“This is our dream and now it have come true”
Giulia De Rocco and Luca De Angelis left Italy and have found their home in the countryside of Boden, together with their son, cats, and a pack of happy Siberian Huskies.
It took the De Angelis/De Rocco family two years to get everything ready to move their entire life from Bergamo, Italy, to a house in the countryside of Boden municipality.
The dream of Scandinavia had existed for a long time as they also breed Siberian Huskies. The dog breed is often used for dog sledding. Both the climate and space in Italy made it difficult to provide the dogs with the environment they thrive in best.
“I did a lot of demonstrations with them, but it was difficult to find a place in Italy where they can really live as we want them to. It’s hard to find houses with such large plots close to nature,” says Giulia.
The dogs are her everything; they have followed her through all of life’s joys and hardships. They mean so much that she was willing to leave her home country to find the best place for the whole family and their four-legged friends. And she, and the dogs, mean so much to Luca that he shared her dream of finding the right place further north to build their future together.
Forest, greenery, and less crowding
“We have contacts in dog breeding in Skellefteå, and when we came there, we felt that we loved the forest, the greenery, and that there aren’t so many people and crowding here,” says Luca.
Luca chose to go first to create the opportunities.
“Once we had decided, it went quickly. I wrote a post on Facebook, in Italian, that I’m a chef, can bake pizza, and was looking for a job in northern Sweden. After ten minutes, a guy, Matteo Cariota, replied, “can I call you?”,” Luca recounts.
Neapolitan pizza in Boden
The call led to contacts in Boden, and a few days later, he had a job at Strike Alley in Boden. Strike Alley describes itself as “Boden’s most active entertainment center”, where you can play bowling and simulator golf. But they have also made a name for themselves as a place where you can eat well. And that’s where Luca’s competence and experience came in. Strike Alley now also offers authentic Neapolitan pizzas and traditional pasta dishes with a genuine Italian touch.
The owner of Strike Alley, Daniel Rönnbäck, immediately started looking for housing for Luca with space for the whole family. He found a house in Gunnarsbyn in the countryside outside Boden. Suitably secluded, with a plot facing the forest, but still just minutes away from their son’s future school. Daniel bought the house and rents it out to Luca.
Cold winter but warm people
While Giulia was arranging everything for the move from Italy, Luca started working in his spare time to build generous dog yards on a large part of the plot. On the hill where both the house, dogs, and the rest of the property can be overlooked, he also built a barbecue hut with relaxation area. His first winter goes down in history as periodically very cold, even for seasoned northerners.
“Minus 15 to 20 is totally okay. When it was minus 43, it was a bit chilly, but that was an experience too,” Luca laughs.
The warmth was all the greater from the people around.
“Everyone here is fantastic. Such incredible hospitality! The neighbor has helped us a lot, those who have tractors came and asked, “can I help you with the snow”. That’s really important and means a lot to us,” says Luca.
Wedding and move
At the beginning of summer, when the Norrbotten nature turned into a green explosion with long bright summer nights, the couple had their wedding. After that, the rest of the family and all eight dogs moved.
During our visit, they have just started to settle in and find their place. The dogs look as if they’re laughing with joy as they run around and play in their large enclosure that occupies large parts of the plot.
“Now it feels perfect. If you want to believe in destiny, it’s probably that we were meant to end up here,” says Giulia.
TEXT: ANNA BERGSTRÖM
