Where to start! It has been a casino. One of my favorite Italian words. Means a mess. They say ‘che casino!” What a mess. And so it has been. And will be for a while. I am trying to be upbeat. It’s a bit hard though.
We spent our last night at the rental apartment. It was ok, not terribly comfortable. It is an odd property with lots of interesting organic gardening. Since it’s winter you can’t really appreciate the grounds. Alesandressa, the owner met us when we were leaving and she was very nice. It was a bit hectic because a number of items had not been moved by our movers and I had asked if they could move them. The said 8:30am the day we were leaving. I had also organized that Valeria, my cleaning person to come clean the apartment. So Luther and I split the duties, I met the movers, he met Valeria. But we also had a 10 am appointment with the caldaia people to fix the heat at the new house at 10am. It is really cold here. And the first thing we had encountered yesterday was no heat or hot water.
We managed to get the movers moving and Valeria cleaning and lickety split we grabbed all our suitcases and the cats, and the giant litter box and went to the new apartment. In time for the appointment. It was super cold. We were all bundled up. The guy came and much explaining of the Caldaia ensued. We also got the upstairs Caldaia reconnected to the thermostat so it began to work. When they pulled out the old kitchen they disconnected it. Well, all things don’t alway work so easily. The caldaia continued to quit and there was no hot water. Luther downloaded the manual and read some stuff. Changed a couple things and bingo, hot water. But no one knows why the hot water upstairs suddenly started working because the two systems are independent. It is still a mystery. If it keeps working it will be a miracle.
We went to Formica, our family owned appliance store. Super nice folks in there. We ordered a refrigerator and a washer and dryer. They were pretty quick and they were delivered today. I find it is hard to keep in my mind what has happened in any chronological order. Just too many moving parts. It is one reason why I am writing this now. It will help me remember.
The last three days we have both been unpacking. There are so many boxes everywhere. And no place to put the stuff. I decided I needed to start ordering stuff for delivery to get organized! The sellers took all the ceiling light fixtures and sconces. They even took the light bulbs from the light in the hall and in the master bath. I ordered more bulbs. Then I ordered lamps. A bunch of floor lights to scatter about and some table lamps. Next I ordered a bunch of furniture from IKEA. Places to store stuff mostly. A dresser for our room. Night stands for both ours and the guest room, an armadio (armoire) for the guest room. A hall cabinet and a big storage unit for the third bedroom. They will come February 8. I also ordered assembly. So that’s another step.
Today, I completed unpacking the office. I also organized all medicines. One thing that’s nice here are cabinets in the bath that will hold all our vitamins, meds, and supplies. So I got that organized. The kitchen is still a work in progress. Too much stuff. No place to stow it.
Tomorrow we will drive to Citta di castello to a kitchen design store. We need to get that started ASAP. And next week we will probably go to SIDEFORM which is a lighting store there. We got all our nice track lighting done by them at our old house. I counted seven overhead lights that were missing just upstairs! And in the living room we need a chandelier. There are also some built in fluorescent lights in the living room which I hate. They are those tubes you used to see in offices, ugh. I need to replace them with nice track lights. One bath also has no lights. Big job. I hope they will handle installation.
We are super lucky to have a rosticceria literally next to the main entrance to our apartment. The last two nights we have bought our dinners there. The food is pretty good. Now we have a frig we will do a shopping trip for some groceries. We do have a microwave.
Oh, and I ordered a load of firewood from my friend Quinto. He is bringing it tomorrow. We can use the ginormous wood stove in the living room. The thought of the utility bills here is scary. So maybe it will help if we use the stove. It belongs to the sellers but I figure, if they left it here we can use it.
Sorry I have no pictures for this post. I also have found out there is a glitch with my website host that has impacted my email notifications. I will look into that soon. It seems to be pretty random. Some folks are getting the posts, some are not. Ciao a tutti!
Macello, that’s another good word…..much like casino! Hi, I’m new here; I can just imagine the state of things in your move. I found your posting, however, of the ‘traslocchi’ company really interesting…..I hadn’t given that aspect of ‘space’ much; stairs no elevator etc until I saw that ingenious way of entry. The dust must be settling; you’ll soon remember the ‘charm’ of the country and not all the challenging inuendo’s of daily life/protocol. I have read a few things from your archives, interesting blog, I love Umbria!
Ye gods! The sellers even took the lights for crissake? I suppose that’s something that would not have come up during your negotiations. North Americans (and others) would not have thought about it. I wouldn’t have. And a busted caldaia? Oof. Sounds like you have some pretty decent tradespeople though – fast to get on the job. That portends well. Anyway, in a couple of months, much of these trials, as you say, will be hard to remember. But, fair warning to others buying homes in Italy. You get bare walls essentially. And test the plumbing before you buy.
Wow, Nancy, that is a lot going on! Our last move was pretty hectic, too, but yours sounds more compressed even if it is just across town. We wish you and Luther all the best. We look forward to your posts in retrospect of it all! Take care.
Corragio!
No problems getting your emails here, Nancy, and continuing to enjoy – although I probably shouldn’t say that considering what a PITA it must be for you and Luther at the moment. Onward . . .