Moving to Via Concezione – It Takes a Village! – March 14, 2026.

With the help of Chris and Mike, we have moved to a new location in Pisticci today in Via Concezione. This is Ric and Royane’s house. They are from Florida and only use the house occasionally. We have never met them but they called us shortly after we landed in Pisticci and have been incredibly helpful in assisting us in finding our feet in this town. The house is a bit of an upgrade as there is both a toaster and an oven in the kitchen and we have gone from zero to two outdoor spaces; a balcony and a terrace, both with amazing views.

After dealing with additional paperwork issues on the car, we should finally be able to pick up our car in Taranto on this coming Tuesday. Phil, who is Italian but grew up in Britain, has been amazing during this process and is also helping us with several other things. Invaluable guy!

The sellers of the house we want to buy are coming to Pisticci from Germany on Wednesday and we are hoping to finally make some real progress on the purchase while they are here for almost three weeks. The seller only speaks German, so we have enlisted our new German friend, Martina to help us communicate. Wish us luck! We are going to need it. This process is arduous and we’ve had a few extra roadblocks that I don’t want to put in writing out here on SoMe. Suffice it to say that Italy is never boring!

We are learning that it takes a village and we are trying to give back where we can. Hopefully, we will have more opportunities for that going forward.

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Bianca Pisticci Clean-up, Cars and Bureaucracy – March 3, 2026

Things are moving along here in Pisticci in a one step forward, two steps backward kind of way. We are never short on bureaucratic drama around here but we are learning to roll with the punches and stay positive and optimistic that everything will work out… eventually.

The biggest news is that we have bought a Toyota Aygo from 2019 from a dealer. However, we haven’t taken possession of it yet and it will probably take another week or two before all the paperwork falls into place. A big thank you goes to Phil who is going above and beyond to make this happen. He drove us to Taranto to look at cars, helped us negotiate the deal and is now also dealing with some of the paperwork issues that always arise when you try to accomplish anything in Italy. Not sure what we would do without Phil.

Our house purchase is moving forward at a snail’s pace and since we will have to move out of our temporary residence in Via Adua by March 15, we have been looking for other places in town. Looks like we may have a really good option brewing so fingers crossed that it works out

We continue to engage with expats and residents in Pisticci, participating in the weekly Tuesday pizza night at La Lanterna for English speakers, socializing at Caffe Laviola and Bar Pisticci, and participating in the Bianca Pisticci clean-up in Centro Storico. We are also aiming to get involved in the Lucania Film Festival that takes place every summer in Pisticci.

The weather has warmed up considerably and we are enjoying many sunny hours. All in all, we are doing great and looking forward to exploring the surrounding area in our new-to-us tiny

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Ulla is Now an Official Resident of Italy – Jan 28, 2026

Ciao a tutti! Ulla is now officially an Italian resident with an official, stamped document to prove it. It took some time and effort, especially on the part of Lia and Vincenzo but we are now in a position to try to accomplish the same thing for Christopher. Fingers crossed🤞

In addition, we have abandoned the renovation project we initially had our sights set on (too expensive and time-consuming) and are instead pursuing the purchase of an already renovated 2-bedroom / 1.5 bathroom home in Centro Storico. We will need to upgrade the kitchen but otherwise, the place is completely renovated and sold fully furnished. We are hoping to move in at the end of March. Fingers crossed 🤞

Lastly, Ulla got a great haircut today with wash and blowout for €20.

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Lovely Days Exploring Pisticci and Matera – Jan 19, 2026

Another update from Pisticci where we are dealing with Italian bureaucracy at the police station, the comune, the Vodafone store, the notaio, the engineer and the geometra. Won’t bore you with the details but things are going to take time both in regards to our home purchase and renovation as well as our residency permits. But we do have wifi at our temporary home now so that’s a major accomplishment. We were thankfully prepared for all this delay and not really in a hurry to pull the trigger on anything so “one day at a time” is the motto around here.

It rains a lot at this time of year in Southern Italy but in between rainy days we’ve had the time to walk on Pisticci’s wonderful beach, visit beautiful UNESCO site, Matera three times, walk around Pisticci every day and visit with a few expats over pizza. Most of them don’t live here year-round but most are here quite a bit.

After initially renting a car, we currently don’t have a car since we can’t buy one until Ulla has her residency permit. This should happen some time this week but only time will tell what actually happens. We plan to buy a 3-5 year old Fiat Panda and there is no shortness of options around here. It’s the car of choice for small-town Italy living where navigating the streets on four wheels can be pretty tricky. Living without a car is ok for now but long-term it wouldn’t work for us in the countryside.

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Arrival in Pisticci, Basilicata – Jan 7, 2026

We have arrived in Pisticci in the Basilicata region and have settled in our temporary home in Via Adua. All our things arrived without problem, and today we have completed the first hurdle of applying for residency for me: A visit to the police station. Next step will be to register at the Comune and then apply for Christopher’s residency as my spouse. It’s an arduous process!!! We would have gotten nowhere without Lia and Vincenzo’s help so we are very thankful for them. Lia and Vincenzo are the two people who convinced us that Pisticci is the town for us in Southern Italy. They are going to help us with house and car purchases as well as all the Italian paperwork we will encounter during this initial phase.

We have had time to wander around Pisticci, have dinner with multiple people, and buy a few items that we need such as small kitchen appliances that we couldn’t bring from the US since they wouldn’t work here.

I’m reading a delightful book by Danish author Eva Ravnbøl called “God is Italian.” An excellent intro to Italian culture and spirit.

All in all, we are in really good spirits. Things seem to fall into place, and we are learning to accept the speed of how things get done in Southern Italy: There is always time for a chat and to let the older folks go before everyone else in the queue. Very civilized!

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