DIY Abruzzo style

October 26, 2018navabruzzo 2 Comments

My husband, John, has to be one of the most talented men I’ve known in my life. He’s not only a gifted chef, but he can fix or do anything around the house, in the yard or with our cars. Before we met, he had already built, on his own with the help of his dad and a few friends, three houses in his spare time. When we got married, we planned ‘our dream house’ on the land we owned in Nelson County, Virginia. John took on this long daunting project, with the assistance of some necessary sub-contractors. But believe me, he did the bulk of the work to the exterior and interior of our 3400 sq foot home (pictured below). Yes, he built this!

So when we moved to Italy, there were no concerns that John couldn’t accomplish house related projects. Little did we know that acquiring the right materials would be the issue. But let me say, this is just from our experience alone. Others doing DIY projects, renovations, etc., may have had or have different experiences in sourcing than we have. And it is most likely very different for those living in metropolitan areas. Since we’ve chosen to live out in the countryside, we have had to adapt. 😉

Now we are big supporters of the family owned small businesses, whether here or back in Virginia. We frequent the ones in Roccaspinalveti, where we are able to buy most of what we need for daily household use. And we don’t want this country overrun with box stores that put the smaller enterprises out of business. But from time to time, we find we do need to look elsewhere for some items.

While we were living on the farm and just renting, John had some small projects and usually the BricoCenter about 20 minutes away in Citta Sant’Angelo had what he needed. He did say that, unlike the big box-store Lowes in the US, the layout of this store, as well as others he’s been to here in Italy, were not as user-friendly. He has to really search for items that were related but not located near each other. He also used OBI and Leroy Merlin (our two favorites) about 45 minutes from the farm, for materials….. Big selection for those DIY.

So, with the move to Roccaspinalveti, came the adjustment. John is one of those guys like Tim Allen “Tool man”. In the US, he logically presented to me the need to own just about any tool there was as ‘he was building our home’. Most of those tools got sold at our big moving sale before we came to Italy. John’s favorite place to shop was Lowes. Here we are in Rocca and we have a surprisingly well equipped general/hardware store – Il Mercatino Di Battista Marcello. For me it was a surprise as it has dry goods for the kitchen and home! ….Pastas, cereals, drinks, cookies, wine, flour, sugar, detergent, paper goods, on and on. For John, he can get most things he needs for his projects, up to a point. …Nuts, bolts, varnish, saw blades, fencing, peat moss, flower pots, ……. I’ve included a few pics below to give you an idea. Great store and great people and only about 5 minute drive from our house. It has been a longstanding business in the community and we are thankful for both Marcello and Lucia.

Marcello locating what you need

Everything imaginable

Lots of goodies outside

Lucia ready to check you out

John is in the process of updating our courtyard, including some gates and fencing to allow the dogs access and give us a place to relax outdoors and barbeque. This project would also require some masonry work. Down the road about 20-30 minutes away is the next DIY business, Edilizia Del Gesso SRL. We ended up there yesterday, ordering block, cement, rebar and the such to be delivered in a few days. Family owned and run, with a smattering of English speaking thrown in to assist with the more technical stuff.

In Italy, many homes are encompassed by lovely gates and fencing, or on the farms, maybe just utilitarian fences and gates. There are many reasons it was done and continues today. Security from roaming bandits, keeping animals at bay, whether wild or containing domestic, and privacy. There are talented blacksmiths ready to craft you the most amazing gates and fences, custom-fitted to your design. But with beautiful custom ironwork come substantial costs. For our budget, we are going with factory built. We actually located our fencing online at Bricoman and they deliver. There are all kinds of ‘Brico’ stores in Italy and they are small or grand sizes. I’ve put a few logos below to some of them as well as other DIY stores mentioned earlier.

We placed two separate orders with Bricoman and all the materials are now here for John to complete his project. It may take a couple more weeks for the fencing to be scratched ‘finished’ on his list, as John is fitting in some winterizing projects. He has gotten most of the gates up, taking into account pre-existing brickwork to which he is adapting into his courtyard design. Fencing will go up last after the masonry work is completed. I promise to post pics when dogs are happily in the courtyard. 🙂 And of course, we plan to use it as well!

Fencing will reach height of gates

Gate Entrance to our lower AirBnB apartment

Fence delivery from Bricoman

Fencing next!

