Category Archives: Italian life

Weekend!

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Well, here we are again at another weekend. It will be a quiet one for us.

This morning I went to the market and bought tomatoes! First ones. Now, I don’t have any real expectations of greatness or anything, but I thought I’d try them. Also I bought artichokes. They are small so should be tender.

After that, I took a walk. Along the river then I cut across the fields to the farm roads that crisscross out there. I took a couple of pictures of the wild flowers in the wheat field.

On the way home it occurred to me that I would be passing right by Tortetcetera, a bakery and gelato shop which moved last year to a location in the new apartment buildings behind us. They make the most amazing cupcakes. And the gelato is made everyday in the shop. It is the BEST I have ever had. I asked for a box so I could take it home. Then I chose salted caramel (my favorite), pistacchio and cioccolato.

The news from the US isn’t good on several fronts. The Corona virus numbers are really jumping in many places. Sorry to say. Opening up so soon has negated much of the progress made there.

In Florida, Jacksonville has said it will host the Republican convention with no masks required and no social distancing. Some people in the city are not happy about this.

From the Washington Post — “It’s irresponsible,” said Jacksonville City Councilman Garrett L. Dennis, a Democrat. “It will increase the number of covid infections and put the locals at risk.”

”Anyone who is a thinking person would have concerns,” said David Miller, a Jacksonville business leader who opposes the move. “It puts our community in harm’s way. And it values political spectacle over sound decisions being made with the best interests of the health of our community.”

Florida has seen a recent spike in infections as the state has relaxed restrictions and reopened businesses. On Friday the state reported 1,902 new coronavirus cases, a record high. Cases in North Carolina, Arkansas, Oklahoma and other states also have continued to surge.

President Trump is said to not like the idea of looking out during his address at a room filled with masked people —

The president also insisted: “I don’t want to be sitting in a place that’s 50 percent empty.”

Alas, he is putting spectacle ahead of the health and safety of US citizens.
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News from Italy is rather good. Our numbers remain low and manageable. Everything has reopened. But many things are different. Still one at a time and masks required in the small shops and the pharmacy. Restaurants and Bars are open with many safeguards. Tables 6 feet apart. Masks required when you stand up, etc. You must reserve at restaurants. No spontaneous stopping when you see a trattoria on the road. Means you’ve got to plan ahead. Hairdressers open. One customer at a time inside. None of this bothers me. In fact I welcome it. It is best to still remain careful. We are enjoying our freedom. Italians and other people who reside here are taking advantage of the few tourists by going to the major sites which can be enjoyed without the crowds.

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Now I’m sitting on the terrace with the tende di sole or sun shade extended. It is threatening to rain shower and I would like to keep the terrace dry for tonight if I can. We are halfway through a movie!

Be careful over there!🌈

Wine Tasting!

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I read this in the Post:

The coronavirus would have infected nearly one in five Americans, 60 million people, in the first few weeks of the outbreak without shutdowns or social distancing, according to a peer-reviewed study led by the University of California at Berkeley. The paper credited quarantine policies with preventing hundreds of millions of cases globally through early April, and a separate study estimated that shutdowns saved at least 3.1 million lives in Europe.

This is incredible. And so worth it. I know it was hard. On us. On the world economies, but just look at all the lives saved! Yay us!
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Every 2 weeks we get a new proclamation here. I know many people really want to come here to Italy, for a vacation, or because they own a second home here. And I completely understand. But, as of now, there is no provision for anyone from any non-EU member nations to be allowed in. Unless you are a registered resident here, or have family to tend to, or a medical issue. And can prove it. And then you must quarantine for 2 weeks. In a hotel, at your expense, or a home you own. This may loosen up sometime in July or August but we must wait for the next proclamation, which is June 15.

