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. :-)

Bad, bad blogger!!

Yes, I have been a bad (i.e. non-existant) blogger this summer.  Nothing is wrong we have just been incredibly busy.  One of these days (maybe) I will get caught up.  If not I will begin blogging again when we get to Italy.  We have lots planned for this fall.  With the house in Partigliano sold we plan to spend 11 days there at a rental house before going to Rome for four weeks.  We will return to Partigliano for a couple more weeks in November. 

We are very excited about our sojourn in Rome.  Our rental apartment looks quite cute online and is located in a non tourist area called Ponte Milvio.  It is due north of the centro storico not far from the Olympic stadium where the major soccer games are played.  Our plan is to really explore some of the lesser known sites of Rome, some of the surrounding countryside and just immerse ourselves in the Eternal City. 

In the meantime, we have lots of work to get done here on Whidbey Island.  Summer is always busy for us as it is really awfully short.  Just three and a half months to get lots of house maintenance and yard work done.  When we are not working I enjoy sitting on the patio reading.  After a quick shower that is where I plan to spend the rest of the evening.

The Chaos of Moving PLUS Lightning

Moving Day (next Tuesday 5/18) is rapidly approaching and the house is beginning to reflect it.  The television now has a new home on top of a stack of boxes.  We have packed up a lot of things but there is still lots to do.  Tomorrow we are taking our winemaking equipment to Mercatino del Usato (a consignment store for used "stuff") and later we are taking some grass cutting equipment to a friend's house for storage.  Later, we are having dinner with other friends and taking a few things to their place for them to keep for us.  The big day will be Tuesday when the bulk of our goods goes into storage until we find the new house.

Those of you who have visited us know that our second floor landing does not normally look like this.  Most of the house is in a similar state right now except the kitchen, bathroom and our bedroom.  By Sunday evening I hope nearly everything will be packed.  It will be our last night here and Monday we move to a nearby rental house.

The top floor is particularly chaotic.  Dom broke down the secretary and the daybed.  Both pieces came from IKEA and can only be taken down the stairs in pieces.  It all looks rather bare now and there is nothing to keep us from bonking our heads on the low beams.

Why a picture of the microwave you might ask. Because it is now a non-functioning microwave destined for the recycling station.  Yesterday morning we had thunder and lightning along with the torrential rain we have been experiencing for the past two weeks.  There was one flash of lightning and clap of thunder that seemed right on top of us.  About ten minutes later there really was one directly on top of our neighbors' house.  It apparently hit their TV antenna, blew a hole in their roof at the eaves and jumped a 20 foot gap to fry a telephone junction box.  It also blew out all the street lights in our part of the village. 

Their house was really a mess.  The circuit breaker panel was full of switches that were just flipping freely.  It blasted the cover off the panel AND the door to the space under the stairs where the panel is located.  Soot from their chimney blew right across the room.  Stuff on top of their television ended up on the floor.  I am sure it must have felt like an earthquake.  However, they obviously know people and managed to get power up and running and the hole in the roof fixed yesterday.

In contrast, we are still trying to get our caldaio (water heater) fixed. The lightning seems to have fried a security thermostat inside and we cannot get water any hotter than tepid.  Actually, Dom figure out how to do that in the middle of my writing this blog post (at 9 pm) and I ran up and took a quick shower.  I have made several calls to various electricians, plumber and the Ariston service center and still no luck getting someone here to fix it.  At this point it will probably be Monday before anyone can see it.  We really would like to have it taken care of by Tuesday so we can turn over the house to the new owners in good order.  It is times like these that I get really frustrated at my limitations in the Italian language.  I can make myself understood but am never quite sure I have understood the responses. 

