We went through every emotion, gave up, and then fell into the dream



holiday home in Tuscany that we thought existed only in the imagination.

We only knew that we had found the ideal location because we had spent

the previous two days looking at twenty-four different properties and

rejecting the lot. And before that we had spent six months trawling the

Internet. We had also spent several holidays in Italy and knew the

region we wanted ? we wanted our holiday home in Tuscany to be set

somewhere in the hills of the Pisa ? Florence ? Siena triangle.

It was the food that first attracted us to Tuscany. Patricia, my wife,

adores the lamb chops you get in that area, and I the bruschetta with

its generous sprinkle of goats cheese. Of course there is also

Michelangelo, Leonardo daVinci and the opera at Verona.

To pass any church in Tuscany, no matter how insignificant, is to miss

some work of genius.

Patricia scoured the Internet. Our standards were high. Ground floor

with terrace or first floor with balcony. A swimming pool. Near a decent

sized town and within walking distance of a restaurant or bar. Good

transport links, and close to places of interest. If we were to buy a

holiday home in Tuscany then we knew what we wanted.

One piece of property we discovered on the internet interested us and

when we showed an interest it suddenly jumped in price from ?110,000 to

?150,000. Sometimes emails were not replied to or else we were pestered

with emails and phone calls about property well outside our criteria.

See our own website: http://www.worldwide-infomedia-services.com and

discover what we finally settled upon on. See our holiday home in

Tuscany. Drop us an email if you want any advice.

We over-nighted in a hotel near Siena and set off the next morning to

see a range of properties in the Arezzo area. The one property we loved

on the Internet ? ground floor, patio, hedged garden ? proved to be a

disappointment. Which also emphasised the need to walk the ground as

well as look at photographs.

We headed north. By the time we had done Bibbiena and its surrounding

hills, we were propertied out. The properties there were okay but? I

think the main problem was the area. Everything was unkempt and tatty.

One estate agent had no English so had employed an interpreter, Jessica,

a Swedish girl living in Italy. After looking at several properties with

Jessica, Patricia and I had a quick discussion and decided to give up on

our impossible search and head back to the hotel. Another ten miles in

the wrong direction seemed a waste of time when we were tired and

hungry. On the off chance we asked the interpreter what Poppi was like.

Jessica immediately became enthusiastic. Poppi was wonderful. Poppi was

a member of the Club "I Borghi pi? belli d'Italia", 50 selected villages

in Italy. We had to see it.

Jessica took us to see a developer in Poppi, he was waiting for us in

the square to take us out to the development, which is a mile from the

town, and a hundred meters from the railway station, bus stop,

restaurant and bar.

The development comprises ten blocks of five or six apartments each,

with a heated swimming pool and spa. The first two blocks were being

roofed the day we were there. I had a gut feeling we were to find that

illusive holiday home in Tuscany.

Niccol? is young, gorgeous (according to Patricia), unattached and

drives a Mercedes. Niccol? is an engineer and is determined to put only

the best of materials into the apartments. We didn't understand half of

the technical details he bombarded us with. All I can say is that never

before in my life did I see COPPER guttering in an ordinary house never

mind a second home. Believe me you'll not find that sort of workmanship

in many other holiday home in Tuscany developments.

From the site you have a clear view of the walled town of Poppi to the

south. We decided on a north-facing apartment. To the north, the

farmland rises sharply into a national forest and nature reserve. Before

he let us go Niccol? gave us an escorted tour of medieval Poppi. It is

beautiful, well maintained and protected from modernisation. Most

impressively, it is still a working town.

Initially, we decided to purchase a one-bedroom apartment, which we

subsequently upgraded to a two bed, with two bathrooms (one en suite),

and a combined working kitchen, dining area and sitting room. And an

integral garage and a wine cellar. All for ?200,000.

Of course, in Italy purchase fees, legal fees; stamp duties etc. add

approximately 15% to the purchase price. And there are optional extras,

like air conditioning and the view. But that's for another day. For now

we are happy, we have our holiday home in Tuscany.