advice on move to verona-apartments/schools etc.any help would be great!!

[sagio]

hi there...

this is my first post on here and would welcome any advice and assistance.

we are looking to move to verona in July of this year.my fiance is italian (from sardinia).we have considered all options available to us including moving to sardinia but decided as a young family verona would be more suited to us.
my other half has worked in verona and has a good knowlegde of the place. i however have only visited and would like to hear from any brits who have moved there (especially those with young children) to share their experiences.

i would like to hear from anyone who has a house or apartment to rent with 2/3 bedrooms.

i have two boys aged 5 and soon to be 8 who will be attending school in italy but i am confused as to what will be the best for them.i am aware that english speaking schools have large fees and have got plenty of information on these (would be interested to hear from anyone who has their children in one of these
schools) but have no information about the state schools in the area.

we are over there next month and i want to make the most of the trip and get as much info before i go so i can make the most of my time when i get there..

i would be thankful for any advice on the above or on life in verona in general.

many thanks

[Nina2]

Hi Sagio,
I will tell you something about Verona. I am Dutch and living here since 1982 and...have a husband from Sardinia! We met here in Verona, both here for our jobs, me from Holland, he sent here from Sardinia. We have 3 sons now aged 14, 18 and 22. I would say that, eventhough Sardinia is magic and I consider it as my little Paradise, Verona for sure offers everything you would desire. Verona itself is a not too big city, nice in itself, and surrounded by beatiful areas, hills, the Valpolicella, known for its famous wines, half an hour from the Garda Lake and within an hour on the Ski slopes. Finding an apartement or house for rent will not be a problem, you must reckon with prices of approx € 500/750 I think, depending on the area. Finding a job these days is a bit more difficult due to the economic crises, eventhough there are lots of industries. Obviously the lake offers a lot of work on campings during the summer. As far as schools are concerned, I don't know about international schools, but otherwise should you shoose the public Italian schools, there is nothing to worry about, in my opinion the education is good, mayby the teachers who teach English do not have a great pronunication, not all, some are very good, though, my son had a wonderfull teacher in high school (liceo), she exclusively spoke English during classes, Italian was forbidden. Another important item: medical care and hospitals. You will find the best hospitals here in Verona. Today I am even convinced that medical care is much better here than in Holland ! What are you going to do in Verona, do you already have a job, you or your husband?
Let me know if you need other information. We would be glad to help if we can.
kindest regards,
Nina

[sagio]

Originally Posted by Nina2

Hi Sagio,
I will tell you something about Verona. I am Dutch and living here since 1982 and...have a husband from Sardinia! We met here in Verona, both here for our jobs, me from Holland, he sent here from Sardinia. We have 3 sons now aged 14, 18 and 22. I would say that, eventhough Sardinia is magic and I consider it as my little Paradise, Verona for sure offers everything you would desire. Verona itself is a not too big city, nice in itself, and surrounded by beatiful areas, hills, the Valpolicella, known for its famous wines, half an hour from the Garda Lake and within an hour on the Ski slopes. Finding an apartement or house for rent will not be a problem, you must reckon with prices of approx € 500/750 I think, depending on the area. Finding a job these days is a bit more difficult due to the economic crises, eventhough there are lots of industries. Obviously the lake offers a lot of work on campings during the summer. As far as schools are concerned, I don't know about international schools, but otherwise should you shoose the public Italian schools, there is nothing to worry about, in my opinion the education is good, mayby the teachers who teach English do not have a great pronunication, not all, some are very good, though, my son had a wonderfull teacher in high school (liceo), she exclusively spoke English during classes, Italian was forbidden. Another important item: medical care and hospitals. You will find the best hospitals here in Verona. Today I am even convinced that medical care is much better here than in Holland ! What are you going to do in Verona, do you already have a job, you or your husband?
Let me know if you need other information. We would be glad to help if we can.
kindest regards,
Nina

hi nina....

thankyou for your reply i really do appreciate hearing from someone who has first hand knowledge of verona and i feels good to hear positive things.

i myself am in the bridal industry...i had a shop up until recently selling wedding gowns but obviously with the move have passed this on.i am still selling wedding gowns and have set up an online business as i suspect it would be hard for me to set up my own business in italy as i have been led to believe this is not so straight forward as in the uk. i am also a hair and makeup artist so i was also going to look into maybe getting work doing weddings etc.???
my partner has worked and lived in verona before so has a few contacts there for work in hotel and catering which is what he does.

we have been looking mainly in verona centre but i was also interested in any nearby towns that are nice areas to live. can you suggest any??

i do agree with you about sardinia...my partner is from muros in sassari which i love to go and visit but just found it too quiet to consider living there.i kept getting drawn back to verona.

where abouts in verona are you??

like i mentioned earlier we are going over end of this month so hopefully will be able to sort out a few things then...mainly an apartment or house (and hopefully a visit to gardaland for the children)

thankyou again for your reply...anything you can offer in the way of advice will be greatly appreciated.

kind regards
sarah :-)

[Nina2]

Hi Sarah,
We live on top of a hill in Negrar which is in the heart of the Valpolicella. It is a beautiful area. Negrar is approx 15 km from the center of Verona. Maybe your husband knows the area. Here there are possibilities to rent and surely is also less expensive than the city center, which is much more expensive. I myself prefer to live outside of the city and love the place we are now which is silent and in the middle of nature but on the other hand not very handy as far as public transport is concerned. Our boys have to be independent with motorcycles to reach Negrar (5km) and take the bus to school. The whole area has schoolbusses though for the local schools in Negrar (schuola media scuola elementare and scuola materna), for the other schools there are the busses to take the students to Verona or a nearby town. Should you be interested in this area you can find information on SITO UFFICIALE COMUNE DI NEGRAR
As far as your profession is concerned, this sounds interesting, either you can find a job at a beautycenter, or maybe a start something on your own either indipendently or cooperating with some shops in the bridal branch. Should you want to contact me privately, this is my email address:
kindest regards,
Nina

