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Stati Uniti

28 Jul
28 July 2015. Here we are in our first visit to the United States, more than 3 years after our move in May 2012. It is both familiar and foreign to be here. How wide the sidewalks! How clean the streets (compared to Roma anyway)! Customer service that is almost too friendly. It’s nice to understand most of what is going on around me.
Indulged in omelets since we had not eaten much in about 18 hours. Still too big to eat alone. We each ate only half of our portions.

Indulged in omelets since we had not eaten much in about 18 hours. Still too big to eat alone. We each ate only half of our portions.

I had forgotten how big the portions are in restaurants! We each ordered an omelet as we had not had a proper meal since lunch on Monday, and we could only eat half!  We are going to have to do more sharing like we do in Roma. 
We are starting this journey in San Francisco where the forecast high temperature is not much higher than the forecast low in Roma. Our travel was long, made longer by delays and slow customs in San Francisco that caused us to miss a connection. So we arrived at our apartment in San Francisco 26 hours after leaving our apartment in Roma. 
American style at the Bean Bag Cafe, San Francisco.

American style at the Bean Bag Cafe, San Francisco.

Tomorrow we have our visa appointment at the Italian Consulate General. We each carried along about 6 pounds of forms and documents — in triplicate — for our applications.
Will post updates!

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Base Camp Barton

29 May
We are mostly settled now that we have been at Base Camp Barton for almost four weeks. Why Base Camp Barton? This is a place to keep our (limited) personal possessions and to park the cats while we travel around Europe for a couple of years. We wanted a “base camp” to return to, to call home, to make a headquarters. Here in Rome we have friends, contacts, doctors, and services we need, as well as access to the terrific transportation network of Italy’s trains and quick flights to other parts of Europe.
We have a large "sala," a combined living room and dining room. Some of our landlady's antiques combined with our comfy recliner, our rugs, and a modern sofa.
We have a large “sala,” a combined living room and dining room. Some of our landlady’s antiques combined with our comfy recliner, our rugs, and a modern sofa.
We wanted a furnished or semi-furnished apartment to make eventual departure easier as we have no intention of shipping large items back to the U.S. at the end of this adventure. I found out about SabbaticalHomes.com and started perusing it last summer. Here, as opposed to VRBO or other tourist-oriented rental sites (which I love and use when traveling), I found apartments with pricing more conducive to long term living that are fully furnished.Finding an apartment here is a very different process from finding one in the U.S. There you can fill out an application almost anonymously, submit it, have a credit check done, and with payment of a damage deposit you are approved. Here it is more of a relationship thing, unless you are a tourist renting a VRBO-type of apartment. I’ve had other ex-pats or would-be-ex-pats tell me that they were refused a mid-to-long-term rental, or that the rental suddenly disappeared when they went to meet the owners.
The bedroom has two French doors to the terrace. Very light and airy.
The bedroom has two French doors to the terrace. Very light and airy.
Eventually one popped up in our preferred quartiere of Parioli at a price that was within reach, which is a different concept than affordable. (Rents in Rome are staggering!)  The person who listed the apartment is an ex-pat Italian living in Boston, and the apartment belongs to his parents, so we made contact on both sides of the Atlantic. It was a perfect size, about 100 square meters. Would they be able to rent it for two years? Yes. Would they consider letting us bring our cats? Yes! So we went to what we have come to call “The Vetting.”
Janie models the bed.
Janie models the bed.
