"We couldn't afford to live in America anymore, the young photogenic couple from California (Lance and Gigi) said. Houses there are $200,000 - $300,000.
We saw these great little houses for $1 in Pagliacci, Italy.
We've been here a year. Food and all plumbing supplies are 40 miles away over the one lane mountain road, and more expensive than the U.S.
The plumber is $100 American money and hour - the carpenter is a bargain at $50 American money an hour
Both are very sweet guys and introduce us to other needed workers - (their relatives).
Half a dozen is swarming over the house right now. They sure are cheerful.
The local restaurant has a special American menu, in English, just for us.
The locals use the other menu, which we can't read. We pay about what we paid in San Francisco for dining out. But great handmade food.
It's the same at vegetable market - they see us coming, and we pay about the same prices as a San Francisco grocery. The only break in prices is the wine. It's dirt cheap, comes in real old barrels, and is sort of rough tasting - but the villagers assure us it is the best they have - and is well aged - just for us.
We sometimes also use it for vinegar on the salads.
The villages all know we come from California and ask us if the streets are paved with gold.
We are fairly happy here - very cold in the winter and wood is $1 a stick, 50 cents for two pieces of kindling.
We have survived our first year and are settling in.
We have noticed quite a few of the villagers have new motor bikes, TVs, newly painted houses, even the plumber has a new little truck.
And new clothing on all the food vendors at the stalls.
We seem to have brought Luck to the village.
And our home renovations are almost complete. We only spent $280,000 for our $1 house - all fixed up. We could not have bought this tiny one bedroom house in the US for that money. What a bargain."
