Always Something to Do

I always tell people that being in Italy is not really a vacation for us. Without our mini-farm we are hoping it will become more restful but thus far that is not the case.


On Monday we went out all day and saw six more houses. A couple of them we quite liked but after further consideration (and further viewing from the outside) we decided none of them really suit us. We have two more appointments on Thursday so we will see what happens.

That evening we had dinner with our friend Anna who also kept track of our house when we were gone. She has been collecting our mail from the new owners so she had a number of things to give us that created another to-do list.

On Tuesday we tackled some of those items and visited Mercatino del Usato (a used stuff store—mostly furniture) to see if any of the items we left there in the spring had sold. Almost €50 was due us so that was a worthwhile visit. We also meandered around and passed by some of the houses we had seen the day before. One house we really loved we vetoed because it faced north and the only outside space would rarely get any sun. Another had a good garden area but the surrounding neighborhood seemed questionable.

Today we set off for a day in Florence. I needed a new purse and Dom just needed to be there. The weather was really nice—warm but not hot—so we parked near the American Consulate and walked along the Arno and then cut over to the San Lorenzo market.

I visited most of the stalls looking for a suitable purse for Rome. The ones I have with me are either not large enough or won’t go over my head and across my body. The latter is something I really feel safer with when cruising around Rome. Eventually I found one in a size, color and style that I liked. Dom patiently trailed after me while I checked out all the options.

Purchase completed we meandered past Piazza del Duomo. It is nice that they no longer allow cars in the area but today it was thronged by tourists. We strolled along some of the smaller streets and eventually came to a small piazza where a bar had some outside tables. We sat down and ordered a panino (sandwich) for Dom and a salad for me. The tables around us filled up fast and it was fun to watch the other tourists and the Florentine residents coming and going. There was a tower on the square that looked almost medieval and while we were eating a small garbage truck came by. Most of the service vehicles in the center of Florence are now electric. The emptying of the garbage bins was louder by far than the motor of the little truck.

After lunch we purchased a few necessities (pajamas) and then strolled back to the car. Our trip home preceded Florentine rush hour so we were back in Partigliano in short order (about 75 minutes). It was really the most vacation-like day we have had so far.

House Hunters International

House hunting has been interesting. We have seen six places with three different agents. Four of them have possibilities although nothing has made us swoon and declare, “let’s make an offer!”


We have seen three apartments, two duplexes and one townhouse. All of them need some work but mostly cosmetic. Some fit our criteria better than others but undoubtedly we will need to make some compromises. The best thing is they are all within our budget. We are happy we are finding places we can afford that tick most of the boxes. This coming week we have appointments lined up to see another twelve places so we are hopeful something wonderful is still out there.

We also picked up our new Permessi di Soggiorno (long stay permits). It’s nice to have that taken care of for another year and a half. One of these days perhaps we will get one of the ten year permits we have heard about. It would be nice not to have to go through this process every two years.

Amongst house hunting we have been reconnecting with our friends in Partigliano and nearby. On Friday night we had dinner with Mary and Orlando, another American couple who have a house nearby and their three guests. So, nine of us had delicious hors d’oevres made by Mary (aka the Martha Stewart of Tuscany) and then pizza at a nearby restaurant. It was a really fun evening.

Last night we went to the bar in Partigliano about 9:30 pm and visited with locals and semi-locals. It turns out that quite a few of the English speaking part-time residents are here this weekend. It was nice to catch up with everyone. We all had so much fun that we will probably see the same crowd there tonight.

The weather has been lovely since we arrived. Daytime highs are around 70F/22C although it gets chilly at night. We have had only one afternoon and evening of rain. It is the nicest conditions we have seen for several weeks because Whidbey Island seemed to go from August to October right after Labor Day. Hopefully this trend will continue for the next few weeks.

This morning we rose at 6:15 am and went to the Sunday marcia. It was one we had not done and we really enjoyed seeing the area of Lunata on foot. The locale was a substitute for the one originally scheduled (no one seemed to know why it was changed) and there were only three routes—2 km, 7 km and 14 km. We chose to do the 7 km and it was a great walk. Luckily the area is dead flat or it would have been a bit long for our first march in quite a while.

Afterwards we stopped for cappuccino and arrived back at the house by 9 am. I went to mass at 11 am and reconnected with more of the local people. Now we are watching the Formula 1 race from Singapore. Ferrari’s Alonzo is leading so we, and no doubt most of Italy, are happy.

More in a day or two.

Back in Italy

Tuesday, we arrived at Pisa in good order after an uneventful flight from Seattle via Pisa. The only glitches in our plan to be in Partigliano by 2 pm was a late car delivery and getting a little lost on our way from there to Lucca. We dropped off our car rental guy (the marvelous Rosario) just outside of Pisa and I was driving. Somewhere I missed a turn and then it seemed logical to turn north and head straight for the Pisan Hills. Unfortunately, we ended up in a residential area full of dead end roads. Dom got the GPS up and running and it showed us the way home.


After a stop at the grocery store for a few supplies we arrived in Partigliano about 3 pm. Our friend Erina was ready with the key to the vacation house and we soon had everything unloaded. There were fresh flowers and Erina gave us tomatoes from their vines and some of their own olive oil. We had a bit of lunch (lovely mortadella, prosciutto, fresh Tuscan bread and sliced tomato) before running out of steam. So we set the alarm and laid down for a nap.

The Air France flight is definitely the quickest way to get from there to here—about 13 hours (not counting getting from Whidbey to Seattle). However, it leaves at 1:45 pm and so it is difficult to get much sleep. Just about the time it arrives in Paris is when I normally turn out the lights. It was bright and sunny in Paris and Pisa and that makes it easier but eventually the body just says, “Stop!”

