A few years ago a dilapidated caravan appeared at an equally dilapidated farm, one kilometer further up the hill. There were rumors in the village about young people from the big city who wanted to start a tourist activity there. It took several months before we got to see those mysterious city people. Just like […]

Italian mayors can apply for a permit to hold outdoor weddings instead of in the town hall. Here in Merana the area next to “our” medieval tower is officially recognized and in the course of the years there have been several weddings. As I have a good contact with the mayor he always tells me

As we live only 1.5 hours from Portofino, one of the most famous sea villages of Italy, we’ve been there several times over the years now. With real estate prices around 12 000 euros / sqm it’s not a place that many can afford. To be honest, even if it would be much cheaper, I

At this moment there is a lot we don’t know. We don’t know how much human suffering the coronavirus will cause directly and indirectly. We have no idea how long the lockdown in Italy will last (at least until 3 April at the moment), but what about the measures taken in the countries our guests

One of the things I learned living on my hill is that nature is never the same, every day of the year it’s a little bit different, not one year is the same and it’s certainly never boring. I remember seeing the wild orchids for the first time, now almost 12 years ago, and wondering

Lockdown or not, everything on our hill remains surprisingly normal. Okay, yesterday the pellet supplier arrived with a mask and gloves and our pool builders are not sure how long they will be able to continue working because soon they may run out of materials. But we can still take long walks with our dog

As much as I want to keep posting fun stories about our life in our little piece of Italian paradise, we don’t seem to be able to escape the reality of a country in lockdown anymore. On the one hand we know we’re very lucky to be surrounded by green hills with an infinite number

On hot summer days we often choose one of the rivers and lakes in our area for a refreshing dip in the water. One of the first little lakes we discovered here was “Lago dei Gulli” in Sassello. If you don’t have the Google Maps coordinates it’s almost impossible to find. First you follow a

When we planned our move to Italy we knew we wouldn’t have enough money to renovate everything at once, but we hoped to do it in 5 years. To be able to earn money as soon as possible we started with the guest accommodations, then we built the outdoor kitchen and terraces for them, next

Sometimes our life in Italy seems to consist of a string of coincidences. Everywhere we went, we always had a look at real estate magazines and in Belgium we loved going to look at houses for sale even after we already bought ours. Eleonora, our real estate agent, and I became best friends and soon