There have been many crazy things I have decided to do in my life. The greatest of these is probably the decision to buy a house, in a town I’ve never been to, in a country that won’t even let us in right now. Italy has been calling for some time, not for any seemingly particular reason, but it has been there nonetheless. The plan has long been a future retirement home there, perhaps in Avola, on the south shores of Sicily, but that was someday.
A pandemic is a funny thing, and the inability to leave your house creates a pulling inward on many levels. Hardcore retirement planning started, and priorities started to shift. Why someday? Why not now? The house could be enjoyed for years to come, by us, as well as friends and family. It would save money down the road to just buy it now. So much research has happened, many many hours sucked down the rabbit holes of possibilities, and logistics. It isn’t necessarily easy to buy a house, in a foreign currency, when you can’t even enter the country.
I’m not sure how Arpino came on the radar, but it stuck. It is a large enough town to have major services, an excellent sense of community, and a thriving cultural life. It is a very central location, being only 90 minutes from both Rome and Naples, by car, and offering train service to each. That makes it easy to get to, for the quick trips in and out that will happen over the next few years. The thing that grabbed me instantly though, was both the sense of gentility, as there are roughly 30 of the old noble families still left in town, and the sense that you are very much living with history.
The history of Arpino is counted in millennia, with dates that include B.C. in it’s beginnings. An ancient fortified town crowns the hill above Arpino, built long before the Romans came. The Romans eventually did come though, and the remains of the old Roman road are visible in the main square. Cicero, the great statesman and orator, Consul of Rome, was born in a villa in Arpino, whose ruined walls are still visible today. That captivates me. The other thing that captivates me is that there are flowers everywhere. The Italians will grow things in whatever tiny patch of earth available to them, or even in a pot or dish. There are lovely climbing vines on structures and walls, riots of flowers in pots, on porches and balconies, and multiple flower shops in town. So those are the two things that personify Arpino for me….history, and flowers.
The process has not been easy, and final details are still being sorted out to finalize a purchase, but a house has pretty much been chosen, the money matters have been sorted out, and we await only some final information before making the offer. It well could be a year before we get to see our new home, but it will be there, basking in the sun, waiting for wine and cheese to be enjoyed on the roof terrace.
Vagabond.Belle 