Well our first Christmas in Italy has been a smashing success! We've done nothing noteworthy... we put up our tree a couple of weeks ago and last week made Christmas cookies. Our Christmas Eve was napping, hanging out around the tree, opening gifts and eating our cookies - it's a tough job but someone has to do it. All in all, we didn't really get into the spirit of the season this year. No cards sent as I lost track of time and didn't make the three week advance mailing, we did few gifts and no travel or big meals. Having a low stress holiday really isn't too bad.
Today, Christmas Day, we had a friend over for a small dinner and spent the rest of the evening around the fireplace with a bottle of Prosecco. A few calls home made the day complete. Now we're ready to unplug the tree and call it a day.
Buon Natale everyone!
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
patata patata
Yippee! After waiting 11 weeks for the motorcycle to arrive from stateside, I have finally finished becoming 'legal' to ride the Harley here in Italy!
The actual receipt of the bike, along with taking off all the protective foam packaging material that I'd previously used to cover the chrome and other vulnerable bits of the bike, refilling the bike with oil and gasoline, and purchasing a battery charger that will work here to charge up the battery prior to starting it again, and actually starting it - those were all just basic tasks that had nothing to do with the actual legalization process of getting to be able to actually ride the thing here in Italia. (Although the purchase of a gas can and a battery charger at the local auto parts shop was a minor victory, linguistically-speaking! I had to learn to say buona sera, signore. ho bisogno di una damagiana per la benzina to get me a gas can, and anche una caricatore per la batteria di motocicletta to also ask for a battery charger. Then it was off on LeAnn's bicycle to get the gas can filled at the local station, and home to put it all to use.) And just for kicks, I adjusted the front and rear suspension settings to my liking, recalling that in New York it still rode kinda funny, like it was more spring preload and not enough compression damping.
But actually getting the bike - and myself - legal to ride was another matter. I had already taken the first step back in May before I flew back to NY, and that was to pass the test for my SETAF (allied forces in europe) driver's license with my motorcycle endorsement. The motorcycle endorsement part was simply a transfer from my stateside drivers license. However, the drivers license office on the base won't give you actual permission to ride a motorcycle until you've taken one of the motorcycle safety training courses. And you have to have your motorcycle legal so that you can ride it to and from the class as well as ride it during the class. So, how do you do that?
Well, it's what I like to call 'shuttle bureaucracy', wherein you bounce back and forth between several offices and agencies until your task is complete. There seems to be a lot of that out here. Basically this is how it went:
I had the motorcycle, so that part was taken care of!
First it was off to the local insurance agency in town that represents the company I wanted insurance from, to tell them I want insurance. In Italy they can put the motorcycle on the same policy as the auto, so I just had to add the bike to our existing auto policy. To do that, I called the insurance company 800 number from the local agency's office (it was nice they had that service) and agreed on coverages, then asked the insurance company to email the agent a temporary proof of insurance. The local agent then printed out that form to take to the Army's vehicle registration office.
Then it was off to the vehicle registration office with any and all papers I could think of (vehicle title, NY registration form, my drivers license, my govt ID, etc) plus the temporary insurance certificate, fill out their registration request form, and they set aside a license plate for me. Then they told me the license plate number and a corresponding registration number, but at this time they couldn't give me the license plate or actually register the motorcycle. Oh, and since LeAnn is the government employee and hence my sponsor here in Italy, the motorcycle is registered in her name, not mine. Hmmph!
So then it was back to the insurance agency to tell them the plate number and registration number. Actually, as before, I called the insurance company's 800 number to tell them, then they emailed another proof of insurance form to the local agent then and there, and the agent printed it out for me, only this time it was a 'real' / 'permanent' proof of insurance document with my license number and registration number on it.
Then I went back home to register online for the Motorcycle Safety course appropriate to my previous experience and skill level. After a day or two, I received an email stating that I was provisionally enrolled in the appropriate training course. (Later on, a few days before the course date, I would receive another email stating I was actually enrolled in the course).
Then it was back to the vehicle registration office to give them this 'actual' motorcycle insurance form, and a hardcopy of my training course registration email. At that point, they could actually register the motorcycle, and collect the various fees from me ($20 in US dollars, and another fee in Euro, plus my Italian road tax in Euro). At this point, they still couldn't give me my license plate, but they did give me the registration and road tax documents that I need to carry with me on the bike.
Then I had to wait two weeks for my training course to come around.
Then, the business day prior to my training course, I went on base to the driver's licensing office and got my SETAF drivers license reissued, with effective dates for my motorcycling privileges on the back, covering the time period from that day through the day after the class. This allowed me to actually legally ride a motorcycle in Italy on my license, for the purposes of taking the course.
Next it was back to the vehicle registration office with my 'new' SETAF drivers license, to show them that it was updated with effective dates, and at this point they gave me my new license plate for the motorcycle. Yippee! I went home and mounted the license plate onto the bike.
Since this was a Friday, and my motorcycle class was on Monday, the drivers license folks had to make the effective dates Friday through the following Tuesday, which allowed me to take the nice day Sunday before my class to go out for a quick spin on the bike, so that I could verify that it worked ok, and that I was able to shake a little 'rider rust' off of myself and not have Monday morning rush hour be the first time I'd ridden the bike since July! It felt good to be back on the bike, and it wasn't too foreign-feeling. The strangest thing that happened was that I rode past a youngish couple walking their dog, and after I went past, the woman turned around for another look like I was a space alien. But, I wasn't - just an American wearing a British motorcycling jacket and Japanese helmet riding a Harley in Italy. Nothing to see here.
Monday rolled around, and I spent the day going through the training course with some soldiers from the base. 8 riders - 6 Harleys, one KLR600 and an R1. The course followed the MSF Experienced Rider Course curriculum and it was taught in a parking lot by two instructors that came down from Germany to teach the course(s) for the soldiers. I must admit that it was good for me, since I'd never done much slow-speed stuff on my Harley, and so I needed the instruction to get used to doing these things on the 'new' bike. Anyway, I passed the course no problem! So I received my course completion card from the instructors proving I passed.
Then next day it was back to the drivers license office on base, where I presented my course completion card to get my SETAF license updated once more, this time showing on the back the full 3-year dates for being able to operate a motorcycle.
Finally! e poi! 'Shuttle Bureaucracy' at its finest!
One thing that's strange is that there's no vehicle safety inspection required on motorcycles up front like there was with our car. I do need to have a safety inspection completed at registration renewal (2 years), but not up front when I initially registered it. Hmm. Oh well, morally I'm fine with that, as the Harley dealership in NY did the inspection when they installed my new tires, just before leaving the country. And although it sounds strange bringing Pirelli's back to Italy, I'm certainly glad to be riding on them instead of on those old Dunlops that came with the bike originally. 5 years of age on tires that were hard to begin with, just made them even more awful.
As far as riding in Italy, well, it's pretty crazy! But motorcyclists out here are allowed more freedoms, and car drivers will move aside for you expecting that you'll pass them in the lane, or by straddling the centerline - even if there's oncoming traffic. Yikes! In town, riders will motor up the centerline to pass multiple cars, and overall it seems that the only limitation is the rider's talent for doing these things without, I assume, getting tangled with anyone else or falling down. For right now, I ride like a local without getting too crazy over it - the Harley isn't a sportbike, after all, and really I'm not in THAT much of a hurry - especially not to introduce myself needlessly to members of the medical or law enforcement communities.
That's all for now! Remember, mantenere il lato di gomma giu' !!!
The actual receipt of the bike, along with taking off all the protective foam packaging material that I'd previously used to cover the chrome and other vulnerable bits of the bike, refilling the bike with oil and gasoline, and purchasing a battery charger that will work here to charge up the battery prior to starting it again, and actually starting it - those were all just basic tasks that had nothing to do with the actual legalization process of getting to be able to actually ride the thing here in Italia. (Although the purchase of a gas can and a battery charger at the local auto parts shop was a minor victory, linguistically-speaking! I had to learn to say buona sera, signore. ho bisogno di una damagiana per la benzina to get me a gas can, and anche una caricatore per la batteria di motocicletta to also ask for a battery charger. Then it was off on LeAnn's bicycle to get the gas can filled at the local station, and home to put it all to use.) And just for kicks, I adjusted the front and rear suspension settings to my liking, recalling that in New York it still rode kinda funny, like it was more spring preload and not enough compression damping.
But actually getting the bike - and myself - legal to ride was another matter. I had already taken the first step back in May before I flew back to NY, and that was to pass the test for my SETAF (allied forces in europe) driver's license with my motorcycle endorsement. The motorcycle endorsement part was simply a transfer from my stateside drivers license. However, the drivers license office on the base won't give you actual permission to ride a motorcycle until you've taken one of the motorcycle safety training courses. And you have to have your motorcycle legal so that you can ride it to and from the class as well as ride it during the class. So, how do you do that?
Well, it's what I like to call 'shuttle bureaucracy', wherein you bounce back and forth between several offices and agencies until your task is complete. There seems to be a lot of that out here. Basically this is how it went:
I had the motorcycle, so that part was taken care of!
First it was off to the local insurance agency in town that represents the company I wanted insurance from, to tell them I want insurance. In Italy they can put the motorcycle on the same policy as the auto, so I just had to add the bike to our existing auto policy. To do that, I called the insurance company 800 number from the local agency's office (it was nice they had that service) and agreed on coverages, then asked the insurance company to email the agent a temporary proof of insurance. The local agent then printed out that form to take to the Army's vehicle registration office.
Then it was off to the vehicle registration office with any and all papers I could think of (vehicle title, NY registration form, my drivers license, my govt ID, etc) plus the temporary insurance certificate, fill out their registration request form, and they set aside a license plate for me. Then they told me the license plate number and a corresponding registration number, but at this time they couldn't give me the license plate or actually register the motorcycle. Oh, and since LeAnn is the government employee and hence my sponsor here in Italy, the motorcycle is registered in her name, not mine. Hmmph!
