{"id":2969,"date":"2010-06-23T17:41:49","date_gmt":"2010-06-23T15:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/?p=2969"},"modified":"2014-04-20T11:15:52","modified_gmt":"2014-04-20T09:15:52","slug":"welcome-to-my-world-living-in-florence-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/florence\/welcome-to-my-world-living-in-florence-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Living in Florence Italy: Welcome to my world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Everyone who hears where I live and what I do for a job (after a stint teaching study abroad I became a professional blogger <\/a>and then moved into marketing) responds in pretty much the same way: “wow, you are so lucky”. It is mostly true that I am lucky, though not all because I live in Florence! In “my world”<\/strong> – and I think most expats here would agree – living in Florence Italy has its positive and negative aspects.<\/strong> Don’t think I don’t weigh these out on a regular basis! Here are just 4 pros and cons of living in Italy – I’m sure my expat friends would have a lot to add!<\/p>\n

\"fiesole_view\"<\/p>\n

Negative points about living in Italy<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. The average salary is 1000\u20ac per month<\/strong> (net). Our professionals make 50 to 70 percent less than their american counterparts.<\/li>\n
  2. There are only a dozen channels on tv and there is no Tivo, not that you’d want to watch most of that stuff later, either.<\/li>\n
  3. Population density is high<\/strong>. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to hear my neighbours’ tv.<\/li>\n
  4. A ridiculous amount of burocracy and paperwork for anything official (from marriage to paying a bill at the post office).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Advantages to life in Florence<\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Most of the time the weather 5 day forecast looks a lot better than Toronto’s<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    2. The distance from city to city is short<\/strong> in Italy, and Florence is centrally located so it’s easy to get out! Just kidding… What I mean is that there are good options for day trips or longer voyages, and cheap flights from the nearby Pisa airport, too. Not that I take much advantage of that any more due to the next point…<\/li>\n
    3. Tuscany has everything<\/strong>: Art cities, beaches<\/a>, mountains for skiing, lakes… Well not really such great lakes…<\/li>\n
    4. A ridiculous amount of burocracy! If you have a sharp appreciation for irony and absurdity, Italy’s burocracy provides a load of daily laughs – you don’t need to subscribe to those websites full of funny photos of kittens<\/strong> in odd positions, the daily newspaper will do the trick.<\/li>\n
    5. It’s not all “la bella vita” but hey, a lot of it is. Life, and food, is generally better here. Oh I cheated, I said four points.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      As I said this is just a short list (the idea came to me while on the bus the other day). My many expat readers will have much to add in each category I’m sure – right? PS: I decided to stay away from politics here and elsewhere on arttrav, so we’re not mentioning all that under the negative points. That wouldn’t be fair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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