Guardia Sanframondi: Part 4 - Houses!

Ok, Good, So What is Your Budget?

Part 1 - Getting There
Part 2 - Around Town
Part 3 - Good Eats!

During our visit to Guardia Sanframondi we looked at several houses ranging in price from €6,000 to €37,000. Of the group, only the €6,000 house required a full restoration - all the others were livable or nearly so, needing only a thorough cleaning and in a couple cases updated electrical wiring.

Guardia Sanframondi: Part 3 - Good Eats!

Macelleria in Guardia Sanframondi

Part 1 - Getting There
Part 2 - Around Town
Part 4 - Houses

It should come as no surprise to find that Guardia Sanframondi has plenty of good food. It's located in the middle of the area the Romans called campania felix - the fortunate lands. And a couple thousand years later it still is. This is the area that sometimes has as many as four separate sagre in the same week. We didn't have time to visit La Guardiense, the famed wine co-operative but we did drink plenty of the local wine made by the owner of Bar Orso, a short walk from Clare Galloway's ArtHouse Guardia.

Of course the sagre tend to happen in the autumn, so for those of us who visit in the middle of the winter (hey, it's when airfare is cheapest) dining is somewhat less exotic, but just as delicious and quite inexpensive.

La Meridiana

Your hosts at La Meridiana

Guardia Sanframondi: Part 2 - Around Town

Clare's not the only one with views!

Part 1 - Getting There
Part 3 - Good Eats!
Part 4 - Houses

Clare Galloway's House Hunters International episode introduced thousands of us to Guardia Sanframondi. The view from her ArtHouse balcony is a big part of what seduced us into making the trip. But a 30 minute "reality" show (or a blog post) can hardly begin to show just how wonderful the town and it's inhabitants really are (we'll have more on some of the inhabitants in a later post).

Guardia Sanframondi: Part 1 - Getting There

A Corner in Guardia Sanframondi

Part 2 - Around Town
Part 3 - Good Eats!
Part 4 - Houses

We did it! Everything went according to plan. We made it to Guardia Sanframondi and Clare Galloway's charming ArtHouse B&B, explored the town, visited a bunch of houses (and found 2 that are almost perfect), enjoyed overwhelming Italian hospitality and lived to tell the tale. So without further ado...

Retirement Planning Italy - International Driving Permit

A few months back I posted a bit about our plans for a trip to visit Guardia Sanframondi, a smallish (about 5000 people) hill town in Campania. There's no easy way to get to Guardia. The nearest town that has train service is Telese Terme - not a bad choice (and the owner of the B&B where we'll be staying does seem willing to come and get her clients) but we wanted to have a little freedom to travel the country side and maybe even drop by some of our favorite spots in and around Napoli. So we'll be renting a car and that means driving. In Italy.

So, in the event you to decide to embark on such a perilous endeavor ...

The International Driving Permit

This was pretty much the easiest part of preparing for our visit to Guardia Sanframondi. All I did was fill out and print the online form, find my local AAA office (conveniently located adjacent to one of the better Indian restaurants in Philly) and head down with my driver's license.

The fee for the permit is $15.00. You need two passport type photos which you can probably get at the AAA office. They were $11.99 at the office I used.  Total cost including tax was $27.71. You can apply by mail as well but delivery can take 4-6 weeks according to the AAA website.

The IDP is not a driver's license.  It's a permit that in conjunction with your current state license (and passport) allows you to drive in counties that are signatories to the United Nations Convention on International Road Traffic of 19 September 1949.

One Quick Car Rental Note


As I browsed the various rental cars on offer through sites like Orbitz and Expedia, I learned the first important EU rental car lesson:

Know how to drive a manual transmission car

Except for the largest and most expensive vehicles, they're all manuals. If no one in your travel party can handle a stick, you're going to literally "pay the price".

Sagre Near Guardia Sanframondi

So, I was browsing some Benevento and Sannio links this afternoon and I came across Sannio Turismo. They're dedicated to promoting food & wine and "agritourismo" in Benevento. Not that big a deal, but what really caught my attention was this group of four sagre or food festivals:

That's four food festivals, all within a small area, and all on the same weekend: Food and Wine, Truffles, Porcini Mushrooms, and Caciocavallo Cheese.

Having missed these by one week this year I poked around a little more and from what I can tell they seem to be on the third weekend of September every year.

So what are they like? Here's a video from the Porcini Festival in 2009:

If they have them the same weekend in 2013, that will be September 19 through 22, 2013. Who wants to go?

Retirement Planning: The Trip to Guardia Sanframondi

We did it! The planning is done, reservations made, and even with months to go, the nervous excitement is building. So what does a trip from Philadelphia to Guardia Sanframondi look like?

• Day 1 Monday: Overnight flight Philadelphia to Fiumicino Airport
• Day 2 Tuesday: Overnight stay at the Airport Hilton
• Day 3 Wednesday: Pick up rental car and drive to Guardia Sanframondi (about 2.5 hours)
• Day 3-7 (Wed - Sun): Explore Guardia Sanframondi and check out the houses
• Day 7 Sunday: Return to Fiumicino and drop off car, shuttle to Termini, check into Hotel Sonya
• Day 7-11 (Sunday - Thursday): Enjoy Rome
• Day 12 (Friday) - Return flight to Philadelphia

Day 2 - While we will get to Fiumicino in plenty of time to drive to Guardia Sanframondi we know that we'll be tired and cranky from the flight. So we're going to invest in our comfort and sanity and just camp out overnight at the Airport Hilton. It's very likely we'll head into the city for lunch at least. There are plenty of transportation options including the Hilton's free shuttle bus, Terravision and SIT busses (€4.00/ €8.00) and a couple different trains.