So then it was back to the insurance agency to tell them the plate number and registration number. Actually, as before, I called the insurance company's 800 number to tell them, then they emailed another proof of insurance form to the local agent then and there, and the agent printed it out for me, only this time it was a 'real' / 'permanent' proof of insurance document with my license number and registration number on it.
Then I went back home to register online for the Motorcycle Safety course appropriate to my previous experience and skill level. After a day or two, I received an email stating that I was provisionally enrolled in the appropriate training course. (Later on, a few days before the course date, I would receive another email stating I was actually enrolled in the course).
Then it was back to the vehicle registration office to give them this 'actual' motorcycle insurance form, and a hardcopy of my training course registration email. At that point, they could actually register the motorcycle, and collect the various fees from me ($20 in US dollars, and another fee in Euro, plus my Italian road tax in Euro). At this point, they still couldn't give me my license plate, but they did give me the registration and road tax documents that I need to carry with me on the bike.
Then I had to wait two weeks for my training course to come around.
Then, the business day prior to my training course, I went on base to the driver's licensing office and got my SETAF drivers license reissued, with effective dates for my motorcycling privileges on the back, covering the time period from that day through the day after the class. This allowed me to actually legally ride a motorcycle in Italy on my license, for the purposes of taking the course.
Next it was back to the vehicle registration office with my 'new' SETAF drivers license, to show them that it was updated with effective dates, and at this point they gave me my new license plate for the motorcycle. Yippee! I went home and mounted the license plate onto the bike.
Since this was a Friday, and my motorcycle class was on Monday, the drivers license folks had to make the effective dates Friday through the following Tuesday, which allowed me to take the nice day Sunday before my class to go out for a quick spin on the bike, so that I could verify that it worked ok, and that I was able to shake a little 'rider rust' off of myself and not have Monday morning rush hour be the first time I'd ridden the bike since July! It felt good to be back on the bike, and it wasn't too foreign-feeling. The strangest thing that happened was that I rode past a youngish couple walking their dog, and after I went past, the woman turned around for another look like I was a space alien. But, I wasn't - just an American wearing a British motorcycling jacket and Japanese helmet riding a Harley in Italy. Nothing to see here.
Monday rolled around, and I spent the day going through the training course with some soldiers from the base. 8 riders - 6 Harleys, one KLR600 and an R1. The course followed the MSF Experienced Rider Course curriculum and it was taught in a parking lot by two instructors that came down from Germany to teach the course(s) for the soldiers. I must admit that it was good for me, since I'd never done much slow-speed stuff on my Harley, and so I needed the instruction to get used to doing these things on the 'new' bike. Anyway, I passed the course no problem! So I received my course completion card from the instructors proving I passed.
Then next day it was back to the drivers license office on base, where I presented my course completion card to get my SETAF license updated once more, this time showing on the back the full 3-year dates for being able to operate a motorcycle.
Finally! e poi! 'Shuttle Bureaucracy' at its finest!
One thing that's strange is that there's no vehicle safety inspection required on motorcycles up front like there was with our car. I do need to have a safety inspection completed at registration renewal (2 years), but not up front when I initially registered it. Hmm. Oh well, morally I'm fine with that, as the Harley dealership in NY did the inspection when they installed my new tires, just before leaving the country. And although it sounds strange bringing Pirelli's back to Italy, I'm certainly glad to be riding on them instead of on those old Dunlops that came with the bike originally. 5 years of age on tires that were hard to begin with, just made them even more awful.
As far as riding in Italy, well, it's pretty crazy! But motorcyclists out here are allowed more freedoms, and car drivers will move aside for you expecting that you'll pass them in the lane, or by straddling the centerline - even if there's oncoming traffic. Yikes! In town, riders will motor up the centerline to pass multiple cars, and overall it seems that the only limitation is the rider's talent for doing these things without, I assume, getting tangled with anyone else or falling down. For right now, I ride like a local without getting too crazy over it - the Harley isn't a sportbike, after all, and really I'm not in THAT much of a hurry - especially not to introduce myself needlessly to members of the medical or law enforcement communities.
That's all for now! Remember, mantenere il lato di gomma giu' !!!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
If you're gonna break the law, make sure you have a good job.
Ok kids, I'm gonna leave the continent - along with our usual subject matter of cats, coffee, food, cat food, cat shows, cars, and coffee-fueled cat-food carrying cars careening to cat shows - for this next post and head back to the ol' US of A. This is a story you've absolutely got to read, because you won't believe it's true. It almost could be in The Onion. The sad and/or scary thing about it is that it's not.
As you may know, I'm a reasonably-avid road bicyclist. And as such, I'm aware of the perception of bicyclists' lives not being worth as much as other lives when it comes to punishing those who would do cyclists harm. That perception is unfortunately held by many in law enforcement and the legal profession. However, there's a new twist on this old tale that should cause grave concern to any red-blooded law-abiding American who expects equal treatment under the law. It's an injustice of almost-Berlusconian proportions. (Had to put in an Italy tie-in there.)
You can read about it here:http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20101104/NEWS/101109939
Next time we're back on-topic!
UPDATED 30/12/2010 Want to know follow-up? Here are some additional links:
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20101216/NEWS/101219846/1078&ParentProfile=1062
http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20101218/EDITS/101219833/1021&parentprofile=1065
http://velonews.competitor.com/tag/vail-hit-and-run
As you may know, I'm a reasonably-avid road bicyclist. And as such, I'm aware of the perception of bicyclists' lives not being worth as much as other lives when it comes to punishing those who would do cyclists harm. That perception is unfortunately held by many in law enforcement and the legal profession. However, there's a new twist on this old tale that should cause grave concern to any red-blooded law-abiding American who expects equal treatment under the law. It's an injustice of almost-Berlusconian proportions. (Had to put in an Italy tie-in there.)
You can read about it here:
Next time we're back on-topic!
UPDATED 30/12/2010 Want to know follow-up? Here are some additional links:
Monday, October 11, 2010
Mito e me
This past weekend LeAnn and Marsha took a long-weekend road trip to Barcelona for a cat show. Since we're a one-car family, that meant I was going to be 'senza auto' while they were away, so we rented a car for me to get around in. We requested the cheapest car that Europcar had, which would have been the Fiat Panda. For those of you who don't know, the Panda is basically a metal two-drawer file cabinet on wheels. But all was not gloom-and-doom in the driving department, as the rental office didn't have any Panda's. Don't ask me why, maybe their lease was up and they all went back to China or something. Anyway, the nice folks at Europcar upgraded me to an Alfa-Romeo Mito. As the gentleman at the desk explained the situation and passed over the key with that wonderful Alfa logo on it, my resting heart rate suddenly ramped up to a non-resting heart rate. You see, ever since I'd thought about our move to Italy I'd been thinking that I'd want an Alfa when it came time to get me a car. I figured if I'm in Italy I might as well drive something Italian, right? Just like Brad Pitt asking for that El Camino.
Now, I'd seen the Mito on the Alfa website, and occasionally out on the road as well and thought it to be a cute little car with a very aggressive-looking, very-Alfa-like front end.
Almost too aggressive I thought, considering its price point. I mean, if the car looks cooler than it winds up being to drive, it risks becoming a parody of itself, doesn't it? What is the good of slathering on all that exterior coolness if the driving experience is just an average one?
Anyway, we tooled over to the designated rental parking lot (consisting of 6 parking spaces in all) and picked up the little blue thing after lunch on Thursday. It was indeed cute-looking, but thankfully not enough to scream "CHICK CAR!". I got in, quickly acclimated myself to the control layout, adjusted the seat, steering wheel, and mirrors, and set out on my way home.
The car did feel nicely sporting, but something was very strange. You see, whenever I had pictured myself driving an Alfa-Romeo in my mind, the accompanying soundtrack would always sound revvy and throaty like the Ansa exhausts of old - not quietly clattery like a delivery truck. So I had a new paradigm to work with here, and I was very interested in seeing how I adapted to it as the weekend progressed. But the 1.6 liter turbo diesel did pull us along quite well, and that's pretty much most of what an engine should do for a car, so I let it slide.
On the outskirts of one of the little towns between Vicenza and Mestrino there's a small, newly-created traffic circle that is a pain in the tail to anyone not driving a motorcycle or a sports car (and an unexpected oasis of curvy fun to those that are). As I arrived at the circle, I decided I'd have a bit of fun and with no other traffic to interfere with my plan, I tossed the car in, shifted down, gave it the right foot and cranked the wheel over. What happened next was a revelation. The turbo spun up and got the cute little diesel sled nicely into the meat of the powerband, settled its suspension, and got down to work. The tires hung on tenaciously to the pavement and the more I turned in, the more they did so. Try as I might I could barely elicit a sound from the OEM spec Continentals. The car either had hardly any understeer or a small bit of oversteer, but in either case it felt fantastic and really opened my eyes to its potential. Strange soundtrack or no, this could turn out to be fun!
One thing that is unique to the current crop of Alfa's is a largish momentary slide switch mounted on the center console to the left of the shifter. This is the "Alfa DNA" selector switch, with DNA being an acronym indicating the three possible driving modes available for your use. 'D' is for Dynamic, and selecting the Dynamic mode sharpens the steering and increases its weight, as well as firms up the suspension and puts the throttle on hair-trigger as well as allows overboost on the turbo. Ever see a cat on high alert, with its tail all bushy and it standing on its claws? That's this car in Dynamic mode.
'N' stands for Normal mode, which puts the car into a good all-around mode for driving around. Response and ride and steering weight all are still a tad firm so as not to let you forget this is an Alfa-Romeo, but bumpy pavement won't turn you into a human bobblehead doll either (although I have read that the 17-inch wheeled versions of the car tend to do that a bit in Normal mode, presumably because of the stiffer sidewalls on the lower-profile tires. This car having the standard 16-inchers seemed fine in that department to me, and I've ridden motorcycles and driven cars that were too firm like that, so I have something to compare to.)
Lastly, 'A' stands for All Weather mode, and selecting that mode relaxes the car even more. Alfa says that mode is best for bad pavement and/or slick conditions.
