Seven years later, with another son, Patrick, we are planning another move. Once again this is a decision made with our boys in mind. They are twelve and eight respectively and need to be closer to the amenities of a city. Reluctantly, our now almost completely restored monastery is up for sale. We will miss its perfect silence amidst the beautiful mature gardens. This time, however, we are not escaping, but ‘doing the right thing at the right time’. The Badia di San Faustino di Bagnolo (link) – its full title – now needs other capable and loving hands to fall into.

Umbertide

Our reference town is Umbertide (www.comune.umbertide.it), a cumbersome name to pronounce in Italian. It is what could be called a small market town, and straddles the upper Tiber about 30 kilometers north of the Umbrian capital of Perugia (www.comune.perugia.it), (www.perugiaonline.it). Although not posessing the medieval splendor of Perugia, Assisi (www.assisionline.it) and Gubbio (www.comune.gubbio.pg.it/), Umbertide is not without a charm of its own. The old town, with its 13th century castle, is quite attractive and is being gradually improved through more careful restorations, while the new areas are undergoing sustained development. It is perhaps this influx of new blood, both from Italians who find more job opportunities here than many other areas of Umbria, and foreigners who want their farmhouse in the sun, that gives the place a sense of vitality. Normal everyday people get on with their lives in Umbertide, it is not an over-decorated museum piece for a foreign public, but an easy, user-friendly town without the car parking and access difficulties of Perugia and Assisi. The shopping facilities are more than adequate for most purposes, while the town boasts some of the best men’s toyshops (ironmongers and tool stores) I have seen anywhere. The industrial estate includes a whole range of construction companies, builders’ merchants, wood and metal working shops and everything required for house renovations, revenue from which has made a fair impact on the whole area over the last fifteen years or so.

Food is good everywhere in Italy, and Umbertide is no exception. Eating out is relaxed and most restaurants are inexpensive, particularly if you are used to UK prices. There are also good, if unspectacular pizzerias. Culinary variety is not really the strong point in Umbria, however. The meat here is almost without par, but if you are vegetarian or oriental food inclined, enjoy the pizzas and cook seriously at home.

As for schooling, I can only give my impression of general high quality. Umbria and Tuscany have long-standing socialist tradition and great importance is placed on education. I have found teachers here to be convinced in their vocation and with genuine interest in the intellectual and social development of their pupils. The teacher-pupil ratio is generally high. My elder son is now twelve and attending middle school, where he is one of a class of twenty-two, taught by five different teachers. Italy still has strong family values, and all children are considered a treasure to be nurtured for a better future. The broad-based Italian educational system, where a wide range of subjects are studied up to the age of  nineteen, creates a more balanced knowledge base, certainly than the UK education I had. More emphasis is placed on expanding knowledge and capacities than on specific competitive achievement. 

Working in Italy is not necessarily simple. Most professional areas are somewhat fenced off to non-Italians through cultural barriers, whereby those without a fluent spoken and written knowledge of  the language and possessing Italian qualifications find it difficult or impossible to enter. This will change in time through the ongoing processes of ‘Europeanization’ and ‘Globalization’ (both most uninspiring terms for me because of the often irreversible cultural damage they entail), but for the moment the best way to work in Italy is through personal enterprise. Small service companies are sprouting everywhere and many areas of expertise, from business management, marketing, IT, training to specialist architecture and engineering, landscaping and gardening can be successfully made to work, at least in the areas where there is economic motion, when they are integrated with the language translation capabilities foreigners are forced to develop by being here. Small businesses are also likely to take off more easily when set up in collaboration with or supported by local Italians.

Many of the foreigners going to Tuscany and Umbria (and now the Marche and Puglia) to buy houses often end up living here for most or all the year and running holiday lets. These range from a couple of rooms to apartments, whole villas and even so-called ‘agriturismi’, sort of country hotels. The entire area of tourism is actively encouraged at national and local government levels in Italy, with many forms of tax concession and financing schemes are offered for such purposes. It is likely that the combination of unspoiled natural beauty with a rich cultural, artistic and architectural heritage will be the saving grace of Umbria and the less-ruined parts of Tuscany, the Marche and Abruzzo. All these places have wonderful scenery, plenty of space, easy-going attitudes, good weather, food and great traditions. The local people generally welcome the influx of foreigners who buy retirement homes or set up businesses here, because it creates an atmosphere of cultural exchange and generates wealth for the entire community. It is easy to understand why those who are in a position to move, maybe to work via the net, and live anywhere in the world, may well choose central Italy. I can highly recommend it.

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