I knew our first day living in Villa D’Amore would be a long one. I entered and saw my beautiful new cucina, table and chairs, in person, for the first time! Then I practically ran into the bedroom to check out my new bed. These were my only possessions in Italy, except for the beautiful dishes I had just picked up in Positano and the extra suitcase of linens, bath towels, a Pottery Barn duvet cover made in Italy and a down comforter I had brought with me.

The many other home furnishings I would need would have to be purchased locally, and I had decided the more local, the better. The Casalvelino area is a small somewhat remote area and I felt it important to support my local town and businesses. I knew there was an Ikea located near Salerno, about an hour and a half north of us, so I had come “armed” with an extensive list of items I had compiled by walking through my local Ikea in Philadelphia. But my plan was to buy as many things as I could from the closest Supermercato, right down the hill from me.

After a quick view of Villa D’Amore, I quickly departed for the Supermercato, my first local activity. It was almost 1:00 pm by now and I knew at some point they would close for afternoon siesta, and not reopen for a few hours. What I didn’t know were the exact times.

As I entered the store, I immediately got some interested looks. After all, this was the end of November and tourists or foreigners (aka stranieri) were not commonly found in the area at this time. I was greeted first by a nice lady who inquired if I was German (Deutsche?). I replied “No, Americani”, and got a huge smile. I then had an exchange that consisted of her local dialect, my beginner Italian and some charades. Both parties seemed to feel we understood each other. She then took me to some of her work colleagues and made introductions. One thing that really surprised me was – Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

In the Supermercato, the food is on the main level; upstairs I found a wealth of household goods ranging from crystal wine glasses to toilet seats and chandeliers to pasta pots. I immediately went upstairs and began grabbing everything in site that I needed starting with the important items like a corkscrew and wine glasses (no need to explain this one, right?) and a toilet seat. Yes, Villa D’Amore came with a toilet, but not a toilet seat! This is apparently a very personal decision. So, after I filled my cart to overflowing with pots, pans, glasses, etc., I went downstairs to check out.

Once outside the store, I realized that they had shut all of the doors and turned off the lights. “Oh”, I thought, “this must be the start of siesta”. Later, I learned that these nice ladies had kept the store open 30 minutes past the start of siesta just for me!

As I returned to Villa D’Amore with my “catch of the day”, I turned around to look at the hill behind me and squealed with delight as I spotted a rainbow (arcobaleno). God’s sign to me that all was well and I was where I was supposed to be!

P.S. Rainbows are very meaningful to me and follow me wherever I go. For more information please see the Facebook link below to Rainbow Blessings and visit our YouTube channel.

Rainbow Blessings on Facebook

Live Intentional on YouTube

Live Spontaneous on YouTube

Live Dangerous on YouTube

Live Generous on YouTube

After accomplishing my “dish mission” in Positano, I headed down the Amalfi Coast for Villa Velina. I thoroughly enjoyed my short stay in this town, that will always and forever hold a piece of my heart, but this day would mark the very first time I would stay overnight at Villa D’Amore and stay for more than an hour! I had driven from Positano to Casalvelino before with Luisa, my realtor, but this would be the first time on my own.

I gawked at the scenery more than I should have while navigating the narrow areas and blind hairpin curves of this absolutely magnificent stretch of road that was designed and installed first by the Greeks and later improved by the Romans. “They sure knew how to live”, I thought as I benefited from the views of such beauty that were beyond description. Back in the day, we’re talking horse traffic, so there was no need for these roads to be very wide.

It was stormy and a bit overcast along the Amalfi Coast that day, but nothing can take away from the spectacular experience (except maybe if you try to do this in July/August when these towns are bulging with tourists and the Amalfi Coast Road is gridlocked. And you get to back your car around a hairpin curve because a tourist bus cannot fit. I witnessed many amazing sites along the way.

Then, I reached Salerno. From this point on, I would be driving my local turf through Bufalo Mozzarella territory and the roads would get more and more provinciale until i reached Villa D’Amore.

As I skirted around Salerno and continued my journey, I could see the skies brighten, until a beautiful blue sky with an interesting cloud formation appeared near Paestum. It was just magical!

