DCD and excellent news!

We have our Permesso!  We have our Carta di Identita!  

The Polizia have made sure we actually live in the home we exit from every time we see them.  At the risk of getting in trouble, living in Italy is a game and we are learning how to play it. (I much prefer Eurorails)  We have our household goods on the move!  It's been a whirlwind month yet again.  This time it is all very good news.  Well, most of it. There is that little problem of the big house in Boca but that will be solved all in good time. 

It's been a long month with very little to report on.  We plug along here in Panicale until it's time to go to a puzzle trip somewhere.  And that is just what we have done.  We spent the last month just living.  I'm putting together a Lego Winter Village for the local school children...Did I mention, we are opening the ground floor of the castle.  George is playing Santa Claus, I am setting up a room full of Lego for the children to look at, and a room full of puzzles to play.  Of course there will be treats for the children and adults both.  We feel it very important to give back to the community.  We love living here and really want to be a part of Panicale.  

We had a Discord puzzler and his family come for a Sunday visit.  This was most enjoyable, especially since he cooked for us! It was a delightful visit and I hope they are able to return when more puzzles are in place. 

We decided as always. to attend DCD.  This was my 7th.  It would have been 9th, but there was that COVID thing.  I'm surprised that I've attended that few.  It feels like I've been going forever.  That's not a bad thing.  I really enjoy attending and seeing friends.  Oh, and the puzzles are fun too.

George and I decided to drive yet again.  I'm up to it and we both enjoy the scenery.  We are American and long drives are nothing to us compared to our European counterparts, but I must say, I'm becoming European.  I love driving, but there is something to be said about getting to the next hotel when the sun is still up. Our MO is to bring along the refrigerator and have a picnic lunch somewhere along the way.  Sadly, this trip we had a lot of rain storms so the picnics were inside the car. No matter.  It's more time alone with my lover. This too reads as odd as we are retired with no one at home. And yet, we always have someone at home. There is so much work going on.  

Our first stop was a nice ski lodge that we enjoy in Aosta, Italy.  This time we stayed in a room with a tub.  that was a hoot. The ceiling was angled so we could only sit on one side because on the other we banged our heads.  But we don't get it for the bath.  We love the views.  I can't wait to go through in winter and see it filled with snow.  But not until the pass is opened again. The Mont Blanc tunnel is closed until January and I do not want to drive the way we did in winter snows. It was bad enough in the rain.  

I've realized, I'm becoming European. That hotel in Aosta was 6 hours from home.  There is something psychological about getting past Milan on the first day.  The next night we stayed at an AB&B that was really cute.  George made friends with some of the other guests that were staying there and shared our bottle of wine with the Mr.  The Mrs. shook her head and gave a look.  I think she was a Puritan. (The Mr.  Tilted his glass in request for a refill unbeknownst to the Mrs.) 

It was a cute little place, I think we will add it to our "stay again" list.  It is 5 hours from Aosta and 6 hours from Oskar's.  Perfectly in the middle.  The Gite au Chalet in Laferté-sur-Aube, France is a full service place. Kitchen, Laundry (if you don't mind leaving with wet clothes after one night), parking, shower, no heat.  The 9 degrees in the room was a bit cold for me. We had a comfortable bed and a pleasant evening.  I made a chicken salad for us for dinner. With my lover and a bottle of wine, what else does one need?  

The next day we drove to Belgium.  There we met with Raf Peters (and his lovely wife) from Smart Games.  We had a nice few hours talking puzzles and mutual acquaintances.  Raf was surprised to learn that I had every Smart Games puzzle up 'till this year.  He very generously gifted us a few that I didn't have.  It was a very nice way to spend an afternoon. (Aside from the parking ticket caused by a slew of broken ticket machines)

The next morning we awoke and drove to Dan Haag so I could stop at the Lego store.  Ok.  Ok.  This has gone overboard.  I'm bored. I need our PUZZLES!  I've been building Lego since Christmas of last year knowing that if they arrive broken, it is an easy fix.  I have to be doing something all the time.  I couldn't do Crystal Puzzles in Boca so I picked up a Lego. Thanks a lot Krissy!  It's all your fault.  Anyway, I got my passport stamped-it's a thing! And then we headed on to Oskar and José's.  They are dear friends and have been putting up with the two of us together since.... 

