TestaRossa

I missed this thread, sorry! I am in a unique position, I live in Italy but my husband and his business partner have a place in Southern Spain. My choice is to live in Italy and holiday in Spain. jdr will say I am being a hypocrite ! I don't like the cold and wet we are having here in Italy at the moment and I do miss the ease with which you can buy UK goods in Spain, BUT, for me a big plus is the culture. I know Spain has culture and museums but you do have to go inland for that. I live in Florence, so I'm surrounded by the great works of history, which is important for me. Also I have carved out a life similar to that which I had in the UK but with better weather, most of the time and, to me, more attractive surroundings. It felt a little weird in Spain, like being on permanent holiday, which sounds great I know, but became a little wearing for me after a while.

Here I can walk to the shops, walk my daughter to school, pop into friends for coffee. It feels very familiar. As I say, not a lot different to the lifestyle I had in the UK. You may say why do it then? Well, why not really?! It is different enough here, but not enough that I feel alien. I also happen to have picked the most English of cities in Italy, language wise. Where I live there are less English speakers but the centre is so popular with us and the Americans that most people speak English in the shops and restaurants.

Maybe I should be comparing like with like, but as most here live on the coast of Spain I have to assume that is where you are talking about too. For me I just needed more than sun, sea and sand! I'm fairly sure I would feel the same about living on the Italian coast too!