I have to say sourcing materials has been the most frustrating issue for John here in Italy, requiring adjustment and patience. Lowes USA set the bar high in regards to ease of purchase, cost and availability. But at the day’s end, neither of us would change how it is here. We patronize our local businesses, develop friendships and working relationships, and support the local economy. No Lowes can ever compete with that! Ever!… projects get completed, my husband smiles..we relax and enjoy life here…

I leave you with a totally unrelated picture… the beauty of the Majella, Central Apennines with an early snow…everyday there is beauty around us..when we get too caught up in projects, we take a walk, most often with the dogs. We are always ‘wowed’ by the views here. Enjoy and ciao for now..

A Year

September 9, 2018September 9, 2018navabruzzo 4 Comments

We’e coming up on our one year anniversary for making the move to Italy. Every day, we still live the dream and the fact we’ve been here a year still blows us away… truly.

So what have we learned? Is it what we hoped it would be? Absolutely. We came into this life-change with eyes wide open and any bumps we hit along the way haven’t thrown us. But what would we have done differently or what really bugs us? I’ll go there first and save all the good stuff for later..

First, living on a farm…. hmm…well, this particular farm, would we have changed that if we had time or could find something else…most likely. Or at least dig a bit deeper…yes an unintentional pun… to really understand the facts. We were told at the onset that the vineyard surrounding the farmhouse was organic. Well, at one time it was, but the farmer gave it up as too costly. Yes, there is a biologic vineyard down the road, but unfortunately…down the road. We endured constant chemical blasting most evenings as insecticides were sprayed in different sections around us, depending on the day of the week. Then, there were the applications of pig waste as fertilizer. You say that’s organic, and yes, but an amazing stench assaulted us through our windows at night.

The farmhouse we lived in had a barn below our living area. This is very common in rural Italy. This area had to be winterized to keep the cold air from blowing under our floor. John tacked up lots of cardboard and tarps and we knew that would help. But unfortunately, even with the radiators and fireplace going, we froze in the winter. And many folks will tell you that is how it is in Italy in the older houses, unless your sitting right in front of the fireplace. So now we understand why there are daybeds in the kitchen. That room becomes the center for living during the winter.

Then there’s the septic tank….our property manager believed that our sewage system was connected to the comune’s, similar concept of county sewer back in the States. Again, we should have dug deeper…or probably not, just asked more questions. Turns out we were on a very faulty private septic system which alerted us as the weather got warmer and we did more laundry. I won’t go into the nasty details, but just know that raw sewage was escaping out into the field behind our house.

There was the issue of the farm road. Great in dry weather.. a disaster to drive in the wet winter, mud bogging the tires down. This past May, the comune did come out (right before local elections) to work on the road. It made a huge difference, but I’m only going by summer weather. Not sure how it would fare in the wet winter.

Even though we lived on a farm, we were about 15 minutes for the beach. Beautiful, yes, but oh the traffic! Off season a bit crazy but we endured it. Summer was another story and it was just too much for us country folk. We did the bulk of our shopping there, as John had fallen in love with IPER supermarket. When the summer tourists arrived, we realized we would gladly change our shopping habits when we moved to Roccaspinalveti.

As far as paperwork and bureaucracy in Italy, we came expecting it, so it really didn’t bother us. Whenever we had an appointment, I did my research well in advanced to be prepared. Not too many bumps, but just some frustrations as they handle paperwork very differently here. And there is a lot more of it, especially in social services and government offices.

Farewell to the farm in Treciminiere

So yes, there were some issues that we dealt with but through it all, the views and our awesome neighbors (though few and far between) made it worth it for our short stay in the Atri area. Just living in Italy basically erases any annoyances we found on this farm!

We woke to amazing views of the Gran Sasso Mountains and rolling fields, vineyards & olive groves. We made great friends there, some English-speaking, some not, and we hope to continue those friendships even though we have moved a bit further south. Romeo and I joined Sea Rescue Dogs out of Pescara and we look forward to new endeavors with them this coming year. John became one of their unofficial photographers, enjoying new friendships and the beach 😉 Our neighbor, Ugo, checked in on us most days and gave freely of the bounty of his very large garden. He amazed us, at 86 years old, out working his garden as well as in the groves and vineyards. Our first year…. the list goes on..what a blessed first year.

