Maybe the couple in Florence relies on their vespa as main transportation. this could save quite a lot of money. Many Europeans do not own a car--especially in the larger cities.We have friends who live in Paris who do not own a car--they rent one when necessary or borrow one from their relatives. They walk everywhere or take the bus.

they mentioned that they love to ride their "scooter" as he put it, mainly because the traffic was so bad.

Thanks for the reminder, I saw the commercials over the weekend and then completely forgot about it. Eventually HGTV will repeat the episode, may not be until the summer, so I may get to see Florence. I'm programming the VCR as a memory back up.

The view was to die for but why do they put such ugly bathrooms in?(cheapo 80's)Over here all the baths are Tuscan tumbled tile...so wierd....Ill bet mama is missing her mamas boy.I forgot whats that saying in Italian?

I am SO annoyed that I missed Florence last night!
Tonight we watched Montreal and I was not enticed by the real estate market..the Montreal I love is downtown and the Plateau! or even Old Town.
Tomorrow is London...whoppee!

I'd love to see what they show and say about London. Make sure you have your heart attack pills ready for when they start talking prices.

I can't resist the UK equivalents of these programmes. At one time it was all about looking for a ruin to do up somewhere sunny and picturesque, but now they seem to be a bit more hardheaded about holiday rental values, and so on. You might be interested to know they have done some US trips - one on Florida, I recall, and one on Oklahoma (don't ask me why, I imagine it must have something to do with the interests of the people who volunteer to appear).

Yes, the shows A Place in the Sun, My Place in the Sun, Dream Home Abroad and Get a New Life (and many more) focus on Brits buying property overseas. Shows about Brits fleeing the UK for sunnier and cheaper shores elsewhere seem to have replaced the previous batches of home makeover shows (which were mostly about hiding a home's flaws with as little money as possible...as yet, there is no British equivalent to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition). Their favorite U.S. destination is central Florida (one show said that Brits accounted for almost half of the home sales in the Orlando area one year...don't know if that's true but places like The Villages now have large sales offices in the UK). The Florida episodes frequently show Brits from the London area salivating over what their £££ will buy them..."I can live like a pop star!" exulted one in a recent show.

True - not many UK homes have a swimming pool you can crash your Humvee into...

Thought the Montreal episode was a little ho-hum. Wish I could speak French as well as the woman house-hunter. Still bummed about missing Florence.

Betsy, me too but as my husband reminded me, these programs show re-runs forever!

Patrick, I have looked at online Realtor sites in London this past year..both a friend in Hampstead who was moving and sharing with me and for us ( we had dreams!) so I am sort of prepared for the prices :)
Paris will be fun, what other cities are being shown?

Scarlett, check my post near the top of the thread for the other cities to be shown.

Don't miss the episode tonight on London.

Betsy, thank you!
I am ready to see London tonight !

I live in the Central Florida area, and just this past week there was a newspaper article about the British "explosion" here. In fact, in one area fairly near Disney, there are many English-stlye pubs that bring in the football and rugby matches from there. I would say, after watching the London House-Hunting show tonight, that they should be able to live like their royalty in this area!

I too missed the Florence episode but I watched the London part tonight. I am glad he picked the flat or house or whatever it is he did. It seemed like the best to me.

It looked just like the place my friend lives in in London, it always strikes me as so odd that they mostly all look alike, same floor plans mostly.

So, what did he pick in London? What neighborhood and how much? (We don't get the show here.)

bummer, I thought it was only one night, I tivo'd Florence but missed all the rest. What is tonight?

I'm sorry I don't remember the area in London, but it was a semi-detached (duplex) with common walls. Hopefully someone with a better recall will post here!

The area of London was called Balham which I guessed was south of the Thames and in or near the East End, a working class neighborhood on its way up. I've been to London lots of times and have never heard of it so I think that it is not in the tourist area. I chuckled when they referred to it as "Diaper Valley" (the Brits call Diapers "Nappys") because it is where young families go to raise the kids.

Anyway does it sound hopeful for the young man when his girlfriend asked him to leave her flat and go find his own?

Tonight is Barcelona, Spain.

I look forward to Barcelona tonight !