You know about Lamezia Terme?

No? Well neither do I and still I am planning to move there. Well, partly move there and get a skrappy little mini ugly house. I can see a palm tree in the background on the picture, that’s good right?

So, I went on a town and village binge trip to the southern parts of Italy with my friend Laura in March. Yup, 13 places in 5 days. More about that later.

The view over Lamezia Terme from Laura’s and my bedroom in the B&B Case Gemma which sits up on the hill just a bit on the side of the city.

Of some reason the first stop, after a quick lunch at Soho House in Rome, was Lamezia Terme, a city with about 70.000 inhabitants 15 scooter minutes from the coast, made up of smashing together 3 villages Nicastro, Sambiase and Saint’Eufemia, mixing a big amount of cultures that have taken turns conquering the area. I’d say the Greeks, the Turks, the Spanish and the Romans and some Norman, who built a castle there, as well. Also known for liquorice and a special very rare citrus fruit that Rabbis travel far away from to buy for up to 100 dollars each.

The precious fruit is called Etrog and can be as expensive as 100 dollars each and is used during the Jewish Sukkot Holidays. They say that the Etrog is like your heart and your heart needs to be clean. You can eat the white of the fruit. As we did for breakfast.

The main reason for my choice of accommodation, the B&B Case Gemma, was the turquoise walls in the breakfast room. And the old style bathroom plus the absence of anything Swedish flatpack. (Still love you Big Furniture)

Little did I then know that the best part would be Armida and her noble elegant family. And the beautiful breakfast. And the garden. And the lemon trees.

Also, now I have two new friends as well, actually Armida’s friends but now Ulf and his friend Simona are my new best Italian friends. Except that Ulf is actually Finnish and to be precise, Finnish-Swedish, from a village called Backas in Ostrobotnia which, in turn, is about 50km from Jakobstad which is my hometown. How weird isn’t that?

Ulf is a major cosmopolitan but in the summer he travels to Ostrobotnia to care for about 140 different kind of roses that his mother left behind in the garden of the old wooden farmhouse in the small village he used to live in. And his father’s Irises.
Photo by Ulf’s friend Federico taken in Thailand.

My new friends, that I am yet to meet in real life, wants me to move to Lamezia. Yes, so they say. It will be fun, they say. Snorkling, sailing, the beach, maybe hiking, vintage shopping, ceramics, wine and olive oil. And 48*c heat infernos in summer, but hello, we don’t spend winters in the freezing cold in our summer cottages either?

Let’s also try to forget about those whose names are not to be mentioned who want to protect you from others who want to protect you.

You remember the millioner’s grandson that got to loose his ear? Getty. They kept him in the mountains of Calabria where I am supposed to go hiking. Should I even be writing this? Skriik.

Well Ulf has a house up in the mountains so I guess it’s safe. And he seems like a nice guy and his friend Simona looks beautiful as does her art on instagram. So it’s all cool.

Simonas instagram account is very inspirational. Love the mystical way she looks at the world and herself. Go see for yourself. Click Simonas instagram.

This little 36 m2 house I have been looking at, for the price of about 2 and a half Chanel handbags it could be mine. See? Cute, right? I’ve already decorated it. In my mind. And now my friend Tom from London is also in on the plot. Tickets almost booked for autumn and the beginning of the Anglo-Finnish-Italian Society in Calabria. By the way, Ulf is also an ex-Londoner, like me.