We got up from our nap about 7:30 pm and went to dinner at one of our local favorites. It was then about 11 before we were back in bed for another go at sleep.

Today, we woke really, really early (3:30 am for me and 5 am for Dom). We sat in bed and read until 7 am and then got going. Our list of places to stop included the Questura (for our Permessi di Soggiorno), the bank, Mercatino del Usato (a consignment store to see if anything we left in the spring sold), Esselunga the supermarket for a few more things, the enoteca for some vino sfuso (loose wine). This being Italy what we actually accomplished was an appointment at the Questura to pick up our PdiS on Saturday, a successful visit to the bank but found out the guy we dealt with in the spring was transferred, found out we need to return to Mercatino del Usato tomorrow, picked up almost everything we needed at the market and bought the wine. Then it was back to the house for lunch. By 2 pm Dom had faded and I lasted until about 3:30.

For the next week or so our internet connection is a bit problematic. To get connected we need to walk over to the house next door closer to the wireless router at Erina’s daughter’s apartment. Email is easy but anything else is difficult. The result is there probably won’t be many pictures. However, once we are in Rome we are supposed to have free wireless at the apartment. We will see how it goes.

Tomorrow we are off on our first house hunting expedition.

Recap of Summer 2010

FINALLY, I am getting around to another blog post.  It is the afternoon before we leave for our fall trip and I feel compelled to catch up.  So here is a quick recap of summer 2010.

We stopped in London for two nights on our way back to Seattle/Whidbey Island. It was a fun visit and quite relaxing after the hectic few weeks selling and moving out of our house.  We visited the Imperial War Museum (fascinating!), the Victoria and Albert (saw an exhibit of Princess Grace of Monaco's clothes) and rode the London Eye.

The London Eye is a giant ferris wheel. Each "car" holds 25 people although there was only about a dozen in ours. The views were spectacular and it is really something different.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We were only back on Whidbey Island for a week before we headed to Wenatchee for my niece's high school graduation.  She is the oldest of the grandkids so it was a big deal.  Here is Emily with my parents, Marion and Jack.

It felt like we were hardly home in June because less than two weeks after we were in Wenatchee we took a five day road trip to Sonoma, CA.  The purpose was to see the NASCAR road race there but we also managed to stop and see friends in Eugene, OR (formerly of Italy) and two of my dad's cousins and their families.  The race itself was loads of fun. This picture shows the aftermath of a crash that happened right in front of the randstand. Overall the racing was very good. The weather was sunny and cool but that was a lot better than the cool, rainy weather in Western Washington that lasted until July.
 
 

July 4th weekend we drove to Kent, WA to see the Vintage car races and look at all the cars on display.  They were featuring Alfa Romeos and lots of other interesting vehicles. 
 

In mid-July I went hiking near Snoqualmie Pass with some of our skiing friends.

On the hike we passed two lovely alpine lakes. Of course I have totally forgotten their names.  You can see that the weather was lovely and warm.

On the weekend we usually have our big summer party (that we skipped this year) we went to Enumclaw for the annual Northwest Scottish Highland Games.  This photo shows the massing of the bands that is held each day at 12:00.  All the bands competing parade out and play together.  It is quite spectacular.  Dom is a real pipe band fan.  We checked out all the exhibits and booths, met up with friends and listened to all of the band competitions.  Several of the top bands in the world were there including Simon Frasier University from Vancouver, Canada.
 

There was a break in activity until late August when I went on a three day kayak trip with my sister, Patty, and two friends, Deb and Cindy.  The first day was somewhat overcast but we never got rained on.  This picture of Patty is not bad considering I took it blind over the top of my head!

Here we are at lunch our first day.  Our guide, Wyatt, was very good and lots of fun.  We also had a Canadian couple with us, Brian and Kim.  They hailed from Smithers, BC which is pretty far north. 

Our second and third days were sunny and warm.  The kayaking itself was fun (although rather hard work) and it was fascinating being right down on the water.  We spent most of our time close to shore where we could see down into the shallows as well as the beach activity.  No orcas swam by but we saw porpoises, eagles, sea otters and many other creatures.  Our camp site on Cypress Island in the San Juans was visited by racoons and mice.
 
 

We enjoyed the beach camping.  Tents, sleeping pads and pillows were all provided by Anacortes Kayaking.  Wyatt proved to be an excellent cook.  We brought along plenty of wine and the company was excellent.  The scenery was beautiful including this view of the rising moon at sunset.

Our last day was the sunniest and warmest.  This was our view of Mt. Baker from the kayak as we made our way back to Anacortes.

Before we headed off our last morning the guide for the other group that camped near us took a picture of all of us and our kayaks.
 
Although we enjoyed the trip the paddling got to us by the last day.  I am glad we did not do the five day trip!  Next summer we have plans for another girls' trip that are active but not quite so intense.
 

The week after Labor Day Dom and I tore out our bathroom in preparation for a total remodel this winter.  This is the view of our bedroom looking into the bathroom area.  As you can see we did a pretty thorough job.

There is not much left of the bathroom and dressing area that were there before.  Our plan is to convert this area to a walk-in closet (rather than a dressing room) and make the bath area larger.  It will all be very nice when it is finished sometime in March.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Those are the highlights of our summer.  Tomorrow we are off to Italy to look for a new place there.  At the moment we are leaning towards an apartment but we will see what happens.  We will also spend most of October in Rome.  This is something we have wanted to do but was not practical when we had a house three hours away.  Now that we are between houses it seems like the perfect opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Eternal City.  It will also provide lots of new material for the blog. :-)