There are days when the unexpected takes you by the hand and pulls you through a thorny hedge. When the wind whistles fiercely in your face, making salty tears swell beneath the eyes. Today we spontaneously drove to visit a house I have had my eyes on for a while now. Its nearby, I can probably see it from where we are now; just beneath the Castello on the horizon.
We had contacted the estate agents a couple of weeks ago but had yet to get a formal appointment. This being Italy, we were not too surprised, so being pro-active as we are; took it upon ourselves to check it out in person.
We parked the car in a passing bay off the main road and walked to the green gate, just slightly too high to easily hop, but found that despite appearances it was unlocked!
Walking through the gates we find a beautifully restored stone house with double arches on the ground floor, facing a spectacular view of… the Castello sitting proudly atop of the hill. We gingerly pondered around the pretty garden, while I began to fantasise the girls running around, while we set down for aperitivo in the evenings, watching them from the sheltered balcony on the first floor, complete with Castello view.
We took a few minutes to take in our surroundings and soak up the vibe of the place before deciding it was probably time to turn back. As we exited however, we were met head-on with a little yellow Fiat Seicento coming up the driveway. The driver waved his hands welcomingly, while we felt a little sheepish for (not breaking, but) entering without a formal invitation. It turns out the driver of the Seicento is the estate agent for the house. (Was he alerted of our presence somehow? Do the estate agents in italy posses supernatural powers of divination? Why is he here?)
He seems totally unfazed by our presence and begins to unlock the doors to show us around.
Angelo and I look at each other questioningly – what is going on? Fate has answered our prayers and here is a man opening the front door to our future house.
Curiosity gets the better of us, however, and Angelo asks him, how he knew we were here?
The driver of the Seicento looks at us a bit puzzled and tells us he is here for our 9:30 scheduled appointment… At which precise moment, a black Nissan Micra (complete with Deutschland number plates) appears in the driveway.
Oh!
If it hadn’t all been so weird, I would have probably felt embarrassed at this moment, but we were beyond that point now.
A young trendy couple emerge from the car. The woman carries a discreet little bump under her leather jacket. My heart sinks.

What if this is their dream home too?

We enter the house by climbing up the stairs to the first floor where we are met with a fabulous open fireplace. 5 giant bare rooms (so much potential!!) 2 bathrooms (small). and a space where I guess you’re supposed to install your own kitchen? (what is it with the tiny bathrooms and no kitchens in Italy?)

This is it – this is my dream home.
This is it – this is their dream home.

The elephant in the giant room isn’t even bothering to hide.

The trendy couple technically has the slight upper hand as it is actually their appointment that we are gatecrashing, and they know it. They put in their offer straight away. While I begin to frantically search for all the problems with the house and why we could never be happy there.

We will never be happy there.

At times like these I find that all I can really do is listen to kate bush.