So it was neat having the car at home to get to know. And a funny thing happened. As the weekend went on, I found myself doing things like getting some music CD's and taking them out to the car, and setting the equalizer on the stereo system and listening to music. Or just walking out to gaze at the car every now and then. I opened the hood to look around, sat in the back seat to check the room back there (not bad) and how easily I could get in and out (pretty easy, even from behind the driver's seat), read the owners manual (as best as I could, since it's in Italian) to see what's what and how things work and what features this car had as well as didn't have, and generally did the same things that I would do if this car were mine for keeps. I was falling in 'like' with the little Mito, if not quite 'love'.
Today being Monday, I woke up thinking that maybe I should take a little road trip, since it's my last day with the car before I return it tomorrow. But nothing came to mind, and since museums and such are closed on Mondays here, I thought that I might just let that go. But then I found out that there's a Harley dealership in Verona that's open on Monday afternoons, so I could buy the motor oil I need for the bike (as I had to empty it prior to shipping)! So I got directions to the dealership, and set out for the hour-long drive down the Autostrada. Sure, one day wouldn't kill me if I couldn't have the oil, and by the time I got back it would be time to feed all the critters, walk Dog Chandler, and get dinner for myself and I probably wouldn't work on the bike tonight, but it's the sort of psuedo-errand that motorcyclists do all the time, as a reason to ride and a place to ride to. So, this was my excuse to take the car out on the Autostrada, try out the different driving modes, and just generally have One Last Fling with Mito.
Well, long story short, the drive was exhilarating. The trip to Verona and back cemented my opinion of this car as one that is on my proverbial 'short list'. Heck, it might even be the only one on the list. Its manners and behavior are perfect for driving in Italy (go figure), and whether cruising alertly at 140 kph on the Autostrada in Normal mode (in sixth gear you're only loping that diesel along at 2500 rpm), or carving up one of those driveway-width twisty local roads in Dynamic mode, this car raises my awareness level and my excitement level and just plain enhances the experience of traveling on four wheels. Cage or no, It's been a long time since I've felt this excited about driving a car.
Funny, I didn't plan on going car shopping this weekend - !
Now, I'd seen the Mito on the Alfa website, and occasionally out on the road as well and thought it to be a cute little car with a very aggressive-looking, very-Alfa-like front end.
Almost too aggressive I thought, considering its price point. I mean, if the car looks cooler than it winds up being to drive, it risks becoming a parody of itself, doesn't it? What is the good of slathering on all that exterior coolness if the driving experience is just an average one?Anyway, we tooled over to the designated rental parking lot (consisting of 6 parking spaces in all) and picked up the little blue thing after lunch on Thursday. It was indeed cute-looking, but thankfully not enough to scream "CHICK CAR!". I got in, quickly acclimated myself to the control layout, adjusted the seat, steering wheel, and mirrors, and set out on my way home.
The car did feel nicely sporting, but something was very strange. You see, whenever I had pictured myself driving an Alfa-Romeo in my mind, the accompanying soundtrack would always sound revvy and throaty like the Ansa exhausts of old - not quietly clattery like a delivery truck. So I had a new paradigm to work with here, and I was very interested in seeing how I adapted to it as the weekend progressed. But the 1.6 liter turbo diesel did pull us along quite well, and that's pretty much most of what an engine should do for a car, so I let it slide.
On the outskirts of one of the little towns between Vicenza and Mestrino there's a small, newly-created traffic circle that is a pain in the tail to anyone not driving a motorcycle or a sports car (and an unexpected oasis of curvy fun to those that are). As I arrived at the circle, I decided I'd have a bit of fun and with no other traffic to interfere with my plan, I tossed the car in, shifted down, gave it the right foot and cranked the wheel over. What happened next was a revelation. The turbo spun up and got the cute little diesel sled nicely into the meat of the powerband, settled its suspension, and got down to work. The tires hung on tenaciously to the pavement and the more I turned in, the more they did so. Try as I might I could barely elicit a sound from the OEM spec Continentals. The car either had hardly any understeer or a small bit of oversteer, but in either case it felt fantastic and really opened my eyes to its potential. Strange soundtrack or no, this could turn out to be fun!
One thing that is unique to the current crop of Alfa's is a largish momentary slide switch mounted on the center console to the left of the shifter. This is the "Alfa DNA" selector switch, with DNA being an acronym indicating the three possible driving modes available for your use. 'D' is for Dynamic, and selecting the Dynamic mode sharpens the steering and increases its weight, as well as firms up the suspension and puts the throttle on hair-trigger as well as allows overboost on the turbo. Ever see a cat on high alert, with its tail all bushy and it standing on its claws? That's this car in Dynamic mode.
'N' stands for Normal mode, which puts the car into a good all-around mode for driving around. Response and ride and steering weight all are still a tad firm so as not to let you forget this is an Alfa-Romeo, but bumpy pavement won't turn you into a human bobblehead doll either (although I have read that the 17-inch wheeled versions of the car tend to do that a bit in Normal mode, presumably because of the stiffer sidewalls on the lower-profile tires. This car having the standard 16-inchers seemed fine in that department to me, and I've ridden motorcycles and driven cars that were too firm like that, so I have something to compare to.)
Lastly, 'A' stands for All Weather mode, and selecting that mode relaxes the car even more. Alfa says that mode is best for bad pavement and/or slick conditions.
So it was neat having the car at home to get to know. And a funny thing happened. As the weekend went on, I found myself doing things like getting some music CD's and taking them out to the car, and setting the equalizer on the stereo system and listening to music. Or just walking out to gaze at the car every now and then. I opened the hood to look around, sat in the back seat to check the room back there (not bad) and how easily I could get in and out (pretty easy, even from behind the driver's seat), read the owners manual (as best as I could, since it's in Italian) to see what's what and how things work and what features this car had as well as didn't have, and generally did the same things that I would do if this car were mine for keeps. I was falling in 'like' with the little Mito, if not quite 'love'.
Today being Monday, I woke up thinking that maybe I should take a little road trip, since it's my last day with the car before I return it tomorrow. But nothing came to mind, and since museums and such are closed on Mondays here, I thought that I might just let that go. But then I found out that there's a Harley dealership in Verona that's open on Monday afternoons, so I could buy the motor oil I need for the bike (as I had to empty it prior to shipping)! So I got directions to the dealership, and set out for the hour-long drive down the Autostrada. Sure, one day wouldn't kill me if I couldn't have the oil, and by the time I got back it would be time to feed all the critters, walk Dog Chandler, and get dinner for myself and I probably wouldn't work on the bike tonight, but it's the sort of psuedo-errand that motorcyclists do all the time, as a reason to ride and a place to ride to. So, this was my excuse to take the car out on the Autostrada, try out the different driving modes, and just generally have One Last Fling with Mito.
Well, long story short, the drive was exhilarating. The trip to Verona and back cemented my opinion of this car as one that is on my proverbial 'short list'. Heck, it might even be the only one on the list. Its manners and behavior are perfect for driving in Italy (go figure), and whether cruising alertly at 140 kph on the Autostrada in Normal mode (in sixth gear you're only loping that diesel along at 2500 rpm), or carving up one of those driveway-width twisty local roads in Dynamic mode, this car raises my awareness level and my excitement level and just plain enhances the experience of traveling on four wheels. Cage or no, It's been a long time since I've felt this excited about driving a car.
Funny, I didn't plan on going car shopping this weekend - !
Monday, September 27, 2010
English, the language of shopping and T-shirts.
It's kind of funny in a smirky sort of way (as opposed to a laugh-out-loud sort of way) where and how you'll see English words used in Italy. One local merchant's circulars (pubblicita') curiously use the phrase 'low cost' in English as part of its slogan, with the rest in Italian. And a large sign at a shopping center entrance near us proudly states "tutto il tuo shopping!". Could it be that Italian doesn't have an equivalent word to 'shopping' as a verb, or is it more along the lines of not having a word to describe the recreational purchasing of items as an end unto itself? Or, could it be that it's more trendy to say 'shopping' to evoke the American practice of purchasing for purchasing's sake in a hope to encourage that same practice in the local population? Sounds like a great pseudo-intellectual post-drinking conversational topic, doesn't it?
Speaking of drinking, it seems that partaking in some might assist in attempting to discern any meaning in many T-shirts worn by Italians around here. Large typeface is preferred, I suppose to try for maximum impact, sort of like Orson Welles' famous line in "Citizen Kane" , "if the headline is big enough it makes the news big enough". For some real-world examples we've recently seen, picture the following in large letters, one word per line, reading from top to bottom:
"I'VE GOT YOU NOW"
"THIN REGULAR LARGE"
"I AM A NOUN"
"FUN BEACH" (you'd think there would be a picture with this one, of the 'actual' mythical place, but no.)
Another type of T-shirt you'll see is the kind that is slathered with all sorts of American place names with superlatives mixed in, like "Brooklyn New York City Best Athletic Professional" or something like that. I suppose it's sort of like an American builder when they bulldoze an old farm and divide it up into lots and build spec houses and name it something like "Adjective Adjective Nouns", maybe "Springy Leafy Acres" or some such (although they should respectfully name it after the family history they just obliterated from the earth, but I digress).
I suppose it could be a purposely half-hearted and self-deprecating attempt to make the clothing appear to have style street-cred. For instance, LeAnn recently brought me home a very comfy burgundy wool-acrylic blend sweater with that type of treatment on the front. In ivory sewn-on block letters like an old varsity jacket it says "VINTAGE WEAR" and in between the top word "vintage" and the bottom word "wear" is a large ivory patch stating in black print:
EUROPEAN ART GALLERY
5, MAIN STREET
EASTHAMPTON
What does it all mean? Who knows. We probably shouldn't give it too much serious thought, for as Sherlock Holmes remarked to Dr Watson in one story, "to run the brain on too little information is like racing an engine, it cracks itself to pieces". I certainly wouldn't wish that fate on any of your brains! Certainly not for a stupid T-shirt.