In addition to the caldaio and microwave, we also lost the dsl modem, one of the modem filters and the satellite dish.  The modem proved to be both a quick fix and a frustrating one.  We ran to the computer store yesterday and replaced it but could not get it working properly.  Today we went back and had it tested.  Turns out it was a bad modem.  With another one in hand we came back home and are now reconnected to the world.  The microwave is a minor loss and one less thing to store.  We will buy a new one when we have a new house.  The loss of the satellite dish is also minor EXCEPT that I am missing Flashforward tonight.  It will be one more episode for me to catch up online when we get back to Whidbey. 

This might be my last blog post for this trip.  I hope to do a few more before we return to our U.S. home on May 28 but our access will be a bit problematic after we leave this house.  However, I will do at least a quick recap of our last two weeks at some point.  A presto!

2010 San Cassiano Marcia

We have had terrible weather for the last week--monsoon-like conditions on some days and pretty cool for this time of year.  Thankfully, Sunday was actually pretty nice (at least in comparison). The walk started in San Cassiano a Vico, an area we are interested in for a new home.  It is really a pretty walk and no hills.  It includes sections on paved roads...

...and some sections through the fields.

The poppies are blooming everywhere right now.  They are particularly prolific alongside the roads.

Here we passed a neat planting of young olive trees.  They looked like someone had laid them out with a tape measure.

This is a nice looking house but too close to the road and no garden.

This is the most interesting thing we saw along the way--this old section of wall with the new townhouses behind it.  Actually, the end unit is for sale.  Hmmm.

After we got home from the walk, we started moving tiles (piled on the lower level of the patio) up to where our friend Don could pick them up in his car.  We sold them to him for his renovation project.  It took him four trips (at least) to take them all away.  I made frittata for the three of us for lunch.

Afterwards, Dom watched the Spanish Formula 1 race.  If you are wondering about the weird setup it has to do with pulling the neighbor's TV antenna cable in through the window and hooking it up to our TV.  The neighbors do not have a television and the cable has just been hanging there so Dom "borrowed" it.  This all became necessary because SKY Italia is not broadcasting the races this season.  Since we do not have an antenna of our own (just the satellite dish) we have been raceless until now.  By the next race we will be out of the house.  A television antenna of our own is on the list for the next house.

Be sure and keep reading as I have published three blog posts today!

Blooming Irises

Last fall I dug up my two clumps of irises and divided them.  There were so many bulblets that I threw a lot away.  However, the ones I replanted have bloomed spectacularly.  In fact, all my plants are doing well this spring.  It probably has something to do with the warm, wet weather.  The roses above the wall are full of buds and the strawberries in the lower right corner are covered with pink flowers, the first of which are just now turning into berries.

Here is a better shot of just the iris blossoms.  Remember, click on the photo to enlarge it.

This trip we have front door kitties and back door kitties.  Here are a couple of the kittens from last fall dining just outside our front door.  You can see all the plants our neighbor Maria Rosa cares for in the courtyard. 

Here is our regular back door kitty.  It looks a lot like Squeak, our longtime favorite, but it isn't.  Squeak was very pregnant when we arrived but has disappear.  I suspect she has gone to kitty heaven.

I hope our next house here in Italy also has some cats around the place. 

Kate's Fantastic Adventure - Venice

The last day of Kate's Fantastic Italian Adventure was spent in Venice.  We rose early and made the drive to north to La Serenissima.  Unfortunately, my exceptional directional abilities were on the fritz and it took far longer to get there than it should have.  In any event we finally made it there. 

Luckily, the weather was fabulous that day.  As we made our way from the parking area on the edge of Venice towards Piazza San Marco we came across some gondoliers.  It seemed like a good idea to get our gondola ride out of the way early so we all hopped into the boat (very carefully, of course).  We had a real cutie for a gondolier who spoke some English.  It was probably more interesting traveling through the canals so far from Piazza San Marco--quieter canals and fewer tourists. As you can see from the photo, a great time was had by all.

Dom was having a great time, too.

It was quite peaceful floating through the canals.  The juxtaposition of water, boats, Venetian architecture, people and sky always makes for a great panorama.

