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Published: April 3rd 2009
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We have been here 2 months now so are finally starting to get settled and wanted to share our Naples impressions with you in the hope of convincing you all to visit. Aside from the awful start courtesy of the theft of our suitcases, we have absolutely loved it here and are continually amazed by the culture, views and the food. Naples is the third largest city in Italy (after Rome and Milan) and the largest in Southern Italy. I had never ventured south of Rome previously in my travels and the contrast between the southern and northern part of the country is striking. The Italy you often see pictures of...the high fashion, the beautiful gardens and the tuscan villas, is the northern part of the country. South of Rome the country has many problems with crime, poverty and illegal immigration but the scenery remains spectacular... you just have to be bit more careful with your personal belongings! Locals often refer to Naples as 'the beautiful lady with ugly feet'. If you look at the rubbish on the side of the road, the stray dogs everywhere and the crime ... you miss all the wonderful things the city has to offer.
View Towards Monte di Procida
We are the second small hill towards the right in the distance We have chosen to live in a town called Monte di Procida which is along the bay of Naples but has a reputation as one of the safest and cleanest places to live. As it is on a peninsula, there is not much through traffic which removes many of the problems associated with crime. We are still reluctant to leave our car parked on the street in many of the other areas of Naples as cars are broken into so often but have felt no such fear in Monte di Procida. Although there is a growing population of Americans in Monte di, the majority of residents are wealthy Italians who have lived most of their life in the area. They have all been very friendly and welcoming and as many of them speak English it has made the shopping and settling in easier than it may have been otherwise.
The house finding procedure was extremely difficult. We were supposed to use 'real estate agents' from the base, but as we discovered from the people that live here...they show you beautiful houses but in suburbs you would not want to live in. Most people tend to find an Italian
The house
We are a downstairs apartment real estate agent who discreetly shows you houses in the suburbs you do want to live in and then takes a cut from your landlord as a result. We found a house through one of these agents in a great town and then had to take the details to the base to have it registered. They then sent out a team to do a security inspection on the place...and then we were allowed to rent it. We have chosen to take a much smaller place than we could afford with the housing allowance they give us but found an apartment in a great town with a garage and yard and view.....very hard to come by!! As all Italian places come with no storage cupboards we have had to find inventive ways to stack and store all the things you normally keep in your bathroom and bedroom. The house did come with a bidet but although the novelty factor was great we were forced to put a table over the top of it in order to place a storage cabinet on top of that for all our standard bathroom items!
The first few months have been difficult as we have
been dealing with insurance claims and trying to settle into a new house and country. I started an intensive Italian class which consisted of 4 hours a day for 4 weeks. I learned an amazing amount but when trying to use my newfound knowledge in the community...I quickly realised how much there is still to learn. I can now order food successfully but as soon as the conversation ventures past that Im in trouble. I would have loved to do another 4 weeks of school but was lucky enough to find a Federal job quickly and started work immediately after finishing the course. I am working as the Training Officer for the base so I coordinate all the training courses and assess the effectiveness of base exercises. It is great to get into the Federal system as it should make getting a job far easier every time Jamy moves.
Millie however has found the move and Italian kenneling experience quite stressful and has not really adjusted. She has begun crying and howling in the morning when we both head out to work which has been fairly stressful for us (and no doubtedly more stressful for the neighbours). We are
hoping the situation improves as the weather gets a bit warmer as it is still fairly chilly and she is definitely a warm weather dog.
We have not really begun to see all the sites that Naples has on offer as we have spent the majority of our time getting settled. We did spend a great weekend in Florence and are hoping to show you a few pictures from that soon and hopefully you will be receiving far more blog updates in the future!
We hope you are all well and hope to see you some time while we are here.
Miss you all.
Love Mel and Jamy
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