Today is José's birthday. I shan't tell you her age, but I am so very glad she chose to spend it with us.  We had a lovely dinner at a wonderful sushi place.  

Friday we met with the daughter of Ivan Muscovich to acquire his collection!  What a wonderful addition to the library that would be.  (Edit, like the Singmaster collection, someone in the UK has told the family that they would like it.  So much for that addition.) No matter, the library is filling up nicely as it is. 

On Sunday it was Dutch Cube Day, our reason for heading up North again.  As always, it was great to see old friends.  We missed quite a few at the last IPP and it was catchup time.  We wandered the room buying up puzzles that would make a nice addition to the collection.  This year I didn't purchase too many.  The problem is, our collection isn't on display yet so I didn't want to purchase duplicates. In the afternoon, we listened to Ton talk about some cubing competitions and a talk on fast methods of solving. George and I presented on the progress of the World Puzzle Center and a talk on some of the IPP exchanges from this year.  I found that to be great as I still haven't played with that many.

Sadly on Monday we said our good-byes to Oskar and Jose and headed out.  Our first stop was Baden Baden to take the waters again.  This will become ritual for us when traveling North. The rest of the trip home was uneventful.  

When we returned, our friend Diogo came for a few days. He and George designed a puzzle or two and had good fun in the workshop.  As always, we had a lovely dinner at Gallo, sadly it was the last one of the year.  Something to look forward to in the spring.  

The painting is now being done in the hotel and the shelves will start going up soon. 

It is autumn now and the colors across the road are stunning.  I just love this view.

And, because I will be a new driver, we had to purchase yet another vehicle because I am not allowed to drive the Tesla for 3 years! We opted this time for a new Ford Transit van.  Small engine, lots of space.  Easy to park.  The downside? It's a Ford! :)

Life is sure fun here. 

But now for the really good news!  Our household goods and puzzles have arrived in Genoa!  If all goes well, we will be having everything delivered within the next 2 weeks!  Cross your fingers and toes for us. I need clothes.  It's getting colder now and dumb bum here didn't bring winter clothes when she came in April.  

MPP and disaster!

I don't know when I last wrote anything substantial.  So much time has passed.  We decided to attend the MPP this last weekend when Dick Hess was in town.  George and I drove up to the UK in our new car and stopped by London to pick up a few puzzles that a friend was storing for us.  We then went on to the puzzle party in the Midlands.

On the drive up, we had quite a few nice picnic's in different countries and I filled up on fois gras.  So much so I'm now renaming my belly canard! Driving through the chunnel was interesting.  I was the first car on the upper level!  EEK! 

Somewhere along the way we came across the Waterloo museum and had to stop and look.

Our first stop was at Big Steve's to pick up a few puzzles he had been storing for us and for some good chats.  I have some puzzle envy!  He has quite a few that I am interested in.  George got a tour of his workshop and thanks a bunch Steve-he's buying 3 of those printers.

The day was finished off with a great lunch at a local pub and dinner at the most interesting hotel later that evening.  

We got up around 10 the next day and arrived at Allard's in the late afternoon, had a nice lunch and a chat for a while.  Shortly after, they had to go get Wil and Louis from the airport so George and I went to check in to our hotel.  He napped while I bought some wine and a sweater for each of us.  It is July, but England is cold. Italy is hot and I wasn't smart enough to bring along sweaters.  