I will be interested, though, on wearing my sweater on my next road trip down the autostrada and seeing if it makes me look sufficiently un-touristy to the cashier at the autogrill. I'll know by ordering un caffe' and NOT being asked any followup questions like "espresso?", or "caffe' americano?", which are two examples of the coffee-ordering equivalent of a Microsoft Windows confirmation dialog box asking me "Are You Sure?".
Yes I'm sure. Give me my coffee. And tell me where'd you get that cool T-shirt? Allora, andiamo shopping!
Speaking of drinking, it seems that partaking in some might assist in attempting to discern any meaning in many T-shirts worn by Italians around here. Large typeface is preferred, I suppose to try for maximum impact, sort of like Orson Welles' famous line in "Citizen Kane" , "if the headline is big enough it makes the news big enough". For some real-world examples we've recently seen, picture the following in large letters, one word per line, reading from top to bottom:
"I'VE GOT YOU NOW"
"THIN REGULAR LARGE"
"I AM A NOUN"
"FUN BEACH" (you'd think there would be a picture with this one, of the 'actual' mythical place, but no.)
Another type of T-shirt you'll see is the kind that is slathered with all sorts of American place names with superlatives mixed in, like "Brooklyn New York City Best Athletic Professional" or something like that. I suppose it's sort of like an American builder when they bulldoze an old farm and divide it up into lots and build spec houses and name it something like "Adjective Adjective Nouns", maybe "Springy Leafy Acres" or some such (although they should respectfully name it after the family history they just obliterated from the earth, but I digress).
I suppose it could be a purposely half-hearted and self-deprecating attempt to make the clothing appear to have style street-cred. For instance, LeAnn recently brought me home a very comfy burgundy wool-acrylic blend sweater with that type of treatment on the front. In ivory sewn-on block letters like an old varsity jacket it says "VINTAGE WEAR" and in between the top word "vintage" and the bottom word "wear" is a large ivory patch stating in black print:
EUROPEAN ART GALLERY
5, MAIN STREET
EASTHAMPTON
What does it all mean? Who knows. We probably shouldn't give it too much serious thought, for as Sherlock Holmes remarked to Dr Watson in one story, "to run the brain on too little information is like racing an engine, it cracks itself to pieces". I certainly wouldn't wish that fate on any of your brains! Certainly not for a stupid T-shirt.
I will be interested, though, on wearing my sweater on my next road trip down the autostrada and seeing if it makes me look sufficiently un-touristy to the cashier at the autogrill. I'll know by ordering un caffe' and NOT being asked any followup questions like "espresso?", or "caffe' americano?", which are two examples of the coffee-ordering equivalent of a Microsoft Windows confirmation dialog box asking me "Are You Sure?".
Yes I'm sure. Give me my coffee. And tell me where'd you get that cool T-shirt? Allora, andiamo shopping!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
The Electrical Walk of Shame
Time and again when reading or hearing about how the Italian people live, you'll be told how 'passionate' or 'exhuberant' they are, how the Italians 'live life out loud'. And as true as that continues to show itself to be, there is one area, one niche, one grotto if you will of the Italian lifestyle that is by comparison remarkably restrained. I'm talking of course about their use of energy. (This may in fact be a hallmark of how Europeans on the whole, or heck, maybe anyone-but-Americans use energy, but instead of overgeneralizing and quickly exceeding the limited pool of supporting information I possess I'll just stick to what I've observed firsthand.) And at no time is the Italian rule of frugal energy usage brought closer to home, figuratively speaking, than when it is actually, literally speaking, brought into your home. After a few occurrences of being the surprised recipient of the Great Circuit Breaker Dope-Slap, where you're forced to trudge humbly through your darkened house and outside in your bunny slippers at 3 am and down the sidewalk to unlock the electrical panel on the fence to reset the main circuit breaker that feeds your home, you come face to face with the undeniable truth - that you're no longer living in the land of 'infinite wattage for me!'.
From what I have discovered, the situation has its roots in two basic structures. One is the structure in which you live - your home. Or more accurately, the design electrical capacity of the electrical wiring in your home. The second is the service level you have agreed to get from your local power utility. In the USA you call your local power company and say, "I would like electrical service please" and you get it, with your home's total electrical usage limited by the current rating of the Main circuit breaker in your breaker box (typically between 100Amps and 200Amps) ,in most homes sized large enough that you can run whatever appliance or appliances you want without running into a problem and you simply pay for what you use. In Italy you can't simply use as much as you want. The power company will normally have on record what the wiring of your individual home is rated for, and apparently most Italian homes don't have wiring that is rated very large capacity. When you set up your service with the power company you have your choice of tiers of service, and each tier has its maximum power usage level. Let's call them A, B, and C. (They are actually rated numerically based on killowatt-hours or whatever it may be in metric-speak, but for here we'll just call them A, B, and C.) Now if you want to get the cheapest tier of electrical service, you say to the power company "I want electrical service to my house, and I'll take Power Level A." Fine. You'll be on a cheaper rate structure, but the trade-off for you is that you can't run two major appliances at the same time, say, the oven and the dishwasher. Or the washing machine and the dishwasher. The power company imposes the agreed-upon limit on the power it supplies to your home, and if you attempt to exceed that limit, the circuit breaker out on the sidewalk trips, and you have to go outside to reset it. So you learn to live with that limit, or you can decide that you want to pay more for your electrical service so that you'll be able to run your washing machine and your oven at the same time. So you call your power company and say, "I would like to upgrade to service level B", and after about 8 weeks they make the necessary changes on the supply end (they either reprogram the circuit breaker supplying your house or physically change it out, i'm not sure, but I do know that your circuit breaker to the house is a 'smart' breaker that also serves as your electric meter, so it's tripping may be more than a function of an old-fashined bimetal element that overheats. Anyway, they do something on their end to enable the higher power supply to your home.) So now you're on Power Service Level B. However, we have talked to folks who have done that and STILL can't run their oven and their dishwasher at the same time, so then they're just paying more for the same old electrical lifestyle, so it's not always doable. And if you want service level C, well, your house may not even be rated to handle it, so that may not even be an option for you. Anyway, that's how it works. But regardless of which plan you're on, you still have to learn to live within your means, electrically-speaking.
And LeAnn and I have managed to do that. It's not that tough, really. Take last night, for example. At 7:45 pm I loaded the clothes washer and set it up to run. Recognizing that it wasn't yet the magic hour of 9 pm (at which time the cost of electricity is reduced due to it being off-peak time) I chose to use the washer's delay start feature, deciding to play it safe and setting the delay to 2 hours. Fast forward to bedtime (around 11:30 pm), when I finished loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and setting it also to run overnight. After my quick mental calculations, I set the dishwasher to delay its start for 3 hours, so that the clothes washer and the dishwasher wouldn't be running at the same time. See? Easy. You just have to learn to get yourself into a routine so you don't wake up at 3 am to use the bathroom to find your power out!
Anyway, that's how this whole power thing works.
Did I mention how nice and peaceful it was outside our house at 3 am this morning?
From what I have discovered, the situation has its roots in two basic structures. One is the structure in which you live - your home. Or more accurately, the design electrical capacity of the electrical wiring in your home. The second is the service level you have agreed to get from your local power utility. In the USA you call your local power company and say, "I would like electrical service please" and you get it, with your home's total electrical usage limited by the current rating of the Main circuit breaker in your breaker box (typically between 100Amps and 200Amps) ,in most homes sized large enough that you can run whatever appliance or appliances you want without running into a problem and you simply pay for what you use. In Italy you can't simply use as much as you want. The power company will normally have on record what the wiring of your individual home is rated for, and apparently most Italian homes don't have wiring that is rated very large capacity. When you set up your service with the power company you have your choice of tiers of service, and each tier has its maximum power usage level. Let's call them A, B, and C. (They are actually rated numerically based on killowatt-hours or whatever it may be in metric-speak, but for here we'll just call them A, B, and C.) Now if you want to get the cheapest tier of electrical service, you say to the power company "I want electrical service to my house, and I'll take Power Level A." Fine. You'll be on a cheaper rate structure, but the trade-off for you is that you can't run two major appliances at the same time, say, the oven and the dishwasher. Or the washing machine and the dishwasher. The power company imposes the agreed-upon limit on the power it supplies to your home, and if you attempt to exceed that limit, the circuit breaker out on the sidewalk trips, and you have to go outside to reset it. So you learn to live with that limit, or you can decide that you want to pay more for your electrical service so that you'll be able to run your washing machine and your oven at the same time. So you call your power company and say, "I would like to upgrade to service level B", and after about 8 weeks they make the necessary changes on the supply end (they either reprogram the circuit breaker supplying your house or physically change it out, i'm not sure, but I do know that your circuit breaker to the house is a 'smart' breaker that also serves as your electric meter, so it's tripping may be more than a function of an old-fashined bimetal element that overheats. Anyway, they do something on their end to enable the higher power supply to your home.) So now you're on Power Service Level B. However, we have talked to folks who have done that and STILL can't run their oven and their dishwasher at the same time, so then they're just paying more for the same old electrical lifestyle, so it's not always doable. And if you want service level C, well, your house may not even be rated to handle it, so that may not even be an option for you. Anyway, that's how it works. But regardless of which plan you're on, you still have to learn to live within your means, electrically-speaking.
And LeAnn and I have managed to do that. It's not that tough, really. Take last night, for example. At 7:45 pm I loaded the clothes washer and set it up to run. Recognizing that it wasn't yet the magic hour of 9 pm (at which time the cost of electricity is reduced due to it being off-peak time) I chose to use the washer's delay start feature, deciding to play it safe and setting the delay to 2 hours. Fast forward to bedtime (around 11:30 pm), when I finished loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher and setting it also to run overnight. After my quick mental calculations, I set the dishwasher to delay its start for 3 hours, so that the clothes washer and the dishwasher wouldn't be running at the same time. See? Easy. You just have to learn to get yourself into a routine so you don't wake up at 3 am to use the bathroom to find your power out!
Anyway, that's how this whole power thing works.
Did I mention how nice and peaceful it was outside our house at 3 am this morning?
