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Continued from July…
"We became the legal owners of our very own
Italian stone farmhouse with an acre of land in May 2005. It
needed a lot of work but the upstairs was just about habitable
and we were willing to rough it for as long as it took to
restore. During the first year, we spent as much time as
possible in Italy and enjoyed lots of holidays. However, the
restoration work was proving to be very slow - in fact very much
following the Italian pace of life!
With our two daughters just finishing at university and spending as
much time as they could traveling around the world, we began to
wonder why we didn’t also take some time out?
I have been driving a cab for 30 years as a night man and been on
Dial-a-Cab for over 20. My wife is a teacher and works with
children with special needs. We both work long hours and after
much deliberation we decided that we deserved some time for us.
That’s when we thought about the idea of taking a year off.
Fortunately, the nature of both our jobs meant that it wasn’t
too difficult to arrange.
We rented out our house and my cab for the year and on 1st
August 2006 left England for Italy! This definitely wasn’t just
a job to Canary Wharf! We put some of our belongings in storage
and loaded some onto a truck to take with us.
Le Marche is, as yet, an undiscovered area and there are very
few people that speak English. We had been to evening classes
for a year picking up some basic vocabulary, but nothing could
prepare us for the difficulties that lay ahead.
Happily, our nearest neighbour, Maria, has taken us under her wing.
She speaks no English but doesn’t let this get in the way of
communication! She carries on talking - as do most of the locals
- despite our retorts that we only speak a little Italian. Most
days we are invited to Maria’s for coffee where we are always
offered an Italian treat and enter into the local gossip. Maria,
by the way, is 72 years young and looks after her father who is
98! We |
Ever fancied buying a run-down farmhouse in
another country and then taking a year away from the cab to
renovate it? Well that’s what DaC driver Tony Holmes (C09) and
his wife Lesley did! Tony tells Call Sign about their
adventure… A DaC
Driver's Year in Italy
Dial-a-Cab driver Tony Holmes in what used
to be an Italian stable!
The stable now converted into a modern room |
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have come to know some of her family quite well
including her son, daughter and a few of her many brothers and
sisters.
The previous owner of our house was Maria’s brother, Alvio. After
the sale was complete he took us out for a meal in a local
restaurant. It was a rather grand affair where we were offered
around 10 courses! A fantastic introduction to some of the local
delicacies including truffles and wild boar!
In order to undertake the restoration of the house, we had to
employ a geomedra. This is someone who is a little less
qualified than an architect - and not quite so expensive - who
can advise on structural work and liaise with the local commune
with regard to permits and habitation certificates. We were
warned by ‘Italian John’ (John Rubini F55) that things
would take time, but were still unprepared for just how |
long. Part of our geomedra’s job was to
oversee any works that were carried out on the house. However,
and in true Italian fashion, we did not see him for weeks on
end. When he did eventually turn up, he would act as though we
had seen him just the day before!
Not all of our building work has gone smoothly and in fact we had
to dispose of our first builder- I made him an offer he couldn’t
refuse! Now all the major structural work has been completed, we
are able to carry out most of the remaining work ourselves. We
have spent a lot of time on things like plastering - a newly
learnt skill - and repairing the stonework, which is very
rewarding. It certainly is like a million miles away from London
when I’m working on the house or landscaping my Italian garden."
Concludes next month…
Tony Holmes (C09) |
