Josephine contacted Fausto after reading about his life in an abandoned town in Italy. Photo / Fausto Mottalini
By Silvia Marchetti
The ways of love are infinite.
Fausto Mottalini, the lone man living in Italy's ghost hamlet Sostila, isn't that lonely anymore. The last remaining inhabitant of this forgotten place has found love.
Thanks to a news.com.au story he now shares his isolation with a blonde New Zealander, after an amazing turn of events.
Josephine Sharp, 54, read his story from Auckland, packed her bag and flew over to his tiny hamlet for a blind date. It obviously went well. They now they live together in the medieval cottage that he decided to run years ago after ditching his former boring life.
"When I read the article I was struck by Fausto's simple lifestyle, of how he has mastered it and takes pleasure in silence, peace and nature, eating the products of such a pristine patch of land," Josephine tells news.com.au.
"Sostila is pure serenity: You wake up and see deer in the garden, chamois and other mountain animals at the doorstep. It's a lost paradise found again, the kind of life I dreamt of living".
Josephine is an artist and lover of old abandoned towns and ruins. The couple have been spending their time hiking, taking photos, visiting nearby cities and getting to know each other.
It wasn't just Fausto's fascinating story and fit look that drew her, but the familiar ambience of the village: "Before coming he sent me photos of Sostila and it was amazing how similar they were to my drawings," says Josephine.
Sostila is a tiny mountain village trapped in Italy's Alps, isolated and cut-off from civilisation. No cars, no roads. It's a bunch of stone dwellings with tile roofs clustered around an intact church bell tower and quaint school where pupils' left-behind books are still spread on tables.
Life in the village came to an abrupt end in the 1960s. Bitter cold winters and harsh living conditions forced residents to flee downhill in search of a brighter future.
As opposed to the villagers who ran away, Fausto made the opposite choice by returning to his ghost hometown and now this incredible love story is bringing it back from the grave.
Josephine was supposed to leave after a few weeks but Fausto pleaded her to stay longer.
He is grateful for this unexpected twist in his life: "I believe nothing in life happens by chance, there are no coincidences. We are constantly moving towards people and places that are waiting for us since always. Josephine is a gift sent to me that I live with all my heart, hour after hour, day after day. We are simply in love," he says.
"Fausto is so kind and nice, plus a very interesting person. We feel as if we've known each other for a long time," says Josephine.
When she read the article Josephine started searching the web, found online the postcode of Sostila and wrote Fausto a sweet letter, hoping it would reach him.
"I thought: if he's the only person living there, it's the best chance I have to get through to him". As all love stories go, fortune helped her: Fausto's aunt is the person in charge of the postal service, so she personally handed him Josephine's nicely written note.
This time, in the era of technology, internet was beaten by the good old traditional ways, via a message mailed across a mountain peak.
Fausto still remembers when he opened the envelope: "There were samples of her paintings inside and I was struck that the letter was handwritten in ink, a very beautiful style. "Unfortunately I don't know English, so I asked my nephew to help translate and replied I wanted to meet her too". "I was intrigued, wondering who's this lady interested in me? Well, believe it or not, after three days texting we had already fallen in love with each other!"
His letter reached Josephine on Valentine's Day this year.
They then switched their conversation to Facebook and WhatsApp. Despite the language barrier (Josephine doesn't speak Italian but is learning it, while Fausto is picking up English) and the constant help of Google translator which led to a few misunderstandings, they kept chatting for months until summer came and she flew over.
Not knowing each other's tongue is a bliss. "People can hide themselves behind words, but when you don't talk, that's when you really get to see someone's soul, you learn their expressions and body language. Good thing: It's impossible to quarrel, we simply can't argue!", says Josephine.
Her hectic lifestyle back at home also pushed her to say "Basta!" and leave it all behind.
"In Auckland I was sick of driving through traffic, working to pay rent and taxes, always rushing, no time to relax. I just wanted to get off the rat race and live life!"
"Trouble is we lose track of life's simple things," says Josephine, a widow with kids. "But Fausto thinks like I do: how complicated life is, while it can be real simple if you just want it. Here, it takes me just minutes to walk from Fausto's car to the village, less than driving across Auckland. My kids have grown-up, I needed to take some time off for myself and now I can".
Her only worry was that Fausto might have found a Mrs Hermit in the meantime to share meals with, but luckily he was single. "I found it funny reading the article about him that there were no women around to enjoy his cooking. I want to cook but Fausto says no! He is very jealous, so territorial of his kitchen".
He forbids her to get near the pots and oven, treating her to yummy variants of risotto with porcini mushrooms, sweet peppers and artichokes and stew with steaming polenta.
But the two haven't kept confined to Sostila. Josephine wants to see Italy and Fausto is being a sweet chaperone and tourist guide, spoiling her daily. "He drove me around all the way to Tuscany, visiting Florence and Arezzo. He knows I love art, history, churches and galleries, and Italy is packed with these".
Sostila is inspiring her work. The old crumbly dwellings where the poor, hardworking farmers and shepherds once lived is part of a world frozen in time that she can almost touch and convey in her drawings.
But winter will come, and their love could be tested. The snow, the isolation. Both say they are ready to make sacrifices to stay together. Josephine will go back to her children eventually but says she will come back to Sostila, while Fausto wouldn't mind giving his hermit life a break and move further down the valley where there's more social buzz.
He's open to all options for the love of Josephine: "I don't know what will happen tomorrow, I'm a curious guy and want to see where all this will lead us. My heart and mind are open to everything."