Introductions

[StefanoC]

My wife and I are English, live in Kenilworth UK with our beautiful dog and both work in the Higher Education sector. We have been in love with Italy for years and are both trying to learn Italian. I am in my early 60s and my wife is in her 50s.

My wife suffers from terrible headaches from sinusitis and allergies and she has been advised to move to somewhere warmer and drier. We are therefore thinking of moving to Calabria and are currently studying the area around Cropani in Catanzaro province. This are is attractive because it seems relativelu underdeveloped (hence better value?) and is close to both sea and mountains.

As we are both experienced lecturers we are hoping to generate income by teaching English as a foreign language. I can also teach Research Methods and IT.

We are hoping to learn a lot from the members of this forum especially:
* Any experience of the Calabrian climate for sufferers from sinusitis
* Pet care
* English teaching in Calabria
* Health Care in Calabria - especially hip replacements!

I look forward to enchanging ideas and experiences with you all.

[Mrs Teapot]

Hi StefanOc,

I too suffer with a chronic health condition that makes living in the UK a problem when its not warm. I investigated for years the best place to move to. The south of italy is definitely warmer, but the winters can be very cold and damp. I know the north of italy particularly is like this but ive not tried winters in Calabria yet. I know the subject of cold and damp in Italy is being discussed on the British Expats forum at present (probably in the middle of a discussion on something else, so you may have to read many threads on the first two pages to find this info). Also lots of questions about TEFL and work on the same page.

Regarding Cropani - I remember considering this area early on in my searching and came to the conclusion it was mostly a vacation area and not many folk around out of the summer months - though I could of course be wrong or my memory failing me.

In the end I worked out that the canary isles was best for my health (but even then the weather is not guaranteed) but I didnt have the money to buy a propery there and and my heart is in Italy. So my heart and my head are a 50/50 split.

I hope others have more useful info for you - but in the meantime, welcome to the forum.

Mrs Teapot ps: Scalea is good value for money as a location in Italy and is on the main trainline so you can access from Rome and down the coast to scalea - if that helps.