Our move to Roccaspinalveti and to our very own home was a bit exhausting. We did many runs in our car with the small stuff over the course of a month, then the movers brought our furniture. The dogs have settled in and I’m still working out some areas to take Romeo on some long treks. (Basically, I’m scoping out where the boars are mostly during the day and to stay clear of those areas.) We have been welcomed in this lovely mountain town with open arms from our neighbors. Everyone is ready with a ‘buongiorno’ and ‘would you like to stop in for coffee’. Our neighbors directly across the street from us have been a God-sent. And John has a true buddy in his friendship with Franco. It’s wonderful to hear them both laughing and see them working together. John’s language skills are on super drive!

Moving Day – Great Guys

The boys settling in

Our house is sturdy, but needs some cosmetic updating. John and I both have projects, but take time to be more Italian. Work a bit, take a break, visit neighbors, take a nap, work a bit more, go for a walk, oh and don’t forget to enjoy some food in all of this…

We’re catching up on our sleep, as the move knocked us down a bit. As we start visiting the local hill towns as well as enjoying fun stuff around our new hometown, I promise to share what we see and certainly assault you with pics of the delicious food here. And as always, I post some pics from John..

Ciao for now

Peppers drying at a neighbor’s house

Fantastic Pizza – 5 minute walk from our house

Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo located in Piazza Roma – festivities in honor of the Holy Liberata and Filomena

Roccaspinalveti at dawn – view from our balcony

Our Furry Kids

February 20, 2018March 16, 2018navabruzzo 6 Comments

waiting on the ball John and I both came to our marriage with dogs. Well, not just dogs per say, but more like dog children. And a funny thing, we both turned out to be lab lovers. The thing about labs is they actually do remain children all their lives, even when they become elderly… We kid each other that it’s like living with 3 year olds… every day…

When we were planning our move here to Italy, one of the big issues was moving our dogs safely to our new home. You can read about that part of our plan in my posting Hiring a Pet Mover. It went so smoothly, we were amazed. Yes, Romeo did get a UTI, but a few weeks on antibiotics cleared that right up.

Apart from getting them here, was the thought of leaving our wonderful vet behind in Lovingston, VA. I am sure Dr. Ligon would love to come here to examine our pups as well as see Italy. A fanciful thought but just not a practical one. 😉 I did have some concerns trying to locate a highly recommended veterinarian in our region, with me not knowing anyone to ask. Would he/she live up to standards we had come to know and love back in the States? Would there be sticker shock? Would we be able to express our concerns so that we were understood?

All of that was laid to rest. We found two excellent practices, all through Facebook and Google reviews. The first one is a small practice led by an endearing and competent veterinarian. Both our dogs love her and her techs, and she has a very gentle manner. Romeo was the first to visit her upon exiting his flight with an UTI. (That was more from his habit of holding it longer than necessary than anything done erroneously with pet mover management. )We got that straight and then Orso, Mr. Timid at the vet, had to be checked out for a paw infection. Again, gentle doctor fixed him right up.

Then things ‘heated’ up for Orso. Orso is our 12 year old lab, one of my retired SAR dogs. Back in June 2017, he had a soft tissue sarcoma removed from his side by Dr. Ligon, DVM in Nelson County, VA. Tests followed and it appeared he was cancer-free, apart from the sarcoma, and would still ‘be with us’ to make the trip. Whew.. But we knew, at some point, cancer would return. A lump developed on the back on his front left leg, and we needed a clinic that could address the possible implications. Once again FB & Google reviews found us an excellent clinic only 30 minutes from the house. This particular practice had been founded a number of years ago and had just recently moved into a new facility. Last count, I figured they have at least 7 or 8 vets on staff, open 7 days a week from 9 am – 7 pm! And my concerns of being understood….out the window. At least two, if not three, of the vets speak English. The staff is knowledgeable, trained in the latest medical advances, and most of all, compassionate. And what great care and concern they showed Orso and us. We are totally impressed and know we are blessed to find this clinic.

dear orso.jpg I’ll try to condense Orso’s treatment as best I can. They removed the lump on his leg, sent off for analysis (non malignant), did ultrasound, found spots on his spleen, returned after a given time for second ultrasound, concerns that spots appear to be growing, removed spleen and 4 lumps on his side, all sent off for analysis. And through all this, Orso was a trooper. John and I… not so much and the staff couldn’t have been more caring to our feelings as well.

