride are still going to Italy in late August beginning of Sept. Change of plans though, going to see my family in Parma, then onto Toscana, bum around Chianti & Maremma.

 

Thank you. We are aching to get back to Italy, France and Brugges. My friend is hoping for a negative rapid, then bolting to Pharmacia to get "official" negative, then he has 24 hours to get his butt on a plane. If he somehow gets another positive at Pharmacia, then it's another 7 days in purgatory.

 

Conversation with a friend brought to mind some Idyllic days in May 1999 with a girlfriend and good American friends whom I was guiding on the Tour Auto and then the Mille Miglia.

In between both we stayed at Hotel Villa Cortine (photo 1) a magical old Palazzo with a beautiful park full of statues, a grand old Palazzo building and incredible views from the lake side.

Just look at this photo gallery and the short videos right at the end particularly the one with the couple with Opera soundtrack, magic!

https://www.hotelvillacortine.com/en/gallery-villa-cortine-hotel-sirmione

it was only May but I made a bet with my gf that I would have a swim in the lake. We had to gently insist a lot but the concierge finally handed me the key to the gated private beach (on a ring with about 100 other keys!) and so we went down there and I had a verrry short swim in ice cold water feeling like 1000 needles stung me. But it was worth it as she warmed me up thoroughly after that;-)

Then we went to visit the nearby Parco Giardino Sigurta (photo 2), one of the most beautiful and huge gardens in Europe. Incredible variety and endless quantity of flowers, gorgeously laid out: as romantic as it gets, a magical time in some of the most stunning locations in Italy.

https://www.sigurta.it/


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