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Now for some fun stuff! Today was a nice Tuesday. We had reserved a spot ahead at a winery for a tasting at Arnaldo Caprai. Near Bevana and Montefalco. Nice day. Not hot at all. Skies full of all sorts of clouds and blue. It was our first “outing” other than the 2 Lunches we’ve had. We arrived and Camilla, the nice person in the tasting room told us we could sit on the terrace and she gave us the wine menu. Last fall, when we were here it was packed and there was no way to sit on the terrace. Today, it was only us. Quite nice! We chose a white wine each. And she brought a nice plate of meats and cheese, along with crusty bread with good oil drizzled on it. It was a perfect repast. We had another white, then switched to Rosso. Camilla said it was nice without all the buses full of Germans and Swiss. She said all they have had lately is Italians. But we did spot a car from Luxembourg. They were a ways from home. Anyway, a perfect little trip. Some pictures.

Luther on the Terrazzo.
First white
Our meat and cheese plate. One for each.
View from terrace
Behind winery. Grapes!
Behind winery. Olives on top.
Behind winery
Private patio. The family lives in the winery building in a separate wing.

Take care everyone…alla prossima! 🌈

Tuesday – Day of the Republic

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Today is a national Holiday — Festa della Repubblica. June 2nd. In 1946, it was the day Italians voted to abolish the monarchy, and the Republic of Italy was born. So it’s called Republic Day.

After an 85 year monarchy, which had for the most part been very popular with the people, a referendum resulted in the end.  All male members and future heirs of the ruling House of Savoy were deposed and exiled.

The monarchy had ruled since Italy’s Unification in 1861. Its final monarch, Umberto II only got to be king for a month, earning him the nickname ‘Re di Maggio’ or ‘the May King’.

Umberto had actually been acting as head of state since 1944; after Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime – to which the monarchy had been allied – collapsed, King Victor Emmanuel III transferred his powers to his only son in the hope it would give the monarchy a popularity boost. It didn’t work.

The constitution now forbids a monarchy. In 2002, The House of Savoy family formally renounced their claim to the throne so they could return from exile. Umberto refused the right to return to his homeland, dying in Geneva in 1983.

There you go! Your Italian history lesson for today 🙂
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Last night I made a new recipe from “Six Seasons” cookbook. It was a faro salad with salami, cheese, and fave.  I added new peas, arugula and basil to the mint called for. Lots of good Umbrian olive oil. Very yummy. Luther loved it. 

Corona Virus 2

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We now have a few cases of the Virus here in Umbria. A family self quarantining itself in Città della Pieve on the far west side near Tuscany, one in Todi, to the south, one in Foligno, and two others in small towns south of Perugia. I do not personally know of any closures.

We are starting to feel it here in other ways. The Questura is not processing the Permessi di Soggiorno that we need to stay here. Supposedly we will get extensions. This is impacting the fact we were going to try for the long term permits. Not sure what we will do now.

Airlines are not flying into the northern airports near the red zones but Rome and Naples are fine. The people who are flying places, so far are not hitting any problems. But many people are canceling their trips here. It will have a devastating impact on the Italian economy 😢. The news from the US makes me think it will be no safer there than here as this thing runs its course.

Stay safe everyone!

Permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo – part 3

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So… this week we did several things in pursuit of our Cartas.

Monday we visited the Agencia il Corriere. It is advertised as an auto and boat agency to facilitate all things legal, like titles and registration. It also helps with drivers licenses and we could have probably used them to convert ours had we known about them. We had thought we’d need to go to Perugia for this Police report. But the nice Policeman we visited last week told us about this agency and that they also do things like help get police reports! Who would’ve known that!? So we initiated that process. I’d pay just about anything to avoid going to the madhouse that is Perugia. We should get them next Monday.

Then Luther wrote to our Commercialista to get proof of our having paid our taxes since we’ve been here. That arrived in an email on Wednesday.

Today, we went to the Anagrafe in our Comune to get the CERTIFICATO CONTESTUALE, or family status certification. That was super easy and cost two €16 tax stamps or Marche da Bolla. Plus €1.04.

Since we were there we decided to convert our old style Carta d’Identite to the new electronic cards. This cost €27 each plus photos, fingerprints etc. We should get them in the mail.