After the gondola ride we continued walking to Piazza San Marco.  Eventually, we arrived and joined hundreds of other tourists.

The Basilica is always gorgeous.  Unfortunately, about a third of the facade was in scaffolding.  In all the years I have been going to Venice, I think it has been totally clear of all scaffolding and tarps only once.

Another interesting building on Piazza San Marco is the one with the clock.  It is quite elaborate and when it chimes figures come out onto the balcony and all sorts of other things happen.

We were lucky enough to see a bride and groom walking by.  It was a Tuesday but weddings are often held midweek here in Italy.

Here is the entire ladies group pictured--Cindy, Kate, Lou, Cherie and Emily. 

That evening we drove back to Bologna and spent the night there.  Early the next morning Dom and I saw everyone else off at the airport.  It was a fabulous trip but I am sure everyone was glad to get home.

Kate was a wonderful traveler and I look forward to more trips with her in the future.

May Day - May 1, 2010

May 1 is a holiday throughout Europe.  This year it fell on a Saturday.  Nonetheless, the annual May Day walk at Montemagno was held early in the morning.  It was a beautiful day so it was no hardship for Dom and I to get up and drive over there.  Since there was another walk the next morning we decided to do the shortest walk--3 kilometers.  This was just enough to get our heart rates up and we saw some beautiful countryside and houses.  The picture at left is a view from the walk of the Alpi Appuane.

We have done this particular walk several times before.  This wall never ceases to fascinate me.  The builder is a sculptor and he has incorporated all sorts of interesting objects into it.

Later in the day, after lunch, we went up the Serchio valley to the annual festa at Fornaci di Barga.  The town is filled with all sorts of exhibitors--sort of like a cross between a home show, an auto show and a weekly Italian market.  It was really a warm afternoon and there were LOTS of people there.

There are always lots of displays of farm equipment. Here a young girl is trying out a sort of mower. Unlike in the U.S. where the exhibitors would probably discourage children from climbing on the machinery, no one seems to think much of it here.

Here is another youngster trying out the merchandise.

Dom never climbs on the tractors but he certainly studies everything intently.

There were two spots with pony rides (or horse rides) for children.

A parked Ferrari always draws admirers including Dom and I, of course.

A local organization uses the town soccer field for paid parking.  When we returned to our car we got a kick out of where this Fiat 500 had found a spot. Gol!

The next morning, May 2, was the start of our recent seemingly endless spell of rain.  Dom stayed in bed but Mary Caselli and I went to the marcia at Camigliano.  It was not raining when we got up but started about the time we left our respective houses.  We had umbrellas and used them for about 2/3rds of the walk.  It actually, mostly, stopped for a while but then started up again. In spite of that, we really enjoyed our brisk 5 km. hike.

The rain has been pretty steady until today.  We had a shower this morning but it has been mostly dry but although overcast.  It has actually cleared up now but it is quite chilly outside.  After the beautiful weather we had our first four weeks here this has been a bit hard to take.  Luckily, we had a really busy week with the house closing on Tuesday, lots of errands at banks and other spots and a full day of househunting on Thursday.  Today is the first day we have had to just chill.  So, you are finally getting a blog post, or two.

Good News and Bad News

The good news is we sold the house.  The bad news is we sold the house.

Actually, it's pretty much all good news.  Long time readers of this blog will know that we originally put the house on the market about two and a half years ago.  The market here has been just as bad as in the U.S. so it is not surprising that it took a while for it to sell. 

A young Italian couple from our village bought the house so now it will have people here to take care of it full time. We have mixed feeling about letting it go but after moving to Whidbey Island, with our half acre of landscaping to care for there, taking care of this place just became too much.  We love the grapes, olives and grass but would rather come here to relax and travel within Italy and Europe. 