Saturday, August 28, 2010
siamo completo! Bill writes!
To everyone who has been following our blog, our apologies for there not having been an installment recently. Now that I’m more or less settled (although to be honest, being disoccupato is not the type of ‘settling’ I want to maintain for very long), I finally feel that things are sufficiently on autopilot that I can take a little time to put some words together.
It’s been a little over six weeks now since I said goodbye to the village of Goshen NY, paid the good folks at Lufthansa a small fortune in excess baggage fees for a 65lb furry red dog, two cats, a bicycle case and a second checked bag, and settled into my seat on the overnight flight to Munich with my seatbelt securely fastened low and tight across my waist. Somewhere past St. John’s, high up in the night sky over the inky-black Atlantic I was finally able to enjoy that one special moment which I’d been anticipating for weeks -a single satisfying couplet of breaths, one in, one out - that to me officially marked the end of my life in New York, and the beginning of my life in a foreign country. Although, not that foreign, really. There was something about the thought of living in Italy that to me seemed new and different, sure, but at the same time comfortably familiar, as if my heart had always been ready to live there but my mind had to come around to the idea in its own good time. So as I settled back into my seat in the intimately-lit cabin nursing my second glass of red wine, John Hiatt singing from The Open Road through the standard-issue headphones, I was illogically reassured by that by-then-familiar combination of excitement, irresponsibility, hopefulness, stupidity, and confidence I’d long been feeling about our decision to move there. And I looked forward to us all being one big, brown, furry family again, wrapping my longing arms around mybaby mybaby mybaby mybaby, and settling into our comfortable abode, complete with its lack-of-furniture echo in every room.
The next morning found me at Munich’s airport, winding my way along with my fellow travelers up and down stairs and escalators and on moving sidewalks in the gleaming white-pipe-and-glass terminal buildings. In my arm, Leo our tabby cat was curious and talkative in his soft carrier (and I thought surprisingly calm considering he’s not a big fan of traveling!). I arrived at the oversize baggage claim area to find the bike case, dog crate, and cat crate already laid out by the attendant, perfectly orderly and respectfully spaced from each other (should I have expected anything less?). I indicated to the gentleman that all three items were mine (his eyes got noticeably bigger), and I took a moment to have a brief but slobbery reunion with Dog Chandler aka Red Dog, and a hug with Rachmaninov the Havana Brown. Rachi had already been a bit talkative as I approached, but after I returned him to his crate post-hug he grew much more vocal, so much so that he attracted the attention of a large woman dressed smartly in Lufthansa blue with red accents, who strode directly over as she asked with a perfect combination of helpfulness and authority what was the meaning of all this katzenjammer –ing that was going on? She offered to get a baggage porter for me, so I waited for a while for that to happen (as Rachi called after her asking where she was going, why she hadn’t stayed to pet him, and can she please bring him some salmon). Some curious travelers ambled over to us to admire my imaginative choices of oversized baggage as well as to shake their heads at my complete and utter failure to travel light. Finally here came the baggage porter, with a longish baggage cart whose shape reminded me of one of those little boat-things that banana splits are served in. Except thankfully it wasn’t made of that flimsy thin plastic, and a good thing really as there’s no way it would have stood up to three critters, two Pullmans and a Trico Iron Case. Plus it was much, much larger and if anyone ever finished a banana split that size, well, they’d wind up like Mr Creosote for sure. Anyway, the porter and I loaded up the banana-split cart and he asked me where to, and I explained to him in my best German (which even after two years of high school class wasn’t all that great – I really didn’t think it appropriate to say “hier kommt die Strassenbahn!” , “Sommerschlussverkauf”, or “Siegfried war unverwundbar”, which left little else in my repertoire – why the textbooks had that stuff in there I’ll never know) that my wife was going to be picking me up in the car. So he wheeled my bags and my furry entourage through a long passageway lined with shops and out a large sliding door at the end, where we landed on a wide concrete sidewalk next to a small parking lot. In our hallway travels, I’d managed to retrieve a ten-dollar bill from my wallet (I had decided incorrectly that I could get by without exchanging any euro pre-departure), and tipped him, explaining es tut mir leid, aber ich habe kein Euro. He seemed ok with that.
So, with bags unloaded from the cart and one final round of danke sehr! / bitte, I claimed the newly-discovered Baggage Island on the sidewalk. I set the critters up with more food and water, and put Leo in Rachi’s crate with the shoebox litterbox, and took Chandler briefly to a patch of grass a few feet away to let her sample the scent of German dogs who hang around airports. Then we settled in to wait for LeAnn’s arrival, which I really really hoped would happen where we were, since we weren’t really equipped to wander around to look for her! Happy to be out of her travel crate, Chandler was extremely content lying on her side on the shady sidewalk, so that’s what she did, and we passed the time saying ‘hi’ to various people and looking cute (well I'd given up trying to look cute, and instead tried to act as if I hadn't in fact been forgotten, and that hanging around the airport with bulky travel items was exactly what I and my critter posse had decided to do when we woke up that morning and we were being terrifically successful at doing it thank you very much). Eventually, after what seemed like a long time – mostly because it was – we managed to be found! Hugs, barking, meowing, and slobbery kisses all around! We rolled everyone and everything over to LeAnn’s car, loaded things and cats into the car and set up food and water and litterbox, ate some picnic nibbles, took the remaining baggage to the rental car area, rented a smart new black VW Golf for me to drive back (as there was no way baggage, critters, and people were going to fit into LeAnn’s Mercedes Doorstop) and finally - after running out of reasons to hang around the Munich airport any longer - we began our drive to Italy.
You gotta love renting cars in Europe – my Golf had a six-speed manual tranny! Even better than the 5-speed that I first thought it was until just past the Italian border ;-)
After a relaxing and scenic drive we arrived in Mestrino late that afternoon. HOME! We were all at home together once again. Welcome to the Land of Prosecco and Prosciutto e Melone!!!
********************************************************
The story of my travels here wouldn’t be complete without saying a HUGE thank you to our wonderful friend Marsha, who patiently accepted my pre-trip anxiety and graciously gave us all a ride to JFK, even allowing me to drive the good old Land Rover Disco II through the potholed expressways of NYC one last time.
BTW, I’ve traveled Lufthansa, and I’ve traveled other airlines, and Lufthansa stands above. They simply provide a superior air travel experience for both people and critters.
Next time, less time between posts. Promise!!! a' presto!
It’s been a little over six weeks now since I said goodbye to the village of Goshen NY, paid the good folks at Lufthansa a small fortune in excess baggage fees for a 65lb furry red dog, two cats, a bicycle case and a second checked bag, and settled into my seat on the overnight flight to Munich with my seatbelt securely fastened low and tight across my waist. Somewhere past St. John’s, high up in the night sky over the inky-black Atlantic I was finally able to enjoy that one special moment which I’d been anticipating for weeks -a single satisfying couplet of breaths, one in, one out - that to me officially marked the end of my life in New York, and the beginning of my life in a foreign country. Although, not that foreign, really. There was something about the thought of living in Italy that to me seemed new and different, sure, but at the same time comfortably familiar, as if my heart had always been ready to live there but my mind had to come around to the idea in its own good time. So as I settled back into my seat in the intimately-lit cabin nursing my second glass of red wine, John Hiatt singing from The Open Road through the standard-issue headphones, I was illogically reassured by that by-then-familiar combination of excitement, irresponsibility, hopefulness, stupidity, and confidence I’d long been feeling about our decision to move there. And I looked forward to us all being one big, brown, furry family again, wrapping my longing arms around mybaby mybaby mybaby mybaby, and settling into our comfortable abode, complete with its lack-of-furniture echo in every room.
The next morning found me at Munich’s airport, winding my way along with my fellow travelers up and down stairs and escalators and on moving sidewalks in the gleaming white-pipe-and-glass terminal buildings. In my arm, Leo our tabby cat was curious and talkative in his soft carrier (and I thought surprisingly calm considering he’s not a big fan of traveling!). I arrived at the oversize baggage claim area to find the bike case, dog crate, and cat crate already laid out by the attendant, perfectly orderly and respectfully spaced from each other (should I have expected anything less?). I indicated to the gentleman that all three items were mine (his eyes got noticeably bigger), and I took a moment to have a brief but slobbery reunion with Dog Chandler aka Red Dog, and a hug with Rachmaninov the Havana Brown. Rachi had already been a bit talkative as I approached, but after I returned him to his crate post-hug he grew much more vocal, so much so that he attracted the attention of a large woman dressed smartly in Lufthansa blue with red accents, who strode directly over as she asked with a perfect combination of helpfulness and authority what was the meaning of all this katzenjammer –ing that was going on? She offered to get a baggage porter for me, so I waited for a while for that to happen (as Rachi called after her asking where she was going, why she hadn’t stayed to pet him, and can she please bring him some salmon). Some curious travelers ambled over to us to admire my imaginative choices of oversized baggage as well as to shake their heads at my complete and utter failure to travel light. Finally here came the baggage porter, with a longish baggage cart whose shape reminded me of one of those little boat-things that banana splits are served in. Except thankfully it wasn’t made of that flimsy thin plastic, and a good thing really as there’s no way it would have stood up to three critters, two Pullmans and a Trico Iron Case. Plus it was much, much larger and if anyone ever finished a banana split that size, well, they’d wind up like Mr Creosote for sure. Anyway, the porter and I loaded up the banana-split cart and he asked me where to, and I explained to him in my best German (which even after two years of high school class wasn’t all that great – I really didn’t think it appropriate to say “hier kommt die Strassenbahn!” , “Sommerschlussverkauf”, or “Siegfried war unverwundbar”, which left little else in my repertoire – why the textbooks had that stuff in there I’ll never know) that my wife was going to be picking me up in the car. So he wheeled my bags and my furry entourage through a long passageway lined with shops and out a large sliding door at the end, where we landed on a wide concrete sidewalk next to a small parking lot. In our hallway travels, I’d managed to retrieve a ten-dollar bill from my wallet (I had decided incorrectly that I could get by without exchanging any euro pre-departure), and tipped him, explaining es tut mir leid, aber ich habe kein Euro. He seemed ok with that.
