The "Team"
English & Scottish couple Sammy Dunham & Roddy Newlands initially conceived Life in Abruzzo with the purpose of providing some impartial English language information to those considering a holiday in Abruzzo or buying property in this increasingly popular region of central Italy.
‘Life in Abruzzo’ had begun for them in Autumn 2004. Sammy had hatched a mad plan to find an alternative interesting type of ‘pension’ by buying and restoring a property in mainland Europe. Essentially it’s the sort of thing you do in your mid-thirties when you realise you have a crap pension or no pension at all and can’t face the idea of ISAs and stuff. This seemed a novel way to save for a rainy day but also have fun, be able to go on holiday inexpensively, learn a language and hopefully allow us to grow into a community somewhere – something that living in a city doesn’t always give full-time.
It took nearly 3 long years to find, buy & restore the property and over the subsequent period both Sammy & Roddy become something of Abruzzophiles, fostered by listening to the tales of their beloved Bascianella neighbours, Italia & Domenico De Felice. This Abruzzo website has now become something of a portal shrine to an area and its people that they have grown to love and admire for such a variety of reasons.
“Life In Abruzzo” is edited by Sam Dunham, a freelance copywriter and web content manager & Roddy Newlands, a freelance web designer and Modern First Editions Consultant for Bloomsbury Auctions, with wonderful guest blogger contributions by Lindsay Keller, Pete Austin, Sofia Lawrence, Elisa DiVirgilio, Pia De Simone Natale & Eleonora Baldwin.