Holidays in Guardia

Christmas is 3 weeks away and I'm incredibly excited that I'll be returning for a visit to Guardia just in time for New Year's!!  After the whirlwind of activity to get the house ready for the entire family this past summer, it is now time to get back to the long term plans of maintaining and renovating the house at a more leisurely pace. The basics are all there, but my wish list is long and I'll have to take my time with the rest of these wish list projects.

It's wonderful to think that the place is all set up and ready to go at a moment's notice.  I'm paying the utilities via credit card monthly and the total cost for water, electric, phone and internet is running a little over $100USD per month. Approximately $70 is for the phone and internet, which I absolutely need to work from there, so there are more economical ways to set up a house.

Can't wait to get the fireplace in the kitchen started!

My project manager, checks on the house periodically and lets me know of any maintenance issues as they come up, and gets the house ready before we arrive (ie beds made, pilot lights on, refrigerator plugged in). Setting up, and maintaining a house in Italy from Texas has been relatively stress free and a lot easier than I would have ever imagined! 

Several of the people that recently purchased houses will all be gathering in Guardia at the end of the month, and as usual we are all getting excited about getting everyone together and the new memories we will share.  It continues to be a very diverse tight knit group that has been an incredible support system for me and countless others, as we each live out our own adventures and share our common experiences.

Several new house hunters will arrive between now and the end of the year, and I wish them the best of luck in finding their own slice of heaven, and hope they're able to join us for New Year's next year!! (LF, PF and GR.. you know who you are!!)

So for now, most of the planning involves deciding where we are going to celebrate Capodanno, visiting the Christmas markets in Naples and some antique furniture shopping to finish putting the house together.  The rest of the time I'm hoping to fill sharing good wine with good friends.

This antique store near Naples is full of treasures.. (thanks Glenn for the tip and the pictures!!)

Buon Natale everyone!

2nd Airing of the House Hunters International Episode

It appears that the House Hunters Episode that started this story aired again a few weeks ago.  There has been a flurry of activity as a wave of new House Hunters begins to make its way to Guardia.  This blog has all the information you need to find your way there.

If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan.

And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”

Jim Rohn

The Unofficial Guardia Sanframondi Guide

One of the recent arrivals to Guardia Sanframondi, Eric Swanpoel, from Scotland has put together what I believe is the most thorough and comprehensive information available on Guardia Sanframondi and the House Hunting process.



I thought I would share the link to his website for those of you thinking about venturing to Guardia for yourselves.  Thanks Eric! Think many people will find this information extremely helpful.

The Unofficial Guardia Sanframondi Guide (click on link)

What's Happening in Guardia this week

Since I can't be in Guardia now, I love keeping  up with what is happening through emails and facebook.

It rained a bit this week....

Picture courtesy of Guardia S Normano

A couple groups of people arrived in Guardia to start their own House Hunting adventure....

... and this weekend, they were celebrating The Festa di Sant Antonio de Padova 14 & 15th of September  (click on link)

Rockets over  Guardia  - Picture courtesy of Garrick Maguire - 9/15/13 Guardia Sanframondi

                                                                                           The event ended with a classical music concert and fireworks.

Night Sky over Guardia - Picture courtesy of Garrick Maguire - 9/15/13 Guardia Sanframondi

For such a little town, the Commune of Guardia (click on link) hosts many events and activities, especially during the summer. 

Guardia Sanframondi - FAQ's, additional blogs and helpful links

As people continue to arrive in Guardia, I always ask them if it is what they expected.  One of the first things people mention, is that Guardia is not abandoned as Wikepedia and even the House Hunters episode refer to.  In fact the more modern part of the town surrounding the ancient Centro Historico has a lively hustle and bustle with small shops, pizzerias, coffee shops. All of this is just a few blocks away from the older Centro Historico

Some of the Shops on Corso Unberto - Guardia

La Meridiana - a favorite eating place for locals and vistors

 The Centro Historico has many houses that have been abandoned, but the streets are quaint and well lit, and the people that still live here, for the most part lived their entire lives in Guardia.  These older residents are very curious and welcoming to the new arrivals to guardia and feel passionately about preserving the traditions and restoring Guardia to its former glory.

Streets of the Centro Historico at night (picture courtesy of Joe Casey)

People also ask frequently if there are still homes for sale.  The answer is yes.. as of now, there are still plenty of homes in a range of sizes, prices and state of repair.  For as little as 30,000 euros, it is still possible to buy, pay closing costs and complete repairs to have a your own little slice of heaven in Guardia.  I have no idea how long the prices will stay this low, but I have noticed that the prices are starting to increase as more people arrive and purchase homes.  

