Increasing my Vocabulary

I arrived in Firenze yesterday afternoon and am out for an early morning walk, jet lag having taken control about 4am.

Unlike my visit in June, August is hot. Caldo, caldo, caldo. As I head out past Bar’Ucci in our little town of Volpaia, Gina and Lina greet me; Gina whips up my beloved cappuccino, and declares that I need a hat. I respond that I need some “colore”, and off they go…my professori. And the word for the day is ‘abbronzare’. To tan. Something I don’t do very well, but I repeat after them…”sono abbronzata”. I take off down the road, repeating my word for the day up and down the hills.

Make-up melts and runs down my neck as I walk to the bank in Castellina. But it’s not stopping the tourists. French, German, Japanese and Chinese this month. Funny how the nationalities shift around throughout the tourist season.

I spend the day meeting with real estate agencies, with a new twist. At the request of several clients, my company will be offering private tours designed to guide buyers through the intricacies of finding and purchasing a home in Italy. This is in addition to our fractional home business, but feels like a synergistic service considering our concierge staff already in place.

The real estate market is down, as in the U.S., and there are great deals to be had in this buyers market. But even brave souls with a passion for Italy need help, and that is what we plan to do. Give them an objective view, work only with reputable agencies and pre-screen houses, speak English, and make their house hunting trips less stressful, more fruitful. It’s supposed to be fun, after all.

I catch a wonderful photo on the way back to Volpaia, and once again have a conversation with myself about getting some professional training. But it’s nice to just be able to capture the beauty, even if it’s a mere snapshot. Back to Volpaia to sleep, and meet up with my colleague later this evening for dinner.

Ciao for now!