One warm September Sunday we met our landlords to see the apartment, had coffee and chatted in a mix of Italian and English. There was no application, no credit check, not even a question about income or finances. It was good enough that we were associated with the American Embassy. We went back for a second look and said yes, we’d take it. Constructing a legitimate rental agreement was another process that eventually involved an attorney, but not for any negative reasons. We all wanted to end up with a legal contract and in Italy there are some interesting requirements. For example a two-year agreement is not legitimate. It has to be a “4 + 4” contract or an 18 month (maximum) contratto transitorio. Perhaps most interesting is that once the contract is signed, it has to be registered with the State and a fee paid. In the U.S. I would stick a rental agreement in my file drawer on the odd chance I needed to refer to it, as would the landlord, but here it must be registered so the State can collect yet another fee. Oh, and just before the formal signing, the son from the U.S. was here to visit, so he dropped by to meet us too. A family affair!
The new apartment guest-room-office is not-quite-ready for occupancy.
The new apartment guest-room-office is not-quite-ready for occupancy.
Italian friends have told us stories about having to open a bank account in the name of the landlord and deposit an amount equivalent to a year’s rent! This is in case of default and only the landlord can withdraw from it. €1,000 rent = €12,000 deposit. To add insult to injury, the renter has to pay bank fees, so at the end of the rental period one has not only tied up a significant amount of cash but does not even get it all back as monthly fees are deducted! Luckily we were trusted and were able to put down only a standard two month’s rent.
The guest room now ready for guests.
The guest room now ready for guests.
Before we unpacked the last box our nephew and his fiancée were in Rome to visit. Luckily for them not in our guest room as it was the place we stashed all the stuff we didn’t know what to do with right away. We had lots of meals out with them as we were not ready to tackle cooking just yet. They left town, we unpacked the last two boxes and made up the guest room the morning our son arrived just two days before I retired. Immediately following our last day at work, we went to Sorrento with him.
So now we are alone for a week and doing the shakedown, figuring out how things work, where things are, where to put our still-too-abundant “stuff,” and how to spend our days. They are going by rapidly. We joined the gym across the street and did our first workout today. How nice it was to not be constrained by a lunch hour for a workout!
We’ve had to have some minor repairs on appliances and it seems the stove (which must be 40 years old) will need to be replaced, but the landlady has been an angel about it all. Yesterday we had screens installed in our bedroom, a blessing as the mosquitoes can be horrible here and very few Italian apartments have them.
The terrace is narrow, but wraps around the bedroom and there is just enough room for two to sip wine.
The terrace is narrow, but wraps around the bedroom and there is just enough room for two to sip wine.
Beautiful bougainvillea across from us.
Beautiful bougainvillea across from us.
Another view out the back door, off the bedroom.
Another view out the back door, off the bedroom.
The lady across the street has a terrace to die for...but she faces west which is less-than-optimal.
The lady across the street has a terrace to die for…but she faces west which is less-than-optimal.
We’ve already been yelled at by the portiera for parking in the driveway for 6 minutes after an IKEA run our first week here. “NON SOSTARE QUI!” she said. “NON MAI!” So we feel like we are accepted. She yells at a lot of people.
The cats love the wrap around terrace and have discovered all the sunspots. We have adapted to hanging laundry out versus having a power-hog clothes dryer. We do have a dishwasher to compensate, which the embassy did not see fit to supply us.
We are expecting guests – my brother and sister-in-law arrive Monday – and the first cat sitters are lined up for a 9-night stay. Base Camp Barton is ready!
Libby has found a good hiding spot, under an afghan on the couch.
Libby has found a good hiding spot, under an afghan on the couch.
This would be called an "ampio ingresso" in an ad for this apartment. I love these big entrances with room for a coatrack, umbrella stand, big table and mirror.
This would be called an “ampio ingresso” in an ad for this apartment. I love these big entrances with room for a coatrack, umbrella stand, big table and mirror.
Many Italian apartments have a service hallway, leading to the kitchen, that can be closed off. That's Janie trotting toward the camera.
Many Italian apartments have a service hallway, leading to the kitchen, that can be closed off. That’s Janie trotting toward the camera.
The kitchen is the size of a postage stamp, but functional. We were spoiled at our last place!
The kitchen is the size of a postage stamp, but functional. We were spoiled at our last place!
 

