Any Americans who have bought in Scalea

[njkahale]

Hi there,
We have been viewing the Scalea area for a couple of years now (via th web), and would really like to buy an apartment there for current enjoyment and possible future retirement. Are there any Americans that can shed light on the complexity of buying in Scalea. I notice that most of the people i have seen buying there are mainly European and English and don't know whether it is a totally different set of "rules" for buying from those areas. Any help anyone can lend would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much in advance,
Kevin and Natalie

[Di]

Hi Kevin and Natalie,

Doug and I would be happy to answer your American-type questions. Look for a private message from us.

[JanetC]

Hi Kevin and Natalie:

Welcome to the forum. I sent you an email and would love to talk about our experiences in Calabria.

Janet and Stuart
New Jersey, USA

[natcat100]

Hi

Sorry to post this here but I am interested to know whether many Calabrians Emmigrated to the USA? I am keen to rent my apartment and wondered if its worth promoting it in the USA.
any information would br gratefully received. Also does anyone know if there are any direct flights from America to Lamazia?

Kind Regards

Chris

[Di]

Hi,

Many, many Calabrese fled to the United States during a particularly hard time in Calabria. In fact, Calabria is still recovering from it. The ancestors of most Italian-Americans came from this region. I am no expert, so if there is an expert out there, please do elaborate.

As far as we were able to find out, there are no direct flights, you must first go to another Italian airport, such as Rome.

[Italy4me]

Eurofly do Lamezia - New York (JFK) from May to October.
The flight goes via Bologna but here a link to the timetable:

eurofly direct flights - the italian air[way] of life

I'm sure I read somewhere that over 80% of Americans have Calabrese ancestors...

Lesley

[Doug]

Originally Posted by natcat100

Hi
Also does anyone know if there are any direct flights from America to Lamazia?

Kind Regards

Chris

Hi Chris - Your post refers to the 'south west". This is not southwest USA is it? Di and I have poured over airline options and there just are not too many easy deals to Italy from much of the US. We always have to at least go thru Rome to get to Lamezia, but you can also go thru Bologna, Milan too. We go from Oregon to Rome via Minneapolis or Chicago usually. The airport at Lamezia is not bad, but I question whether the single runway would handle a wide body 767 or similar, so direct over-ocean flights are not likely and the demand is not enough to fill a big plane. We've rented cars in Rome and Lamezia and I now tend to think the extra cost to fly to Lamezia to save 3.5 hours of driving is questionable if you're on a budget.

I think the Scalea area is marketable in the US to many people, not just Italian Americans. The internet is a marvelous tool that would enable you to hit the American market like we plan to do a little. Di has made all of our travel plans, Italian school plans and even real estate purchasing plans online. I know nothing about starting a website, but I bet there are opportunties for a consortium of owners to target a US market directly or thru links. Take care,

[JanetC]

Hi Chris:

We live in New Jersey and have a place in San Nicola that we rent in the summer months to mainly Italians and Russians. Most Americans that I know have never thought about going south - usually to Tuscany, Venice and Rome. We have a website for our units and get a lot of interest from the British market.

As for direct flights, the only direct flight from the east coast of USA is generally to Rome - we fly either Philadelphia to Rome or Newark to Rome. From there we just rent a car and drive 4 1/2 hours to San Nicola.

Please contact us if you have any questions!

Janet and Stuart

[natcat100]

Hi all

Thanks for the response, I Live in the south West of England (Bristol) and we have an apartment in Maiera near Cillera. It is very interesting to hear that Calabria has such a strong conection with the USA. did you buy in calabria because you have roots there? we have a website www.explorecalabria.com which shows our apartment. do you have any Idea where we could advertise this in America?
thanks very much

chris and Nat

[Di]

Hi Chris,

Doug's roots are Scottish, mine very mixed (i.e. I'm a mutt--5th generation American on one end and immigrant Polish on the other). The only family connection to Italy is that my Mom always wanted to see Rome...kinda weak. The reason I think it's worth it for you to advertise in America is because that is how we ended up in Scalea---because of the Internet. Janet is quite correct that when Americans think of Italy they don't even know about Calabria--despite its connection with immigration. I think Janet would be much more savvy on how to advertise than Doug and I who are reknowned for having to give away stuff we try to sell. If we had to market ourselves to stay alive, we'd not make it. Fortunately there's realtors for selling our farm.

P.S. Your website is very nice.