So, with bags unloaded from the cart and one final round of danke sehr! / bitte, I claimed the newly-discovered Baggage Island on the sidewalk. I set the critters up with more food and water, and put Leo in Rachi’s crate with the shoebox litterbox, and took Chandler briefly to a patch of grass a few feet away to let her sample the scent of German dogs who hang around airports. Then we settled in to wait for LeAnn’s arrival, which I really really hoped would happen where we were, since we weren’t really equipped to wander around to look for her! Happy to be out of her travel crate, Chandler was extremely content lying on her side on the shady sidewalk, so that’s what she did, and we passed the time saying ‘hi’ to various people and looking cute (well I'd given up trying to look cute, and instead tried to act as if I hadn't in fact been forgotten, and that hanging around the airport with bulky travel items was exactly what I and my critter posse had decided to do when we woke up that morning and we were being terrifically successful at doing it thank you very much). Eventually, after what seemed like a long time – mostly because it was – we managed to be found! Hugs, barking, meowing, and slobbery kisses all around! We rolled everyone and everything over to LeAnn’s car, loaded things and cats into the car and set up food and water and litterbox, ate some picnic nibbles, took the remaining baggage to the rental car area, rented a smart new black VW Golf for me to drive back (as there was no way baggage, critters, and people were going to fit into LeAnn’s Mercedes Doorstop) and finally - after running out of reasons to hang around the Munich airport any longer - we began our drive to Italy.
You gotta love renting cars in Europe – my Golf had a six-speed manual tranny! Even better than the 5-speed that I first thought it was until just past the Italian border ;-)
After a relaxing and scenic drive we arrived in Mestrino late that afternoon. HOME! We were all at home together once again. Welcome to the Land of Prosecco and Prosciutto e Melone!!!
********************************************************
The story of my travels here wouldn’t be complete without saying a HUGE thank you to our wonderful friend Marsha, who patiently accepted my pre-trip anxiety and graciously gave us all a ride to JFK, even allowing me to drive the good old Land Rover Disco II through the potholed expressways of NYC one last time.
BTW, I’ve traveled Lufthansa, and I’ve traveled other airlines, and Lufthansa stands above. They simply provide a superior air travel experience for both people and critters.
Next time, less time between posts. Promise!!! a' presto!
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Becoming a regular
One of the favorite local places is called Regina's. It is just a small local place that is frequented by Americans who live on or near the base. I'm guilty of eating 3-4 meals a week there. Yesterday a co-worker and I decided to go there for lunch and were disappointed to find it closed. Fortunately it's only temporary. There was a sign posted on the door that read: We are closed for holiday. Until we return we suggest you try eating at home. I just can't imagine ever seeing that on the door to a resturant in New York...
It has been a beautiful week in the Venito. Sunny, breezy and around 80 degree all week! I woke before the sun on Saturday, which btw comes really early here :-( and made my way to the bus that was to take us to the Italy-Swiss border. The trip through the Dolomites was very nice as there is still snow on the mountain tops and the rising sun turns it a beautiful pink and purple, like cotton candy on the tops of the mountains.
We arrived at a small village around 10am and wandered around a bit. We were advised to pick up some lunch to eat on the 4 hour train ride so I found a place that had a cold Risotto, Pea and Mushroom salad and I topped it off with a big hunk of fresh bread. On the way back to the station I spied a Gelato shop and figured that two scoops of Pistachio would make a good appetizer. We walked across the border and boarded the Glacier Express for a 11:00am departure - Swiss time. At 10:59 the wheels were in motion.
No matter how I might try or what language I do it in, there are no words to express the beauty of the Swiss Alps in late spring. If not the most beautiful place on earth, it is the most beautiful that I've ever seen and I've seen some pretty phenomenal places. I will link to a couple of videos but I've seen video before and it didn't even come close to the rapture of seeing it in person. If Switzerland is not on your list of places to visit, I highly recommend you add it. http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/travel/getting_around/traveling-by-train/bernina-express.html
St. Moritz is very nice (ok, that's an understatement) but I was way out of my league there. I can hardly afford to breath in the free -but thin- air. Having spent a decent amount of time in Vail, Colorado I felt that I was truly in Vail's motherland. Americans have worked hard to create a place in the Rockies that is similar but it really pales in comparison to St. Moritz. http://www.stmoritz.ch/
Back on earth now... this week I did a lot of paperwork required to move in to the house and get utilities set up. The painting should be done and it will be ready next week. I pick up the keys on Tuesday and my personal items and rental furniture arrive on Friday. Next weekend I'll take some pictures to share. Next weekend I also hope to visit the Suave Castle. It sits on a hill just east of Vicenza and is only about a 20 minute drive. I passed by it one evening and looking up from the road below it was amazing. It was lit up and had walls coming down each side - I'm told it even has a draw bridge... as all Medival Castles should! http://www.castellodisoave.it/castellosoave_ing/castellosoave_home.html
This weekend I'm going to visit friends and spend a couple of days on the beach. It will be slow on excitement compared to the last few weeks but I'm due a relaxing couple of days before the chaos starts again. http://www.costadimaratea.com/hotelsandiego/listini_e.html
It has been a beautiful week in the Venito. Sunny, breezy and around 80 degree all week! I woke before the sun on Saturday, which btw comes really early here :-( and made my way to the bus that was to take us to the Italy-Swiss border. The trip through the Dolomites was very nice as there is still snow on the mountain tops and the rising sun turns it a beautiful pink and purple, like cotton candy on the tops of the mountains.
We arrived at a small village around 10am and wandered around a bit. We were advised to pick up some lunch to eat on the 4 hour train ride so I found a place that had a cold Risotto, Pea and Mushroom salad and I topped it off with a big hunk of fresh bread. On the way back to the station I spied a Gelato shop and figured that two scoops of Pistachio would make a good appetizer. We walked across the border and boarded the Glacier Express for a 11:00am departure - Swiss time. At 10:59 the wheels were in motion.
No matter how I might try or what language I do it in, there are no words to express the beauty of the Swiss Alps in late spring. If not the most beautiful place on earth, it is the most beautiful that I've ever seen and I've seen some pretty phenomenal places. I will link to a couple of videos but I've seen video before and it didn't even come close to the rapture of seeing it in person. If Switzerland is not on your list of places to visit, I highly recommend you add it. http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/travel/getting_around/traveling-by-train/bernina-express.html
St. Moritz is very nice (ok, that's an understatement) but I was way out of my league there. I can hardly afford to breath in the free -but thin- air. Having spent a decent amount of time in Vail, Colorado I felt that I was truly in Vail's motherland. Americans have worked hard to create a place in the Rockies that is similar but it really pales in comparison to St. Moritz. http://www.stmoritz.ch/
Back on earth now... this week I did a lot of paperwork required to move in to the house and get utilities set up. The painting should be done and it will be ready next week. I pick up the keys on Tuesday and my personal items and rental furniture arrive on Friday. Next weekend I'll take some pictures to share. Next weekend I also hope to visit the Suave Castle. It sits on a hill just east of Vicenza and is only about a 20 minute drive. I passed by it one evening and looking up from the road below it was amazing. It was lit up and had walls coming down each side - I'm told it even has a draw bridge... as all Medival Castles should! http://www.castellodisoave.it/castellosoave_ing/castellosoave_home.html
This weekend I'm going to visit friends and spend a couple of days on the beach. It will be slow on excitement compared to the last few weeks but I'm due a relaxing couple of days before the chaos starts again. http://www.costadimaratea.com/hotelsandiego/listini_e.html
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Driving around
Well I finally passed my Drivers License test and got my car registered so that I am now legally allowed to drive in Italy. The problem is - it scares the shit out of me! When I had the rental car down in southern Italy I had no problem, in fact I enjoyed driving. Here it makes me so nervous! Partly because the scare the crap out of you in your drivers training class so you are acutely aware of the dammage you could do. Also, ignorance is not an excuse if you have just taken a class and passed the test.on
But before I could even get to the driving part, I had to go to the bank and get money and then go to the Italian bank and have it changed into Euros. We then went to the temporary insurance coverage. Next was the shoppette to get the required gear for passing the inspection. That included a flashlight, orange vest, first aid kit and reflective triangles. Then, off for Safety inspection. The registration office was packed so we waited. Once we had documentation saying we had passed we n then had to leave and go back to the registration office. They took the inspection paperwork and put it in a file and then gave us the plates for the car. Once that was done we had to go back to the insurance company with the plate numbers and call the agency to change from a temporary insurance document to a regular one. Wow, glad that's done!
I decided to go for a drive after work today. My hope was to be able to find my house. And I did with very little initial effort. The return trip had me lost and I was so dissapointed I could call 'Houston' for driving directions.
My other experience with my lovely little car was adding gasolene... or should I say learning to add gasolene. It took me three tries adn three cdomputers ti figure out how it all work. I left there so proud.
Sleepy time now!
Ciao,
LeAnn
.
But before I could even get to the driving part, I had to go to the bank and get money and then go to the Italian bank and have it changed into Euros. We then went to the temporary insurance coverage. Next was the shoppette to get the required gear for passing the inspection. That included a flashlight, orange vest, first aid kit and reflective triangles. Then, off for Safety inspection. The registration office was packed so we waited. Once we had documentation saying we had passed we n then had to leave and go back to the registration office. They took the inspection paperwork and put it in a file and then gave us the plates for the car. Once that was done we had to go back to the insurance company with the plate numbers and call the agency to change from a temporary insurance document to a regular one. Wow, glad that's done!
I decided to go for a drive after work today. My hope was to be able to find my house. And I did with very little initial effort. The return trip had me lost and I was so dissapointed I could call 'Houston' for driving directions.
My other experience with my lovely little car was adding gasolene... or should I say learning to add gasolene. It took me three tries adn three cdomputers ti figure out how it all work. I left there so proud.
Sleepy time now!