What about the costs on all of this, you may wonder… About half of what we would pay in the US. The vets actually apologized to us about “charging us so much!” In the meantime, as we await analysis, Orso has recovered nicely and feeling himself again. Whatever the outcome of the analysis, any treatment will only be for pain management, when and if needed, and anything that would improve his quality of life here.

I know that is a lot about our dogs, but again, they are our furry children and give us unconditional love. We try to match that with our love in return and the best possible care. And they get to learn and live Italian. 😉 So rest assured, if you are moving to Italy with your canines, there are wonderful veterinarians to be found.

In the meantime, Spring is trying to make a bit of headway, but cold, chilly, wet weather has set in for a bit. I don’t want to think about what the mud will be like at the end of this spell. The farmers around us, Ugo and Francesco, are getting their vineyards and olive groves ready for the new season. Also, the fruit and nut trees are blooming all around. I’m getting itchy for nice hiking weather, then bring on the hot, dry summer! But until then, some early spring shots. Enjoy and ciao for now…..

Olive Trees Pruned

Vines Ready

Early blossoms….whoops.. possible snow next week?

When The Winds Blow

December 12, 2017March 16, 2018navabruzzo Leave a comment

Last year, this region of Italy was slammed with an inordinate amount of snow. The folks around here are saying this only happens once in 5 years. Well, that seems like a pretty tight model for us. Power was out for many days, snow reached up to tops of doors, stuff like that. Now, the worst of it was closer to the mountains, but even Treciminiere, where we live, had a couple of feet from what I can gather looking at pictures. Even if we don’t get much snow, fingers crossed as I’m not a winter person, the wind blows from the mountains with a fierce-some force.

So, we’re taking measures to prepare for the worst, and hope, as they say, for the best. One of the challenges is the mud around here. The alluvial soil turns into glue. Sticks to your car, feet, dogs’ paws and just is a pain. The road we live on is gravel and farm tractors are up and down it during the day. This in itself may prove to be a bit problematic maneuvering if winter is wet and warm. So maybe I need to pray for cold temps until the spring. In regards to mud and our parking area outside the courtyard, we lined the area with cane stalks (in lieu of straw) and this will give us a stronger base to walk over. Always the courtyard to park in if needed.

Cantina – wine cellar

Our ground floor

The stable – used for milk cows

Another item to take care of are the broken windows and open spaces under the house. We have basically three rooms on the ground floor under our living space; stable, cantina & storage. The stable was the worst offender with a number of broken panes of glass and just open drafty windows. John took cardboard, left over from all the IKEA boxes, and covered up all the openings. He then sprayed the cardboard with some acrylic to weatherproof. Looks like it’s working and the floors upstairs are much warmer. In addition, John put up a tarp over the entrance to the cantina to stop more airflow.

Inside, we had to take care of the entry hall as this space was an add-on at a later date and not winterized at all. Single pane windows, sorely needed silicone, and the older part of the house is not heated. John bubbled wrap windows and the dividing door from unheated to heated. We also got some heavy curtains to cover the single pane windows in the heated part. Much better and the dogs are happier as well, as they have their beds in this hall.

We have lots of gas for our boiler and cords and cords of wood. Dogs have a nice garage with dog beds & heat lamp, so they are set on the days it’s not too nasty. Otherwise, the guys are usually inside with us when there’s bad weather. In the unheated part of the house, we have a cold storage room. We are setting aside drinking and washing water, extra staples and the such. So, yes, there are some challenges apart from all the beauty, but that’s a given everywhere on planet earth 🙂 And it doesn’t sound too much different from winters in Virginia.

Some fun stuff that has been going on these past few weeks are wrapped around the holiday season. Christmas decorations have gone up in towns and villages and many homes have twinkling & blinking colorful lights. Stores are filled with all kinds of sweet gifts, wrapped in sparkling and shiny papers and bows.