So that’s three out of four things we need. The last thing is a Housing Certification or a certificate of habitability. We had thought this “could” be the long pole in the tent as they say. We noticed our deed mentions we do not have this certification. And it says, due to the age of the building. (!) Uh oh. So I decided to write our realtor, who knows just about everything real estate related, and ask him. Well, he replied that this is true, our house is in the Centro Storico, or historical center of town. This part of town is ancient and because of this it gets a pass. I guess we will highlight this passage on our deed and hope they accept it.

Stay tuned!

Permesso di soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo – part 2

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So yesterday we went to the polizia here in Umbertide to enquire about how to get the certificates we need. Sadly we have to go to Perugia. We have vague directions. Sigh.

Then we met with our avvocato. Sr. Rossi seems nice and speaks good English which helps some. He explained we should just apply on our own as normal and if we are turned down we will file in the Administrative Court Of Umbria (TAR UMBRIA) to contest the decision. It will cost around €1500 plus court costs and take around 1 1/2 years or so. Sigh.

On the bright side we managed to get our health care renewed. Always problematic as we must wait for the US Embassy to send our stamped social security statements before we can pay the fee to renew. All done. And we chose a new doctor. Dottoressa Lorenza Medici. Good name!
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To catch up with a few things from the last week or two…

Lunch at Calagrana with a bunch of friends. Picture of little Pelegrino, a twin whose mother rejected him. He is being bottle fed and is cute as can be.

And today is February 1! We got past the long cold month of January. Look what I saw on my trip to the grocery store!

Here we go again!

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More legal shenanigans! A brand new adventure.

As some of you know, I always document the legal ins and outs of living here. We are just beginning to embark on our new adventure. Since 2014 we have been applying for, and waiting interminably to receive, our annual Permessi di Soggiorno. It is a lot of work and time and also money and not something we enjoy or look forward to doing. Our Permessi expire on the anniversary of the day we arrived in Italy…June 26. So in around February every year we have to gather up all the documents and photos for a new one. We also have to visit the Poste Italiene to pick up the Yellow Packet for Stranieri which is the module we fill out and send in.

This year is different. This year we have been living here for more than 5 years. We are on our 6th Permesso and we were official residents for a total of five years on December 31, 2019. This means we are allowed to apply for Permesso di Soggiorno UE per soggiornanti di lungo periodo (ex carta di soggiorno) – elective residence. This is a PERMANENT permit to stay in Italy. And, as you imagine there are many more forms needed to apply for this as well. We have just begun the process today. I don’t know of what interest this will be to people reading this blog but if any of you are getting close to living here five years here is a list of what you need besides the normal renewal documents.

  • Police Report – Certification from the Clerk of the Court (Tribunale). There are two certifications for each of us. One is whether there is a record of a criminal conviction and the second is a certification there are no pending actions against us for criminal violations. CERTIFICATO GENERALE DEL CASELLARIO GUIDIZIALE and CERTIFICATO DEI CARICHI PENALI PENDENTI. You can download the form from this link. Casellario Giudiziale There is also a fee and you will want to enquire on that and whether you need to bring the ubiquitous Bolleto Valore in 16 Euro denominations. The document tax stamp.
  • Housing certification – We visited the office of our Geometra who did the work on our house for this one. We will need documents proving the property is habitable including electrical, plumbing, heating etc. If you rent your landlord, hopefully will help you obtain this.
  • Family Status Certification – This you get from the Anagrafe, the registry office for your area. That is a CERTIFICATO CONTESTUALE. More Bolleti Valori 16 Euros each plus issuing fee.
  • Italian Tax Payment – You must prove you’ve been paying Italian income tax on your income. We use an Italian tax accountant, Commercista, to do our taxes. We will ask her to write a memo certifying that taxes have been paid for the current and prior years. If you aren’t paying taxes in Italy, you won’t be able to get this Carta. Thankfully we are scrupulous about doing everything by the book here, including paying the onerous taxes.

The above are items to be added to all the normal documents that you include. You fill out and submit the same yellow packet except this time you check “Carta di Soggiorno”.

