“I just had a passion for Italy,” Aileen tells CNN Travel. Italian dreamTom and Aileen White purchased a home in the Italian village of Exilles back in 2017. “They met us the next day and we bought the house on a handshake,” explains Aileen, who runs a real estate consultancy. The couple say they faced some minor issues during the sale process, particularly with regards to opening an Italian bank account, but were able to overcome this hurdle with the help of an Italy-based attorney. ‘Magical place’The couple say that they've been embraced "like family" by the local community in Exilles.

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