Lovely Tree at a Local Bar

Serious Dolce

Stacked Cake

Window Shopping

More Dolce

In Atri, the season opened with La Notte dei Faugni, which coincides with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

(Google translate: The tradition of the “faugni” in Atri is very rooted and dates back to the pre-Roman period, when the city was the capital of southern Piceno. In Atri the “faugni” appeared for the first time in religious rites in 431 AD. with the council of Ephesus. Subsequently, this ritual was renewed on the occasion of the translation of the Santa Casa da Nazart to Loreto. Tradition has it that even today, at the dawn of December 8th (5.00 am), feast of the Immaculate Conception, there are “fauns.” The Faugni are bundles of light, well-connected reeds that are brought into procession along the streets of the historic center of the city of Atri, from people of all ages, each of which embraces a “faugno.” The event acquires a particular charm due to the historical setting in which it is repeated: you walk the streets and neighborhoods of the historical center, along the remains of an ancient theater of the 1st century AD, the churches from the thirteenth century to the eighteenth century and the ducal palace of Acquaviva (one of the most powerful families in central southern Italy from the fourteenth century to the 18th century.)

John and I are still not quite into the late night/all night partying culture of Italy, so we bailed very early in the evening. We did get to see & hear a wonderful Celtic Italian band – Modena City Ramblers – warming up for their set that was to begin at 1:30 am. Warm up was at 8 pm and we could manage that. Streets lightly filled with the earlier crowd. When I looked back on FB the next day, I saw pictures of the streets packed with folks during the wee hours of the morn.

Also this past week, I got to attend a training session with Sea Rescue Dog Association. Romeo and I were both thrilled to be working. As I mentioned in my bio, I had been an operational dog handler in search and rescue in Virginia for a bit over 25 years. Great years of volunteer work and also great friendships with other dog handlers. Sorely missed! I do get a chance to chat online, from time to time, with my good friend, Pam, who is an operational handler with K9 Alert SAR Dogs, but it can’t take the place of face-to-face in-person camaraderie.

Going to this training on Sunday, now that I’m planted in Italy, was a treat, and Romeo got a good workout. Working dogs need to work. Sure, I take him for numerous walks, but built into this breed is the desire to work = thinking play, so to speak. Sunday was the ticket. Two hours of obedience & socialization exercises. Some of the lesson took place in two different adjoining (busy) piazzas and the other on the beach. I was in heaven, as I was brought up as a water baby and the sea calls. Romeo was a bit in shock. IMGP1078 - Copy First time seeing waves. And he really wanted to test the waters, but the exercise was to teach the dogs, at this point, to remain on shore while the handlers approached the water. Lots of fun and we’re invited back as either a guest or a member.

Now, I did retire from SAR to give John and I more time together to explore and that is still set in stone. Giving each weekend to training is a huge commitment, which I did faithfully carry out in Virginia. Now we want to see Italy and Europe. No more callouts in the middle of the night or on holidays to look for a missing person. I’ve passed that baton over when we moved here. But I can be a member, train Romeo and assist on a more relaxed schedule. No, I’m not going to test to be operational, because at this time in my life passing a lifeguard test is not going to happen. 😉 I guess you can tell I am pumped as I’m rambling on and giving you way too much information. I’ll stop here with a huge “thank you” to everyone at Sea Rescue Dogs and, of course, my husband.

I leave you with some great shots, courtesy of John, of our training day. Ciao until next time.

Milestones

November 25, 2017March 16, 2018navabruzzo Leave a comment

Moving to a new country definitely requires some paperwork, bureaucracy, patience, grunt work, prodding, copying, multiple appointments, misunderstandings, more patience and then finally success.

john carta It’s one thing to chat with our new Italian friends in our basic Italian and to have them take the time to make us understand or even speak a little English back to us. But when you need to get some official paperwork completed, such as a visa, you better be up on your Italian, have a friend come to interpret and pitch hit for you, or you’ll be using Google translate and still be misunderstood and also not understand. All in a day becoming a new resident of this country.

I won’t bore you with all the details but here is the sequence we needed to follow and we’re just about there:

I applied (or could just wait for John ) for residency. I need to be acknowledge by the comune as a resident to get free health care.
John needed his Carta di Soggiorno (5 year visa) to get his Codice Fiscale ( I had mine already being a citizen).
John gets his Codice Fiscale (Italian Social Security number)
John applies for residency
We both go to get our Health Insurance card and assigned a primary physician. If you have a recommendation, you can pick your own.
Also at anytime now we can get our Carta Identita. ID Card so we don’t have to carry our passports around.

