BORGA NARI
Our Dream Italian Village
Standing on the balcony at Borga Nari, we gaze at the long abandoned dream Italian village across the valley. It enticed us to explore. Fascinated by the way it seemed to vertically caress the mountain, we set off a number of times to find it but something always happened to stop us.
One day Carina and Sam headed off for a long walk and came back with excited stories about this amazing Borgo, punnets of raspberries from the one and only resident, and pleas for us all to immediately jump in the van and go straight back.
They were right!
I fell in love, and instantly in our hearts we knew that one day it would be returned to it’s former glory. There is no logic to such a dream, yet we know that it has been achieved by others. One day this dream Italian village will be restored.
Colletta is a stunning restored village, and I have been in love with Borgo di Vagli ever since I accidentally came across it on the web one day.
Walking through the tiny lane ways between the buildings it felt as if eyes were watching us, as if the residents had just gone for a siesta and soon the village would come to life. Our friend Aldo tells us that he went to the Scuola (school) here as a child, I long to explore the inside of the buildings and we wander about imagining how it could all be restored.
An ancient grape vine trails through the entire village supported by a rickety trellis. There is a pair of old fashioned underwear left hanging on a line strung up on a balcony. Wood is stacked neatly in every available opening which must have been cut years before.
Overgrown with weeds we watch out for snakes, the walls are so close it’s possible to touch the worn rock walls on either side. I hear music but know that’s not possible, as if these ancient buildings are welcoming us.
Yes we are in love….the dream is planted!
I’d love to hear your thoughts, do you think it possible to restore?
Have you had an impossible project come to life?
and the gang x
So many amazing photos!! Xoxo
Grazie Ruth, I tend to go overboard with the camera x
It’s absolutely beautiful Lisa! I love the scuola and the vines! What an incredible dream and undertaking. Great video too– fun to hear your husbands accent and see you in video.
Ciao, Trisha
Accent??
What Accent lol
I so love the Scuola and hope to get more of the history, I wonder if the commune would have photos of when it was a working village?
love to you
ciao lisa x
Oh wow Lisa – I love watching the video. Gosh Italy is gorgeous. We have renovated an old queenslander that was over 110 years old. It took a lot of work but it did look good towards the end.
I cant imagine renovating a house with such small windows and such amazing walls – it almost looks like a puzzle that needs to be put back together.
I mentioned it to David – and he laughed…he reckons that its like our motorhome, renovating around corners, walls, and windows that dont line up but do fit 🙂
The view in the video is stunning. It takes my breath away.
Looking forward to seeing your renovations completed so that you can move to Italy.
Cheers
Lisa
Hey Lisa,
Isn’t it funny that we all have so much in common, renovation, traveling with kids, and love for adventure! Oh and love of blogging!
I can just hear David laughing, I have no idea how you guys got that motorhome to look so trendy and spacious!
The valley in the video is where we lived for two years and it was just spectacular, we are one step closer with the drama with the neighbors settled in court today so hoping we can now get on with our dreams!!!
much love to the family and hope all went well in Melboure.
ciao
Lisa x
Wow that place has so much potential. I could only imagine what you could turn it into. Good luck! When the time comes, my dream is to renovate an old sailboat and circumnavigate the world…just like yours it would be a lot of work but you know it’s worth it in the long run! Have fun…there will be much blood, sweat & tears until you accomplish what you want to do!
Wow Ron what a wonderful dream, and so worthwhile. I have a great friend who visits here Ingrid from http://www.dreamlifeofmine.com who works on the super yachts and also is starting a renovation in Italy. We all seem to thrive on that blood sweat and tears! Here’s to a life filled with dreams!
ciao lisa
What a beautiful dream….. of course you can do it!
So right Jenny, of course we can!!!
Every dream needs to start somewhere…
ciao lisa
I do not see why not, you just need to get yourself here soon. 🙂
Working on it as we speak, every step we take is towards this!
ciao lisa
It looks glorious. Answer to your question on whether you can return it to its former glory, I say a big YES. I love the photos you have taken and I can see why you are itching to get back over to Italy to start working on your new project.
Hi Jackie, the photos don’t do it justice, it is totally rambling up the side of the mountain. I would love to find out the history of the place, when we get back that’s first thing on my huge list. Step one in a dream, speak it out loud! ciao lisa x
Hello!
What a massive project. i don’t know if you can do it … i look at it and wonder ‘how the f …”
When I see stuff like this, goals and dreams … aside from the huge heart filled wonder of it all, my mind then immediately turns to the logistics. I’m a producer, so I’m a project manager. I look at these images and I think “budget? income? personel?”. Restoring a building IS indeed entirely possible, right, it’s been done and done and done. But my thoughts are focused in if it can it be done within safe stress limits. (I’m not asking you that. It’s what I’d be asking myself). How do you earn enough money to fund the project? Who does it? Is it done over 10 years as a hobby or is it an investment project? WHY do it? It’s a massive logistics endeavour and only over-mincing over logistics will stop it from happening, right. Flow is important, right? The heart of the matter is supreme … BUT, the logistics management help to heed difficulty, as does a good sense of humour.
Blogs like these are really important. I find that looking for the info that I am looking for is a bit iffy in Blogger. Bottom line is this; I hope you’re writing a book. I want to be able to read this info in one place. I want to know HOW you pull it off … I hope you’re writing a HOW TO book because the question isn’t weather you can or can’t do it, its HOW you will do it in a way that is stress-reasonable. So, I’ll be watching and waiting for you to publish your book because I will buy it!
In bocca al lupo! I’ll be following with bated breath!
D
Hi Daniella,
You may be able to tell I am the dreamer in our relationship. Sam is the practical one but together who knows what we’ll come up with. I have been inspired by so many blogs and love Borgo di Vagli for motivation. I think it will need lots of thinking outside the box so to speak. A book is another dream of mine…so maybe time to marry the two. Thanks for your great comment, it gives me much to think on!!
Anytime you fancy an Italian renovation experience look for us!
ciao lisa
MARRY the TWO!
O Lisa! I wish I had an impossible Italy story come true to tell you about…But then nothing’s impossible if you really want it enough. And there are two of you sharing the dream…. It’s such a divine place. The stones, the vines, the changing seasons. I can see what you see. What an honour it would be to restore such a beautiful home! Jx
Yes Janine as soon as we saw this village we both fell in love with it. It still sits there abandoned and could be an incredible experience for people to stay in rural Italy and get to know small village life with the locals like we did. We might need to call a major working bee LOL!
ciao lisa x
Hi Lisa,
If you believe you can do it.. then you can, it will take time but well worth the effort when you see your work coming alive again
I see it as a long long term project…one that fills my dreams!
ciao lisa x