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Changing house

8 May
In Italian we say cambiamo casa: we are changing house versus the colloquial American “moving.” I like it. The Italian verb muovere is used for lots of things from “moved to tears” and taking legal action, to a dog wagging its tail, but never for the process of going to a new residence, hence changing house. Ric and I have been very busy changing house and thus there have been no posts to GoodDayRome and few to Our Weekly Pizza.
External view at Via di Villa Emiliani. You can see my head in the window to the left of the balcony.
External view at Via di Villa Emiliani. You can see my head in the window to the left of the balcony.
Some of you may not know, but we are retiring later this month and staying in Rome: the plan is to remain here for two years to travel and enjoy before returning to Portland, Oregon. We had to leave our lovely apartment on Via di Villa Emiliani because it was provided by the Embassy and a new diplomat is arriving soon. Last October we embarked on a search for new place (that alone will be a future subject as it was a process unlike in the U.S.) and May 2 we picked up the keys.
We have continued to shed stuff. We started to downsize in 2003 when we left our large home in Lake Oswego for condo life in NW Portland. We continued when we moved to Rome as our embassy-provided apartment was almost half the size of the condo. The new apartment is furnished, although we chose to bring a few pieces along, and as we will be paying to store anything we send back to the U.S., we wanted to send only those items we most cherish: Ric’s collectible trains, some family heirlooms, art, and so on. No sense paying storage for two years for a set of flatware that cost $130.00 10 years ago. We retained for use in Rome things that make us comfortable: our own linens, some kitchen utensils, wineglasses, espresso cups, our Nespresso machine (of course!) and so on. (The “furnished” rental apartment has two wineglasses. Seriously?)
 Our embassy community is a great outlet for selling furniture and we were able to unload sell almost everything we needed to: bed, desk, table and chairs, various cabinets, excess luggage, small appliances, etc. There are several churches involved in refugee relief and the local Episcopal Church, St. Paul’s Within the Walls, was able to take some things and referred me to another large relief organization that picked up dishes and other kitchen items we no longer need. When we get back to Portland my 13-year-old plates can be replaced.
Then there are the things that it is hard to find a “home” for. They might be disposable or unwanted by us, but they might be treasures to someone else. A “garage sale” is unheard of, so we carefully set these items out by the curb to see if anyone would claim them. If they are still there in a couple of hours, we take the next step and put them in the trash. There are people who make a life out of “picking” and no doubt some of their treasures end up at Porta Portese, and there are neighbors who will claim a watering can, flowerpot or lamp.
The train tables-- two-of-four -- momentarily used to stack things before moving.
The train tables– two-of-four — momentarily used to stack things before moving.
Ric had some hobby tables he used for his trains. They fit in the category of things-not-worth-storing-for-two-years, so we set one out in the street one day, and voila! it was gone in less than two hours. So a few days later we set out another one. Whoosh! It vanished while we went to the market. There were still two left and we figured we’d use the same magic act to make them disappear; However, in talking to our portiere who was claiming some garage shelving we wanted to give away, Ric said we should ask him if he was interested in the other two hobby tables. So we invited Emilio up to see them. Oh yes, he wanted them! At his casa al mare he has three storage units and can use the shelving for beach umbrellas, chaise lounges, gardening equipment, and all the paraphernalia one has at a beach house. Or he can put them at his son’s house. But, he wondered, did we set one of these units out the other day? Because Emilio was the
Items left curbside are retrieved by people who can use them.
Items left curbside are retrieved by people who can use them.
person who claimed it off the curb! He is, in his own words, un conservatore, a person who keeps stuff.
Changing house in a city full of apartments with tiny elevators is fascinating. Balconies and windows become entry-and-exit points for boxes and furnishings. The team rolled in with a small truck (easy to maneuver in the narrow streets) and a lift vehicle that provided an outdoor elevator. In less than 4 1/2 hours they boxed or wrapped everything for the new apartment and loaded it on the truck. By 4:00PM they had everything inside the new one. At each end the portiere (building superintendent) supervised the process. A second morning was devoted to packing up the items for storage in the U.S. Click on any photo for a slideshow and larger view. 

 

So as I write this it is early Friday morning. We are still not completely unpacked. The bedroom and bath are organized, but the kitchen is still in boxes and while most of the electronics are hooked up, the guest-bedroom-office is a dumping ground to be sorted out. We have 10 days before the first guest arrives so we need to kick into high gear. And we still have 7 days of work left before we retire.
So we are establishing “Base Camp Barton” where the cats will reside while Ric and I travel, and many cat sitters have been lined up for the coming months. More later….