We returned to Allard's around 7 for dinner with everyone and had a nice evening of chat and pizza.  Wil handed me a Minoru Abe puzzle to solve and I'm pleased to say I did it! Dick gave us all a disentanglement and as usual, I was unable to solve it, although I did understand what needed to be done.  We stayed until around 10 chatting but I needed to put my lover to bed so we took our leave until the morning.

We woke early and were at the hall around 10 as expected.  As always, it was great to see friends and catch up with them.  I purchased a few puzzles but really just spent time talking to other puzzlers.  One of the people I saw had a very large change in body shape that surprised me (I'm not shaming anyone, all will be made clear in the coming months I'm sure) and it's not what you think!  I met quite a few people I only know from Discord and just generally had a great time.  

George sat in a corner programming in a tile puzzle that we purchased from Wil the night before and he managed to do it within a day.  

James showed up and we had a nice chat with him about returning the puzzles he kept to the greater collection.  It will be nice to have those fine specimens back in the WPC for all to enjoy.  I did say I would forward him a list of what I have purchased in the interim so he can keep those.  We don't want to look too greedy.  I don't need two broken radio's on display.  (This is just one example). If anyone wants to sell a kakuda set, do let us know. James has opted to keep those.

I attempted a few more puzzles and then spent a great deal of time with Louis, Wil, and Dick working on some match stick puzzles.  But when Dick and Louis started using factorials, I was mentally challenged and had to give up before my head exploded.  

Around 6 or so we all went to Allard's for more puzzling and what I've been told is the usual Fish and Chips dinner.  I took a few photos of some puzzles I'm looking for, and tried to force Wil to sell me a few others.  (Right, like that will work). It had been a very busy few days for us so George was more tired than usual. Sadly, we returned to our hotel around 9.   

The next morning we awoke earlier and took off for London.  We arrived at the Chunnel we paid the extra 50 pounds to leave on an earlier shuttle.  And then we waited 1/2 an hour.  We were in France by 3 and took off for home. Around 3 hours later, disaster struck. I needed the loo and George filled the tank.  Big mistake!  He put gas in a diesel engine.  

As a I was driving down the road, I felt a 'mushy' gas pedal and asked him about what he filled the tank with. When he replied, I knew he screwed up.  We pulled over and got a tow.  But this lead to an even bigger problem.  We had to be in Perugia on Wednesday for an appointment for our Permesso.  Ok.  Problem solved.  We rented a car, left ours behind and made a run for home.  

Along the way we stopped somewhere in Switzerland for the night.  The hotel I wanted to stay at was on top of a road more windy than the one that heads to the castle. Somehow I managed to turn the car around and left.  I wouldn't have slept at all thinking about the drive back down in the morning. It was a nice place.  I sure wish I knew where it was, we'd stay there again. There was even a puzzle in the hall!

Oh, and we saw lots and lots of cows!  I think I pointed everyone of them out to George. Either that or I mooed at them...Each country and region has different looking cows.  It's amazing really.  

We arrived on Wednesday evening had dinner and crashed. On Thursday morning we raced to Perugia so we could go through the process of getting our Permesso.  Disaster!  Our name was not on the list.  We waited and waited and waited all to no avail.  Better luck next time.

That evening I put all the white puzzles in the cupboard.  We have more coming at some point in the future. It will be nice to have all of them on display.

Back home again and Antonio called the mechanic and made a trip with George to the dealership that sold us the car.  Turns out the biggest problem was that the engine wouldn't ignite.  Why?  Because when the tow truck picked it up, it engaged the auto alarm which disables the engine.  To reset it they need the spare key that is in the castle.  So...4pm and we took off again for France!

I drove for about 4 hours and stopped for the night in Parma.  We had a nice hotel room, a good dinner, and a great sleep.  Until 4 am that is. We got up early for the last 6 hour drive to the car.  We made it before they broke for lunch and guess what, the key didn't work. Now what?

