Moving day

Monday, January 31

I am wide awake at 6 a.m., so I sneak down into the basement and go through our boxes, rearranging items into piles to take, piles to keep in storage here, and piles to throw away. Many of the towels and blankets are musty smelling. We spend the morning packing the Grays' van to nearly overflowing and after lunch, they take us to San Salvatore. The only thing we can't fit are tables, desks and a heavy old bike.

Our apartamento at Casolare dei Fiori (http://www.casolaredeifiori.it) consists of a bathroom, bedroom and another room that serves as a kitchen, living room and, with a fold-out sofa, a spare bedroom. In typical Italian style, many of the appliances are small: the refrigerator, the tv, the sink, the cabinets. However, it does have adequate floor space and it is comfortable and everything is new and shiny. Luca, one of the co-proprietors, says it is only three or four years old. It is supposed to have wireless Internet, but for some reason, the wireless didn’t work on our two-day visit last spring. We acquire the wireless password from Luca and try it out. It still doesn’t work. Luca is surprised. How can this be, I wonder? Has no one else complained about this in the last nine months? Luca says he will call the tecnico.

Steve and I go about determining how many electrical adapters and power strips we will need, as the apartamento is not designed for extended living. Every wall outlet, and there are not many, has only one electrical receptacle. We will need six power bars and one extension cord, plus a few adapters for the heavier appliances. Lucy and Patti unpack the household goods that we have been storing in the Gray’s basement for the last nine years, and within a couple of hours, our place almost looks like a home. We take the Grays out to dinner in Montecarlo, a delicious feast with antipasto, primo, secondo and dolce. We save money by ordering only one plate of each course for each couple, and it turns out to be just the right amount.