Not much has changed

[OzoneNY]

So I finally got back to Italy a few weeks ago. Visit family, eat, drink, hike, clean goat poo from my soles, play in the garden, had some fun. It was 20 years since I was there but it seems nothing has changed. My uncle did get a new refrigerator, thats about it. I did manage to bring a few seeds home with me. As far as tomato types, my uncle grows the same San Marzano, red cherry types and Principe Borghese tomato we have in the US. He does have one other (circle in one of the photos below) he calls a Sorrento tomato. Its not a hybrid, its round, baseball size, slightly flattened globe with some ridges like a Genovese but not as pronounced. It was seriously good, very low acidity and best tomato flavor I ever had. With the fresh mozzarella, it was the best Caprese salad I ever had.

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[Cole_Robbie]

beautiful pics

[BigVanVader]

My wife wants to live in Italy, I heard the economy took a hit in the Brexit thing and property was selling cheap? What part of Italy do you live now? It is so beautiful there.

[ContainerTed]

I thought you said you were in Italy. The sign in picture number 5 clearly says "Montana".

Seriously, beautiful place.

[Worth1]

Does your family need a man servant I want to move there.
Will work for room board wine and smokes.
Worth

[MissS]

Oh my, why would you ever want to leave from there? Just gorgeous.

[OzoneNY]

Yes, it is absolutely beautiful. The food lives up to the reputation and then some. The homemade chianti with your main meal at 3 is treat of its own kind. The weather is much nicer than anytime of the year in Dallas. More or less, Everything grows there with nearly zero effort, particularly tomatos. Grape vines, fig trees, olive trees, rosemary, thyme, basil, parsley are everywhere. NOT ONE STARBUCKS LOL! Fresh goat cheese comes from the neighbors, the fresh mozarella, gelato, lemon granita are epic, down by the beach the salt air is almost sweet, I really cannot explain it.

The reality check: Nocelle is a tough place to get to, its a serious workout just to be there, it takes forever to get anywhere because its literally flights of steps to anyplace. Getting groceries is a expedition, seriously! Buy a case of beer? Sure you can, but plan for the bottle removal because you dont get a recycle bin pickup at the curb. (THis is why so many make their own wine, bottle re-use) Clothes washer, refridgerator, stove failed? It will be at least week before its fixed or 2 weeks for its replacement. Internet down? Electricity went out? LOL! Good luck... The flies are annoying and everywhere but MUCH slower than their American cousins so they are easy to swat, stray dogs and cats are a big problem and the stench of goats and poo gets me a little sick. In Positano and most of Italy, most cars are diesels with nasty exhausts, these 2 cycle mini trucks used for local deliveries and garbage pickup have NO emissions at all, so it stinks like a 1000 leafblowers.
At the end of the day Its an amazing place, almost Magical. I understand much about myself and who I am because I have that connection. But trust me when I tell you I LOVE to visit, but I would NEVER want to live there. I spent the summer there back in the early 80's and I cant tell you how happy I was when I got back home.

So just to clarify, I am a white boy from Ozone NY, now I live near Dallas TX. Home for me has always been USA. People often ask me why my ancestors would leave Italy. My cousin Lou live there in Nocelle until he was 20 yrs old, now he is 45 and living in NY. Ask him why he would leave Italy and he will tell you he has every intention staying in the US. I dont think Americans understand how difficult it can be to live there, especially in the more remote places of Italy. There are no roads IN Nocelle. None. There is one road that goes TO Nocelle that ends at a parking lot that the locals use to park if they own a car. Its also the bus stop that will take you to Positano. That road was only built 20 years ago. Life for many of the residents is unchanged for centuries. Example: From my uncle's house it is about 1/2 miles of steps just to get to church on Sunday. Before the road was built that connects Positano to Nocelle you had to take the over 2 miles walk UP the steps to get to my cousins house. I climb those steps when I was 14 yrs old (1981) and I thought I was going to DIE! A Donkey carried our luggage with ease, I was envious. Today they mostly all have electricity, plumbing, satellite TV, iPhones and internet but there are a small few that do not. They have careers like doctor or lawyer or engineer but only if they leave to go to the big cities. In the early 1970's the economy in Italy was terrible, that is when most everyone in my family left the country. That is why my uncle Lou moved to NY, not much career opportunities in Italy at the time. My uncle Bruno moved to London and Carlo eventually went to Berlin. Carlo moved to Germany sometime around 1982 and about 10 years ago he returned to Italy. That is who I went to visit.

