The big change for us was not only moving from one
country to another but also moving from a city with 200 000 inhabitants where
you can live your life in anonymity to a village with 190 residents, where most
of whom are related to each other and the word privacy doesn’t seem to mean a
lot.
At first they seemed to believe we were crazy. A lawyer
and a psychologist choosing to live all alone on a hill … there had to be
something wrong with us, maybe we were in hiding?
When they heard we wanted to start a touristic
activity, their reaction was always the same: “Why?” Over and over they told us it would be
impossible, as there is nothing here. “But
that’s just it”, we said, “There is nothing but nature, beautiful landscapes
and absolute peace. For people from the city who want to escape the rat race
and the chaos of every day life, this is heaven.” Shaking their head they went
on their way.
After a while, when they realized we weren’t going anywhere
and yes, tourists were really coming they did all they could to accept us in
their small but very active community. We were invited to help at the local “Sagra
del Raviolo”, I learned to make ravioli and I’m now part of the clean up team
during the festivities. Even our guests are invited to be part of the crew ?. And Nicolas,
he’s part of the voluntary fire brigade.
The locals do everything they can to help us out when needed, and in the local bar our guests are treated like royalty. We feel very grateful towards them and as small as we are (with only 4 guest apartments), we always try to support local activities as best as we can.