[sagio]

thanks again nina....

i hope you don't mind me asking you some more questions?!

do your boys go to school in verona or outside of the city? my main priority is to find the right school for my little ones,which if im being honest is the thing im finding it hardest to get information on without actually visiting the schools.i realise its difficult to look for a school until we have decided where we will be but if you have any information on good state schools within verona or surrounding areas (or if you would know where to find the information) this would be a great help.

also i have seen a few houses in pescantina. have you any knowledge on this area?

thankyou for taking the the time to reply to my previous posts.

kind regards

sarah :-)

[Nina2]

Hi Sarah,
No problem at all, what I know I will tell you! Generally speaking there are really no bad schools here, and every small town outside Verona has its own schools, at least until the scuola Media. There is one school in the center of Verona which I can really recommend, it's called "Educandato Agli Angeli". This school (which includes the scuola elementare, scuola media and Liceo in the same school) is public but also offers private services, like after school and also "convitto" like college, students who come from far or need to be internal live inside the institute. This means you would pay only for the extra services, but the school itself is public. My 14 year old son is going to this school, he takes the bus every day from Negrar to the city center and we are convinced of it being a great school with good teachers and good education. The website is Educandato Angeli - HOME It has an English section for you to read.
As far as Pescantina is concerned, it is a small town like Negrar, not bad, not far from Verona, but personally I would prefer Negrar, but as I say, it's personal..
Kindest regards,
Nina

Originally Posted by sagio

thanks again nina....

i hope you don't mind me asking you some more questions?!

do your boys go to school in verona or outside of the city? my main priority is to find the right school for my little ones,which if im being honest is the thing im finding it hardest to get information on without actually visiting the schools.i realise its difficult to look for a school until we have decided where we will be but if you have any information on good state schools within verona or surrounding areas (or if you would know where to find the information) this would be a great help.

also i have seen a few houses in pescantina. have you any knowledge on this area?

thankyou for taking the the time to reply to my previous posts.

kind regards

sarah :-)

[sagio]

hi again nina....thankyou so much for your information about the school your son attends.i have looked into this and got some more information and really like the look of it.i have made contact with them and am hoping to arrange a visit to the school when we come over.
im not sure if you would know this but i was just wondering if you know whether they have british students there and if there is help for english speaking students when they begin to help them ease in??
thanks for the informations :-)

[Nina2]

Originally Posted by sagio

hi again nina....thankyou so much for your information about the school your son attends.i have looked into this and got some more information and really like the look of it.i have made contact with them and am hoping to arrange a visit to the school when we come over.
im not sure if you would know this but i was just wondering if you know whether they have british students there and if there is help for english speaking students when they begin to help them ease in??
thanks for the informations :-)

Hi Sarah ,
No I don't know, but I will ask my son to ask if there are some british students. I know there are some German girls though and a daughter of a Friend from Holland stayed 1 year internally to study Italian and was very happy there. I am sure they will do everything possible to help foreign students to feel at home quickly, don't worry! Keep me informed !
Ciao
Nina

[valeriof]

Originally Posted by sagio

hi again nina....thankyou so much for your information about the school your son attends.i have looked into this and got some more information and really like the look of it.i have made contact with them and am hoping to arrange a visit to the school when we come over.
im not sure if you would know this but i was just wondering if you know whether they have british students there and if there is help for english speaking students when they begin to help them ease in??
thanks for the informations :-)

Hi Sarah,
I am Valerio, we are from Italy and live in Verona. If you are looking for an international school here in Verona I believe the first choice would be the Aleardo Aleardi - Aleardo Aleardi International School, Verona. It is a private school though and I know it's a bit pricey. As far as I know, there are not too many chances to find that kind of school in the vicinity, but there are several small schools that have british or american native teachers, it's just a matter of looking around and you'll be better off doing the research while you are here. We have lived in the US for 7 years and we were interested to find an english speaking school for our kids (we have 3sons, ages 5/2/6 months). I see that the international community here in Verona is growing fast and hopefully there will be more and more chances in the upcoming years. By the way, Pescantina is a nice town close to the city and I would highly recommend it (there are good schools there too). Let me know if you need any other info, I'll be happy to help. Ciao!

[di82]

[hello dear valerio i would be honored for more info from you im thinking about verona much with my kids ppartment school only thing need to consider first ,,
all info .. i was thinking of tuscany first but now my sight is for verona ...
I am Valerio, we are from Italy and live in Verona. If you are looking for an international school here in Verona I believe the first choice would be the Aleardo Aleardi - Aleardo Aleardi International School, Verona. It is a private school though and I know it's a bit pricey. As far as I know, there are not too many chances to find that kind of school in the vicinity, but there are several small schools that have british or american native teachers, it's just a matter of looking around and you'll be better off doing the research while you are here. We have lived in the US for 7 years and we were interested to find an english speaking school for our kids (we have 3sons, ages 5/2/6 months). I see that the international community here in Verona is growing fast and hopefully there will be more and more chances in the upcoming years. By the way, Pescantina is a nice town close to the city and I would highly recommend it (there are good schools there too). Let me know if you need any other info, I'll be happy to help. Ciao![/QUOTE]