The Germans Are Coming! The Germans Are Coming!

Imagine buying an entire Tuscan village. Yeah, I could go for that.
A German tour operator just did exactly that. But I wonder how the inhabitants of this little Italian village feel about a German invasion. I am already sick of the tourists marching up and down Smith Street here in Brooklyn. I could not imagine living in a village that has just become a vacation resort for Herr and Frau Müller from Kaiserslautern. Read below and you will know what I mean.



German firm buys Tuscan village
A German tour operator has bought an entire village in Tuscany.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2347547.html



Tenuta de Castelfalfi has been snapped up by TUI and is to be turned into an integrated holiday playground for German tourists.
The medieval settlement, north of Siena and close to Florence and Pisa, is to be renamed Toscana Resort Castelfalfi.
"The Germans have conquered our village!" declared the local paper, Il Tirreno, following news of the sale.
Complete with four square miles of land, a three-star hotel, 18-hole golf course, olive groves, vineyards and scores of elegantly crumbling villas, Castelfalfi is believed to have been bought for £170m.
Everything from the historic castello that gives the village its name and perches above it on a rocky peak, to its old ramparts, houses and gardens, were part of the deal.
Only the church was out of bounds, but the company is obliged to pay for it to be renovated.
Once it has been given a makeover, Castelfalfi is expected to attract 3,200 guests at any one time and will bring mass tourism to a region that attracts holidaymakers because of its small-scale family-run hotels.