My new Canadian friends recently purchased a beautiful home in Guardia just around the corner from our house this summer. They've started their own blog, and I am enjoying following other people's stories as they go through this adventure.
Check out their blog here    

In addition, our newly formed non-profit group Guardia Magica, organized to help with the intercultural exchange between Gaurdia and visitors has its web page up and running.  Please take a look, and feel free to contact us with questions or suggestions.
 Check out the Guardia Magica web page here  

There are 1000 Roads Leading to Guarda Saframondi

Courtesy of Guardia Magica

Or at least it seemed that way as we would drive back to Guardia following the GPS instructions that somehow took us back to town in a totally different route each time. Usually we were returning from our days' adventure.. exhausted but happy to be home... and for this one magical month, Guardia was our family home.
  

Family dinner on the terraza

 Our entire family arrived at different times during the week due to conflicting work and school schedules.  My husband and son arrived first (I really wish I had been there to see their faces when they walked into the house!) My daughter and her friend from college arrived next, and I arrived last.

At an art exhibition of local artists in Guardia - The house itself was a work of art and artwork was incredible. What a beautiful night!

Beautiful views from the gardens 

Pasquale explaining to Steve exactly where he went wrong..

Within 10 minutes of arrival, Steve had blown the electrical system and the internet. The electricity was restored quickly and the internet took a few days since it was a bit more complicated.  This was one of many times we managed to stretch the antiquated infrastructure of our ancient home to the limits of its abilities, but after a bit of fine tuning and emergency calls to the electrical company and a couple of plumbing issues, we managed to have all of the essentials up and running.  We all had to laugh (and I am sure we gave the people of the town plenty to chuckle about! ) because I think everyone in town was aware of our clogged sink and electrical issues.  Several times while we were out shopping, people would mention that they had heard of our power outage and wanted to know if it was fixed and if they could help in any way.
  
A few small pieces of advice for anyone considering doing the same:

1. Don't underestimate the value of having a good project manager.  Pasquale really saved us several times by making sure the house was in order when we arrived, contacting the internet and electrical company when we had issues, and finding the plumbers to fix everything.

2.  Noseeums - take precautions if you are going in the summer months.  They seemed to particularly like Steve who ended up with thousands of bites before we realized we had a problem and so it took a few days of plug ins, bug sprays and citronella candles and a couple of miserably itchy days for Steve.  Somehow I did not get bit.. go figure.

3. Airconditioning - we did not have one, but might consider buying one for the next time if we are there in the summer months.  The house itself is naturally cool, but the last few days of July really warmed up and it would have been nice to have a/c at least at night when we were sleeping.

The office view

Both Steve and I managed to work successfully although not willingly from our make-shift office in our kitchen. We had an amazing view of the valley below Guardia , and  hundreds of swallows happily chirping and playfully zooming by our "office" window which at times seemed more conducive for daydreaming than working.  We both worked some crazy schedules with conference calls at 3am after finishing dinner at 2am.. but the (DSL) internet line worked well and all the deadlines were met, so a huge success and I hope we get to do this all over again next year!!

Ryan on our terraza

By the time I arrived a few days later, everyone had settled into their own Guardia routine.. the girls would be off in the morning picking figs or on a quest for the freshest fruits. Ryan had met plenty of friends and was off swimming, or hanging out with his new Italian friends, and Steve would wander over to the Tana Dell Orso after work to have a beer with Luigi. Everyone was so happy!! I thought we would all be hanging out together the entire time but I realized that everyone in my family had carved out a slightly different path in Guardia  and while our paths would cross several times a day.. all roads led to home at the end of the day. Everything in town including the restaurants and night life is walking distance from the house and so everyone really liked that arrangement.

At the Palace in Caserta

Gelato!!

I had been in Guardia a few days when our first group of visitors came into town. Axel, Steve's childhood friend from Germany, and his two sons Lucas and Jonas arrived at the Tana Dell Orso..  The B&B that has been been the welcoming face to many weary travelers!

As soon as they arrived, an impromptu party erupted at the now famous table at the Tana . The warm reception made our friends feel instantly at home! This particular table has very fond memories for me since this was where Steve and I (any many others that have visited since) had our first meal and drinks on our very first trip to Guardia.  It seems like many of our best nights in Guardia have been spent sitting at this very table, drinking the Orso wine, getting cooking tips from Ana, swapping jokes with the locals and listening to Luigi's rendition of "Oh Susanna" on the harmonica.  They call this the "American table" at the Tana Dell Orso, but with the arrival of Germans and Canadians this summer, they may need to change the name to the "international table".

