Maarten van Eerd (1967) has been visiting Italy every year since he was born. He emigrated to Italy with his wife Dominique Stol in 2019 and now lives in the Apennines between Bologna and Florence. After an adventure as B&B owners, they now focus on their passions, writing and counselling. Maarten published his first novel 'Virus' under the pseudonym Martin Deer in 2021. In addition, he offers writers shelter and advice in The Writer's Tower. He shares his passion for Italy, the people, the culture, the cuisine and life as an immigrant through blogging and writing articles.
You decide to buy a house in Italy, because you are going to emigrate like we did, or because you want a little more stability in your favorite holiday country. Houses in Italy are relatively cheap, especially outside the big cities and the real top tourist locations. Of course you can hire a Dutch-speaking real estate agent who will […] More
Last Christmas there was another one in Italy, a recipe riot. The recipe riot is, to my knowledge, a unique Italian phenomenon. Of course we all know that food is a more than serious matter for Italians. Only here you hear unexpected discussions breaking out everywhere about: the right oil for this or another dish, which tomatoes you […] More
'We were planning to take a road trip through Europe this winter, along the coasts of France, Portugal and Spain.' Ilaria is sitting in the living room of the restored barn that is the main building of Camping Naturista Ca' le Scope. Jasper is still in bed for a while. "He needs to calm down a bit," Ilaria says worriedly. Yet […] More
'The olive picking starts in 2 weeks. We have the orchard with 3 families together, otherwise it would not be possible.' For Jolanda it is the most normal thing in the world. There is also a vineyard, but the harvest this year was terrible. 'After picking we put some tables outside and we all eat together.' Relax back […] More
"The windows aren't very big, are they." Franco looks up and I look with him. No, the windows are not that big, I measured them. "The ones over there are the biggest." I point to the third floor. You can read part 2 of this 3-part series here. "Let's take a look inside." Together […] More
