Eventhough I know just a little bit more Italian than the salute above, it is not a good idea yet to post a blog in Italian. Perhaps soon.... but for the time being I will stick to English because I know a lot of our visitors do not read Dutch.

My name is Cees van der Woude, married to Christel Klapwijk. We own half of casa3dici (would that be casa6emezzo?) and live in the province of Zeeland in the south-west of Holland. The other half is owned by Jaap Zwaan and Lianne Schreuder who have been living in Villa d'Adda near Bergamo for more than 20 years.

I have know Jaap for 38 years since we were 10. We went to school together and studied in Utrecht where we shared a house for some years. Jaap studied dentistry I studied English because I am scared of dentists. Jaap met Lianne the second year we were in Utrecht. I met Christel just before I graduated.
Because there was no work for dentists in Holland, Jaap and Lianne moved to Italy. I stumbled into the then budding computer industry. We all had kids and kept in touch but did not see each other for years. We lived in the US for 7 years and when we moved back, I decided it would be nice to spend a vacation in my sister's house in Lezzeno. After 30 minutes on her terrace overlooking lake Como, we were smitten. We asked around if there was other property in the neighborhood. Doriano, my sister's neighbor showed us "the house with number 13". Sure, it needed some work, sure it was actually too expensive, but...

The next evening we had dinner at Jaap and Lianne's place and mentioned the house. This is how it started. A few months later, in February 2008, we were back in Italy at the notary for the signatures. The sellers were also there. Signora Donaga kept saying to us: "Ah, non mi piace". We did not understand any Italian, not even what she considered among the most basic of sentences. Anyway, we've since understood she regretted selling the house in which she and her family had spent so many nice summers away from Milano. Now, we also understand why: casa3dici is a terrific house. In the coming blogs I will try and tell you more about the house, the neighborhood, the surroundings, what to do, where to eat. All the things that make spending a vacation in Lezzeno a "Mi piace" experience.