[Worth1]

Sounds like my kind of place but most people here dont understand how I was raised up and have no idea what I can deal with and do without.
When I was 16-18 sometimes I would ride my bicycle 10 miles to school and back over a mountain.
And had no problem walking the 3 miles up hill to a bar to buy a pack of smokes.
Drew water from wells and washed clothes by hand in a wash tub.
When my folks moved to another place down the road before I joined the Marines I would run 1 mile to the store and 1 mile back everyday even though I had a car.
My father thought it was foolish to drive anywhere less than 2 miles we walked.
Put me back in the 1800's and I would do just fine.

Worth

[BigVanVader]

Great read and thank you for sharing. Very interesting to hear about other places being "frozen in time" so to speak. I often long for that kind of existence but in all reality I would most likely miss too many things that living in the USA affords me. I did live in a tent with a bunch of hippies for a while when I was younger. It is one of my fondest memories but holy crap did a bed feel good after being on the hard ground for a month.

[OzoneNY]

Originally Posted by BigVanVader

My wife wants to live in Italy, I heard the economy took a hit in the Brexit thing and property was selling cheap? What part of Italy do you live now? It is so beautiful there.

I dont live in Italy, I have family that does, they are born in Italy.
Brexit? You heard very wrong. The only affect (so far) Brexit had on property value in Italy was if the British were looking to buy in Italy. Any affect on Italian real estate as far as I can tell is a consequence of the bureaucrats at the ECB and the Italian banks, which are barely stable. Im not going into politics here but from my conversations with the Italians, Brexit may only be the beginning.
Property is affordable to buy in southern Italy but like in the US, the cities get expensive so many who live abroad usually rent. An American friend of mine lives way up north in Torino Italy. He took a temp transfer from work, he is an employee of Fiat Chrysler, he rents.

Your wife wants to live there? Let me give you advice. Its not easy to do so even if you get a company transfer and get company support and a paycheck to keep you going. Got a few bucks? Take a summer long vacation in Tuscany and live the dream for 8 weeks. Rinse, repeat as necessary

[OzoneNY]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Sounds like my kind of place but most people here dont understand how I was raised up and have no idea what I can deal with and do without.
When I was 16-18 sometimes I would ride my bicycle 10 miles to school and back over a mountain.
And had no problem walking the 3 miles up hill to a bar to buy a pack of smokes.
Drew water from wells and washed clothes by hand in a wash tub.
When my folks moved to another place down the road before I joined the Marines I would run 1 mile to the store and 1 mile back everyday even though I had a car.
My father thought it was foolish to drive anywhere less than 2 miles we walked.
Put me back in the 1800's and I would do just fine.

Worth

Your a native of Hill Country?

[Worth1]

I know a guy that retired from BP and moved to Italy he loves the place and knows the (ways).
He stay there many times before moving.
But he is old school too gardens and cures his own meat.

Worth

[Cole_Robbie]

Speaking of European vacations, rentals for the month of August in Paris are insanely cheap, at least last time I looked. I was seeing $800-$1000 for a one-month stay. Many residents go on their own vacations in August and rent out their place while they are away. I was actually considering taking a girlfriend of the time to Paris for a month....then she dumped me. Her loss. I never did tell her I was planning that trip.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by OzoneNY

Your a native of Hill Country?

Was born here but lived in Missouri Ozarks and Southeast Oklahoma right next to Arkansas on farms.
One of my girl friends had no running water and they cooked on a wood stove.
Very intelligent people too not idiots like TV puts these folks out to be.
Worth

[OzoneNY]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Was born here but lived in Missouri Ozarks and Southeast Oklahoma right next to Arkansas on farms.
One of my girl friends had no running water and they cooked on a wood stove.
Very intelligent people too not idiots like TV puts these folks out to be.
Worth

Ozarks are really nice.

In some ways, similar there as it is here. Its a tale of two subcultures within one. Northern and southern Italy are a little different in how they live, think, eat etc.
One thing common, no where in Italy do they eat ragu on spaghetti and meatball like here. They eat spaghetti and they eat meatball, but not together on the plate like we do here.
I suspect Worth you could perhaps make a life in Nocelle. They even have a smokehouse, though it looks more like a bomb shelter

OK, back to the tomatos.

My cousins house is pictured with arrow, that is where he is from before he moved to NY. You can see below the house the rows they farm
on.

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