August 18 - Missing Italy.

The other day I missed an exit on I5.  I was on the phone, complaining to a friend in Kentucky that I still miss exits in Portland after two years here.....and drove right by. Very....irritated was I.

In Italy, I drove in circles in Poggibonsi and laughed until I thought I would be sick.  I was sure that on one of the corners there were a bunch of old men sitting at the local bar/cafe saying "Look!  There she goes again!  Har har har!"

So what IS it about Italy, anyway?  That makes us laugh at things that cause road rage here?  It wasn't because it was vacation....I was working.

I'm soliciting comments, because sometimes, it's downright irritating.

I'm sure that there are other places in the world as compelling.  But I can't seem to escape the magic.  And I am positive that Italians still living in Italy know what it is.

I know, I know.  I'm obsessing.

The house hunting for Carrara is going well...I am finding that British owners of Italian vacation properties are very open to what we are doing.  It's a win for everyone, but really huge for these owners.  They can access equity tied up in their vacation homes, get help updating and refurnishing, and keep one fractional home interest if they wish.  There are two categories, people who are older and have owned their vacation home for 15-30 years, and are now keeping closer to home.  And, more recent owners who are finding that costs have risen and sharing with other co-owners is a smarter way to invest.  Right now I have several homes lined up to view in September (see above, in Chianti).

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

August 17 - How to Make Friends with the Help of Italian Wine

Okay. Let's talk about that precious bottle of wine.

I love wine.  Yoda-trainer can't talk me out of it, and he's pretty persuasive.  So what if I battle the bulge?  Fair trade. 

And it's one of the many things I love about Italy.  I've lived in California and am now in Oregon.  Good wines abound.  But somehow, American producers still don't get the value of affordable, every day wine.  I love the jugs you take to the local cantina or vineyard throughout Italy.  It's so….practical.  So...Italian.  And there is always room to enjoy a special treat, like a great super-Tuscan or record-breaking vintage.  

Now.  About bringing wine home.  I've been working and traveling internationally for years.  Logged a lot of miles.  Brought back plenty of local 'spirits' (Guatemalan rum comes to mind).  But wine?  It just doesn't like to fly.  Even before current carry-on rules, I had come to the conclusion that wine never tastes as good after it has been lugged, boiled and frozen on the way home.  

I buy ceramics (never ship it home).  I buy olive oil (it's a year fresher than what we get at home).  But wine?  Nope.   I've anticipated too many bottles that have been flops because of their mistreatment.  I am committed (meaning that I just thought this one up) to installing a private wine storage area for each of the co-owners in our fractional homes in Italy.  Solar-powered, if that's possible!

So exactly why did I shuffle off to that flight at 4:30am with two bottles in my carry-on mess?

Sleep deprivation.  Packing frenzy.  Suitcase malpractice (no expandable zippers?!).  I was thinking logically…not practically.  I thought…here I am in Volpaia.  I like this wine.  Oh, look!  A Bolgheri.  Sassicaisa's close relative.  Yum.  Can't pack it, it'll break and ruin my white linen dress.

So, when I was stopped at airport screening, I was actually…surprised.  Then mortified.  I mean, really!

I can't describe how I ended up with the expensive bottle, leaving my Volpaia in Italy.  But let's just say that my extravagance and passion were both "reverently accommodated".   I know now that it's because someone knew what I would face in Dutch security.  Oops.

When I arrived in Amsterdam and discovered the joke, I made my way to the airport casino, asked for a corkscrew, and made three new friends.  All also appropriately reverent, despite the hour.  And it was lovely.  Worth every Euro.

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

  

August 14 - Back in the Northwest

Italy is closed....I mean in August they lock the doors and throw away the keys.  Not even my lawyers are checking email!  But there is a lot to do.

I'm back home in Portland, Oregon with family and friends. The weather is warm and green.  

My 9-year-olds are ecstatic.  I need to take them with me next time, if possible.  Maybe one at a time.

But I gotta tell you, I seemed to manage juggling the job and love of life a little better over there.  With more grace and less anxiety.  Some long established Italian practices helped me:

- Meetings really were scheduled around meals.

- Multiplexing beyond drinking, eating and talking is not allowed.

- No one honked at me (they zoomed past at intersections, but no honking!)

- The only competition between women is over men.  Maybe visa versa, but I doubt it....there is football to consider.

- You walk everywhere instead of going to the gym (no offense, Yoda-trainer Troy).

