As you can see from the photo, the world is our oyster here! This is one of the homes we were taken to on our tour - Liam's favorite, by the way. This home was pretty far outside of town, but on a huge estate. The main building had a giant entryroom with 4 rooms off of it. To the right was the kitchen (our guide said his whole flat could fit inside the kitchen!). To the left, through a few more rooms, was the private chapel. Anyone want to get married in Italy? Upsatirs, there was another giant room with 4 more rooms off of it. On the top floor, there was a whole 2br flat with a kitchen & bathroom. As you can see, the grounds were extensive. This picture was taken half-way from the road. The back yard was even bigger, with a fountain, swimming pool, tennis courts, fruit trees, etc. There were tons of statues in & outside the home, plus huge vases, & the walls were cloth-covered. It was truly something out of a movie. I am sorry to tell you, though, that there is no way I could live there. I mean, without at least 10, maybe 20 servants. It would be very lonely out there all the time, just me & Ander. Plus, I'm afraid I'd never see Liam again, once he got into exploring. Oh, did I mention all the antiques that I'd be worried would get damaged? It was amazing, though.
There are two other homes we saw, which are front runners:
The first was modern (not usually our style, but we both liked this one a lot). It was located a short walking distance from the city wall. It is smaller than our Palo Alto house, but well designed & seems like it would be comfortable for our family. It was really beautiful.
The other house is older, but updated. It reminds me of the house Elizabeth Bennett's family lived in in Pride & Prejudice. Well, half of that house since this is a duplex. The family that lives in the other half also have children who attend the International School. The house is located very close to the kids' school & Justin's work, but there isn't really any place to walk from there so I'd have to drive to do my shopping.
I'm really glad that I'm just looking to rent, because having to make these decisions if I were buying would be extremely difficult. Whatever happens, I'm sure it'll work out -you know I'll keep you posted!
wow! That first place is unreal! Isn't it prohibitively expensive even if you DID think it was suitable? I'm jealous of all your adventures, but so glad you are doing a blog!
ReplyDeleteamazingly, it is within the budget we get from Justin's work!
ReplyDeleteDecisions, decisions! That first house would have been a pain to clean. Glad you found a more practical place you like!
ReplyDeleteJust take the statue and ornament whatever place you get with it. ;) What an amazing range of places!! Can't wait to see what you decide on, hart.
ReplyDeleteHow do I get Steve to get a job like Justin's! Where does he work again? And is he doing a different job there than what he does at home?
ReplyDeleteWe picked the house close to town - much smaller & less expensive than the one in the picture! Still, though, 3br, 3ba, beautiful, & with a washer & dryer (dryers are very rare here - most everyone hangs their laundry to dry, which takes time & leaves the laundry stiff). We can't move in until the middle of October, so for now we've moved into a 3br apartment in our same building. It'll be nice once we handle the issue of the stairs with no baby gates!
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