Questa Dolce Vita

Ciao a tutti, finalmente riesco a scrivere qualcosina dopo alcuni giorni a Pacentro (Abruzzo) dove abbiamo passato nostro Natale. Se cercate un paradiso nascosto per il vostro prossimo viaggio in Italia, vi raccomando, andate a Pacentro. Non abbia mai visto un paesino così bello e affascinante in vita mia. 

Hello everyone, finally able to write a post after spending four days in Pacentro, a small village in central Italy in the region of Abruzzo. If you are searching for a hidden gem to visit in Italy, this is most definitely it as I have never seen a more beautiful and fascinating place in my life. And that is the true beauty of Italy, you can be somewhere like this and feel completely displaced in time, transported to a simpler life. On these streets, everyone acknowledges each other with a smile and kisses (two or three) on the cheek. Neighbours come knocking, bearing sweet gifts. The bells of the main church in the piazza still chime to call us to midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. 

We only just "moved in" officially two days ago, but here are just a few photos of the house and our new furniture. Tomorrow we are off to Pacentro in Abruzzo to stay with Massi's mother's family over the Christmas holidays. I've been promised that it's simply like living in a fairy tale there so I will have lots to share when we get back I'm sure. Buon Natale a tutti and see you back in Bergamo before the new year.

On Sundays, it is typically an Italian custom to have a passeggiata, a walk about town. That's exactly what we got up to and here are some photos to prove it...We were also blessed with a beautiful sunset towards the end of our stroll. Massi was extra appreciative of being in Italy after those six years in Canada after having found so many small, artisan shops such as the one below which is literally a speciality shop for cutlery works. 

A late-night stroll in the upper city of Bergamo, along cobblestone streets and the prettiest moss-covered walls you'll ever see. 

Just some suits out getting a breath of fresh air on the terrace, no big deal. I've decided that in Italy, people really like to give everything air- laundry is always air-dried, throw rugs are thrown over the balcony, doors opened to air-out a room (it's December), and once I even saw all the pillows lined up in a row on the windowsill. It's a wonderful concept that demonstrates a connectivity that can only exist in places that are a tad warmer year-round and a luxury that I never had in Canada. You cannot really air out your bedsheets in -40 degrees. 

The backstory on this is that my mom was extremely, extremely concerned that I wouldn't be able to find suitable tampons in Italy and she ended up stashing a supply in my luggage. But lo' and behold, it's a miracle...turns out Italy has Tampax. Alleluia! 

Doing a series of posts on things that are fabulous about living in Italy, Charlie Sheen style.

The first reason why Italy is #winning is the photograph below of a page in the flyers the other day: 

So here's the beginning of the not-so-glamorous part about moving to Italy. One must always be aware that, well, it's Italy which might just be synonymous with red tape. Today I had to go to the Questura (kind of a headquarters for police and other official stuff like passports, as well as immigration). According to the document given by the consulate in Canada, it seemed too easy and that should have been my first clue. It says, and I quote- "Every foreign national who enters Italy legally must report to provincial law enforcement authorities at the Questura within 8 days of her entry into the country to request a permesso di soggiorno. The permesso di soggiorno is issued by the Questura...". Sounds almost as if you go there and they give you your permesso (the legal document to stay and work in Italy). Sounds simple right? WRONG! 

Anyways there I am in the immigration office with probably a hundred other people and it's total chaos. The funny part is that when I mention that to the fellow helping me, he tells me that today it's tranquillo (tranquil, very quiet). I'm thinking that I'll be getting all the documents I need within an hour and be on my way. Instead now I'm laughing at myself. First off, no one had the slightest clue what to do with a vacanze lavoro (working holiday) visa. I guess they don't see them very often and this required someone calling someone to call someone who would come and help me instead. So I wait patiently off to the side for 5 minutes, then 10, then 15, and I keep giving the information man the stink eye so he'll know I'm still waiting. Finally the someone I'm waiting for arrives and he is very cordial and nice in truth. I'm going to list now in point form the many, many steps that turns out, I have to complete BEFORE even stepping foot in the Questura: 

• photocopy passport and all pages with stamps 
• photocopy all documents given by the consulate
• go to comune and get an official document stating where I am living in Italy 
• take all above documents to another office to attain a kit with more documents
• complete the kit 
• take the sealed kit to the post office to pay the tariff to send it 
• wait to receive a letter with an appointment date for the Questura 
• go to Questura again 

Can't expressed how enthused I am about this process. To say the least it's un po' complicato, a little bit complicated and there's a long road ahead...but first, let's eat. 

