From Saudi Arabia to Tuscany: how I ended up in the hills above Pescia

I wrote this in 2011 for ITALY Magazine’s “Share Your Italian Story” series, when Lily was still a baby. I’ve tidied it a little for the web, but the words are the ones I wrote then.

An oasis of green

My journey to Tuscany began during another adventure, in Saudi Arabia, where I worked for nine years.

As I am a woman from the green north of England, those drab desert colours, not to mention the highly artificial life of a foreign compound, left me aching for an oasis of green, and something of the dolce vita for which Italians are famous.

I therefore began to scan websites about Tuscany, solely to drink in its beauty and sustain the dream: buying a property there, and one day transferring myself, and the four-poster bed in which I slept (plus hundreds of useless high heels in which to break my neck on the steep cobbles), from the Middle East to the more genteel terrain of old Etruria.

Piano piano

Of course, there were a few hitches along the way.

As a Sagittarian, I am a great one for ideas, creativity and faith in the eventual unfolding of all things pleasurable to me. But time and patience are required for any undertaking in Italy, where one must learn to pace one’s quick brain to the piano piano (slowly, slowly) approach of the Italians. Not always easy!

From shell to shelter

And so I bought a shell of a house, perched atop a medieval village in the Valdinievole, overlooking the magnificent valley and beyond. It was love.

But, as with any overseas project, especially when one does not yet speak a word of the language, nor understand the manner in which Italians operate, the journey from shell to shelter took considerable effort. Indeed, obtaining my residency and receiving my shipment was stress enough to inspire drinking a Tuscan vineyard dry.

A new life, and Lily

After all of this, however, I was very happy to find myself with a finished home, and the prospect of a new livelihood with which to look after the young life now growing inside me.

And to this end, partly while poring over the internet in Arabia, and partly while taking many photos and videos on holiday in Italy, I became impassioned by social media and multimedia, and their endless possibilities: for being creative, for promoting the villages of Tuscany, for being my own boss, and for sharing the Tuscan adventure with my beautiful daughter, Lily.

My neighbours

I’m sure fellow property owners like myself can relate when I say that I’m still overwhelmed by the beautiful spirits, camaraderie and warmth of my neighbours, and feel truly blessed by my surroundings.

First published in ITALY Magazine, April 2011, as “Share Your Italian Story: From Arabia to Italy”.

Looking back

I lived in those hills above Pescia for about eight years, from 2009 to 2017, before moving back to the UK. The villages I came to know there, Le Dieci Castella, the ten castles of the Svizzera Pesciatina, are what this site is all about. There’s a little more about me on my About page, and more of my village stories, like strangers really do care, in Stories.

Susan