Living and working in Tuscany: Food writer Pamela on her Organic Olive Farm near Montepulciano

After quite a few years of coming backwards and forwards travelling to Italy for her cooking courses and field trips to research regional food for her cookery books, once her daughter reached school-age, Pamela had to make a decision. Move to Italy permanently, or give it all up. How is living in Italy as an American working out? (You might like to subscribe to my channel for videos about expat life in Italy!)
In this episode of ‪@realexpatslivinginitaly‬ , I meet Pamela and Johnny in Tuscany. Pamela is author of something like 17 cook books, she holds food and wine workshops (this is after all Montepulciano wine country..🍷) or should I say retreats, at her lovely Organic Olive Farm, while also running a B&B. Johnny, not only takes care of the farm together with Pamela, but he is also an artist.
Such an interesting couple, I hope you enjoy the video.
This video is not sponsored, but to thank Pamela and Johnny for their amazing hospitality, and for letting me bombard them with questions, I am including a link to their B&B, you may want to visit one day.
➡️ www.poggio-etrusco.com/
And a link to her Amazon bookshop (this is not an affiliate link):
➡️ tinyurl.com/mu66xyrf
#livingintuscany #montepulciano #tuscany

[@goodphone156]

So much so that in Italy the science of nutrition is taught in the gastronomic school !

[@goodphone156]

Cooking is a science and an art at the same time, art creates, science indicates!

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

@goodphone156 best food in the world IMHO

[@user-ps7ye3lg9w]

Wow, fascinating conversation! Thank you!❤😂

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thank you for watching!

[@lazios]

I forgot: speaking of bread, the lady called it (rightly) what the Tuscans call it (ie pane sciocco), but the term used by the author of the video (pane sciapo) is also correct and is used mainly in Umbria and alto-Lazio, essentially meaning without salt, in one way it's pronounced Tuscan-style, in the other Umbrian (it's also correct in Italian). I'm writing this for info.

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Yes, I live in Lazio and had never heard the Tuscan name! Thanks

[@patriciasandler1562]

A great interview: thanks for talking about the tax situation. Most Americans have no idea. Also, it was important bringing up the traceability of food. We love this about Italia. We are citizens too, but for health reasons, we may never be able to live there full time. Siete fortunatissimi!

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thanks for watching and for your comment! Mai dire mai...

[@patriciasandler1562]

@@realexpatslivinginitaly Grazie per la sua risposta!

[@user-ps7ye3lg9w]

The soup convo, love it! ❤

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thanks!

[@goodphone156]

Good choice to live in Italy!

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

@goodphone156 thanks for watching

[@slkonnaris8477]

Fabulous interview - what a fascinating couple! The lunch you had looked incredible. So much flavour. Thank you for such an absorbing video❤

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thank you for watching! It was indeed an amazing meal (and you didn't see the fabulous chocolate cake that followed!) They are a lovely couple.

[@anitalinka222]

Thanks for another great interview. What an interesting and intelligent lady😊. I love Italy and so far I have been lucky to be able to go there twice a year for short hols/city breaks. Keep up the good work. ❤

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thank you ❤️

[@janetlombardi2314]

Very interesting as always. Tuscany is a lovely part of Italy. Great people and wishing them all the best 👍 😊❤

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thank you for watching. An amazing couple!

[@karinamuzlaeva7816]

Informative, interesting! Thank you very much! Hello from California ❤

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thank you for watching and for your support

[@karinamuzlaeva7816]

Always 🥂

[@a-k6575]

Thank you, I'm now hooked.

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thanks for watching!!