Go have lunch and come back. Fair enough.  So they tried a few other things, but nothing worked.  Friday morning a new technician came out and tried something, but again, it didn't work. So now what?  The car was shipped to the nearest Ford garage, but they couldn't look at it until Monday morning as the foreman wasn't in.  What?  People only work 1/2 days in France?!? No wonder the car is taking so long to fix.  

The upside? we got to take a tour of the local area.  Turns out there is a flying machine there and a really nice looking building or two.

We spent one more night in the Ibis budget hotel (don't ever do that again!) and woke up with sore backs from sleeping on a very hard bed. We got up, packed the car and decided to go on a puzzle hunt in Germany.  So lemonade right? 

We hit 6 puzzle shops and filled the trunk of the rental car.  We now have around 20 new puzzles and are out of France.  It was a weight lifted when we crossed the border.  Now we are here in Baden-Baden for a weekend of spa and pampering.  Can you imagine what George is doing?  Burrtools of course!

On becoming Italian

If you want to move to Italy, I have one piece of advice for you. Don't do it!  Unless of course you are either very fool hardy or determined.  I wish this post were about installing puzzles and moving forward with the World Puzzle Center, but instead I will give you our experiences to date.  Warning, this is a long read.

We arrived on the 24th and at 7 am we decided to be off the ship with the first wave of departures.  We sent our luggage down the night before and were up at dawn prepared to head out quickly to pick up our rental car.  Or so we thought. We managed to get off by around 8. Why?  The immigration officials were still having coffee. In hindsight this was an omen.

Once we cleared customs (peace of cake for a change), we went out to find a taxi.  Now when I told them where I wanted to go, not a cab driver would take us.  They all told me to get a bus to the gate and walk.  Not an easy task with 4 suitcases and a 3D printer.  A gent finally came by and told me they were all stupid.  He took us for an exorbitant 20 Euros the 10 blocks we needed to traverse. I know this sounds small, but I would have never found the rental agency.  

We arrived about 15 minutes early, and the man inside would not see me until my appointed pick up time.  Well, as I kept walking in, he gave me the car.  Only later did I realize I was over 2 hours away from my pick up time.  What difference does that make?  Oh well.  We had the keys in hand and off we went. 

Now here is where the fun starts. We arrived on the morning before a public holiday.  Our caretakers gave us the "Kit" to fill out and the grand tour of work done to date.  They left us for dinner and the next day, we filled out the "Kit" to take to the post office.  Only we couldn't.  It was the Anniversario della Liberazione (a public holiday).  Which means the Post office while open in the morning was only open for 2 hours. No problem, we have 8 days.  

The "Kit" is the official word for all the paperwork that need completion for the issuance of the permesso di soggiorno (residency permit).  This form is all in Italian with no translation attached.  If it is not filled in correctly, the post office will return it only for you to try again until it is done correctly.  Without this kit and all its parts, one stands as good a chance as Lo farò quando sarà finito il ponte per Messina (I'll do it when a bridge is built to Messina-the Italian equivilent to when hell freezes over.) Without this, nothing, and I mean NOTHING, can be done in Italy. This will become perfectly clear as you read on. 

We set about doing other "work" while waiting for our caretakers to have the time to take us up to the post office.  Friday came and we headed to Perugia.  All we were told was turn it in at the post office there.  Why? Panicale can not accept the "Kit" and Tavernelle didn't have the required stamps.  So we drive to Perugia-45 minutes away on windy Italian roads with a man behind the wheel who-I kid you not-used to be a race car driver.  When we get to Perugia and get our ticket to see someone at the post office, we are told that we have a ticket B.  We need a ticket A or P.  Back to the machine to draw one again.  These tickets are the things we get at delis back home.  

Our number comes up again, this time with the right ticket letter and we are told we need a €16,50 marca da bollo (stamp) 

from the tabaccheria (tobacco and sundries shop).  And no, they don't sell them at the post office. OK.  We grab yet another ticket from the machine in the hopes that our number will come up again quickly when we return with this new stamp.   

