Living in Italy

[TheMetetron]

I've had the late-night inspiration to live in Italy sometime in probably 2009 (unless I can make it work sooner, which is unlikely as there are other places I'd like to be first, namely Barcelona).

That said Italy is very big and I've only ever been to Rome. I know for certain I would like to not live in Rome, but I'm not sure where exactly would be best. I'll be visiting Venice for a week next year and it wouldn't be out of the question to take a side trip at that time to whatever place I may eventually decide I'd like to live in.

The only real requirement is that I can find an Italian tutor as I definitely have interest in learning the language while I'm there; I will try to make an effort to learn what I can before coming as well, though I'm well aware living somewhere is a hundred times better than anything else.

I am into the outdoors, but also have a love for the big city amenities and nightlife options that come with that. I wouldn't rule out a small city, but there would have to be something about it that makes it worth giving up the perks of a big city. For instance, in Australia I'll be living in a small beach town, but it has easy access to awesome surfing right outside my apartment and a big city, Sydney, is less than half an hour away.

Just looking for any general suggestions about good cities to live in and any other tips or bits of knowledge people wish to impart on me in the very preliminary stages of my planning process. Thanks.

[john voight]

I went for a few weeks in April of like 2004 or 2005.
I visited several major cities in north Italy.

Florence by a mile IMO.
Lots of Americans.
Lots of nightlife.
Good architecture.
At night when roaming the streets drunk I felt like I was in a Fellini movie.

In general, I didnt like the weather, and would prolly settle as far south as possible, but I never visited middle or lower half.

Another pro of north is: you are much closer to other European countries in case you wanna travel a little (may as well, they are all close together and vastly different).

[WhoIam]

Learning conversational Italian shouldn't be hard, the romance languages are all pretty much the same.

[Danastasio1]

I traveled to Europe after high school and while in Italy stayed at Lake Como. I would highly suggest making an effort to visit there while in the region.

[CITIZEN_114]

I was in Italy for the summer, including a month in florence and I can also highly recommend it.
Great nightlife too and the environment is amazing there imo.

I don't know enough to really help you out with your request, but just wanted you to know Florence should probably be on your list.

[T50_Omaha8]

As a rule of thumb, southern Italy is quite a bit poorer than the northern part. You might want to take this into account.

[TheMetetron]

[ QUOTE ]
Learning conversational Italian shouldn't be hard, the romance languages are all pretty much the same.

[/ QUOTE ]

Conversational any language is very hard to learn (at least to be good at it). I mean any idiot can learn, how are you? and things of that sort, but in depth discussion about a wide-range of topics is the hardest thing of any language to learn.

Even basic Italian won't be easy to learn; all romance languages aren't THAT close. I only understand maybe one out of every ten words in written Italian and make that like one in 25 in spoken Italian... not much of a head start at all.

On a related note, does the language/accent differ greatly between regions in Italy?

[dj_mercury]

yeah, Florence may be the city you are looking for. However for more accurate replies you should probably explain what you don't like of Rome.
As for accents there are some regional differences in pronounciations or accents, bar some minor exceptions is not like you face totally different languages between the regions.
As for learning the language having as a mother tongue a romance language is surely a great advantage, you are likely to learn much more quickly even if your starting point is a low one.

[RJT]

I thought you were going to Italy this past summer. I either have you confused with another poster or that didn't pan out. I think it is the latter.

[RJT]

Did you read NolanFan's Italy trip report in ELD's forum? Might give you some ideas. He has pix in the TR.