[@a-k6575]

@@realexpatslivinginitaly The interviews contain valuable diverse experiences, so important when intending to move there. Plus I noticed you have a "live-in" van, would you give us a tour of your van and tips regarding living the van life in Italy, thank you. Faenza is where my eldest son's in-laws live, where I only spent a few hectic days I was the stressed hysterical guest, then flew back via Rome. Love being there, it felt like coming home each time I visited. During one of my tours as a tour manager, during our stay in Levico Terme I needed a special battery for my camera, so I stopped by the first camera store asked if they speak other languages, it was my second tour within Italy, the woman responded with NO, No. I proceeded to use sign language that was fine until I pulled my purse from my bag followed by my passport falling out and guess what, she then spoke, Nuova Zelanda, I saw a beautiful documentary last night, how long are you staying etc etc. Very interesting and funny experience, we both laughed so loud about each other with hand gestures.

[@celesteaida48]

Awesome….

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thank you!

[@alemassa6632]

Another great interview. It seems that there are many Americans in Tuscany, from what my Tuscan friends say, many have bought houses to make agritourism and B&Bs.

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Thank you. Yes, there are many, many expats all over Italy, even in the smallest of villages. It seems that everyone dreams of living in Italy! (Rightly so!)

[@alemassa6632]

@@realexpatslivinginitaly I will try to write what I think even if someone might not agree. We all, all the people in the world, are born in a place that is delimited by lines on a map and we grow up conditioned by this thing. I'm Lombard and if I cross the Po river by car I go to Emilia-Romagna, where there is a population different from mine, obviously. In reality there are no lines on the ground that we find on maps, those lines are all in our heads and are largely due to the conditioning we have had since childhood. However, this does not prevent you from thinking differently, from dreaming of a place where life is better, from going to that place where your heart takes you. If a person has as a priority the improvement of his life, which must not necessarily be an economic improvement, but an improvement of his mental state, or what we Italians mean by 'well-being', I think we can also conceive of changing the Country to go to another one that makes us feel better.

[@slkonnaris8477]

@@alemassa6632Very nice words. I like to travel as much as possible because when I am in Italy, Spain or Greece my heart and soul feel truly happy and full of life. It’s very beautiful getting to know other cultures

[@alemassa6632]

@@slkonnaris8477 Yeah, the Mediterranean Countries make everybody happy, a beautiful sunny day is enough to enjoy life.... obviously with a Carbonara is much better.... 😝😝😝

[@lazios]

What a beautiful lady (sorry for English, I use Google to help me). I don't understand why in the US and also in other countries (I suspect it will happen in Europe sooner or later), the quality of what you eat (the product), is not considered so important. I always hear people: you Italians always talk (too much) about food (we are not the only actually), honestly, it seems absurd to me, ok, we maybe are exaggerate, but what is more important than something you put in your body all your life, for 5, 6 or even more times a day?

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Exactly! The quality of food is fundamental, it is our body's fuel. And good food is way cheaper than medicine, (or in the US) doctor's bills. We are so lucky in Italy that regulations on food and wine are incredibly strict. More so even that EEC regs. Thank you for watching, Pamela is amazing. And so is her husband Johnny.

[@lazios]

Sorry I'm writing a lot, but I wrote before seeing the part with Johnny; his work and the collection of antique sewing machines are wonderful. Lovely couple and video, 40mins gone in a good way, thanks.

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

🙏 Grazie del tempo che hai dedicato sia a guardare il video, che a commentare. Sai, la parte piu' bella di avere un canale YT è comunciare con le persone.

[@alemassa6632]

@@realexpatslivinginitaly Vero, il fatto di annullare le distanze e poter scambiare pareri è la magia di internet. A me piace tantissimo la lingua Inglese e il mio sogno è quello di diventare fluente più di quanto sono adesso, anche per questo guardo tanti video in lingua Inglese, oltre che cercare di capire come vedono l'Italia gli stranieri che sono venuti ad abitarci e che vogliono far parte di questa bella nazione.

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

Scrivi benissimo l'inglese, complimenti. E grazie ancora

[@nikleiser5888]

There was never a good reason for GMOs, except Big Agriculture can monopolize and charge farmers for it which means death by thousands of cuts for small and midsize farmers. Permaculture is the way to go.

[@realexpatslivinginitaly]

I agree!