DAILY POSTCARD | FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2026 |
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Dear International Living reader, After a decade in small-town Italy, Chip Stites finds the "romance" of Italy a bit tarnished. But in its place, a deeper, more rooted experience is now close to his heart. Here, people are accepted for who they are… Conversations over dinner last three hours or more… and those having the biggest arguments share the longest hugs and broadest smiles when they part. It's easily a place you could call home. Chip wouldn't trade it for anywhere else… | P.S. When you line up your life's personal Sweet Spot with a place that's entering its own Sweet Spot—the magic happens. That's when you step not just into the best years of your life… but into the best places the world has to offer. And if you recognize it in time, you'll not only have the chance to live more richly… you could walk away wealthier than when you began. Most people miss it. But, if you know how to recognize it, you don't have to. Find out how when you join International Living. |
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Italy's Roots Over Its Romance |
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As a child my memories include the Sunday evening dinner when my father told my mother that he had a job in Italy and we were moving at the end of the school year. Thinking that this was a potentially explosive issue, my brother and I left the table. I will never know what was said but I do know that at age seven we moved to Canzo, Italy, just outside Como, to a huge home, with a cook, and a governess, a greenhouse, a garden, a small orchard, a Bocce ball court, and the tallest climbing trees we had ever seen. |
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It is a wondrous place that lives in me today. We learned to play soccer, and we commuted to the American School in Milan. We climbed so high in the trees around the house that we could see the whole valley and got scared when the wind rocked us from side to side. We took Italian lessons every day from Ciola, our governess, and I went grocery shopping with Mom, as I was the only one who could speak well enough to communicate. Three years later we left Canzo for Baltimore, but my memories and my heart stayed in Canzo, Italy. Once back in the US I followed the routine: Junior High, High School, College, Graduate School, but traveling and Italy stayed with me. Over the next 40 years I traveled to London, Paris, San Jose, Dublin, Galway, Surrey in the UK, Costa Rica, and Mexico multiple times, but it wasn't until I was about to retire that my focus returned to the EU and Italy. I took two trips alone, one to Malaga, Spain and one to Lisbon, Portugal. Both were lovely but neither one tugged at me, the way Italy did. Four years before I retired I met my wife and we wanted to live in Europe. Shonna had been a Rotary Exchange Student in Denmark and spent another year in France. We read IL magazine, attended the Cancun Mexico, IL Conference in 2015, and created a list of countries to visit. Our final visit was to Italy. There is a sentence, on page 90 in Simon Sinek's book, Start with Why, that says: "We do better in cultures that are good fits…in places that reflect our own values and beliefs." That is what Italy does for me. My wife and I spent three weeks in Italy in 2016. We went from Venice to Bassano del Grappa, to Rieti, to Massa Lubrense and a wonderful B&B called "Torre Cangiani." Then on to Paestum, Conversano and finally Bari, and back to the US. We made memories that will never leave us, and at one point in Paestum my wife looked at me and said, "Chip, it's Rieti. I want to live in Rieti." |
Italy's 4,000-year-old culture shines through in its places and its people.. |
You will notice that outside of Venice, there were no "tourist" destinations on our list. We wanted something much deeper. Small town Italy is slower paced, more focused on families and relationships, friendships, and community. People are accepted for who they are first, and then a friendship either deepens, becomes personal, or lapses as people find less and less in common. There is an outward immediate acceptance of who you are, and then you get to explore a relationship in depth. Relationships are less transactional and more about giving and sharing. Getting invited to a meal is common as everything is celebrated over coffee or a meal. Hugs and kisses are shared as a common greeting: handshakes are considered impersonal. Conversations are about family, health, local, national, and worldwide current affairs. You had better have an opinion that is well versed, or you will be quickly dismissed. Italians love to talk, to discuss, to disagree and give thoughtful explanations. This 4,000-year-old culture has had time to mature and learn acceptance. While people are entrenched in their beliefs they are also willing to listen and to discuss. Italians are fussy about their food, their wine, their bread, their coffee, their meat, and their country and what it means to them. Don't be surprised if the dinner lasts for three to four hours and those having the biggest arguments share the longest hugs and broadest smiles when they part. Over the last nine years here in Rieti, the "romance" of Italy is a bit tarnished with hassles like how bills are paid, or how the car gets fixed. But the love of this place, its people, food, pace of life, and its long, deep culture has only matured and grown a patina over time that fills my heart whenever I speak the language, hear the music, or share the joy of a long conversation. My "sweet spot" is, always has been, and always will be, the culture, people, and relationships in small town Italy. |
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Farmers still wave from the fields. Lobster, crab and sea bream come straight from the boats. Cobblestone lanes echo with conversation instead of traffic. But it won't last. Soon the hotels will rise and the prices will double.
But right now, you can find homes for the price of a luxury Range Rover. Discover the secret spot before the world catches on. |
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