Who indeed would want to move here? Well, ...

Yes, who indeed would want to move to a country as confused and misdirected as Italy? As it turns out, there’s a small family that has several reasons. There is, after all (as everyone knows), another side to this place. Ewart talks of “volcanic passions” and “benevolent sun”, Shelley of “fabrics of enchantment piled to heaven”, and Addison of “immortal glories”. This family’s reasons are all of these, albeit a tad less poetically conceived.

And so here they are, perhaps more reflections of the self than reasons to move to another country.

From the 10-year-old American son, the simplest (and arguably most honest) – pizza, pasta, gelato, and that other staple of the Italian tavola, wild boar.

From the German wife – slow food … the eye in the design … happy, dancing words like “pommeriggio” … whole festivals dedicated to truffles … hand-hewn tunnels whose two-thousand-year-old chip marks are still visible.

Above all, the opportunity to go beyond those two- and three-week snapshots that render lyrical recollections, and be able to swim in it all, drink it all in, and feel it all around, every day, all of the year.

And from this 47-year-old South African, just two – first, adventure: new world, new language, new way of life, new challenges. Lord knows how important challenges are at this sprightly age.

Second, and perhaps more importantly, to leave a life that’s focused on work, for a life that’s focused on life. That’s not to say there won’t be hard work ahead – if anything, making ends meet is likely to be harder. But it’ll be part of the whole, not a means to an end like it is now, or a claim to an empty title. It’s about weaving the fabric and being woven into it at the same time.

Of course, romantic notions can breed anything from a valley of riches to the food of love, but can it put beans and cabbage on the dinner table? Well, we shall see what faith and application can conspire to produce...

In spite of an analytical mind, and a penchant for security, the decision to move to Italy was, after all, one of the heart. As I reflect on it now, it feels like it was the only way to make it, given where we are going …