+1 London
+1 Day job that you reduce to 7hrs a day or less.
You'll have to be brave, and you'll probably feel alone until 2 years after you settle in any city. Don't overwork. Once you're there, say yes to all social events. Keep overviewing all the new frameworks, Backbone, RequireJS, Play Framework, etc. Your OP was awesome.
+1 on London, we have a vibrant startup scene with a lot of support. I know quite a few Italian developers that I could introduce you too that have moved here. Shoot me an email through the link in my profile.
If you're coming to the UK, don't limit yourself to just London, there are equally vibrant tech scenes in other cities like Sheffield (where I live), Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool and many more.
Actually no, I'm painfully unaware of these things! I usually go to Dorkbot when it's on. One of my colleagues goes to the testing meetup in the Rutland. What are some other good ones?
You could consider joining a hackspace wherever you go to get your sanity back from the constant boring grind of the day job.
Plus there's the usual advantage of meeting new people, talking to like minded people and possibly creating something awesome with the members of the hackspace.
