Cathy Powell
Born in Melbourne, Australia. Lives in Seaford, East Sussex. She is mother to two teenage children, works full time and likes to blog in her spare time on http://www.anitalophile.com
The beginning of Cathy’s passion for Italy is lost in the sands of time. She grew up in Australia, and only first visited Italy in 1997 to do what she describes as a ‘basic tour’ of the main cities and sites. But she was obsessed by the idea of visiting the Cinque Terre, which she finally managed in 1999. It must have been an auspicious time as she met her English/Italian husband there. They immediately moved to a medieval village north of Rome. ‘That’s where I got a new perspective on the country’, she says. ‘Living there gives you a different perspective, but living in a tiny village proved challenging.
‘My Italian wasn’t great, and I felt nervous about communicating with the locals for some reason’.
Eventually I relaxed just before returning to live in Australia again’, she laughs. Cathy did return to Italy a few years later, and became involved in her husband’s real estate business.
‘In Italy the kids learned Italian well. We decided on local schools, so they could be fully immersed. My daughter was younger and went to nursery so she was able to learn through play. It was harder for my son as he had to jump straight in at the deep end and go to school. ‘ Despite the difficulties, Cathy thinks it was worth it as they are now fluent. What Cathy loves the most are the big friendship groups that her husband has kept up all his life.
‘That’s a big draw-card for me’, she explains. ‘When we go back, it’s like we never left.’ But says Cathy, ‘I see the country warts and all and get an understanding about how things work, or don’t work. Tourists get a rose-tinted view of Italy, which is fine, but it isn’t all Prosecco and delicious food!’
