What is it about Italy? Everyone who falls in love with Italy feels the lure and tries to explain it. Even the Italians try to explain it. They can get choked up when they talk about opera, Rome or Naples, pasta with porcini mushrooms, wine from local vineyards, fish from the southern coasts, or ancient olive groves.
But something about the lure goes even deeper. It's not just the beauty of the land or the painting tradition or the Etruscan ruins. It's a way of living, a way of being, a way of relating to life that astounds you when you first feel it.
The lure of Italy is strong and passionate. It snuck up behind us and pulled us in with an intensity we didn't understand at the time.
When people ask how we found our house, our answer is one false start, part persistence, and a whole lot of luck and timing. One day toward the end of our first stay in 1991, we took a drive into the hills. We reached the ridge and looked over the valleys and mountains that stretch out to the Adriatic coast. The breeze cooled our faces, the sun warmed our shoulders. Pavel turned to me and said, "Why don't we think about buying something here?"
Now, listen. My normal reaction to anything Pavel suggests is "Can we do that?" It always pops out of my mouth before I stop to think. So, there I was thinking: Can we do this? This is such a new land for us, out in the middle of nowhere. What about France? We don't know anything about Italy. Are you out of your mind?
I took a deep breath and said, "Why not?"
Pavel was astounded. So was I.