An American Expat Living in the Italian Alps

American expat Marla is enjoying small-town life in Pinasca, Italy, where she and her husband run a B&B called Bella Baita. Here she tells us how she came to move to Italy, their sustainable mountain tourism initiative, and what the pace of life is like in the Italian Alps.

Originally Posted March 11th, 2008 by BellaBaita

-Where were you born?

I was born in southern Illinois and grew up in several small towns there.

-In which country and city are you living now?

I live in Italy in the Cottian Alps about 4 miles up from the small town of Pinasca. There are only a handful of people that live up here year round, although the summer sees an influx in the villas scattered about the neighborhood.

-Are you living alone or with your family?

I live with my Italian husband and his parents live next door in the home they built 40 years ago.

They built a mountain restaurant, where they slept upstairs (except for the winters when they slept in the kitchen for warmth on a triple bunk bed) with the restaurant kitchen and dining room being the heart of their home.

Then 10 years after they added on some rooms and a couple of apartments attached to the restaurant. We live in the apartments above the rooms that we turned into a B&B, five years ago.

-How long have you been living in Italy?

Almost 6 years. I have spent extended time away working to earn money.

-What is your age?

If I must say, 54, but feel younger most of the time.

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Italy?

I spent a month in England as a child with my parents on an exchange program that my father arranged for us. My father was a Methodist minister and he exchanged pulpits with a minister in Britain.

We lived in the parsonage and my father preached in their church and they lived in our home and preached in my fathers’ church.

We traveled as much as we could in the UK during our stay and then afterward we spent another few weeks traveling throughout Europe. I loved the whole experience. I always thought I would like living abroad someday, but didn’t really care where just a different culture.

I didn’t really give it much thought until my life circumstances changed about 10 years ago.

I was restless to do something completely different from my position as a ski resort pastry chef. I interviewed on a whim for a position as a chalet host for a British tour company operating in our area in Colorado.

After a bit of negotiation, I accepted the seasonal position as a chalet host in Colorado with the added benefit of working as a walking guide/holiday rep for them in Europe for the summer, in what I thought would be a “gap” year experience.

I enjoyed the experience so much that I stayed on for 4 years working in Slovenia, Austria, Colorado and Greece for them.

Through my work I met someone who was working as a cook for an English art school in Tuscany. I expressed interest if she ever left the position and a year later she did and I took over the chef’s position for the art school in Tuscany for 2 seasons and met my future husband the first season I was there.

We then returned to his family home and began working towards running it as a B&B.

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?

While I was working with the Tour Company I was covered, but after that it was rather complicated. You basically need someone in a business capacity to sponsor you for a job with him or her in order to get a work permit as a non-EU resident.

It’s not always so easy, as it costs the employer to do so, but I think the employer is entitled some tax breaks. After we married, it became a moot point.

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?

I carried travelers insurance for a long time and prayed nothing happened. I have been lucky. I coincided medical checkups and such with visits to America.

-How do you make your living in Italy? Do you have any type of income generated?

 

We have built up a B&B business, “Bella Baita B&B An Italian Alps Mountain Retreat”, http://www.bellabaita.com/ from the family property.

We offer an affordable holiday for those wanting peace and relaxation, walking, cycling, climbing, or a base for seeing and discovering all this area has to offer.

We wanted to expand our business and include promoting not only our little-known area, but also many small businesses in our area to a larger audience, so we created an association, called TEM, Touristic Ecosostainibile, Montana, Or Sustainable Mountain Tourism.

We offer cooking courses and wine pairing or tasting, specializing in our Northern Italian wines and cuisine featuring local products and sources. We mostly customize our courses and if you would like more information you might want to have a look at our web page Cookery courses.

I started a blog to try and showcase different things going on in this area and my experiences as well. You can find it at http://www.bellabaitaview.blogspot.com/

 

 

If it wasn’t for the Internet our business wouldn’t be nearly so successful. The main Internet tool that helped us was our guests putting reviews on a web site called TripAdvisor.com. That has really boosted our visits, but you have to try a lot of different avenues to promote your business to get the word out.

