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.

Comments

  1. 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.
    Love you guys!
    -Neal

    ReplyDelete
  2. 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!

    ReplyDelete

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