Living in Italy the Real Deal Hilarious Expat Adventures Stef Smulders Emese Mayhew 9781507162965 Books
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Would you dare to follow your dream and move or retire to Italy? Stef & Nico did, although their dog Sara had her doubts. Now from your comfortable armchair you can share in the hilarious & horrendous adventures they experienced when they moved to Italy to start a bed and breakfast.
Living in Italy the Real Deal Hilarious Expat Adventures Stef Smulders Emese Mayhew 9781507162965 Books
My family has traveled to Italy three or four times and sometimes thought about moving there. We hoped this book would provide helpful information about doing so--none! I made it halfway through this book and gave up, more like a day-to-day diary of unessential and uninteresting happenings. The author wasted many pages about his favorite store to which he described endless trips to pick up things like screws and hardware--boring. My wife did not make it past the second chapter, and she is the one who usually reads this type of book cover to cover. We have lived overseas for 30 years and considered moving to Italy, this book made such a life look very boring.Product details
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Tags : Living in Italy: the Real Deal - Hilarious Expat Adventures [Stef Smulders, Emese Mayhew] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <br /><div><div><b>Would you dare to follow your dream and move or retire to Italy?</b> Stef & Nico did,Stef Smulders, Emese Mayhew,Living in Italy: the Real Deal - Hilarious Expat Adventures,Babelcube Inc.,1507162960,TRAVEL Europe Italy,TRV013000
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Living in Italy the Real Deal Hilarious Expat Adventures Stef Smulders Emese Mayhew 9781507162965 Books Reviews
I very much enjoyed this book. It is well written and very entertaining as well as informative. I hope to visit Italy and maybe stay at this B&B. I especially appreciate the Italian/English glossary at the end of the book!!
Excellent read if you like to learn about new culture, Italian people and European lifestyles. The author goes into insightful detail from firsthand account experience living in Italy as a university student and tourist. Then he decides to become a permanent resident and buy a house. In first-person narrative, this is a very informative book on what to expect and issues that might arise like public bathrooms, buying a house and hiring a real estate agent, interacting with natives when they don't speak English, the food, and the long process of becoming a citizen. The book is long but an easy read. Highly recommend if you like memoirs and travel blogs! This novel is similar to an Americorps ebook, "I Wanted Sunshine but Ran Sideways" by Jenn Ruben
What a delight! Stef Smulders keeps his wits about him in the middle of his escapade of turning a house in the countryside into a beautiful bed and breakfast. Stef's humor seemed to help. This is definitely an entertaining look at a couple who decides to go after their dream with everything they have, and battling contractors, language barriers and bureaucracy along the way. Their home and new business is complete, and the after photos are amazing! Stef's writing interspersed Italian throughout, but most notably with the translation. I hate having to stop and look these things up, which made reading this book a breeze.
Italy, new beginnings, humor, nonfiction
Culture shock plus bureaucracy makes for some really great stories,and I think that Emese Mayhew did a fantastic job of translating from the original book written from personal notes by the Dutch author. The publisher's blurb gives clues but can't begin to prepare you for all of the insanity of totally changing countries and lifestyles told with an irrepressible sense of humor. I really didn't want to put it down, but life is what it is. So grab a copy and laugh yourself silly!
I am so glad that I entered and won the LibraryThing Giveaway!
Stef and his partner decide to move from the Netherlands to Italy, buy a house, and convert it into a B&B. What could go wrong? In this "oh no!" and, often hilarious memoir, Stef describes how not so simple it was to become residents, get a car registration, get on the Italian healthcare, plus alternatively dealing with a know it all contractor and his motley crew. From whip lash to flooding, this book keeps the reader wondering how the duo padroni keep their sanity. Well written. Fast paced, but it's best savored slowly like a good wine, and highly recommended to those who want to follow in their footsteps, or for those of us who enjoy reading about their dream come true. Love it!
Becoming an ex-pat always has its challenges, but Dutch author Stef Smulders and his partner faced more than their fair share of complications in their move to northern Italy. Most travelers are charmed by Italy; who can resist the fabulous food, love affair with wine, picturesque villages, and enthusiasm for life that typifies Italians? But emigrating there and starting a B&B business is another story. Smulders tells that story with wit and humor, demonstrating more patience and tolerance for unrelenting bureaucracy, changing requirements, irresponsible contractors, nosy neighbors, and promises reneged than seems humanly possible.
The writing style is contained and the stories seem to end abruptly. Chapters are very short and left me feeling the action was incomplete. Each chapter relates their experiences with a different person or aspect of getting the house renovated, with short episodes while Stef was in school, and in Holland selling their home prior to the move. It felt a bit disjointed. Descriptions of food, cooking, village gatherings and characters, and the countryside provided a nice visual reading experience. Overall, an entertaining and informative book that anyone considering a move to Italy should read.
What a delight this book was to read! It's the story of 2 Dutchmen, Stef and his husband Nico and their dog emigrating to Italy to open their B & B, Villa Due Padroni in the Pavia area. It's down to earth with the realistic stories of their trials with the bureaucracy that are resolved in true Italian fashion.
The characters are all people you can identify with, Torti the dictator, is the one that I found to be the most amusing, but can't leave out mention of the shady real estate agent, the crazy neighbors, the owners and staff of the wineries, all charming in their own ways. I loved the ravioli story in particular. Makes me want lessons from Lena.
We come to know Stef quite well, but I wish more of Nico's personality came out in the book.
I really enjoyed Stef's writing style, it was as though I read short stories from his individual style, but he brings it all together so well that it also seems like a book.
At the end a link is provided for the B & B, make sure to look it up and see what a beautiful villa it is and like myself, be tempted to book a trip to Italy and enjoy the beautiful B & B and area that they are living in. Thank you for the goodreads giveaway book Stef. I will think back on it often.
My family has traveled to Italy three or four times and sometimes thought about moving there. We hoped this book would provide helpful information about doing so--none! I made it halfway through this book and gave up, more like a day-to-day diary of unessential and uninteresting happenings. The author wasted many pages about his favorite store to which he described endless trips to pick up things like screws and hardware--boring. My wife did not make it past the second chapter, and she is the one who usually reads this type of book cover to cover. We have lived overseas for 30 years and considered moving to Italy, this book made such a life look very boring.
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