As I exited the Provinciale Autostradale 18, I could barely contain my excitement! Just a couple of kilometers and I would be home in Italy (casa in Italia)!! Even as I drove, I took some initial shots of my town. There had just been a storm and the skies were so dramatic.

After a left turn (gira sinistra) and climb up the hill, I identified my dirt road (strada bianca) and turned right. The name of my street is painted on the gray pole: Contrada San Nicola (Saint Nicolas Street or Santa Claus Way).

I continued down the strada bianca and as I turned right to enter my driveway, this view was waiting for me. At this point, the driveway takes a very sharp turn to the left. Anyone missing it (due to the beverages they chose to drink or inattention), will suddenly find themselves tumbling 600 feet down the hillside into town!

Ahhh, Villa D’Amore at last! As I entered my Casa Dolce Casa (home sweet home), she gave me views that will always possess my mind when I leave and keep me coming back!

Giò

I can’t even begin to describe the culture shock I encountered as I de-planed in Philadelphia after my “Big Fat Italian Vacation”. I know it may sound ridiculous, but I believe that I’m in very good company. There seem to be many people who have fallen hard for Italy after a visit. After my first visit to Rome with side trips to Orvieto, Naples and Pompeii, I definitely wanted more. But nothing could have prepared me for the feelings I had post-Capri, Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi, Ravello, and especially Casalvelino.

It was early June when I returned state-side and I literally thought and talked about all things Italia constantly. Sometimes I would just sit around the house on a beautiful summer day and wonder “why did I come back here??” I kept looking at my photos on our big screen tv and the nearly life-size views made me (almost) feel like I were still there. I  would look at the Villa Velina keys. There would be tears in my eyes. . .

I am sure I owe many friends and relatives an apology for talking about Italy too much, or practicing my fledgling Italian on them, leaving them with no idea of what I was saying. To all of you who fall into this category, I blame Italia-itis for this. I had no control, I could not help myself, my mind was taken over by a country in which I am considered a straniero (foreigner). Italia-itis is not just a passing illness, but rather a malady; a disorder of the brain that is chronic or deep-seated. Once contracted, it can only be kept at bay by talking about, thinking of or traveling to Italy.

So, my apologies, but as you can see Italia-itis makes me do it!

Continuing from Villa Velina Just Happened . . .

So, there I was, having just learned that Villa Velina was not a timeshare. The next week I was in a mental frenzy as I turned the possibility of owning a home in Italy around in my mind. I corresponded further with Luisa, the realtor from Property Organizers, and gathered a bit of additional information, including some more photos.

Don’t get me wrong. This information was not to help me make a decision; my decision was already made. As soon as I had received the “not a timeshare” confirmation, I thought “I’ll move forward with this until I hit a roadblock”. This additional information was just due diligence, to the extent one can call remote property investigation “due diligence”.

The unit came with all walls and floors finished and a completely outfitted bathroom.  As you can see, the “kitchen”(cucina) was a tile wall with gas, water and electrical hookups. I was completely expecting this having previously overdosed on House Hunters International.

The large picture at the very top of this blog, shows the two available units on the top floor. I was liking the one that faced both the ocean and mountains (red arrow pointing from it). I also “Google-Earthed” the local area and tried to locate the property using the address I had been given.  Although I was able to locate several Via San Nicolas in the area, I could never find a property that looked like the property or views that coincided with the pictures I had received. A few days later, I received GPS coordinates from the owner’s daughter so I could confirm the exact location. Ahhhhh, now I could tell why I was not successful with our previous attempts. Not only was my Via San Nicola on a hillside on the opposite side of the valley from the one I had been “traveling”, but I could now also see that the property was perched high on a hill. Getting to this lovely location could not be accomplished via the normal “Via”.  This would involve a mile long strada bianca (dirt road) and a long private driveway.

So, now I was ready to commit (or be committed). I asked Luisa what I needed to do to reserve the property. The answer was “send a deposit”. Normally, buyers would go view the property in person at this point, however, this was March and I would be traveling to Italy in May, so I opted to pay the deposit (site unseen) and Luisa would take me to see it while I was in Positano three days before I settled on the property in Rome. To be continued . . .