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 have 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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