Ciao,
LeAnn
.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Cinque Terre Videos
I appoligize in advance for my lack of video skills, but here are a few videos from my Cinque Terre trip on Saturday.
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=478gjXYXoQk
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofFOxDNCgBY
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O80G4jP3eCM
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhgX9xI4giw
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHlggho6dus&NR=1
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmQ5qxT2SVM&feature=related
7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apVg41u4sAc
Happy Memorial Day to all!
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=478gjXYXoQk
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofFOxDNCgBY
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O80G4jP3eCM
4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhgX9xI4giw
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHlggho6dus&NR=1
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmQ5qxT2SVM&feature=related
7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apVg41u4sAc
Happy Memorial Day to all!
Sunday, May 30, 2010
No matter how long I live, I have no doubt that the fragrance of Jasmine and Roses will bring me back to this time in my live. I have never been to a place where they grew so prolifically! In the humid evenings the fragrance is so strong it is overwhelming. If I could bottle and sell it I'm sure I could make a small fortune. The roses are everywhere. I suppose the soil here is perfect. It is rich and sandy. There is also a lot of sun but we have gotten a good amount of rain lately too. Perfect for roses. The Jasmine grows on trellises, over garden gates or up the sides of buildings. It is everywhere and doesn't seem to need anything special. I've been tempted to clip off a few pieces to bring into the hotel room.
Over the last few days, I've ventured all over Vicenza on my new bicycle - some places I intended to see and others were surprise destinations located when riding around lost. I'm in the process of uploading some video to YouTube to share. I've found Vicenza to be a very pretty city but it took getting lost to realize what I had been missing. The architecture of Andrea Palladio is everywhere. Some original and some recent imitations, all fantastic. I've not yet toured the Rotunda or Palladian Basilica but they are on my list. I recently picked up a book called The Wonders of Vicenza and am amazed at all the local 'points of interest'. I guess you can collect quite a few if you have a city that is over a thousand years old. I'm looking forward to taking the Vicenza tour and learning more about the city.
Saturday I went on a trip to Cinque Terre. The literal translation is Five Lands but we would consider it five villages. They are all cities built on the cliffs overlooking the sea in the area considered to be the Italian Riviera. In a one day trip I wasn't able to visit them all but the three that I did visit were beautiful. I especially enjoyed the first village of Monterosso where a man had been carved from the stone face of a cliff. The beach there was also quite nice and we found a great little restaurant that I hope to return to. I was also able to sample the locally made Limoncello and Sangria as well as the seafood. I'm told that, in addition the lovely churches and quaint cottages, there is also an anchovy factory. I skipped that for now but am sure I'll have an opportunity to visit it when I go back with Bill. I'm looking forward to spending a long weekend there this fall to do some of the great hikes between the villages.
You can check it out at www.cinqueterreonline.com. I also managed to come back with six bottles of wine and a bottle of Limoncino.
As things are starting to get settled and I've found both home and transportation, I'm a lot less stressed and am sure I'll start really enjoying the area. Once Bill gets here with the other cats and our Dog and our furniture arrives, I'll even be happier. By fall we will be ready to fill the house with family and friends and share our experience here with all of you!
Over the last few days, I've ventured all over Vicenza on my new bicycle - some places I intended to see and others were surprise destinations located when riding around lost. I'm in the process of uploading some video to YouTube to share. I've found Vicenza to be a very pretty city but it took getting lost to realize what I had been missing. The architecture of Andrea Palladio is everywhere. Some original and some recent imitations, all fantastic. I've not yet toured the Rotunda or Palladian Basilica but they are on my list. I recently picked up a book called The Wonders of Vicenza and am amazed at all the local 'points of interest'. I guess you can collect quite a few if you have a city that is over a thousand years old. I'm looking forward to taking the Vicenza tour and learning more about the city.
Saturday I went on a trip to Cinque Terre. The literal translation is Five Lands but we would consider it five villages. They are all cities built on the cliffs overlooking the sea in the area considered to be the Italian Riviera. In a one day trip I wasn't able to visit them all but the three that I did visit were beautiful. I especially enjoyed the first village of Monterosso where a man had been carved from the stone face of a cliff. The beach there was also quite nice and we found a great little restaurant that I hope to return to. I was also able to sample the locally made Limoncello and Sangria as well as the seafood. I'm told that, in addition the lovely churches and quaint cottages, there is also an anchovy factory. I skipped that for now but am sure I'll have an opportunity to visit it when I go back with Bill. I'm looking forward to spending a long weekend there this fall to do some of the great hikes between the villages.
You can check it out at www.cinqueterreonline.com. I also managed to come back with six bottles of wine and a bottle of Limoncino.
As things are starting to get settled and I've found both home and transportation, I'm a lot less stressed and am sure I'll start really enjoying the area. Once Bill gets here with the other cats and our Dog and our furniture arrives, I'll even be happier. By fall we will be ready to fill the house with family and friends and share our experience here with all of you!
Friday, May 21, 2010
Adjusting
I think the majority of our inprocessing is done now. We finally got our ID cards on Wednesday and things have been much easier since then. We still don't quite have the sleeping schedule down but other than that we are adjusting well. Once I find a good wine supplier I'm sure things will get even better.
Last Saturday we spent looking at houses and sleeping but Sunday we got out and did a bit of sightseeing. We went into Vicenza by bus and caught the train to Venice. The train station brings you to the bridge that crosses the lagoon taking you into Venice proper, so we get out of the train station and we are there! Because it was Sunday there were not all that many shops open but that was okay. It gave us a chance to walk around and orient ourselves without a mass of tourists. We didn't do anything special and didn't try to follow the map/maze of the city that we came with, we just wandered and enjoyed the view. Eventually we found our way back to the train station and made our way home. All in all the experience was a bit sureal - we just went to Venice for the afternoon!
Tuesday was Bills birthday so after doing our daily romp around post we went out for a nice dinner at Il Fauno. The Pasticco Lasagna was great (served with a cream sauce on top) and it is only a short stroll from post. We also stopped by MWR and rented a bicycle so Bill could explore the next couple of days while I work. He says he is now innitiated to Italian bicycling and it is a completely different experience. Although Italians drive crazy they have more respect for individuals on two wheels. He even navigated several traffic circles and lived to tell about it!
Thursday we had Driver Orientation training. We found out that Italians are required to go through 6 months of drivers training and pay 2ooo Euro to get their license. No wonder there are so many people who ride bikes. BUT, it explains how they can drive like mad men and never seem to kill each other.
Today Bill went to take his Drivers Test and PASSED! YEAH!!! He is now qualified to drive on any Italian roadway. I plan to take the test next week. Hopefully I'll pass too, if not I'll have a long walk to work everyday!!
We are scheduled to move into the house the end of June. There is painting to be done and some light fixtures need to be replaced. The inspectors will need to go in and do a survey and then the contracts will be written. The official negoiation meeting is on Monday but pretty much everything is already settled, it is now just a matter of putting it in writing. We are very excited about the house. It is convenient to both Vicenza and Padova and there is a BIG bike shop in town. The name of the town is Mestrino. It is small but has everything necessary and is close to the city for things that can't be had locally.
Apparently power outages are an issue here. Wednesday night the power went out for the 2nd time. It seems that it remains off for a few hours each time and both times have been at night. I guess they figure you should be sleeping anyway. The Italians are very aware of energy usage and conserve as much as possible. They view Americans as being quite wasteful and can't believe how much energy we use for things like air conditioning, laundry, large appliances, TV's, etc. It is going to take some getting used to. Our new house has a washer but the dryer is a clothsline in the back yard. I'm going to have to see if they can retrofit a dryer - yes, I'm a wasteful American but I don't like waiting three days for my jeans to get dry and then having them feel like cardboard. Remind me of this conversation in a few years when I've adjusted. I'm sure I'll look back and laugh at myself - just being a typical newbee!
This weekend Bill heads back to New York, leaving me in the hands of the crazy Italians. I'll be staying in the hotel until the end of June when we move to the house (no good food or wine in/near the hotel). Bill should be back shortly after that and can help get settled in. Me and the kitties will miss him but I'm sure that Chandler, Leo and Rachi will be happy to have him home.
Ciao!
LeAnn & Bill
Last Saturday we spent looking at houses and sleeping but Sunday we got out and did a bit of sightseeing. We went into Vicenza by bus and caught the train to Venice. The train station brings you to the bridge that crosses the lagoon taking you into Venice proper, so we get out of the train station and we are there! Because it was Sunday there were not all that many shops open but that was okay. It gave us a chance to walk around and orient ourselves without a mass of tourists. We didn't do anything special and didn't try to follow the map/maze of the city that we came with, we just wandered and enjoyed the view. Eventually we found our way back to the train station and made our way home. All in all the experience was a bit sureal - we just went to Venice for the afternoon!
Tuesday was Bills birthday so after doing our daily romp around post we went out for a nice dinner at Il Fauno. The Pasticco Lasagna was great (served with a cream sauce on top) and it is only a short stroll from post. We also stopped by MWR and rented a bicycle so Bill could explore the next couple of days while I work. He says he is now innitiated to Italian bicycling and it is a completely different experience. Although Italians drive crazy they have more respect for individuals on two wheels. He even navigated several traffic circles and lived to tell about it!
Thursday we had Driver Orientation training. We found out that Italians are required to go through 6 months of drivers training and pay 2ooo Euro to get their license. No wonder there are so many people who ride bikes. BUT, it explains how they can drive like mad men and never seem to kill each other.
Today Bill went to take his Drivers Test and PASSED! YEAH!!! He is now qualified to drive on any Italian roadway. I plan to take the test next week. Hopefully I'll pass too, if not I'll have a long walk to work everyday!!
We are scheduled to move into the house the end of June. There is painting to be done and some light fixtures need to be replaced. The inspectors will need to go in and do a survey and then the contracts will be written. The official negoiation meeting is on Monday but pretty much everything is already settled, it is now just a matter of putting it in writing. We are very excited about the house. It is convenient to both Vicenza and Padova and there is a BIG bike shop in town. The name of the town is Mestrino. It is small but has everything necessary and is close to the city for things that can't be had locally.