We then run to the tabaccheria 2 blocks down, buy 2 stamps and run the 2 blocks back only to see that the number for our turn hasn't changed since we left.  Ok. Now we wait another 1/2 hour or so an finally get to the counter only to be told we need 2 tickets, not just one and wait, you haven't paid this fee so we can't take your paperwork anyway. 

UGH!  Back to Tavernelle where Elena is waiting outside the Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori (CISL-free advice institution for families) for us to fill out the paperwork.

Now this office is open until 13:00 and it is only noon because our race car driver took those roads at 90+ to get us back before the offices closed.  I guess they wanted to do lunch early.  Great, we go back on Monday.  Which puts us on day 9 and we are at risk of expulsion from the country.  Elena gets on the phone and calls a friend who calls a friend who calls a friend and we get an 8 am appointment for Tuesday!  2 days over the limit!  I'm panicking now as is my usual nature but what can we do. The offices are all closed in the afternoon and we have missed not only our deadline, but Wil's King's Day Party.  This is just adding insult to injury. 

We sit in a local pasticceria (pastry shop) and have a cup of coffee and a cornetto (croissant).  Elena is still on the phone and returns with some good news.  Finally, we need it! Monday is a public holiday and the government won't count those or weekends against us so really, we have until Wednesday to turn in the paperwork. The sigh of relief could be heard all the way to Perugia.

So, it's a holiday weekend and you guessed it, nothing is going to get done.  I did a small grocery shop, drove to an outlet center an hour north only to find they didn't have what I want, and just relaxed a little bit because on Tuesday it starts all over again.

Tuesday morning we were up and running at 7.  We had to be back in Perugia for that 8 am appointment.  Thank god for Antonio and Elena.  The place we had to go was close to the post office, but without parking so we had to park about 5 blocks away and walk. the GPS on the maps sent us to the correct address, but the offices moved and Google hadn't caught up.  George however saw the queue and got us to the CISL.   We had to go to a second door and wait another 1/2 hour for them to open.  And you guessed it, it's now past 8 am.  

We walked in and found our someone quickly.  This process then took about an hour to type our forms again. For some reason unknown to us, they can't be hand written although that is what we were given by the post office.  There was a bit of comic relief while we removed the marca da bollo that we had purchased and put on the forms on Friday.  We handed over copies of insurance and a reams worth of paper that is our statement of income.  This was deemed to be too much and they took a summary of the past 4 years and our last tax return.  Finally, the forms are filled out and we have been given a price to pay.  

I even found a poster for the 730 income tax return that might be of interest to some. 

Now it is time to run back to the post office yet again and get 2 tickets with either A or P printed on them.  I'm starting to understand this bizarre system. We patiently wait for our numbers to come up and head to the counters when they do. This time we have all of our t's crossed and our i's dotted and we are given the permesso di soggiorno.  Or so we thought.  No.  What we were given was a paper that gives us an appointment to get the permesso di soggiorno.  Again, we wait.  Everyone we talked to and read online said this process would take about 2-3 months to process.  Ok.  We can wait. Not so for us. The day we turned in the paperwork was 2 May, our appointment date? 24 January 2024!  We now have to wait almost a year!  No problem though, the man at the post office told us that is all we need to stay here and to register with the comune (commune in English).  

The next morning we go over to the comune at 9 to register as residents and to get our avvio della procedura di registrazione (initiation of the registration procedure).  This paper then gets turned into our identity cards. Now this is important for two reasons.  We need it to purchase a car, and to get our household goods that are currently being held hostage at the tune of $300 per day in Rotterdam.  The man at the post office told us that the papers we had in hand are enough to do this.  Not so says the lady at the comune. We have to wait until January when they give us yet another paper telling us we can go back yet again for fingerprints before she will give us this card.  So yet again we wait.