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First and last

4 Apr
The other day, as I packed for a short work-related trip to Milano, I realized this would be my last business trip ever and I could not help recalling to my first, in 1978. That trip had not crossed my mind in years but it was remarkable and the memories now recalled are vivid even these 37 years later.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. Image courtesy of Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee. at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
In 1978 I was working for the Bell System in Minneapolis as an instructor. Why at the age of 25 anyone thought I had anything to teach anyone I don’t know, but I was sent to Washington, D.C., to represent my company in meetings with AT&T and develop a new national training program for our accounts people. Needless to say I was very excited and thought I was a real hotshot. I flew on the now-long-defunct North Central Airlines (whose vestiges live deep inside Delta after many acquisitions) and rented a car at National Airport. (Reagan hadn’t even been elected yet so the airport was far from being renamed.) It was winter. I rented a car and proceeded through the dark city. The rental car broke down on Connecticut Avenue, in front of a church. On a Sunday night there was little traffic. Panic! No cell phones in those days. What to do? As I fretted a man approached the car. More panic! He motioned from the passenger side for me to roll down the window. I cracked it an inch. “I don’t expect you to trust me,” he said, “but it appears you are lost or…” he let the sentence dangle. “I am the pastor of that church. How can I help you?” I explained my situation. He went to the church, called the car rental company, and returned with instructions: leave the car and take a taxi. They would deliver a new car to me in the morning. The pastor even called me a taxi and waited with me until it arrived.
My first business trip was on an airline that no longer exists.
My first business trip was on an airline that no longer exists.
I never got his name, and I doubt I could even find the church any longer, but the kindness of this stranger has not been forgotten. The situation and his kindness made for a memorable experience.
I am hard-pressed to figure out how many business trips I have made over the years. In the 1978-1983 period I often traveled around the upper-Midwest for my employer. Later in the 80s Denver, Phoenix and Seattle figured prominently as the Bell System broke up and I worked for the “Baby Bell” called U.S. West. There were 14 states and 26 cities I had to visit on a regular basis as Vice President of Sales for a division of that large company. Ric and I courted while he flew west and I flew east meeting in Denver’s Red Carpet Club.
In the 90s I had a job in information technology consulting as a managing director requiring travel about 46 weeks a year, often hitting two cities in a week. I sometimes had to look at the phonebook in the middle of the night to remind myself where I was. I was gone so much that our dog quit sleeping on my side of the bed and switched her allegiance to Ric.
I logged over 100K miles each year on Delta for several years.
I logged over 100K miles each year on Delta for several years.
My final career business trip is memorable for other reasons: I am in Italy of all places, not something I would have even dreamed of back in 1978. I took a train, not a plane, and there was no rental car. (It would have cost Euro 40.00 a night to park it!) I will carry memories of terrific co-workers who aided in a difficult task, and of a hotel that tried to charge me extra for checking out early (that’s one I have not heard in 37 years of business travel), and it will be the last time I stay in a luxury hotel paid for by someone else.  No more frequent flyer/sleeper/driver points earned by my employers’ dollars.
How I travel now....
How I travel now….
I am a little nostalgic for those days when airline travel was something one looked forward to. We dressed up, we got reasonably palatable meals served at least some of the time on real china. You could check all of your bags for free! Ric and I were fortunate to take many first class flights on vacation trips, courtesy of those hard-earned miles. The real price of the trip was having to get back on a plane for “fun” after weeks of business trips.
Milano, the Duomo...far removed from D.C.

Milan, the Duomo…far removed from D.C.

Milan, the Duomo…far removed from D.C.
First and last: what a (pardon the pun) trip it has been!

La festa dei nonni

26 Sep
Every country has invented holidays. You know, those days that are more about buying Hallmark cards than about celebration or tradition. Apparently Sunday September 7 was “Grandparents’ Day” in the U.S. It was introduced in 1978 by Jimmy Carter. Other countries have adopted this invented holiday, among them Italy. No slouches in making an invented holiday a marketing opportunity, one health care provider in Rome is using the opportunity to sweep all those little Italian grandmas in for the free check-up that they richly deserve. I guess the grandpas are welcome too (the word nonni is inclusive of both nonna e nonno), but notice no alluring photos of elderly Italian nonni.
Yup, all the Italian grandmas look like supermodels who have aged ever-so-gracefully. No word on the grandpas....

Yup, all the Italian grandmas look like supermodels who have aged ever-so-gracefully. No word on the grandpas….

 

Artemisia does a lot of marketing. I had blood tests done there and ever since I’ve received an interesting array of ads and offers. I see a future blog post coming with some samples for you. I don’t think we have anything quite like it in the U.S., do we? 
As a side note of importance, Artemisia advertises “Aperti tutto l’anno, anche il mese di agosto” (They are open all year, even the month of August). This is a big deal because so many medical practices completely shut down for two to four weeks in August so all the employees can go on summer vacation. No wonder the beaches are so mobbed!

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