Doesn't that sound healthy?  (At the moment we are forgetting the gelato habit)

Now, if you are like me, you have so many reasons to stay based in the U.S....children, grandchildren, schools, parents, careers, familiarity.  But oh, to be able to spend a part of every year letting your hair down and soaking in the lifestyle.  I am a fanatic.

So, I seek other fanatics.  And fanatics who have Italian vacation homes who want to share the costs through fractional home ownership in Italy.  

I believe that on some level this is going to be driven by the increasing desire to reduce carbon footprints....so I am researching "Green" certification for our business and properties.  

I am researching Italian homes for sale and rent.  As a result, I'm uncovering some areas that are very appealing.  Around Lucca and Pisa, for example.  Gorgeous.  Near skiing, beach AND central Tuscany.  Near the town of Cortona is another.  On my trip in September I will scout out some properties in those areas and post some photos.  I'm following up with the agents I met and properties that we are interested in.

I'm devoted to de-mystifying the intricacies of search engine optimization, spreading the word about what Carrara aims to do.  We have a very personalized approach...we will search in specific locations for clients, we are pretty picky about the homes represented, we will invest in improvements, and will stay involved.  Although affiliated with a listing agent, we are not a real estate firm.  We don't move properties so much as change people's lives.  That is the goal.  

Told you it would get dry...I'm trying to decide whether or not to divulge my episode in Amsterdam with my bottle of wine.  Don't ask how I got it on the plane in Roma.  Okay, I'll tell you tomorrow.

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

Day 7 - Fractional Home Hunt (ed)

Exhibit 1 - a local wild boar.

Let's be honest.  I am puzzled by why I seem to resemble a game animal in Italy.  I've gone jogging during boar hunting season, only to find out later that all of the local hunters had my bouncing baseball hat in their scopes.  

Is it the moon?

Exhibit 2 - the moon.

Is it the alcohol?

Exhibit 3 - Wine.

Or do I just "belong" here?  

While on an Italian style power-walk in the groves and vineyards the day before yesterday, I happened upon a potential victim and her mate, only to find out that hunting (yes, deer hunting in prime tourist season) had just started.  Coincidence?  I don't think so.

Look closely at the photo above.  Does this look like a human?

Although in my mind one of the local gazelle-like, very scared deer has more kinship to me than a wild boar, I really think our hair color is off enough to make a hunter pause.  Yes?  Mas, non.

So last night, I was blissfully walking around with the fireflies in the moonlight, albeit ignorantly, thinking that hunters go out in the morning.  Right?.  Au contraire (I'm going to have to look that one up).  Non es justo!!!?  Turns out  that hunting season, if anything, is just another excuse to hide in the brush, drink grappa, avoid chores and scare people.  And scare they did.  I fell/stepped/collapsed into the soft dirt, and as the "boys" were laughing and trying to pick me up while I stuttered in Gaelic (OK, I don't speak Gaelic, but it was NOT Italian), they seemed to think that grappa was the best thing for me.  They were right, of course (it WAS homemade), and insisted that they would never have actually shot me...but I am still a little miffed.  Like I've said before.  Gotta love Italy.  I mean it.  I do.

I have new sympathy for the indigenous "large rodents" that eat the blooms off my roses in Portland.  I will never shout obscenities or throw rocks at them again.  I will pay my twins to do it.

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

Day 8 in Italy - Leaving your heart in Chianti

This morning, I experience the overwhelming sense of certainty and relief that our clients will have when they own a fractional home in Italy.  Leaving is so much easier when you know that you will return. Again and again.

The ceramics that I am hauling back will have stayed in their Italian home.  The wine will not break or spill in their suitcase.  Both will grace parties in their Italian home for years to come.

I've logged 3-4 hours in the car every day.  Our fractional home owners will log time at the pool.

I'll be back next month to look at approved properties.  The content of this blog may get a little dry this month, as I beef-up the Carrara website content, work on contracts, etc.  But we are out working for you, if you dream of Italy as I do.  Follow this blog or our website, www.carrara.us.com for continued updates and upcoming trip blogs.

Looking forward to that long trip home.

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

Day 6 in Italy - In the Zone

What a treat today.

I drive to Signa, outside of Firenze, to meet with a prospective partner.  In addition to representing homes for rent and for sale 

in the area, they have a cooking school in a family-owned villa, arrange tours, wine tastings, chef services, many of the amenities that Carrara's fractional ownership clients want.

