Pazienza neccesaria!
When you live in any new place you are thrown into a world
of new order and some disorder. Your
daily routine is discarded and a new way of life begins.
We had a fairly uneventful flight to Italy and made it
safely to Bassano Del Grappa on time and without any issues. Our cousins were
there to greet us at the train station and we headed off to lunch… naturalmente. We needed to stay at an Airbnb for a few days
as the apartment was not yet finished and this worked nicely as a transitioning
point. Loree and I made a new friend in Michela, our host. This was our first
experience with an Airbnb and it was a good one. Michela, proficient in 4 languages; a poet,
philosopher and life coach is now a lifelong friend. So far so good!
The next day, I learned that my bicycle, the one I had
ridden in some 20 triathlons and nearly 18,000 miles over 13 years was being
held hostage by customs. Note to self, never ship anything to Italy, carry it
with you. The authorities are asking for a 680 Euro import tax. This coupled
with FedX shipping would put the total tab at $1100 US, easily 80% of the value
of the bike. Now here is something interesting, you can’t call FedX customer
service on the phone in Italy, you have to go to an office locally where you
must ask for the “secret phone number.” Apparently, people complain constantly
and it ties up their employees and keeps them from doing their daily work. With
the help of our friend, Liza Dolza, we managed to get through to a human voice
and logged our protest. I immediately received a receipt of said protest and a
brief list of requirements to advance the complaint. Now is where the fun begins. The first requirement was to provide a
“fattura” or sales receipt for the purchase of the bike…uhh, I bought it 13
years ago and God only knows if that exists anywhere. Next, please state the
purpose of the request, duh….I want my bike! Less anything go wrong in my
Italian writing skills, I decided to write in English and explain that the bike
is not for commercial resale, as it is my personal bike and my only mode of
transportation. And so it continues…
Loree and I spent our Friday at Ikea in Padua with cousins
Ruggero and Franka helping us out all along the way. I figured this would be
the least expensive solution for pillows, sheets, bathroom items, kitchen
utensils and more. We dropped about $600 there and then spent the evening
setting everything up. Now what I didn't mention is that despite waiting an
additional 3 days before moving into our new place, very little of it is
working properly. The beautiful new kitchen non
funzionale as the gas coupling cannot make the extreme angle to its
connection and the refrigerator is also not working. Ok, we eat out, no big
deal we like this and there are so many good choices in the city. After dinner
we return home and I want to take a shower. I turn on the shower and marvel at
the wonderful velocity of the water and tell Loree that the pressure is great!
Unfortunately, we only have cold water as the hot water heater non funzionale. Ok we take cold showers,
they do this all the time in Finland and we are forzi Americani! We also
discovered that the air conditioning has a problem as well, that’s right non funzioanle! Ok, not an issue there
is a nice breeze from the mountains and it is only June 3 after all!
The following day we decided to tackle Wifi. After having spoken to several operators in
Bassano we settled on Fastweb, I am
assured it is truly fast!!! Loree mistakenly interjected and asked when we can
expect service? How about two weeks says the clerk in Italian? I see Loree with
face in palms and hear the clerk extort, in English “this is Italy not USA
signora.” Ok time for coffee next door. I am offered an appertivo of some kind
at “mezzo giorno” but I quickly explain I will save the drinking for later when
Loree and I can laugh about the day’s events and prepare for the next day.
Despite these minor annoyances, we are enjoying the adventure
and making new friends everyday. We are becoming known as the Americans from
Chicago. I actually feel good when someone speaks to me in Italian rather than
English but mostly they want to practice their English with us. Finally we get
asked daily about our President, and rather then engage in a long discussion
about American versus Italian politics we like to say, “we are here.”
Finally, we also had a wonderful afternoon in the open-air
market smelling the lovely perfume of and some of the best fruits and vegetables
we have ever seen! Forget about this new trend of farm-to-table in the States,
it is all farm-to-table here. We went home and ate some of the tasty apricots
and nectarines directly after washing them in the bathroom sink, because of
course the kitchen faucet non funzionale.
Thank you for second entry. I'm enjoying being let in on the adventure. The "non funzionale" does not sound so different from our South Florida experience with contractors as we remodel our home.
ReplyDeleteLove you guys!
-Neal
Alan and Loree! sembra che state iniziando a sentirvi a casa! It's fascinating to read your good natured albiet frustrating stories. Hope to catch up soon in person! buona fortuna cari!
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