We have Antonio on the job hoping to get someone at the local Questra's office to speed up the process for us.  Fingers crossed.  In the meantime, the car rental is €2500 a month and our goods still stay in storage.  This move is costing a bomb now.  The car problem will be solved in the typical expat fashion next week.  As for the household goods, we are all working on a solution to that.  Pray for us one and all.  

Moving to Italy reminds me of being in the Army.  Hurry up then wait.  Only here, we wait a very, very long time.  The good news though is that our shelves are in, we are living in the castle, and as we live here we see the work that needs to be done and are moving on that.  We have decided to extend the elevator through to the ground floor (who puts an elevator on two floors only?) I meet with the contractor on Tuesday.  On Thursday I meet with the engineer to fix the problem with the dead cat room (the ceiling and door is cracking so severely that the whole tower could fall if not fixed)

and we meet with the painters to get that work done next Monday.  

George and I have walked through the buildings and have changed the rooms where certain puzzles will be stored.  We have set up the temperature measurement devices and are doing a 7 month study of the temperature and humidity levels in the rooms to determine where to place each type of puzzle and the equipment we will need to purchase to keep the collection at a constant state.  This will be a feat in itself given the building we are now in.  

Per force, I have been given an extension of a year before I have to get my drivers license.  That will give me more time to study and actually learn the language.  Speaking of, everyday I improve.  I have to.  Our community really doesn't have many people who speak English.  

We ordered the kitchen estimate.  It is going to be amazing when finished.  The designer didn't like my ideas, but when I told him it was my kitchen and my money he quickly changed his mind and is doing things my way.  One example of this is I want separate Subzero's for the refrigerator and freezer.  Not a Smeg side-by-side.  He didn't see how 2 people needed so much space. I didn't ask for that. I asked for a design.  But after he realized my Spanish is better than my Italian, he switched languages and we were able to communicate much better.  This is not ideal, but it worked. While he wants the master bathroom project, he declined saying it will need an engineer to put in a new door and he's not one. He's engaged a few for estimates and that will all happen next week.

George and I purchased 8 sofa sleepers for the rooms because apparently here you are only allowed to purchase 4 per person. Is there a black market for sofa sleepers I don't know about?  We also ordered new lights for those that were ripped out of the ceiling in the staircases and a few sconces for one of the bedrooms on the second floor.  Once these are placed, we will decide upon the rest of the lighting.  Along the way, we had to go through heavy traffic. 

We went to a second hand shop yesterday to pick up a few mirrors-yes, we will have a Versailles room. Wait until you see what is in my head. For once even George can do it.  

We were measuring the bathrooms in the hotel for small closet space and decided to change up the room usage a bit.  The upper kitchen (behind the delivery room) was to be converted into a dining area but it just didn't sit right with me.  That room has so much power, all of which was going to be covered by a shelf, so we decided to change it to George's 3D printer room.  It even has built in exhaust so he can also put his laser cutter in there.  This is a real win for him.  

We decided to give Antonio the dead cat room for his workshop so I can have the room he is currently using back for puzzles.  It's just too good a space to waste.  He can design his workshop anyway he wants.  I just want my space back.  

Now, worry not my dear readers. Just because we don't  have our puzzles doesn't mean they aren't safe. They are all in a humidity controlled warehouse.  And we are still purchasing more puzzles as we are here. So far we have added 3 more collections to the World Puzzle Center and will continue to do so.  I have received Cubic Dissection, Pelican, Mine, LogicaGiochi and countless other puzzles in the short time we have been here. My puzzle budget is still non-existant and I continue to fill the shelves that will soon begin being installed.  We won't be fully opened by Christmas, but we will have a puzzle or two on the shelves.  As always, our doors are opened. Right now though, the puzzles to be played with are just in boxes.  This will change as soon as those shelves go up.

George has moved many of the shelves to the hotel in preparation for installation and I have begun to populate the library.  The work goes on. 

Fino alla prossima settimana, arrivaderci e continua a rompicapo.