The house has been packed up, the puzzles have all been sent over. We are ready to begin our new life in Italy. It is a sad day for me. I'm leaving behind a home that I love, my youngest daughter, my father whom I've finally begun talking to again (phone calls were expensive from Hong Kong), and the country I've always called home. I know I will love living in Italy and that the museum will be much grander. The food is amazing, the wine is even better. The views from the windows. It will be a great life for us, but there is still a twinge of remorse for leaving Boca.
We now embark (literally) on our adventure. We are taking a Holland America Line cruise to Civitavecchia and will arrive on the 24th. After a short drive, we will be heading not home, but to the post office to drop off our Permesso di Soggioro. Without that all is lost. We've a few days with friends before heading to the Netherlands for a bit of a party.
But the biggest adventure is going to be putting the museum together. George has ordered 3 1/2 miles of shelving for the walls. I have given plans for new kitchens and guest rooms. We have a man on site now diligently working on sealing all of the leaks and replacing all of the windows. Castles aren't very energy efficient. The prior owner had plastic windows on the upper floors. When they broke, he simply covered them with cloth to keep the worst of the environment out. All of these need replacing. there was a crack in one of the tower walls that he has repaired both inside and out. All of the drains and downspouts have been replaced with beautiful copper piping and the woodworm mitigation has been completed.
The walls have been broken through and the castle, dead cat room, and hotel are all one building. the electric and water have been hooked up in the hotel and it is now fully functional. We are just waiting on furniture and our household goods to arrive. Once we get there, I will get together with the electrician and give him specifications for the lighting and the updated plugs. I can't have a home without charger ports and neither place has any. The master bedroom in the hotel needs a complete remodel which will begin after we arrive.
The biggest challenge for us will be the HVAC system. Currently there is no A/C in either place. I mean who needs A/C when the walls are between 3 and 13 feet thick? Both places have gas radiator heat which will make it nice and cozy in the winter, but will also drastically change the humidity levels. this is going to be a major focus in the coming year. We don't want any of those puzzles to be ruined. But in fairness, I don't believe James had them in a controlled environment either. Our solution may have to be old fashioned humidifiers in winter and dehumidifiers in summer. I've sent over all of the gizmos to record that stuff and am going to closely monitor it to see what needs to be done.
And finally, we had great success with the competition for the floor pattern in the Boca Museum. We would like to do the same for Italy. This time it is not for flooring, but for a name for our new home complex. You see, we have 3 buildings connected into one now. Part castle, part hotel, part home. We feel that Puzzle Castle is cheesy, Puzzle Palace we love, but doesn't really fit (although it is still the name of where we live). Puzzle Hotel? Pass. Puzzle Museum has been taken and will not be used by us. And although it has stuck, no one wants to say they have been to the dead cat room.
We are now looking for ideas on a new name. We have outgrown "The Museum" and need something new. We have the castle filled with puzzles, the hotel filled with puzzles, and well, the workshops. That's right, plural. There will be at least 3, perhaps 4. You can research, build, research, design, play....See, We need something that is all encompassing.
Anyway, the name isn't perfect so...The winning prize? I'll pick you up at the nearest airport and give you a weeks long stay in our Italian home. Heck, we'll even have a car for you to drive so you can explore the area.
What do you say? Send in those ideas please.