I am treated to a five-course

lunch, prepared by the chef and two American students, and their cookbook so that I can replicate the mouthwatering Spring Vegetable Rissotto and tiramisu made with Vin Santo at home.  Something tells me cooking with Vin Santo would be a very Julia Child-like experience, or as my Scottish mother says when she makes haggis...one shot of scotch in the pot, one down the pipe!  But it was heavenly, that tiramisu.

After lunch, we take a tour of the villa as we discuss our synergistic businesses and clients.  There is so much overlap that I leave with not only a full stomach but exciting partnership concepts to be considered.  We agree to follow up next week.

Driving back, I take a wrong turn (or rather miss the right turn) on the Firenze autostrada, finding myself on the way to Bologna.  Hm mm.  Isn't this where Elizabeth Gilbert found the great food in her book, "Eat, Pray, Love"?  Tempting, but I'm getting seriously off my map.  Taking the nearest exit, I explain to the attendant in the toll booth, who charges me 3 Euro to turn around, does not give me a receipt, so that when I finally exit to return to Chianti, I am charged 5 Euro for making the mistake and am given a ticket for 51 Euro for "Altro"...meaning "other".  Ah, scusa?  I do not discover this until back in the hotel room, alas and gulp.

Once back on "familiar" turf, I stop at a few more agencies and find my way past Poggibonsi (the tourism office should pay me a royalty), past the fields of sunflowers and towards to my temporary home (have I shown you the hotel?).  At this point I know all the popular tunes on R-Italia, but none of the artists.  There are 10 popular tunes on R-Italia, cycled over and over again, and I sing them all.  Badly but with great enthusiasm.

I spend the early evening revising contracts (yawn) and working on Carrara's Facebook account.  Mas che caldo!  It's been a long hot day.  I take the plunge and expose my Celtic skin at the pool to cool off.  

Tomorrow, off to Roma and a flight home.  But tonight belongs to me.  A breeze has cooled things off, and the moon promises to be full and bright.  Maybe a final walk through the surrounding olive groves before packing.  

Question for the day:  Does anyone out there know how I can move the photos around on the page in my blog composition?  It has me stymied.  What's up with that, as my kids would say...G'nite.

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

Day 5 in Italy - Marathon in Paradise

Oops - late entry.  Dead laptop battery.  And yes, there are Apple Stores in Tuscany!

Back to Day 5.  I'm beginning to think I am breaking records for hours spent driving around Tuscany and Umbria. I'm actually beginning to 'autopilot' my way around Poggibonsi.  That's got me a little worried.

I have three scheduled stops in Chianti today, and promised a client that I would look at properties near Radda in Chianti.  So after my ritual cappuccino and cornetto on the patio, off I go.

Taking an accidental wrong turn means that I show up in Radda first.  I can't resist a stop at the home of a wonderful ceramic artist, Angela. First referred to me years ago by Gina, my adoptive grandmother at the small espresso/bar/deli/grocery in nearby Volpaia, Angela paints all of her pottery freehand, and fires it in a kiln in her own home.  You can watch the work in progress.  Relatively undiscovered by tourists when I first raided her stock, I now notice a swimming pool, some new designs, and pleasantly, the same attractive prices.  We talk about the tourist trade, and her new baby.  I make a small (ha ha) purchase and head to the local agency.  We discuss several houses and I drive over to one of them (see above).  Radda and Volpaia are more wooded than other parts of Tuscany, very lush and green.

I stop in Volpaia to say hello to Nonna Gina, but alas, she is napping.  A quick lunch at her daughter Carla's restaurant, La Bottega*, and drive to the next town.

At this agency, everyone is welcoming and interested, but I confirm once again my belief that foreign owners are going to be most interested in what Carrara is doing.  Italian owners tend to want to deal with other Italians, with Italian contracts, and Italian law, something that most American buyers will not feel comfortable doing.  But getting the word out never hurts, and they refer me to a German-owned agency in the same town.

It has finally occurred to other residents at the hotel that I am foolish enough to be working while here....they are amazed.  They also want a report at the end of every day.  Many of these families return to Italy every year, but are tired of the hotel scene.  Parents are a little tired of constantly having to ask their kids not to yell or splash in the pool.  Couples are tired of listening to kids running in the room over their heads.  In short, everyone would appreciate some privacy!  So we compare notes, oohs and aah's over the houses and towns that I have checked out, over a glass of Cinzano or the local house wine.  It's good to have the positive feedback and several guests have asked to be on our mailing list.

