Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site
Main
Page This family-friendly site celebrates Italian culture for the enjoyment of children and
adults. Site-Overview
Health
Care in Italy and Life and Work Info Now
there's a story, Toto!
Click
here or on the
image above to go to a list of 518 anecdotes about Italy and
things Italian.
Living
in Italy today as compared to Roman times? Click here
or on the image above
to visit my page on this, I hope, interesting topic.
Coffee begins the Italian work day
and accompanies it regularly at mid-morning, and mid-afternoon, when
many still leave their offices for the nearest coffee bar. Click
on the image to go to my Coffee page. "Traveling
is the ruin of all happiness! There's no looking at a building here
after seeing Italy." Fanny Burney Map of Italy and her immediate neighbors (hmmm, or it
used to be, I'll fix that soon). Click on the image to go to 'The Economist's' Italy
Profile page. Venetians crossing the canal to go to
work in the morning The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in
Milan, a major shopping area Piazza del Comune, the main square of
Assisi, in Umbria Strada Maggiore, main street of
Bologna, in Emilia-Romagna Piazza del Unita' and the Town Hall
in Triest Piazza Grande, the main square in
Arezzo, in Tuscany
Visit my Italians as Europeans page
Visit my Italian Wallpaper Murals page "A man
who has not been in Italy, is always conscious of an inferiority."
So said the famous Dr. Johnson. Whether
I was conscious of an inferiority or not, after visiting Italy for one
week, I realized I had been missing out on something
wonderful! The second visit lasted nearly a
year, during which time I studied the language, worked, made friends and
promised myself once again to return. But that took some time. When
you decide to move to a new country, it is best to try to learn as much
as possible about the history and current events, before going
there. You may even change your mind! The
Economist newspaper offers a good introduction to Italian society with a
country profile and some recent articles on topics of current
interest in the country. Click here
to visit their Italy page. And
Wikipedia's Italy page is great, with links to cities, culture, all
kinds of things, if a bit dry in presentation.
It's
a good idea to read the daily news for a time before going
there. This gives you an idea of what is happening in that country
and how things work, or don't work. It also helps you discern that
most difficult of things to understand about a country: the
value system of the people who live there. The Italia Mia
Italian media review is a good place to do that. Click here
to go there. Italy is a part of Europe, and Italians are
Europeans. For some, including some Italians, this may be hard to
believe. I've dedicated a page to the differences between
Italians and other Europeans. To better understand this
relationship, you can read it by clicking here. Italy
is a popular place for vacation homes and retirement property for people
from colder locations, both meteorologically and culturally
speaking. However, purchasing property in Italy can be confusing
for an outsider. These sites might help...
Homes and
Villas Abroad, an Italian real estate company based in London
advertises nearly 5,000 homes
for sale throughout Italy and have a multilingual team covering 7
languages.
They offer foreign clients
start-to-finish assistance with property buying in Italy. Their
site also contains a handy guide to the Italian purchasing process as
well as tips on up-and-coming property hotspots. Find them
at Pinterest and
Twitter. One of the best sites I've seen for information about
buying property in Italy is Travel Writer Fleur Kinson's site,
Where To Buy In Italy.
The site provides information on all of Italy's regions
and major cities, as well as information on how to purchase properties
for principle home, second home, or investment property. You'll
find a wealth of information, and someone who can answer your questions. Italy Magazine offers
some property listings (click here
to go directly to that page on their site). Click here
or on the logo below
to go to their main page. But it is best to get expert advice from an accountant
in Italy before purchasing property. Italian
Real Estate Assist is run by site-visitors, an American couple
who've purchased property in Italy. They've partnered with some
Italian real estate agencies in The Marche, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna
regions of Italy. These regions are lovely and better--a fraction
of the cost of purchasing property in Tuscany! When I lived in Italy, everyone told me that when the rich Italians
get ill, they go to hospitals in Switzerland. There are private
hospitals in Italy, too, but for a hefty price. Italian hospitals
and the national health insurance are quirky to say the least.
Multi-bed wards are the norm, You're often supposed to provide your own sheets. Many people have relatives provide their food. The majority of nurses are men. But I must say I was impressed with
the Italian doctors I dealt with in Italy. They had the compassion
that I've found so often missing from doctors I've encountered
elsewhere. I'm convinced it is beaten out of most non-Italian
doctors in medical school, or they are told it is unprofessional. Health coverage is important
wherever you live. As is disability insurance and travel
insurance. Click here
for a site rich with information for those considering living
and working in Italy, including residency and work permits, health and
disability insurance, and even some cultural details.
Communicaid is
a well-respected training company that can help professionals who
transfer to Italy for work, or who work with Italians. They call
themselves a Culture and Communication Skills Company. They have
Italian Language programs and a
Doing Business in Italy program. If you are planning on doing
business in Italy, some preparation is a very good idea to help you deal
with the unique Italian business culture. Transitions
Abroad is a site that specializes in helping people prepare for
study/work trips abroad. Another
site that can be a big help is the Informer
Magazine. It has been
addressing issues ex-patriots face in Italy for 16 years. Their
Survival Guide accessible from their main page, is especially useful covering schools, property, taxes,
health, banking, and red tape. The
Recruit Italy site has sections with information for those wishing to study,
live, work in Italy. They also accept CVs from potential
applicants for jobs in Italy. Click here to the right, to go to
Un motore di ricerca di offerte di lavoro per l'Italia e
l'estero, che permette di accedere a migliaia di offerte di lavoro
provenienti da siti di aziende, siti di annunci e agenzie di recruiting,
in una sola ricerca. CareerJet offers a one-stop jobs
on-line search engine for
Italy, and abroad, that includes thousands of job offers from company
job listings, jobs listing sites, and from headhunting sites and
recruitment agencies.
This useful site provides a
listing for teaching jobs
in Italy. They can send you an email as soon as new teaching
jobs are posted in the country of your choosing. When
I eventually returned to Italy, I stayed several years. I worked, made friends, dated,
struggled with the red-tape and health care system, and gave up on ever
understanding Italian politics. If you are braver than I,
you can try the Italian
Embassy in London's site that offers information from the general to
the specific on topics such as the constitution, politics, the
president. But keep in mind that these things keep changeing, as
they keep modifying them in the hopes of improving stability and
accountability. Select the subject from the menu at the top left of the
Embassy page. Several
things caused me to eventually leave Italy: a less than robust
economy, a lack of familial ties in a society not based on trust, a
position in society for women lower than what I was used to, a
non-immigrant society that is too often hostile to the newcomer, poor
quality health care, and severe urban air pollution that caused my throat
serious harm. Despite
these things, I'm still an Italophile. I still love Italy's culture, history,
weather, and travel industry, and the very humane and human Italian
character. There
are some accounts on the web from others who have lived in Italy for some
time. Here are a few if you're interested. The
Night I Lost my Panties at the Vatican U.S.
Air Force Personnel in Northern Italy And Alex Roe
lives in Milan with his wife and children and writes a
blog for all of you who wish
to live there virtually, or to prepare yourselves for living there.
If
you do go to stay in Italy for any length of time, think of me and all the
other poor souls who are not there with you, and please drink a toast to us, and
to your good fortune.
Visiting,
Living, Working in Italy
My First Visits to Italy
Before You Move There
Italians are Europeans
Owning Property in Italy
Health Care in Italy, and
Life and Work Info
.
When I Returned to Italy, I
Stayed Four Years
Other People's Experiences