Both the upper and lower city are decorated with angels, stars, and garlands but as you can see from the third photograph, Città Bassa (the lower city) can be quite quiet during the evenings which is actually a nice refuge from the hustle and bustle of Milan. 

We were in Milan over the weekend to check out the traditional market "Oh Bej Oh Bej" set up all around the perimeter of Castello Sforzesco. It was so busy that it was difficult to move (and even more difficult to drink my vin brulé, *collective gasp*), Via Dante and Piazza Duomo were overflowing with people. Milan is very nicely decorated for Christmas, evidently some of the city's sponsors for decorations include many luxury brands such as Swarovski. 

First off, how cute is this? Mr. Porter is actually a men's luxury goods website where you can find gifts for even the most discerning tastes. I personally love their lifestyle- luggage and travel offerings where you can find such glam things-you-never-thought-you-needed such as a Bottega Veneta cufflink holder or cashmere travel eye masks (AMAZING!). This is also where I coveted that Smythson multi-currency travel wallet on a previous post. So if you're on the hunt for a gentleman's gift for any occasion, check out this site. Everything comes personalized with a namecard and with beautiful, sleek, white packaging. I thought about other luxury brands like Louis Vuitton (too obvious) and Prada (too minimalist) for a passport holder before finding this one. The fact that it's tailored towards men, is full leather, made in Italy, and doesn't have a 'trademark' logo splashed all over it is what made it the perfect choice. Let's just hope a certain Italian man named Massimiliano doesn't steal it for a possibly non-hypothetical business trip to Abu Dhabi...I know where you live. 

Next post: all the pretty Christmas decorations in Bergamo and Milan.

Italian grammar is a rompicapo. Well, not all of it, but quite a few concepts are- especially for us native-English speakers. Today I was having a little personal debate about how to say: I thought we had to leave around 8am this morning. The dilemma was between using the congiuntivo imperfetto and the congiuntivo trapassato. It had to be congiuntivo (subjective) for sure since I was trying to say something that I thought, however the big issue is what form the secondary clause should be. If you've never studied a Romance language before, you might not get my drift here but basically there are so many ways to conjugate a verb depending on what you are trying to say and in what tense you are trying to say it in but you also can't go about just mixing whatever you want. 

Option #1: Pensavo che avessimo dovuto partire verso le 8.00. 
Option #2: Pensavo che dovessimo partire verso le 8.00. 

So then I thought, hey, I have a handy-dandy Italian boyfriend, let's see if he makes himself useful...

Io (me): I want to say 'I thought we had to leave around 8am this morning', would I say avessimo dovuto partire or dovessimo partire? 
Lui (him): Avessimo dovuto partire. 
Io: So what would dovessimo partire mean? 
Lui: Means I thought we had to leave. 
Io: And instead, avessimo dovuto partire means? 
Lui: Same.
Io: Ok well how do you pick one? 
Lui: Just pick one. 


And that folks, is the extent of explanation I get from my Italian teacher. Please leave your own explanation or suggestion in comments should you have a little more insight than Massi, I would appreciate it! 

Ecco il mio primo post dall'Italia! Here is my first post from Italy (and here is the cake we ate last night)! I survived the 17-hour trip with two stops and finally made it to Bergamo, and with all my luggage to boot. The latter is nothing short of a Christmas miracle because I thought for sure they would be lost. Today we get right into the swing of things because all of the furniture we (Massi) ordered is arriving and being set up in our soon-to-be not-so-empty house. Are you as curious as I am to see how it looks? Sono sopravvissuta il viaggio nel giro di 17 ore con due scali e finalmente sono a Bergamo (con tutte le mie valigie cioè un miracolo di Natale praticamente). Oggi sono arrivati i mobili per la nostra casa nuova, siete curiosi a vederli?

So it's time to go to Italy. My flight is a good'er- from Edmonton to Iceland, then to Denmark, then finally to Milan where we will then drive the 40 minutes to Bergamo. I should arrive in Italy on Tuesday, December 2nd, in perfect time for my favorite part of the day: dinner. I'm not a believer of goodbyes which is quite convenient for my present situation. When Massi left Canada more than six years ago and we had no plan and no idea when we would see each other next (it would be in Italy, two months later), we told each other ciao-for-now. So, in the hopes of being hopelessly cheesy- Ciao for now! 

An amazing friend gave me this yesterday and it both broke my heart and made it smile at the same time. Who knew that feeling was even possible. Less than 24 hours now.