Apparently power outages are an issue here. Wednesday night the power went out for the 2nd time. It seems that it remains off for a few hours each time and both times have been at night. I guess they figure you should be sleeping anyway. The Italians are very aware of energy usage and conserve as much as possible. They view Americans as being quite wasteful and can't believe how much energy we use for things like air conditioning, laundry, large appliances, TV's, etc. It is going to take some getting used to. Our new house has a washer but the dryer is a clothsline in the back yard. I'm going to have to see if they can retrofit a dryer - yes, I'm a wasteful American but I don't like waiting three days for my jeans to get dry and then having them feel like cardboard. Remind me of this conversation in a few years when I've adjusted. I'm sure I'll look back and laugh at myself - just being a typical newbee!
This weekend Bill heads back to New York, leaving me in the hands of the crazy Italians. I'll be staying in the hotel until the end of June when we move to the house (no good food or wine in/near the hotel). Bill should be back shortly after that and can help get settled in. Me and the kitties will miss him but I'm sure that Chandler, Leo and Rachi will be happy to have him home.
Ciao!
LeAnn & Bill
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Still Breathing - LeAnn
Still not ID cards... we were told that it was Okay, sometimes it takes a while for the system to be updated. No problem getting o ff post and back on as long as we have our Passports and Orders. Well, needless to say, I had to call my sponsor after we were escorted to the MP's office for not having proper documentation. We now have a two week, unacompanied pass, to get us back and forth until our ID gets done.
On the positive side, we had a lovely dinner at a little place called Regina's. I find a lot of things to complain about here but the food isn't one of them!
We have looked at several houses and finally found one we really liked. It is not in an area where we expected we would want to live, but the quality of the house makes of for that. Also, it is right on a bike path that leads directly to work. We see two more houses tomorrow and if they don't just knock our socks off, we'll end up in the very first house we looked at!
The last couple of days have veen stressful, I'll be sure to post the ce we get some picture
I'm falling asleep typing so I guess that means its past bed time.
Take care,
LeAnn
On the positive side, we had a lovely dinner at a little place called Regina's. I find a lot of things to complain about here but the food isn't one of them!
We have looked at several houses and finally found one we really liked. It is not in an area where we expected we would want to live, but the quality of the house makes of for that. Also, it is right on a bike path that leads directly to work. We see two more houses tomorrow and if they don't just knock our socks off, we'll end up in the very first house we looked at!
The last couple of days have veen stressful, I'll be sure to post the ce we get some picture
I'm falling asleep typing so I guess that means its past bed time.
Take care,
LeAnn
Monday, May 10, 2010
Purgatory -LeAnn
We have arrived! The past week has been long and these little brown kitties have logged a lot of miles. The good news is that we all made it safe and sound. We are going to need a bit of time to adjust to the time but other than that all is well.
Our trip from JFK was pretty easy. Lufthansa is great and I would recommend them to anyone flying over with pets (or without for that matter). Check in at JFK was pretty easy... show your documents, pay your $200 and fly. We left the US at around 6pm and flew to Munich Germany where we had a three hour lay over. Customs folks were really nice but they did thoroughly examine our feline health certificates and seperated the kitties for a crate xray. Once we met with their approval we were sent on down the line were we could set up our kitty tent and let the brownies stretch out and use the litter box. The terminal was beautiful and the free newspapers and coffee/espresso service made it even better. We left Munich for a short flight to Venice about a half hour behind schedule so we arrived in Venice at 12:30 after an hour long flight that was a bit turbulent - we were flying over the Alps so I guess that is not surprising. The kitties took it well.
Shuttles run from the Venice Marco Polo airport to the Base every couple of hours and we were hoping to make the 12:30 but with our delay we didn't get here until 12:30. After collecting luggage and cats we were prepared for the customs lines and followed signs to the 'nothing to declare' exit. On the other side of the doors we found... well, nothing. No guards, no customs agents, just italian food and espresso! No one except us seemed to care that we had arrived cats and all.
Having missed the midday shuttle we had to wait for the next one which was not scheduled until the afternoon. After about an hour past the departure time we gave up and came back inside and called the base. No one seemed to know where the shuttle might be. Maybe the driver just decided to take the afternoon off. We ended up calling our sponsor who was going to meet us at the hotel. We asked if we should just take a taxi or rent a car and he offered to come pick us up. His name is Michael and he has been VERY helpful.
After getting on post and having the nickle tour we made our way to the hotel. The installation is your typical boring Army post and it is rather depressing overall in the lack of architecture and landscape. It is all about functionality. That is why I've nic-named it purgatory. I have to serve my time on post each week so that I can earn my way to heaven... the rest of Italy!
After sleeping most of the day Sunday, we woke up on Monday ready to get started. Mike met us for breakfast and took us to the clinic. We met the HR ladies and then headed off to inprocess. Apparently we are the first civilians to come to Vicenza since the procedures for inprocessing changed. Of course no one knows what to do with us or what paperwork needs to be done. They are not sure who is responsible for filling it out and does it go to Germany or not... this could take awhile. We also found that changing all our money to Euro was not smart. On the base they don't want the Euro and we haven't ventured far off yet. We ended up changing some of our Euro back to dollar today. Will likely spend more dollars than Euros until we find a place to live.
As we walked to the Central Office I noticed several different birds but was interested to find that none of them sounded like the birds at home. I surmised that they must be chirping in Italian. Imagine that, Italian birds speaking Italian bird language.
On my way from the housing office back to the hotel, I was checking out some of the local plants and trees. There are a lot of Heavenly Bamboo and Rose of Sharron bushes (and I thought I was going to miss mine), TONS of roses, cyprus trees, oaks, maples, sky rocket junipers and other strange Italian trees that I've yet to identify. They are the ones that grow really tall and only have branches and leaves at the very top. If you've ever seen them you know what I'm talking about.
We have been checking out the different kinds of cars and there are a lot more options in small cars. I've found the cutest little Mercedes hatch back but I have no idea what it is. I've never seen anything Mercedes that is this small in the states before and there was no model badge on the car. I also like the little Lancia's and am surprised at how cute some of the Fiat's are. When you see the American SUV's they look so out of place here.
So far we have been eating at the hotel or the on post facilities. Without our local ID's we have not been free to come and go as we please but that should change tomorrow. I'm sure our next blog will be about the town and FOOD! If we are lucky even a few houses.
Ciao for now!
LeAnn
Our trip from JFK was pretty easy. Lufthansa is great and I would recommend them to anyone flying over with pets (or without for that matter). Check in at JFK was pretty easy... show your documents, pay your $200 and fly. We left the US at around 6pm and flew to Munich Germany where we had a three hour lay over. Customs folks were really nice but they did thoroughly examine our feline health certificates and seperated the kitties for a crate xray. Once we met with their approval we were sent on down the line were we could set up our kitty tent and let the brownies stretch out and use the litter box. The terminal was beautiful and the free newspapers and coffee/espresso service made it even better. We left Munich for a short flight to Venice about a half hour behind schedule so we arrived in Venice at 12:30 after an hour long flight that was a bit turbulent - we were flying over the Alps so I guess that is not surprising. The kitties took it well.
Shuttles run from the Venice Marco Polo airport to the Base every couple of hours and we were hoping to make the 12:30 but with our delay we didn't get here until 12:30. After collecting luggage and cats we were prepared for the customs lines and followed signs to the 'nothing to declare' exit. On the other side of the doors we found... well, nothing. No guards, no customs agents, just italian food and espresso! No one except us seemed to care that we had arrived cats and all.
Having missed the midday shuttle we had to wait for the next one which was not scheduled until the afternoon. After about an hour past the departure time we gave up and came back inside and called the base. No one seemed to know where the shuttle might be. Maybe the driver just decided to take the afternoon off. We ended up calling our sponsor who was going to meet us at the hotel. We asked if we should just take a taxi or rent a car and he offered to come pick us up. His name is Michael and he has been VERY helpful.
After getting on post and having the nickle tour we made our way to the hotel. The installation is your typical boring Army post and it is rather depressing overall in the lack of architecture and landscape. It is all about functionality. That is why I've nic-named it purgatory. I have to serve my time on post each week so that I can earn my way to heaven... the rest of Italy!
After sleeping most of the day Sunday, we woke up on Monday ready to get started. Mike met us for breakfast and took us to the clinic. We met the HR ladies and then headed off to inprocess. Apparently we are the first civilians to come to Vicenza since the procedures for inprocessing changed. Of course no one knows what to do with us or what paperwork needs to be done. They are not sure who is responsible for filling it out and does it go to Germany or not... this could take awhile. We also found that changing all our money to Euro was not smart. On the base they don't want the Euro and we haven't ventured far off yet. We ended up changing some of our Euro back to dollar today. Will likely spend more dollars than Euros until we find a place to live.
As we walked to the Central Office I noticed several different birds but was interested to find that none of them sounded like the birds at home. I surmised that they must be chirping in Italian. Imagine that, Italian birds speaking Italian bird language.
On my way from the housing office back to the hotel, I was checking out some of the local plants and trees. There are a lot of Heavenly Bamboo and Rose of Sharron bushes (and I thought I was going to miss mine), TONS of roses, cyprus trees, oaks, maples, sky rocket junipers and other strange Italian trees that I've yet to identify. They are the ones that grow really tall and only have branches and leaves at the very top. If you've ever seen them you know what I'm talking about.
We have been checking out the different kinds of cars and there are a lot more options in small cars. I've found the cutest little Mercedes hatch back but I have no idea what it is. I've never seen anything Mercedes that is this small in the states before and there was no model badge on the car. I also like the little Lancia's and am surprised at how cute some of the Fiat's are. When you see the American SUV's they look so out of place here.
So far we have been eating at the hotel or the on post facilities. Without our local ID's we have not been free to come and go as we please but that should change tomorrow. I'm sure our next blog will be about the town and FOOD! If we are lucky even a few houses.
Ciao for now!
LeAnn
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