Does your brain hurt yet? Mine did a bit, but we’re at the end of the tunnel and this week we pick up our health cards and open a bank account.

……..

Update on on Tessera Sanitaria (Italian healthcare card) and bank… John and I got our cards today, so socialized healthcare is now part of our lives and we are very pleased, indeed. Went to open a bank account and, to get the best deal, we need our Carta Identita. John heads off to the grocery store this morning, where they have a photo booth, and get some pics taken. I have mine and Monday we will get our cards, then back to the bank. Everything is falling into place. And hopefully our car will be ready for us sooner than not. Still waiting on delivery to the dealer.

……

My good friend, Pam, recently asked me what I’ve been doing apart from all the great trekking through the vineyards with the dogs. Truthfully , not enough of seeing Italy.. Setting up a home takes more time than I remember, because we’re doing a lot from scratch and in a new land. And once all this paperwork is behind us, I sincerely hoping we’ll have MUCH more time to play!

Well, we did take a short trip out to another medieval hill town, as well as walk some more through our ‘home town’, Atri. When you come to Italy, you will be amazed by the number of these hill towns everywhere. The terrain lends itself to these strongholds against invasion, and today are cherished and lived in, thus preserving ancient structures and character. The environs are usually friendly, calling out a greeting, but you will find the ‘older’ group a bit more hesitant until they have given you the once-over. 😉 Here are a few shots of the streets, which we love to walk. Atri is high on our list to do more touring with eight museums, centuries old churches, cisterns and just some wonderful belvederes overlooking the mountains and sea.

Atri

Mutignano

Belvedere in Mutignano

Well, Thanksgiving, a very American holiday, just passed and oh, what a memorable one it was. True, we were not with family, and that is sad, but new friends made it a special day. Having this holiday with other English speaking residents, some from the United States (actually 6 of us out of the 8 for dinner were from Virginia!) and two lovely Brits, just seemed to balance life here in Italy. It’s one thing to make new Italian friends and be immersed, but there is a strong inherent draw to those of the ‘same’ kind. Allowing our brains to relax back into English, share similar stories, jokes and loves, make for a fun and relaxing evening. I put away my cellphone for the evening. No pics. Just be in the moment, eat great food, conversation running rampart and savor the moment.

A few weeks back, I mentioned us signing up for our Italian classes. Twice a week, we meet at a school, for our class. Our teacher, Cristina, is a lovely young lady, that speaks rapid fire Italian with just a smidge of English. And I mean a really small smidge! Sink or swim as John and I see it. It’s a good review for me, as I have had weekly Skype with Stef for over a year, and definitely a great start for John. The other students are all from Africa, progressing toward their work documents. Brave young men that risked all coming to Italy on a boat with many others. Last night we chatted with two young men from Nigeria, who both have high hopes of making it to the United States for jobs. They are all drawn to New York City, Chicago and LA. John and I admire their courage and determination, and wish them all the best. We will all be together in this class for the next 6 months, as 100 hours are required to complete.

So, Thanksgiving and Black Friday are now behind us. Time to pull out the Santas and start decorating! Get a tree and put up some lights….and to travel to different local towns for Christmas festivities! That can only mean more fun and food 😉

I’ll be back soon. Ciao for now….

Craziness

November 6, 2017March 16, 2018navabruzzo Leave a comment

Yes, we came here with eyes wide open. Different culture, government, customs are all a part of this jam-packed experience – life. So what kind of craziness are we experiencing and actually laughing over.

Poster in Atri’s Municipal Bulding

How’s this… we sign up for Italian lessons, offered through our region at a very affordable price. BUT hardly any of the employees in that office speak any English to help us. We’re signing up to get better at Italian, but don’t understand enough of it to figure out what someone is saying 100 miles an hour.. Seem a little off to you? Does to John and I and we just laugh. Thankfully, our good (Italian) friend, Stef, called the office and got all the details. Then, trying to locate the class… Google said one thing, or maybe two… here we go again on navigation. Stef got other information when she called the office for us. In the end, we had to stop some young folks on the street to get to the building two blocks over from where we were. It all worked out fine and now we are in Italian classes 2x a week for the next 6 months!

