CNN —Buyers from all over the world are snapping up charming old houses in isolated villages in Italy. Chicago-based saxophonist Joshua Shapiro, 48, embarked on the quest for la dolce vita as the first step toward a change of life. Many empty homes featured on the local website where owners meet buyers are sold or rented with furniture, but what eventually ends up being left inside is usually negotiated between parties. Courtesy Joshua ShapiroThere was also a bizarre encounter when he first went to take a peek inside the house he had just bought. Accompanied by Castellano, the deputy mayor, Shapiro says he was surprised to find it had tenants inside – a group of elderly nuns.

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Persons: we’ll, Stanley Tucci, Joshua Shapiro, “, ” Shapiro, ”, Shapiro, MC Newman Shapiro, Latronico, he’d, –, – it’s, Vincenzo Castellano, – Shapiro, Castellano, Latronico’s Organizations: CNN, intel Locations: Italy, . Chicago, United States, Latronico, Basilicata, Europe, Florence, Rome, Bari, –, American, Chicago