Another fun evening at the Tana!

Luigi, always the entertainer!.. the longhorns were a gift from Texas

We made several very fun day trips while our German friends were in town. The drive along the Amalfi Coast is breathtaking .. and we spent a beautiful day in Positano

Drive along the Amalfitana

Positano

Dinner at Postitano

Beaches of Positano

Steve, Chelsea and me at the Trevi Fountain

And a day trip to Rome, which would have been a lot more productive if we had gotten out the door sooner, but we seemed to hit all the highlights, and as always, the GPS returned us to Guardia on a completely different road and we were never quite sure how we arrived,
but always happy to be home.

Steve at the Spanish Steps

Tema getting water at the Spanish steps

Axel, Lucas & Jonas at the obelisque at top of the Spanish Steps

Walking to Vatican Square 

Vatican Cathedral

Chelsea and me at Vatican Square

In the meantime, other families that had bought houses in Guardia or looking to buy houses began arriving. While most of us had been talking online and felt like we knew each other, we had not met each other face to face.  It was so fun to actually meet and to get to know each other's families!

Wonderful reunion with old and new friends at La Vechia Quercha

Linda & Richard - Amalfi

While our friends from Germany left and vowed to return next year, our friends from Texas Linda and Richard  arrived to visit us and missing their suitcase.  Some of you that have been following my blog will, appreciate the irony of the lost luggage and the recurring vignettes that seem to be constantly playing out in Guardia..I feel like I need to make the list of the new members to the lost luggage club (please note that none of the bags were lost in Italy!)

Steve
Madelyn
Linda
JR

On the boat to Amalfi

Our friends Linda and Richard had been following my story of buying a home in Italy from the first day that I began to form the idea.  They had heard all the stories and had seen all my pictures, so in many ways felt that they had already been to Guardia and met many of the people. Linda had encouraged me every step of the way throughout this adventure. It was a wonderful to watch her excitedly see Guardia with her own eyes. Once again, Guardia did not disappoint!. We had 5 fun filled days in Italy with our friends and took a couple of day trips which I would highly recommend.

Views along the coast from the boat

Steve and me at the church steps in Amalfi

Linda and me waiting  for the boat in Amalfi

Amalfi  (via Salerno and then a boat to Amalfi) Only about an hour from Guardia and a lot easier to get to from Benevento which avoids the scary hairpin drive along the Amalfitana and replaced it with a relaxing breathtaking boat ride.. Yes please!!

Pompeii

Pompei - About an hour from Guardia.  I was really impressed by how large this city was and can only imagine how beautiful it was in its day. It is still quite stunning! We've heard that the ruins at Paestum and Herculaneum are incredible as well and also nearby, so I've got my list started for next year.

A few months before going to Guardia, several of the Americans that had already bought houses and had connected online formed a non-profit group called Guardia Magica

We are a slightly disorganized, group of Americans and Italians that have come together with the intention of creating an inter-cultural exchange between the residents of Guardia and the foreigners wishing to move there.  The idea is to gather our collective knowledge into one place so other people can learn from our experiences.  Hopefully this is a good resource for those of you wanting to learn more about Guardia, how to purchase a home there, and helpful tips to navigate the system.

..and just like that, my 3 weeks in Italy were over and it was time to come back to Texas.(sigh)

Now that I am writing all of this down, it explains why I was so exhausted after my trip,  I think the only thing I didn't make time for was sleep.

Some random pictures..

From the party we had at the house with neighbors and friends from out of town..

Linda making desert for our party .. this was the only plug available in the kitchen!! Could not have pulled this one off without you!!

Champagne on ice.. ready for the guests to arrive

Guests arriving - It was nice to meet so many of my new neighbors that evening!!

Chris, Joe, Richard, Steve and Carlo in front of our house.  Welcome everyone!

A local TV station interviewed us and our friends..

TV interview from our terraza

TV interview from the terraza above

Hey neighbors! Christina & Richard 

Steve and me at the Castelo

 This is now my 4th trip to Guardia, each trip different than the last one, but each one special in its own way. This one will always hold a special place in my heart, because it was the trip that my family also fell in love with this wonderful place that transformed our Italy house into a home.  I continue to be amazed by the wonderful people of Guardia and the effect they have on all the people that continue to assemble, all arriving from different paths, backgrounds and their own unusual tale of why they arrived in Guardia. 

This picture picture makes me smile because although simple, it paints the picture of local Guardia getting to know us.  There is a lot of warmth in my kitchen, the heart of every house.

Somehow, we all feel connected in a way that truly does feel magical, and that we have somehow found our way home.