Are you an artistic individual looking for inspiration? Or are you an art historian wanting to rediscover the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and Raphael? Or maybe a trendy chic looking for what’s hot and what’s not in the fashion industry? Then having a home exchange in one of Italy’s best cities, Milan, is a brilliant idea.

Milan is Italy’s capital, located in the Northern part of Italy. With almost 1.5 million inhabitants, Milan is known as Italy’s center for business, design, art, fashion, music, history and culture. Thanks to the Da Vinci Code, Milan has been more famous because this city is home to Leonardo da Vinci’s the Last Supper. The painting is found on the Santa Maria della Grazie monastery. As for history buffs, Castello Sforzesco is a great place to see. Originally a castle that was built in the 15th century, it now houses a variety of museums the showcases the life and culture of people from the middle ages onwards. It is recommended to make a whole day visit here. Now, if shopping is your cup of tea, then make sure you visit Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. This is the place to go if you are looking for those precious finds, whether be it souvenirs to bring back home or luxurious clothing from Italy’s most famous designers. This place houses shops such as Gucci and Prada to name a few. Shops are even open in the Sundays so you can shop here any day you want! You don’t have to worry about transportation in Milan since places are accessible via the subway system.

Getting a home exchange saves you the expenses of hotel accommodation here, plus the convenience of having a place to stay once setting foot in Milan saves you from all the hassle. Having a home exchange saves you a lot of money if you decide to make your stay a little long, and instead for paying for hotel services, you cold buy yourself a new Louis Vuitton bag to bring home instead!

This is a curious story about a three homes exchange, sent to me by Sandra.

Three flats, three cities, three persons involved in the exchange, three different jobs.

Sandra from Milan had to move to Barcelona for 3 months for a project related to thr fashion world. Stefan, from Berlin, had to go to Milan to set up an exhibition for a friend who won a pictorial competition. Laia, Spanish property developer, had to go to Berlin for the big estate agency she worked for in order to study the Berlin real estate market and to start up some business.
By chance, they all were looking for a flat during the same period.
Sandra has been quite enterprising and open-minded. She searched, amongst all the home exchange portal users, the ones who lived in Barcelona: she contacted everyone explaining her needs. Between these users, a girl from Barcelona suggested to Sandra to contact Stefan, a friend from Berlin who needed to go to Milan for work during the same months. The implicit idea was of creating a home exchange in a chain, that is implying three different persons with interrelated needs:

If Stefan had stayed at Sandra’s he could have given his house to someone from Barcelona who needed to stay in Berlin over the same period. This way Sandra could find a place in Barcelona for herself.
They wrote a post in the community and after a couple of days they found Laia, a catalan girl who luckily complete the home exchange triangle. She had excatly to move to Berlin for three months!
Thanks to initiative and luck “les jeux sont faits”! It surely hasn’t been the easiest and quickest way, but a little effort and time to search are necessary for every home exchange, even more if the exchange implies 3 houses and not 2, as it usually happens.
Well, to cut it short…In the end Sandra, Stefan and Laia could home swap under the sign of respect, trust, (occupational) necessity and money-saving.
They changed nation in order to work during some time abroad and they moved to a new, fully furnished, real house, full of books and CDs and without paying a penny for the rent! Furthermore, they had someone who took care of their own house while they were away.

They are happily back now, in their original houses and the three of them have already planned to meet: this time for a real home exchange vacation, not for work!

With some initiative, the will to do it and a little organisation ability, the house swap is not only a means to go cheaply on holidays, but also a good way to arrange short or longer working trips.