* La Bottega di Carla Barucci is in a shady terrace overlooking the valley between Volpaia, a small hamlet dedicated to producing a popular Chianti, and Radda.  The food, including Torta della Gina (see above, half-eaten), is like eating dinner at an Italian home.  Hearty.  Down to earth.  From the garden and local farms.  It is always a delight.

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

Day 4 in Italy - House Hunting and Driving

I'm getting the hang of driving 130km/hr on small country roads.  Okay, maybe not that fast, but the roads are built for fun (when you are not driving circles around Poggibonsi - see Day 3).  It doesn't take me long to get in the Italian frame of mind.

My day started with a walk through the olive trees, and at 8am it's already hot.  I'm staying at Hotel Pescille* outside of San Gimignano.  The garden setting is beautiful, there is a large pool that I have yet to use, and I've talked the barista into making my cappuccino for me rather than using the automatic machines like everyone else.  Spoiled and happy.

A meeting at an agency in San Gimignano went very well, and I headed to Panzano where two more agencies are my targeted victims.  The first meeting led to lunch, of course,  this time at a local trattoria.

After Panzano a stop at another agent in Colle di Val d'Elsa…no one home, but the agent is the mother, of the girlfriend, of the desk clerk, at the hotel.  When I return he assures me that he can make an appointment for me.  Networking is everything in Italy.  Everyone seems very interested in what we are doing, anything that promotes tourism is fine with them.  It's pivotal in a region where they struggle to keep their young people employed and near home.

At last, a quick dip to cool off, a session with the hotel's WiFi (you will find it at all hotels and many restaurants, most often for free), and off to town to buy a camera (my ancient Cybershot just bit the dust).  This in itself was an adventure, the shop owner and I met somewhere in between English and Italian and had a wonderful time.  While we looked at cameras, a wine-tasting festa starts in the plaza, complete with men in tights and blaring trumpets.  Gotta love it.

Then dinner, this time at Ristorante Hotel Belsoggiorno** with a sweeping view of the valley to the east, reflections of the sunset, swallows diving on their way to the towers…a view that could not be captured on film.  Arugula salad made to spec, a nice steak, and of course my cantucci, and home to bed.

And okay, I tend to talk more about food and getting lost than the houses, but wait and see! 

*Hotel Pescille, www.pescille.it, is housed in a large villa with a tower overlooking the towers of San Gimignano 8km away.  Half of the rooms are in a newer wing, but all are nicely furnished and air-conditioned.  There is a snack bar by the pool, and a small bar and enoteca where you can relax while watching the sunset, or taste the local wine.  Reasonably priced, lots of multi-room suites and foldout beds for families.

**Ristorante Hotel Belsoggiorno, www.hotelbelsoggiorno.it, was great.  Tables by the window are perched on the edge of a sheer drop-off, with Chianti stretching out before you.  The food is simply prepared, but elegant.  And a 4€ glass of Nobile di Montepulciano?  How can you resist?

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

Day 3 in Italy - Law and Ordering

Today began with getting lost, again.  All roads in Tuscany do NOT lead to Rome.  They lead to a small town called Poggibonsi.  I swear once you get into this town you cannot get out.  The signs direct you to the left about 50 times, until you finally get desperate and use your gut to find the Siena-Firenze road.  So I am late to a meeting with our attorney in Castelignione del Lago, on Lago Trasimeno, near Perugia.  An apologetic arrival, a productive meeting, and an in-depth dissection of Italian law.  I am very thankful that we have someone with Marco's expertise.

On to lunch "a casa" with an agent I met while house-hunting last year.   Again a very good meeting, lively discussion, at his home and office.  Entirely sustainable, with solar heating and sensor activated window shutters, his home is an example of some of the ways Italians are modifying their homes and lifestyles.  He is excited by our project and we will likely work together on properties in Umbria and southern Tuscany. 

A stop at two more agencies and dinner with a chef who is interested in providing cooking services for our co-owners.  

We ate at a most amazing restaurant in Badia a Passignano*.  After an appetizer of 3 types of olive oil (really), my meal consisted of fiori di zucca prepared 4 ways (zucchini flowers stuffed with fresh tomatoes and zucchini, canolli with zucchini flower ricotta, lightly fried zucchini flowers dressed with zucchini flower sauce and a salad of rucola, red rose petals, and zucchini flowers!).  Dessert, of course, is Cantucci con Vin Santo.  Yum.  Tonight was my first foray on this trip beyond house wine (which is always ridiculously good and inexpensive), and I'm in heaven.  Giovanni is engaging, passionate about cooking, and eager to work with us.  Time well spent.  But I'm stuffed.

