It's Fun to Dream in Italian

If you've talked to me recently you know that Michele and I are exploring the possibility of a second home in Italy.  (At least I am and Michele has quit trying to talk me out of it.) Shopping for real estate in a foreign country is not easy.  Every day I spend at least 30 minutes with the internet listings trying to figure out how much we're going to have to pay and where we want to look.

While there isn't any single site like the Multiple Listing Service in Italy, the biggest on-line real estate advertiser is Annunci Immobiliare.   For the first week or so I was using the butchered English translation until I realized I was wasting the perfect opportunity to improve my vocabulary in a painless and practical way. 

pavimento genovese

Here is a smattering of words I've learned within the context of looking for property: 

Ascensore. (elevator)  This is a very important word as we want to be able to have Michele's parents come stay with us and they cannot climb steps.  There are lots of incredible bargains all over Italy if you are willing to walk up to the third or fourth floor or buy a cielo-terra (on multiple levels).

Arredato (furnished)  If an Italian owns the property, this probably means they are leaving the kitchen cabinets.  If a foreigner has renovated a house in a small hill town, most likely it includes every stick of furniture in the place.  There are lots of these available at great prices if you are interested in getting away from it all, like to drive, and are not afraid of steps.

 500,000 Euro

Vista Mare (view of the sea)  This is a very, very expensive word.  It comes in two forms:  spettacolare, which means "go to the next ad" and scorcio vista mare, which means you have to lean out the bathroom window and hold on to the downspout to get a glimpse of water.

Here's what we're looking for:

Elegante palazzo d'epoca
Con ascensore
Composto da ingresso, sala, 2 camere matrimoniali, cucina abitabile
Ampio bagno con vasca e doccia
Riscaldamento autonomo
Balcone o terrazza al piano
Molto luminoso
Completamente ristrutturato
Adiacente stazione

Of course, for those of you who know Michele, I probably don't have to state the obvious:  We'd like all this and we dream it's cheap.