Today is the coldest day of our winter so far. -1C. Damn cold. But it will be sunny at least, no snow. Still, it is not a great time to be moving. 🥶

We walked to the apartment. The guys were already there. They had moved the elevator platform trailer into Via Grilli. Stomping their feet with cold they began to work. They filled the platform and lowered it un-filled it and sent it back. I think it will be a long process. The moving truck is in the middle of the Piazza. We decided to camp out in Bar Mary. Irene is sad we are leaving but she knows we will be back. I had a cappuccino and a cornetto, then later a macchiato. Jim showed up with additional papers and the keys and picked up our garage keys. He is taking over our garage.

Here are pictures of the truck and the “elevator” platform.

It was a super hectic and chaotic day. We had to go to the bank and cancel a check and then cut a new one because the selling agent gave us the wrong info for the check, and this is supposed to be a professional real estate agent! Then we returned the corrected check to the agency. We got a call and returned to our house on via Grilli for questions by the movers. Now that we had keys to the new place we decided to go there.

Even though we have been living here for almost 9 years we are still surprised by things. First thing we need to mention is that Italians take – EVERYTHING. We did stipulate they leave the downstairs kitchen and the ceiling fans and lights. Welll….turns out you have to be even more specific in the wording. We were surprised that they left part of the kitchen. The top cabinets, the built in hood, and the lights. But the bottom cabinets, sink, stove, and dishwasher were gone. Sigh. At first it was a shock. But now I realize we can get those cabinets replaced cheaply and (hopefully) easily and new appliances. We need to buy these and soon. Also a refrigerator from our local shop and a washer and dryer.

Even more of a surprise is that they dug up every single plant and bush from the terrazzo. Even a mature olive tree! I had like that tree. Who would have thought! But now I think of it, it is the Italian way. You need to spell out each and every thing you want left. Very specifically. To look on the bright side, I didn’t want all the plants that were there and now I don’t need to dig them out! It is a blank slate for me!

Surprisingly, the movers finished before Pranzo on Via Grilli and arrived at Via Fratta. Moving in was a chore. Our sellers were not completely out. They had a s*&$load of stuff in the cantina still to go and they wanted to keep one garage for 2 months. We want to stay on good terms with them since there is much to know about the house so we are trying to be agreeable. Oh well. It will all work out in the end. Piano, piano as they say.

Pictures. The elevator from above.

The next ones I’ll caption under the pictures.

We have a little more to deal with than we thought because of the mistakes/misunderstandings…but it is not insurmountable at all. We have nice house and over the next year or so we will make it ours. Piano, piano…