I didn’t know anything about computers or how to promote our business, but have learned from just jumping in and going forward, reading and asking questions from whatever resources I have found available. I would say the same is true for relocating yourself. Look for all sorts of different opportunities and be open to try things that might not necessarily be your ideal job or country.

Sometimes your dreams don’t come through the front door wrapped up in a tidy package with bows. Sometimes they slip in through the back door and it’s up to you to recognize them in disguise. You just never know what you might set in motion so that different opportunities come your way sometimes unbidden, but often surprisingly appropriate to your desires.

-Do you speak Italian and do you think it’s important to speak the local language?

Being married to a local Italian who speaks more dialect than Italian sometimes, and living away from town has not helped me learn Italian as quickly as I would like to, especially as many of our guests are English speakers.

It is true that you can’t really completely integrate into the community unless you do and of course, people don’t really know your personality unless you do. So I say take every opportunity to learn languages as it just makes your life richer and helps you learn the subtleties of the culture that you are living in. People are always more welcoming and helpful when you at least try to communicate in your adopted country.

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?

I miss being able to get on a plane and be at one of my family gatherings or weddings in only a few hours. It’s difficult when your finances dictate choosing between family gatherings and exploring the continent you are on, tough choices.

Thank goodness for Skype, which is basically a free phone service you can use with your computer and makes speaking with friends and family affordable and even able to see them face to face with web cams. This has been a great step forward in the past year for me.

Our natural surrounding makes for some great walking and skiing in the winter and there are so many food festivals throughout the year. It really is fun to discover all the small charming villages and markets and local sagre, as the seasonal festivals are called.

-Do you have other plans for the future?

We are remodeling a big room to accommodate our cooking seminars and make it into a multi-purpose room for working with larger groups for a variety of activities still in the development stage.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?

We have the family home, so we are set for the moment. Our small town housing is pretty reasonable, with a 1-bedroom running around 200 euro-300 euro a month and 300-400 or so for a 2-bedroom. Probably more as you move towards the city of Torino.

-What is the cost of living in Italy?

Prices have risen sharply, as they have elsewhere around the world. Wages are pretty low compared to America and it takes a bit of adjustment.

-What do you think about the Italians?

People here are very friendly and welcoming. They are usually surprised that foreigners would want to settle here as it’s a tough place to make a living and very ingrown for the most part. Many young people leave the area as there isn’t a lot of economic opportunity here.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Italy?

The culture of food and heritage of traditions is always celebrated here on a daily basis. It’s not such a frantic pace of life here even if you are living in the city. People do take the time to have a coffee or aperitif together and catch up with one another.

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Italy?

I think it’s always good to read up on the places that you want to relocate to, but there is nothing like living there and that will take learning the language even if it is while you are there. Try to have an open, inquiring mind that picks up on similarities and try not to focus so much on the differences. One of the reasons that you choose to relocate is to experience a different culture. Try not to judge so quickly and take your time to express your opinions as you have much to learn about the subtleties of local manners and customs. Ask lots of questions without being invasive. Genuine interest is usually welcomed. A helpful phrase to think before speaking, “Close your mouth and open your mind.” Also if you have Italian heritage, you may find it helpful with obtaining legal residency.

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Italy?

Our web site Bella Baita B&B is dedicated to information about cooking courses and staying with us here in the Italian Alps. Bella Baita View is my blog, which focuses on a variety of topics about life , customs, festivals, northern cuisine and recipes specific to our Piedmont Mountains of Italy in hopes of enticing you to come and visit our “off the beaten path” part of Italy.

Two diverse and interesting blogs that I enjoy regularly as well as having found the authors to be oh so helpful and friendly, come from opposite ends of the country.

Rubber Slippers in Italy in the north is by a Hawaiian who’s found herself a long ways from the islands.

Bleeding Espresso is way down south in Calabria ad always has something new and interesting going on in her blog.

Expats in Italy has a wealth of Information about moving to Italy and will give you a more realistic picture of what it really takes to live here.

There are many expats out there blogging away, so once you find a few of these, they usually have links to others on their sites.