Cellphones and internet. Very cheap here. Rather than doing a two year contract like we had back in Virginia with Verizon, we do a month to month SIM card. Internet is 30 euros a month for 30 GB. Two cellphones a month – 20 euros. Now that works for me. And the internet is SO much faster than what we had back in Nelson County. But, there is a little glitch…our international calling is messed up. Been on the blink for over three weeks and the provider is ‘working on it’. It really shouldn’t be this difficult to fix, but again this is Italy and things just work in a different manner. So we have email, FB, messenger, etc. to stay in contact when needed. Ok, update on the international calling as we stopped by the store yesterday evening. When the support ticket was placed, it was only placed for credits due us, not for the technical issue of the international calling. That is now in place and I’ve been promised it would be working in 24 hours or refund and new provider. Guess I’ll know by this evening… And we are still laughing… Good sign.

Deliveries to our house. Now this issue is a truly perplexing one. The mail lady was able to find us, so no issues with mail deliveries. Common courier is another story. As packages cannot be left here without a signature or a paper handed over to the receiver, a call is made from the courier asking if we are home at a certain time to receive the package. All well in good, but usually the caller is speaking Italian very fast. I’ll try to slow them down, we work out a timing, but it’s our address that throws them. First there is no street sign up at the intersection. Google has not named our road and we don’t think most of the drivers are using Google anyway. Another problem is no one has lived at this address for a long time, so there isn’t a reference for these younger drivers. It’s definitely a learning curve to get them down here, but slowly we are working through it. Some packages make it here, some down the road at the winery. One right now is lost in limbo and trying to get that solved. We’re not laughing as much about this craziness right yet…

But the craziness is just, once again, small stuff. It works itself out. Usually. What we remember mostly about each day are the beautifully unique places we visit, the people we meet and new friendships developing. Today Luigi, our property manager and new friend, stopped by to drop off some paperwork. Along with him was his friend, Massimo. They bring laughter and friendship into our home and we are blessed for it. Yesterday, a friend of Luigi’s, Arturo, delivered us a second load of firewood. We’re stocking up for winter. Arturo was with his family at the local restaurant for dinner. We were there as well. At the end of our meal, desserts showed up. We remarked to our waitress that she must be delivering them to the wrong table, as we had just finished ours. She said the gentleman (Arturo) at the other table had bought them for us. How could we refuse! New friendships everywhere we turn in this rural community.

This afternoon, we finally drove a few miles up the coast to a beach town – Pineto. I say ‘finally’ as we’ve been living here a bit over a month and not visited the sea yet. The sea is in my blood. My mother’s family was from a seaport in Abruzzo and my father’s family from Naples. Both on the water and the traditions of the sea and seafood were handed down to me. I learned to swim at the Jersey shore with my dad as my instructor. So not to have gotten down to the sea, as close as it is to us here, is just crazy!

The beautiful Adriatic in November

Deserted November beach – enjoy it now – super crowded in summer

So we took a break from the ‘setting up house’ thing and headed to Pineto. Not only does Pineto have a wide beautiful beach, of course deserted at this time of the year, but a shoreline of ancient, commanding pine trees. These imposing sentinels supply deep shade in the summer and today added mystery with the subdued lighting of fall. We were also pleasantly surprised by a food & crafts market along the village’s main road. I’m just sorry I didn’t come more hungry. 😉

pine trees

pineto market red

Olives Galore!

I would say John and I are changing. We can laugh through the craziness. It’s not something we did as readily in the US. Maybe it’s because we realize that we’d miss out on the gift of being here. Or it may be an acceptance that it’s all part of this amazing life here in Italy.

