Delectations: Notes from a Winter in Tuscany

The great cold began early in October, and the fields in the little valley that separates us from our village were white with frost in the morning. At last, the heating oil for the house, ordered early in June, arrived—enough to heat the four-room house for about three months. To do that cost us more than 900,000 lire, around $900 in our money—this to show you that keeping house in Tuscany is not cheap. True, Scotch costs about $3 less than in the United States; otherwise, food prices are the same if you are lucky, though generally you are not and find yourself paying at least a quarter more than in New York City, where I also keep house. And gas in Italy is $4 a gallon.

In all the years we have gone to our house in southern Tuscany, we have wondered what would happen if we needed a doctor in a hurry and what kind of doctor we would find in a little town not far from Perugia. To our delight, we found excellent doctors and specialists when we needed them last year. Arezzo was the nearest big town; here we found a superior heart doctor, equipped with cardiogram machines and all. And so very pleasant as well.

NH

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Nika Hazelton

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The great cold began early in October, and the fields in the little valley that separates us from our village were white with frost in the morning. At last, the heating oil for the house, ordered early in June, arrived—enough to heat the four-room house for about three months. To do that cost us more than 900,000 lire, around $900 in our money—this to show you that keeping house in Tuscany is not cheap. True, Scotch costs about $3 less than in the United States; otherwise, food prices are the same if you are lucky, though generally you are not and find yourself paying at least a quarter more than in New York City, where I also keep house. And gas in Italy is $4 a gallon.

In all the years we have gone to our house in southern Tuscany, we have wondered what would happen if we needed a doctor in a hurry and what kind of doctor we would find in a little town not far from Perugia. To our delight, we found excellent doctors and specialists when we needed them last year. Arezzo was the nearest big town; here we found a superior heart doctor, equipped with cardiogram machines and all. And so very pleasant as well.