August 11, 2014 The Key to living in Italy

August 11, 2014  The Key to living in Italy

The key to living in Italy is to be patient!  Very Patient!  Nothing gets done in a hurry here, so after previously experiencing this, I did not make any plans for today other than to get my Permesso di Soggiorno, and it is a good thing, since it took me from 8am to 2pm to mail a simple document and get a tax number.  When I mentioned this to Luigi this evening, his reply, "Welcome to Italy" :)

As I mentioned yesterday, Liliana picked me up around 8am this morning and we headed for the Questura. All I will say about the experience at the Questura, was it did not have a positive outcome, since the information they gave us was only partially correct.  The lady and one man were very friendly, however, the other man obviously didn't get enough sleep over the weekend or he was still hung over... anyway, not my normal impression of the 'friendly people of Italy' :)

Shortly after we left, we received a call from a Polizia (husband of one of Liliana's co-workers) asking us how it went.  After Liliana described the situation, he told us to come back to the Questura and he would make sure we got in touch with the correct person to accomplish what we needed.  And that was a very Positive experience :)  We now had the correct information.

This all required two Espresso's and a chocolate croissant.  We then spent about half hour getting my documents translated into Italian and then we were on our way to the Official Poste.  Everywhere in Italy is a long line, so you take a number and wait.  After waiting some length of time, it was our turn and we were processed efficiently and on our way to the next order of Business; to get a Codice Fiscale.  This office (similar to our Court House) closes their doors at 12:30pm.  We finally located this office, parked, walked, and arrived at the door and got our time-stamped waiting number at 12:29pm!!! We were the last one, but I was so happy we had made it just in the nick of time!  Then we had to wait for an hour and half for our turn but the process itself, took less than 2 minutes, .  Now it was 2pm, so we headed to EATALY for lunch.  We had a very relaxing lunch and nice visit after which Liliana dropped me off at my apartment about 4pm.  All in all it was a very successful day!  Thank you Liliana!!!!  I couldn't have done it without all your translating!

 A chandelier made from Espresso cups and saucers

 Liliana and I having lunch

After arriving at the apartment around 4pm, I got caught up on some paperwork and a few other miscellaneous things for about three hours, including some Beach Time!, about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.

 

 Some pictures I took today on my walk back from the beach along the promenade:

Then I showered and got ready to go to dinner with the Miscioscia's.

They picked me up about 8:15 and we headed to a restaurant on the beach for Wood Fired Pizza.  What a wonderful evening visiting and some good laughs.  They are all trying to better their English and I am trying to learn Italian.  I even got into all the 'hand language' and my Italian improved immensely :)

This one is Octopus chopped in bite size and the reason the crust is black... it is made with the ink from squid!  It was actually very good!

 This one is olive oil, tomato halves, chunks of fresh mozzarella and fresh arugula.

There were two more... salmon on one and prosciutto on the other.

I am starting to get use to this eating late business, especially since I don't have to get up in the mornings usually and can sleep in.  Did not arrive back at my apartment until 11pm and when we left the restaurant, people were still coming in to eat.  However, August is also the month when most everyone goes on 'holiday' so many shops and places of business are shut down now during all or most of the month of August, so everyone stays out later during August.  The Promenade (about 10 km/6.2 miles long) was absolutely packed tonight with cars parked bumper to bumper and everywhere two and three deep and in most places even all the way to the centerline of the street!  There was a narrow lane down the middle of the street that traffic was sharing going both ways!  It is really something to see!  I dare say, there were thousands of people out and about tonight.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get in a little more beach time and also it is laundry day for me (a washer and dryer in the apartment building) and I have a drying rack for my deck for anything I wish to hang outside... drys very quickly in this heat!  Getting things cleaned up to be ready to leave on Wednesday for Carema.  They will pick me up about 5:30.  Looking forward to meeting new people, and anxious to see any I may know from the US and other places as well as hearing many wonderful things... will certainly be a new experience with the translating.  Very happy to be able to go.

Buonanotte!