Lina3

Hi everyone....me again....

Ok....so me and fiance (4yrs together) have lived full time in our BEAUTIFUL town here in Tuscany for just 4 months ( before we worked together on cruise ships and only here for a few weeks at a time). So after just 4 months my Italian is ok??!!! But not fantastic so I feel blessed to have got a job. Its only for 4 months part time but its a great way for me to become fluent in Italian.
The flat we live in is ours (handed down from ma and pa) small but perfect (except REALLY would like a garden in the future).....ok, so my OH and I have been discussing the reality of being here and the fact that he can get a better job in England. By better we mean, salary and quality of life, cos he is a 1st officer on ships and as we all know italy and its system never makes sense but even for his job its aload of crap here. At the mo he does 3 months away and 1 month at home, but he hates it and wants a more normal lifestyle....well he has an italian friend that works for a company from Southampton and they get to go home every night. Believe it or not Iam cutting a very complecated lifestyle down as much as I can
So the help and advice I need is this.....................what do I do!!!!! From Tuscany to Southampton....even though we would be better off it the long term

help!

Lina
So i

TestaRossa

Honestly, if the apartment is yours, your OH can get a better paid job with a better quality of life in Southampton (which is alright btw for a port) I'd rent your place out here, go back to the UK, save up until the time is right knowing you can either come out here for hols or when you've got the cash to do it with a splash! (sorry, couldn't resist!) My son is at school up the road in Winchester and it really is a beautiful part of the UK, you don't have to be in Southampton itself, there's loads of lovely places nearby, especially with the M3 and the M23, is it?? Really good location!

Lina3

Thanks for that! We need all the advice we can get!

You see the thing is We wanted to start planning our wedding for next May...but with all these new possibilities cropping up, we dont know our arse from our elbow. OH is planning a visit over to have a casual meeting/interview but I dont want to live in a big city??!!? But for the begining we would have to.............Im SO confused!

Thanks though maybe we can look into it after he has gone there in June??

Thanks

TestaRossa

Do you mean Southampton when you say big city?? It's tiny! For a city anyway. Plus there are loads of easily reachable villages all around there if you have a car. Southampton and Winchester both have good train links too, mainly to London but obviously that then gets you other places! I think Southampton even has a direct train to Manchester! I lived in Reading and went to college in Manc so I seem to remember that the train ended up in Southampton. You've also got the Solent, Isle of Wight etc in that area. It isn't "big city" in the same way as say Manchester or Birmingham. I'd keep an open mind...