 *Osteria di Passignano is a very elegant restaurant with vaulted ceilings and wonderful food.  A little off the beaten path, the town has that Tuscan charm (photo above).

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

Day 2 in Italy - Transported

I'm always struck by the diversity of this part of the world.  Yes, we have it in the U.S., but you drive for hours to experience it.  Every corner of Tuscany and Umbria have their own unique landscape, crops, scenery.  Every bend in the road brings a suprize.

My first stop today was an agencia immobiliare in Orvieto….and a warm welcome.  The real estate market is very slow here for whole ownership, like most places.  Agents who respresent foreign owners are very interested in the opportunity to move property that fractional ownership offers.  I saw a beautiful home nearby.  

Orvieto is in Umbria, but just south of the Tuscan border, it is within 1 hour of major Tuscan attractions.  The home I saw needs new interior paint (I am not a big fan of red walls) and a pool, but unlike most homes it has never been rented and has been furnished exquisitely.  Well within the guidelines that we are looking for.  I would live in this house in a heartbeat.  The owners are in Rome and I hope to meet with them before I leave.

I drove from Orvieto to Umbria, near Spoleto.  It is hot.  The sky is the bluest blue, and so is the clear spring at Fonte dei Clitunno …the source of the river of the same name.  I'm eating, sweating and laughing with my architect and new friend, Martin.  We talk about our projects, solar power, building permits, housing prices, our respective presidents and….life in Italy.

After a visit to another agencia in Sinalunga, just southeast of Siena, I've checked into the Hotel Pescille outside of San Gimignano.  I'm now mesmorized by "una bella luna", hanging bright but soft in the pastel sunset above the hills, eating the sweetest "melone" in the world.  Another great family restaurant*, but also very romantic.  In Italy, the two seem to go hand in hand.  I have decided that our boisterous twins have a ways to go to be as loud as Italian boys.

The sky has turned from powder, to azure to deep Roman blue.  I can't stop channeling Dean Martin.

Time to go back to the hotel before I embarrass myself.

* Trattoria Borgo di Raccione - really a wonderful place.  Great service, good food, outstanding location.

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.

Day 1 in Italy - Carrara on the road

Some say that you need a map to explore Venice.  Others say a map spoils the fun.  But today I am certain…Orvieto is a town where possessing a map makes things worse.

Not to say that being without a map helps.  Having visited Orvieto several times in the past, I boldly drove into "Il Centro" forgetting that my complimentary upgrade at the car rental agency* was probably due to the fact that no one wants big cars here.  Great on the autostrada, but in towns, skinny cars rule and speed doesn't count.

After no less than 4 locals directing my wishbone 180 on a one-way street (think Woody Allen in Italy), I came to a precise halt in front of the Hotel Maitani, where the friendly staff (again, 3 people in attendance) took me to a gorgeous corner room with a view of the Duomo ½ block away.  Breathtaking.  But I'm hungry!  This is an ongoing sensation whenever I land in Italy.

A nice meander (read lost again) through the town brings me to back near the Duomo for an early dinner.  A 'real' pizza at L'Antica Piazzetta** and then a big crash as my head hits the table.  Time to sleep.  I am lulled to sleep by the opera in progress at the local theater, and wake about 11pm with a violinist serenading an empty piazza with Vivaldi.  Ah.  Italy.

 *I never go wrong with Maggiore/National…They wear nice blue uniforms, smile a lot, and always give me a good rate.

 ** This pizzeria has a wonderful covered patio, with a nice breeze for a 37.5C evening.  Great for families and friendly service.

Bonus:  I waked by an open gate with a "ruined" building and courtyard beyond.  Guess what?  Not ruined.  The most interesting restoration I have ever seen.  Done in a fashion where it still looks decrepit, but somehow chic.  It now houses dentist and medical offices.

Tomorrow searching for properties for Carrara and my clients begins!

About Carrara, LLC

Carrara partners with owners of luxury vacation homes in Italy, managing the conversion and marketing of these beautiful homes to fractional, shared ownership vacation properties.  We also represent buyers seeking the lifestyle of a European home and the convenience of a professionally managed, shared investment.