On Thursday we begin looking for a new place.  Our criteria includes a little roomier living area and kitchen, two bedrooms, two baths, a garage and outdoor entertaining space.  We also want to be closer to Lucca so it is easier for guests to come and go.  Being out here in Partigliano has been fun but it is always a bit of a hassle for guests.  They either need a car or we need to ferry them around.  We are hoping to have a place that allows for more freedom coming and going.  We also would like to be able to bicycle down in the flatlands. 

The movers are coming on May 18 to empty the house and put everything in storage.  Then we will have a week to tidy up any loose ends before we leave Italy on May 25. 

The entire sales process in Italy is much different than it is in the U.S.  Generally, the buyer gives the seller a deposit of 1/3 of the purchase price.  If the seller back out of the deal they owe the buyer twice that amount and if the buyer backs out the seller keeps the deposit.  We actually skipped that step because the buyers needed to get a mortgage.  For the final contract everyone meets in the office of the notaio (notary).  An Italian notary is actually a sort of a lawyer and he does what is handled in the U.S. by an escrow officer and the title insurance company. 

So, this afternoon Dom and I, our translator/facilitator, the buyers, their geometra (agent) and the notaio all met to go over the contract.  It was a bit different than when we bought the house as the notaio had everything on his computer.  A large flat screen monitor was mounted on the wall so we could all read the contract and see what corrections and changes he made as we went along.  Finally, when everything was agreed, he printed the contract and everyone signed.  A representative from the bank was also there to handle the mortgage.  We actually received a check for part of the purchase price and the lender will wire us the rest of the money in 1-2 weeks after the deed is filed.  We will be able to pick up a copy of the certified deed in a week or so.

Afterwards, Dom, I and Doris Fortino, a local REMAX agent and our sales facilitator, went for a celebratory drink at a nearby wine bar.  Doris is a real estate agent and is also helping us find a new house. 

We are looking forward to the next phase of our Italian adventure.

A Day in Florence - April 28, 2010

Last Wednesday Dom and I went into Florence for the day.  We started out by taking two bags of books to the Paperback Exchange (and English language bookstore near the Duomo) and exchanging them for store credit.  Afterwards, we wandered around.  It was crowded but not like it had been around Easter.  The weather was perfect and we enjoyed just strolling around. 

On our drive into town we saw a sign on a bus for a new Ferrari store near the Strozzi Palace.  So, after disposing of the books we went and found it.  Dom enjoyed looking even though the things he really wanted will not fit in a suitcase.  I always get a kick out of the used race car parts they sell with certificates of authenticity, e.g. a toasted part of a carburator for Euros 350!

We crossed the Ponte Vecchio on our way to the Pitti Palace. In the middle of the bridge is this stature of Cellini with a railing around it.  There used to be hundreds of locks on the railing but they have all been removed.

Now there is a sign warning of a Euros 160 fine for "transgressors" who put locks on the railing.  Please note the lock just to the left of the sign.  I have heard the locks are put there by couples who then throw the key into the Arno or each person takes a key and when the relationship ends one partner can remove the lock.  We have seen similar lock "spots" in other cities.

We tried to keep our meanderings to less traveled streets away from the bulk of the tourists.  I love the way the light and dark collide in this view through a passage way.  Sitting on the steps of the church is a beggar I had seen earlier.  She had collected enough money for a sandwich and was eating it in this quiet spot.

Madonna shrines are found everywhere in Italy and often on the corners of buildings in the cities.  This one is particularly lovely and well kept.  I wonder how old it is.  The style is certainly Renaissance but I think this area was all deep under water during the flood in 1966.

On our way back to our car we wandered through a complex of old buildings that is being converted to apartments and shops.  They added small balconies to the units by attaching a modern external structure. 

There were a number of things that pointed to this complex being the former city prison including the name of a restaurant (Restaurant of the Incarcerated!) and lots of the original doors remain.  Some are barred, like this one, while others were solid wood.

We enjoyed our day in Florence and plan to go back again before we leave Italy in a few weeks.