The city of Como, on the southwestern tip of Lake Como, was the third stop (after Bergamo and Lecco) that we had planned on our tour of places to live in Italy. By this time, though, we were already so
Como, Cernobbio and Brunate
Falling in Love with Lecco
Lecco was the second town on our “where shall we live?” tour of northern Lombardy. Before our trip, we made a list of the qualities of our ideal location, and Lecco seemed to check all the boxes. But the natural beauty of the area, the food, and the warmth of the people all exceeded our expectations.
Bergamo, a City of Contrasts
Our week in Bergamo marked the start of the second half of our autumn 2025 trip, during which we planned to visit several cities in northern Lombardy to “try them on for size” as possible places to live when we move to Italy next year.
A Walk from Santa Margherita Ligure to Portofino
On our last Saturday in Sestri Levante, the day after our classes ended, our language school offered an excursion to walk along the Ligurian coast from Santa Margherita Ligure to the famous resort town of Portofino. It promised to be
Exploring Cinque Terre, Italy’s Coastal Gem
The Cinque Terre (literally, the “five lands”) are a string of five centuries-old fishing villages perched on the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera between Genoa and Pisa in northwest Italy. The villages—Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore—were
Learning Italian in Beautiful Sestri Levante
After visiting Genoa for a few days, we took the train along the Ligurian coast to the beach town of Sestri Levante, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the east. The ABC School of Italian Language and Culture, which we
From RV Life to Italian Dreams: Our Next Adventure
About 12 years ago, I asked Cheryl, “what would you think if I retired early and we sold our home and most of our stuff, moved into an RV, and traveled around the country?” That question was the start of
Genoa, Italy
Our first stop in Italy was in Genoa, in the region of Liguria. Earlier this summer, we had been considering the Ligurian coast as a possible place to call home, but since then, we decided that we were more interested in mountains than beaches. We left a few days in Genoa on the itinerary, though, just for sightseeing and to give us a chance to recover from the jet lag before we started language school.
Road Scholar Independent Living and Learning in Florence trip (post index)
Here is a chronological index of all the posts from our six-week Road Scholar Independent Living and Learning in Florence trip to Italy in Spring 2025.
Recap of our six weeks in Florence (video)
Richard, one of our fellow Road Scholars, assembled this beautiful 4:16 video summarizing our six weeks together in Florence. He showed it at our farewell lunch on Saturday, but was kind enough to send us all a copy to share. It’s a great recap of this fabulous trip.