[inciampati]

Sub 1k/mo bedroom...! Times do change, and fast. I lived there for seven years. I travel very extensively throughout the world for (research) work and Somerville offers by far the best social environment for hacker and intellectual types that I've ever found. I would be happy to return.

If the OP is into anarchism, art, and culture I would recommend Napoli. An apartment in the best location imaginable would never be more than €700. Airport is a few minutes from the city center. The food, from restaurant to Farmers markets, is unbelievably good and costs little. The intellectual life, well...

[mk89]

The OP asked for a place where he/she can speak English as well, and unfortunately this is not really the case.

[eggie]

Actually, you can get by pretty well in Napoli on english. Initially it was a struggle for me (native english speaker) to avoid using it all the time and learn the local languages.

It's true that it's not Berlin, but on the other hand it's not any harder to get around in english in southern italy than in portugal (the suggestion in the current top post in this thread).