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Instantly Italy

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Expats in Italy: A Chat With Ilene and Gary About Becoming Italian Citizens and Traveling Around The Country for One Year

04/24/2019

In this post, I chat with Ilene and Gary Modica of Our Italian Journey, about becoming Italian citizens and traveling around Italy for one year (and much more)

It’s not actually an expat I am interviewing today but someone with a great story to tell. 

To be more precise, it’s not someone but a couple: Ilene and Gary Modica of Our Italian Journey, a blog that tells the story of their one-year trip around Italy. As it happens in most cases, I have virtually met Ilene because she commented to a post on my blog. In the comment, she left a link to her blog: when I checked it and briefly learned about their story, I immediately sent an email to Ilene asking her if she was interested in being featured here. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life in Italy, Visiting Italy 21 Comments

Expats in Italy: A Chat With Paul Spadoni About Buying Property in Italy and Living in The Country Part-time

02/22/2019

In this post, I chat with Paul Spadoni about buying property in Italy and living in the country part-time (plus many other things!)

Well, it’s not exactly expats I am interviewing today but their story is so interesting that it totally deserves to be featured here.

Today I am chatting with Paul and Lucy Spadoni. Actually, it’s Paul who is answering my questions but his wife Lucy is part of the story as well. And their family too! 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life in Italy 3 Comments

Expats in Italy: An Interview With April Lee About Relocating In Italy and Restoring An Old Tuscan Villa

01/17/2019

Expats in Italy: A Chat With April Lee About Relocating in Italy and Restoring An Old Tuscan Villa

This is probably the longest post you’ll ever find in this blog but it is worth it.

When April sent me her replies to my questions for my Expats in Italy interview, she told me to cut and edit as I wanted – and I actually did, a little bit – but I just couldn’t take out what was written in her answers, it was too full of wisdom to be taken away. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life in Italy 9 Comments

Expats in Italy: A Chat With Linda Of The Beehive Hostel About Living in Rome And Having A Business In Italy

10/04/2018

How's life in Rome? How's doing business in Italy? In this post, I chat with Linda of the Beehive Hostel about life and work in one of the most beautiful cities in Italy.

You know how much I love chatting with expats, so you can easily imagine how happy I am that the Expats in Italy section is back!

Every interview is truly special to me because it is a great way to learn something new about my country. I really like seeing Italy through a foreigner’s eye, someone who is not Italian but has been living here long enough to experience Italian life and our (crazy) way of thinking. So I feel really honored every time someone accepts to be interviewed for this blog!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life in Italy 2 Comments

Expats in Italy: An Interview with Rebecca Hughes, Blogger and Travel Writer at La Brutta Figura, About the Pros and Cons of Living in Italy

06/13/2018

In this post, I chat with Rebecca Hughes, part-time English teacher, travel writer and blogger at La Brutta Figura, about the pros and cons of living in Italy. She moved from Scotland to Veneto three years ago and tells us about her experience with Italian life.

How is living in Italy? Is it really so fascinating as people think? It’s time to ask an expat again!

My dear Expats in Italy section is back and I couldn’t be happier because I really love this kind of posts. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I chat with expats living in Italy every now and then because I really want to know their opinion about life in Italy and Italian culture in general. For me, as a native, it is a great opportunity to look at Italy with different eyes and I hope that for you guys is a way to read about the opinions of people who live here without being Italians – and manage to survive! 

[Read more…]

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Expats in Italy: A chat with Greg Foster about life in Matera

05/10/2018

In this interview for my expats in Italy section, I chat with Greg Foster of Agriturismo La Lucana about life in Matera and how is living in Italy as an expat.

I am super happy to be chatting again about expat life in Italy!

As you know, I am Italian and I have been living here most of my life, which means that the things I write on this blog are always from a very Italian point of view. So I really love chatting with expats because they see Italian life from a different perspective and this is a great chance to reflect on the Italian way of life.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life in Italy 10 Comments

Il Bel Centro: a book about moving to Italy with kids and experiencing expat life as a family

04/12/2018

Il Bel Centro by Michelle Damiani is a book by Michelle Damiani about moving to Italy with kids and living expat life as a family. A truly amazing and sincere memoir!

Subscribe to the Vespa rides and get full access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of language learning materials that you can use to practice Italian.

Even if I am Italian and I know quite a lot about living in Italy, I am a big fan of books about expat life in my country.

I started reading this kind of books before Instantly Italy was even a remote idea in my mind and enjoyed them very much. I started with Under The Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, back in the days, and kept on looking for other accounts of life in Italy as a foreigner ever since.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Books about Italy, Life in Italy 2 Comments

Expats in Italy: Interviewing Jasmine C. Mah

07/05/2017

In this post, Jasmine C. Mah, a lovely Canadian lady who is now living in Bergamo, Italy, tells us about her experience with Italy and getting used to the Italian way of life.

How is living in Italy as an expat?

Well, let’s see. I have interviewed quite a few people for this section now and it seems that living in Italy is hard but incredibly beautiful as well. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life in Italy Leave a Comment

Expats in Italy: Chatting with Kamila Kowalska

06/07/2017

It's always really nice to speak with expats living in Italy and today I have the chance of chatting with Kamila Kowalska, who moved to Rome 15 years ago and is still madly in love with the city (and with Italy as a whole). Check the interview on the blog!

I was looking very much forward to the chance of speaking with an expat and the time has finally come.

I am so happy I am able to interview another expat for my “Expats in Italy” series! As some of you may remember, last year I started this blog section about expats in Italy because I was really curious to hear what people coming from other countries had to say about Italy and how living in this country as a foreigner is. 

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life in Italy Leave a Comment

[Life in Italy #11] April 2017

05/04/2017

The month of April has been full of relaxing days off, but saw some issues as well. I'm writing about all of this and more in this post, which is about all the things that happened in Italy in the month of April.

Subscribe to the Vespa rides and get full access to Your Italian Toolbox, a library of language learning materials that you can use to practice Italian.

April has been quite a relaxing month, here in Italy. 

As I have told you in my post about spring, if you are lucky April can be a month full of days off. In fact, if Easter falls in April, you get to have some days off for that festivity. Moreover, if April 25th – which is Liberation Day here in Italy – falls either on a Friday or a Monday, you get another day off.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Life in Italy Leave a Comment

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Ciao!

My name is Cinzia and Italy is the place I call home.

Books feed my soul, music fills my days and travelling makes my life richer. I am a day dreamer, tireless walker and believer in the power of little things.

I’ve created Instantly Italy to take you to Italy with me and explore together this crazy but “oh so lovely” country. Read More…

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[Hidden Italy] San Pellegrino Terme, the City of Water and Much More

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