I will keep you updated as we move through this new process. We will be a test case for all our fellow American Expats living here in Umbria on the Elective Residence Visa. We know no one here who has gotten this permanent permit. It is the law and I know of people elsewhere who have gotten it but lest you forget, the bureaucrats make up the rules arbitrarily. A quote from the person who shared all the above information with me (thanks Larry)….”After six years, we suspect your experience with the bureaucracy is probably like everyone else’s. It is idiosyncratic to use a polite term. Local officials seem to take pleasure in interpreting the stated requirements to their own delight. Following the packet instructions carefully and having everything lined up will get you to your first appointment at the Questura. That’s when you find out what they may additionally want in the way of documentation.”

Just in case, we’ve retained the services of an Avvocato (lawyer). Carlo Rossi. We hope, should we need him he will accompany us to appointments and represent us if we need to contest the decision. We meet him tomorrow.

Refrigerators

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A thing I struggle with here is my small Italian refrigerator. It stands tall but is narrow. And the freezer has three drawers which limit its capacity. The top is also small necessitating constant juggling. I’d guess it is about the size of half of a big French door frig in the US. I should also mention my refrigerator is considered a large one here 😳 !

Here is my frig.

But I now have a wonderful, very large refrigerator! I can fit just about anything I want in it. Very commodious. The only issue is, it is a temporary refrigerator. Sadly, I cannot use it all the time.

Here is my large refrigerator! And I am not alone. Everyone has one of these! 😀

Buona domenica a tutti!

Winter market

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Very cold here. When we woke it was -3C. That’s about 26F. The fields were frosted white. The sky bright and sunny. I love winter days like this. We had planned a couple of mundane errands. We had to go pay our tax lady who is about 25 minutes away, a peaceful drive to the small town of Mercatale at the head of the beautiful Niccone valley, where the road splits. One fork goes over the mountains to Lago Trasimeno, the other goes over the mountains to Cortona. That chore done we headed back to another valley just north of that to where we buy our pellets for our stufa.

Back in Umbertide we unloaded half the pellets at our house and I parked. The Saturday Kilometer Zero market is going today. I really felt like buying some of that beautiful, locally grown winter produce. Since it is all from right around here, it is limited to the beautiful winter greens, root vegetables like carrots and potatoes, the big zucca or winter squash, etc. I bought 3 big leeks (I see potato leek soup in my future) 3 turnips, a big dark green cabbage, 2 heads of my favorite garlic (big heads with spaced out big cloves and very firm), carrots, a big head of cauliflower and some spring onions (don’t ask how that happened! I never see those here). All for €6. local and healthy. No pesticides. Gotta love it.

Take a look at the bounty!
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January 6 – Epifania

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The Feast of the Epiphany commemorates the arrival of the Three Kings in Bethlehem when the Magi came bearing gifts for the Christ Child. This festival marks the end of the Christmas season.

We were invited to visit friends who live in Florence to see the Cavalcata dei Magi. Riders on horseback, knights, ladies, soldiers, peasants, drummers and flag throwers wind their way through the historical center of Florence. This Cavalcade has been celebrated since the 15th century. The costumes of beautiful silks and velvets are inspired by the famous fresco, “the Procession of the Magi” by Benozzo Gozzoli in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

It was a beautiful day. Cold and crisp. We walked to the Pitti Palace where the procession begins. We were there about 20 minutes early and got to stand right in the front but we had to defend our territory against many front row wantabes.

Of course I took a lot of pictures and these costumes are so amazing it was hard to narrow it down. So bear with me and scroll through, peruse as you like and try to picture this same parade happening 600 years ago!

First I will show the many banners that  represent the Contrade, or neighborhoods of Florence.

The bearers of the gifts.

The three kings.

The procession of lords and ladies in beautiful costumes!

This one intrigued me. This proud looking woman walked with her right hand extended and upraised as though being escorted by an invisible person. Why? Was she a proud widow? I don’t know.

Now come many soldiers, flag bearers and probably important men.

These are the Falconers with the amazing raptors!

Now the archers…

Peasants…

And finally a couple of pictures from the beautiful property where our hosts live. it is south of the Arno but easy walking distance to all the sights.  It must be 5 or more acres of lovely gardens. With a view of Florence from the top that is spectacular.