View Larger Map

Day 3 - The Drive. Most of the drive is on the A1 autostrada so this doesn't look too tricky. We've got both a printed map and a GPS loaded with a map of Italy (and Greece) so we shouldn't have any trouble. We've also got a Europe enabled cell phone lined up so we'll be able to call for help or advice if we need it.

Day 3-7 - Guardia Sanframondi. Of course we're staying at Arthouse Guardia. Our goal is to get a feel for the town and the available housing. If you're planning a trip, and want to stay at the Arthouse book it ASAP - it looks like the calendar is filling up rather quickly.

Day 7-11 - Rome. After we return the car at the aiport we'll take the train in to Termini. We're staying at Hotel Sonya, favorite of  Rick Steves and his followers and only a few blocks from the train station. It's advantage this trip is that it's a relatively inexpensive place in an area where we want to spend some time. Some of my most popular blog posts have been on under appreciated but historically important areas like the Forum Boarium. I'm going to be gathering material for a few more posts like that (you'd be amazed at all the stuff over by Termini). 

In terms of "must see" things, Beth hasn't been to Galleria Borghese - that's the only event that must be scheduled for this trip. We're going to try to visit as many underground sites as we can. Most are below churches and are either free or cost just a couple euro to visit.

Day 12 - Return flight to Philadelphia.

Retirement Planning: Guardia Sanframondi Update

A couple days ago Clare Galloway alerted her loyal HHI fans obsessed with Guardia Sanframondi to a short article on the town website. I've bolded a couple interesting parts. Translated here by Google+:

Following the telecast U.S. House Hunters International, turned to the Guard in April last year and aired in America on August 14, which had as its protagonist Clare Galloway, Scottish artist who for more than a year living in the town, the municipality Guard received 40 requests for American citizens interested in the quaint village Sunni. Main location of the program was the old town with its beauties, property and places it has to offer and that's where the protagonist of the documentary, said the reasons which led it to change their lives, leaving Scotland and moved Guardia.Meanwhile, the municipality has set up a special office at the Town Hall Sanframondi Guard to respond to multiple requests for information to buy property from abroad and to acquire the availability for sale by the owners of the buildings of the old town. To coordinate the project the architect Luca Sebastianelli, which states: "This is an intervention aimed primarily to repopulate the historic center Guardiese and, therefore, to enhance it in its historical and artistic aspects that characterize it.'s Office has activated this service monitoring of different types of accommodation through the identification of summaries of possible properties to reuse, to include in the initiative and, eventually, to buy. " 
Meanwhile, the Scottish artist Clare Galloway, who through his story in the American television program has generated considerable interest among U.S. citizens, will act as interpreter and coordinator for all those who come to visit the historical center. The Scottish artist, also points out: "After the broadcast is aired in America, I have received many requests for more information on how you live in the Guard, uses and costumes, as they were very attracted by the lifestyle I am living in the town Guardiese, In fact, the atmosphere and the tranquility of the picturesque old town of Guardia, has taken over the chaotic life of the city. "For more information write to the following e-mail: lucasebastianelli@alice.it

Although this article makes it sound like Clare has an official role in the business, she really doesn't (see here comment below).

And just to remind those of us who tend to get over-excited... Clare lived in Guardia for more than a year fixing up the Arthouse before HHI came to make the show. Buying and renovating a home that has been vacant for decades would be a huge project in one's home town, let alone Italy.

Update: The Guardia Sanframondi episode of HHI will repeat October 11, 2012.
Update 2: Please see Clare's comment below.

Retirement Planning: Utilities Update

Guardia Sanframondi

As part of our exploration of Italy as a potential retirement location we've been corresponding with Clare Galloway, a Scottish artist featured in a recent House Hunters International episode. She's working with the mayor and town council of Guardia Sanframondi to put together a list of available houses in the old part of town and recently sent out some basic information about the cost of living there. But before I get to that...

What's the deal with these places?

In the case of Guardia Sanframondi (and other hill towns in Campania) it's earth quakes. Back in 1980 there was a big earthquake in the region: Terremoto dell'Irpinia. Almost 3000 people lost their lives and 300,000 were left homeless. Rebuilding did not go well. Due in large part to various forms of corruption less than a quarter of the funds spent actually went to reconstruction. As a result, many old hill towns became depopulated, their inhabitants rebuilding on the surrounding plains.  The same process is occuring today in L'Aquila Abruzzo where a 2009 earthquake devastated L'Aquila the city (and capitol of the region) and a number of other hill towns. Reconstruction there is ongoing, but corruption appears to be less of a problem today than in the 80's.

Some of these towns are actively seeking buyers for these very inexpensive houses (in Sicily the town of Salemi tried giving them away!) . Artists like Clare, folks (often from the UK) looking for holiday homes, and even people like us, trying to plan a reasonably comfortable retirement. Most of these places require some work (ok, a lot) to bring up to modern Italian standards. But there are enough that are liveable or nearly so to make it worthwhile to go take a look.

OK, but what about the utilities?

This is what Clare pays:

Real estate taxes: € 0,00 - her house is valued below the minimum taxable amount!
Water: € 15,00/month
Electricity: € 27,00/2 months
Bottled Gas: € 28,00/3 months
Phone/Internet: € 30,00/month
Mobile: € 8,00/month (!)
Trash Collection: € 150,00/year

If I've added everything up correctly that comes to € 1.060,00 a year - about € 88,33 or $110.85 per month. If you read my post on utilities costs you'll be a bit amazed (as I am) at how far off I was. Without knowing anything about Clare's lifestyle it's hard to say where the differences come but it's pretty clear that the Italian lifestyle involves a great deal less electricity.

We're starting to plan a trip in late Januray or early February 2013 (that's when flights are cheapest) so it won't be long until we find out a lot more.