Well, we officially made it to Verona in one piece. On the 24th we left Rome at midnight. We borrowed a furgone (Big van) from a friend and D, D’s Dad, Me and Oli all wedged into the front, while our life was packed up in boxes in the back. We made it Verona at about 6am, where we had a looooong breakfast and waited for the police station to open so we could get a ZTL pass (a pass that lets us drive in the restricted areas in the town center) for the day. After we got that, we had to drive out to Lake Garda to get the keys from our landlord (a very nice elderly couple). In their lovely apartment looking over the lake, the landlord’s wife forced me to eat homemade brioche and supplied me with endless coffee while the boys handled all the boring details: where the storage is, the number for our condo association, ect. I was not complaining, even though I was tired, being stuffed with food and caffeine while looking over Lake Garda was heavenly. The Landlady is very sweet too.  After she found out I was American, she began talking slower and clearer so I could understand. She told me she had initially thought I was Sicilian, which is strange because I am so white I am almost clear. Boh.

After that, we climbed back into the van and headed *home*. With the house keys and the ZTL pass in hand, we drove to the entrance to our street. There we had a problem. Since our street is in the centro storico (historical center) it is very VERY narrow. It looked like the van would just barley fit. D decided to go for it, with his dad and me outside giving wild directions. He stepped on the gas and all the sudden a huge umbrella, from the bar at the entrance of the street, went flying! D accidentally swiped the umbrella with the van. Property damage was not exactly the first impression we where hoping for with our new neighbors, but the bar man was cool about it and it wasn’t ruined (neither was the van-thankfully). We still haven’t gone to that bar yet though.

I was nervous to see the new bathroom since I didn’t know what color it would be and since the last time I saw it the whole thing was a concrete hole with tubes sticking out everywhere and because the bathtub was next to the couch in the living room. But it turned out great and it was light blue and white (as opposed to scary yellow or black and pink like our old bathroom). They didn’t put the tub back in, but there was a huge shower that *thankfully* had enough room so I could bend over and shave my legs. It seems like every other shower stall I had been in here barely has enough space to allow you to bend your elbows while washing your hair. The only crappy part is we wouldn’t have hot water until the gas got turned on… in 3 days.

We got all the boxes unloaded and up into the apartment in record time. Then we went out to dinner and came home and crashed. When I woke up the next day D’s dad was already back in Rome with van! He had slept that night, woke up and had driven the 7 hours back to Rome all while I was asleep.

D and I began unpacking, realizing we need a lot more furniture than what came with the apartment- mostly in the bathroom. I hate it when there is absolutely NO counter space. Just one huge sink and a teeny tiny medicine cabinet. So we will be ordering from IKEA soon. I am pretty sure they deliver. Speaking of which, we found out Esselunga delivers groceries and it is not that expensive and since we are car less it helps us out quite a bit. We placed the order and the next day this big burly guy heaved all our groceries up the 2 flights of stairs to our door! The shipping is only 7 euros, but comparing the food prices to that of the neighborhood PAM we are actually saving money ordering from Esselunga. I love it when the easier way is also the cheaper way.

Now that we are mostly unpacked we have been making our nightly walk with all the other Veronese (that are still here) and drinking a spritz. This is definitely my favorite part of living here so far. I also love that there is so much to see right outside my front door. Everyone in Rome told me that the Veronese are really cold and unfriendly, but that has not been my experience at all. I think they are nicer than the people I interacted with in Rome. Especially in terms of customer service we have had only good experiences so far.

Of course, our phone and internet were supposed to be working by now but they aren’t. And, of course, there is no one available to come out and fix it until the end of the month. But that is all to be expected. It wouldn’t be Italy without those things happening. I am just happy the gas guy came out on time!

I also noticed how different the public offices are here compared to Rome. We went to get our residence changed and expected it to be a big, chaotic mess like it usually is when dealing with the government. Instead, we walked into this completely remodeled, air condition, immaculate building. Huh? Are we in the right place? There were clean white chairs everywhere, and the sportellos were nice glass desks facing the waiting area…and the people behind them were smiling?!?! We pulled our number and 5 seconds later our number was called. We didn-t even have time to sit in the chairs. The woman helping us was cheerful and very nice, asking us how we liked Verona. In about 10 minutes it was all over, we had our residency receipts in hand and were standing bewildered outside the office.

“What just happened?” I asked, “Was that really where we were supposed to go?”

We had asked how long it usually takes for the vigili to come to our house to make sure we are actually living there, since in Rome it took about 5 months after I applied for residency there. She said it could be up to 6 months, but it is rarely that long. So 3 days later on a Sunday morning when the doorbell rang, the last person I thought it would be was the police officer verifying our residence. Sure enough there he was. He was also extremely nice, asking us how we were getting on in Verona and welcomed us to the city.

I seriously thought it was all a dream. I just hope it continues to go this way.

PS: I am still working on the new site. But since we don’t have internet (just our cell phone modem) I won’t be able to get it up for awhile. Watch this space though! I am hoping by the end of the month it will be ready.

Tags: Jessica