Stef Smulders
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Stef Smulders

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Stef is a Dutch expat who moved to Italy, accompanied by his husband and dog, to start their bed and breakfast Villa I Due Padroni in the Oltrepo Pavese wine region, just 50 km (30 miles) south of Milan. "Living in Italy: the Real Deal" is his first book, about the hilarious (mostly) and horrendous (sometimes) adventures in Italy. Experience his rollercoaster ride in trying to find a house, buy it, renovate it and turn it into a beautiful b&b, beating bureaucracy, bad builders, ridiculous real estate agents, eerie electricians, pathetic plumbers and arrogant architects. Winner of a range of awards like the Readers' Favorite 2017 Award and the Reader Views Award in travel, memoir and humor categories. For lovers of Frances Mayes' Under the Tuscan Sun and Tim Park's Italian Neighbours. For a sneak preview of several chapters visit http://italiaanse-toestanden.duepadroni.it/index-UK.html It starts like this: "When we bought our home nine months ago it was ready to move into. And now? We are shipwrecked in the kitchen of the downstairs apartment. A single sheet of plastic between the hall and the sitting room is the only thing that protects us from the heavy dust of the building site. All day, we are assaulted by the sound of workmen shouting, drilling and hammering. A couple of hours ago the electricity cut out and it’s starting to get chilly in here. Every evening we escape upstairs via the dusty, grimy staircase, where we try to find solace by watching TV in our future living room. The living room is also separated by a sheet of plastic from the kitchen, the bedroom and the office. There are gaping holes in the walls in all of these three rooms, made weeks ago in preparation for the doors and a new window. Now they are serving as tunnels bringing in the draught and the cold. Exhausted and numbed from the endless turmoil surrounding us, we are staring out into space in silence. We are hardly aware of what’s on the screen. WHAT HAVE WE LET OURSELVES IN FOR?"
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