Just Life

October 18, 2017March 16, 2018navabruzzo 2 Comments

So here we are starting to navigate through some real-life decisions. Some can be a bit stressful and others just darn confusing. I find myself getting too caught up in overthinking things. Time to take a walk through the vineyards, or watch a sunset or sunrise. Sit down in a field and just be. If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve seen tons of pics of our new home, food and surroundings. Feast for the eyes and all the senses. So just know, when real-life decisions start to crowd me, off I go into the fields, on farm roads, Romeo and Orso in tow. Just allowing the beauty to wash away any little worries that may try to crop up on this gorgeous canvas of life here in Italy.

farm road

So what could be so stressful? We bought a car this week. Well, we put a deposit on a car. The car wasn’t on the lot to drive home. Just one in the show room. We actually had to drive about 20 minutes down the road into a larger city to see a few or to test drive one. Our car will be ready to pick up in about 3 months. Interesting concept… I’m sure if we had gone to a larger dealership, we’d be in our new car now. But we chose to work with this smaller dealer closer to home. Loyalty to the local businesses or was it just because we like the low key salesman… Either way, we’ll continue driving our rental and hopefully we’ll be surprised with an early Christmas gift. Last time I purchased a new car was probably about 20-25 years ago. This car isn’t expensive, so the stress isn’t related to cost, but I think that some of the stress or just uneasiness comes from the thought ‘what did I miss in the transaction because our business dealings were 90% in Italian’! And what did I buy? Dacia Duster by Renault. Google it.

Another reality check: dogs. Romeo needed a vet. He got an UTI because he rather hold his water than let it go. Most likely flight related. So you’re no longer on vacation when one of your ‘children’ needs a doctor. We found an amazing vet located about 20 minutes from our house. She and all her staff are exceptional and Romeo is on the road to healing. Small world.. the vet’s brother is in water rescue with his Golden Retriever and hopefully he and I (and our dogs) will meet up soon. And we made a new friend with Dr. Borsini. And as we speak, Orso is struggling a bit with his arthritis. In my enthusiasm to put in lots of miles of trekking through the vineyards, I’ve overwalked the old man. So we’ve backed off on long walks with him, upped his supplements and hoping rest will get him back feeling better. If not, he’ll be meeting the doc real soon.

Dr. Borsini and two of her wonderful technicians. Romeo getting lots of love and great health care. Shown here a week later all healthy. Grazie mille!

Then there were bunches of silly things. I’m mixing up Tuesday (martedi) and Wednesday (mercoledi) and showing up at appointments on the wrong day. Well, they’re both M words and I’m sure it’s happened to other transplants. I’m not paying attention to details and poor dear husband John drove us 2 1/2 hours to a lunch that was 3 days off. Just dumb stuff like that. Can wear you out if you let it get to you. If we find ourselves in a place on the wrong day or time, we just enjoy the moment. Look at something new, find some focaccia to eat and marvel at our surroundings.

So on the not so stressful meter, everywhere we turn, we are meeting and getting to know new people. Many of them are locals, such as Marco at the dealership or Dr. Borsini. But others are foreigners, such as us, buying (or renting) their future retirement homes. Yesterday, we traveled a few hours south into the region of Molise to meet some folks from Britian. Our friend, Angelo, from Palata, organzied a day in Agnone for all of us English speaking people. One couple hoped to move into their new home within the year. They had been moving furniture and remodeling a lovely townhouse. The other family found their dream home in the countryside and were enjoying the process of remodeling. They have a 10 year plan before they would move permanently. We all toured the famous Campane Marinelli bell foundry, had a stop at a delicious cheese shop and then a lovely al fresco lunch at a local farm.

Feels like I’m in a movie or travel brochure. Pinch me!

Wish we had brought a cooler

When we lived in Virginia, I tended to spend a lot of time alone in the woods with my dogs. It’s how I refueled myself. I worked, enjoyed my time with my fellow workers, and would meet up with friends occasionally for a dinner out. But most of my time was spent training my dogs for search and rescue, whether at official trainings almost every weekend or informal ones during the week. Everyday was a training day to keep dogs keen on their jobs or to learn new ones. Maybe a lot of this was, not only enjoying the work that goes into providing a service, but filling up something in my life. Hang with friends that were all dog handlers, and all of us keen to talk about our dogs and where they were in their road to a certification. Now I’m finding time to experience the journey of meeting new people and making new friends in a totally different setting. I do miss SAR and my friends, but I’ve embraced this new chapter in my life. And I’m enjoying it! Part of the entire Italian package, I would say. Stretching me…

But I’ll leave you with another evening view from the house that fills my soul with amazing peace…. ciao for now.

sunset gran sasso

Navigating Life in Abruzzo

Not Really Expats Living the Dream

Category Adjusting To Italy

DIY Abruzzo style

A Year

Milestones

Craziness

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