Living as a Part-time Italian

  Caught the tail end of the procession As I arose this morning, I thought I heard the clip-clop of horses, and upon looking out the bedroom window, it was indeed a caravan of Roma people heading toward the unknown. And that has been one of the joys of living in this small town; you never know what you will see and hear.  When we first arrived, signage for the Fratta Dell' 800 was everywhere. Living in the historical center of the town means seeing the first hints of celebrations. This particular one is a biggie. Celebrating when Italy combined its provinces and became a nation, the townspeople dressed in 19th-century costumes set up makeshift trattorias around the area and competed for prizes. The sounds of the extensive festival were heard until well after 2:00 in the morning. A week later, all businesses were closed to honor the patron saint of Umbertide, Mary. The night before, I heard a band, and sure enough, at 9:30 at night, a small parade appeared with priests, nuns, and ot

  le tartarughe After Covid, four years, and two false starts, we have finally arrived at our little house in Italy. Amazed that few things had changed, it was time to revisit the familiar sights. In no particular order: 1. Enjoying fresh orange juice and cappuccino – I enjoy an occasional coffee from Starbucks. Still, their cappuccinos are awful, so savoring a solid espresso (with or without milk) was divine. 2. Visiting the local turtles – These turtles have been here for at least ten years and seem fine. I counted at least five; apparently, they have been breeding. 3. Saying hey to Irina and Mary and having a white wine at Bar Mary. We can spend hours here watching the piazza's actions and reading. 4. Visiting the owner of Delizia Gelateria – finding that they now have dark chocolate gelato and spruced-up outdoor seating.  5. Seeing John and Katherine – these very kind people welcomed us to Umbertide many years ago and still enjoy keeping up with us. Can still see John

The beginning, with the Tiber to the right of us. I wake up most mornings at 4:10 and walk a mile on my treadmill. The routine gets old fast but is necessary to feel alert and ready for the day. In Umbertide, even when the summer heat arrives, the humidity stays low and walking is quite enjoyable, especially in the morning or late evening. We choose a different route each day but our favorite is along the Tiber river that flows adjacent to farmland peppered with poppies in late spring and sunflowers in the summer. One Sunday morning we interrupted a fishing tournament and had to dodge cars and poles which were packed along a trail where machinery seems incongruous. With no fishermen to block the view you can see across the river. Most mornings, though the walk is limited to a few early risers who are exercising their dogs. With such beautiful views it is difficult to maintain a steady pace and you can easily slip on the uneven path. A view that required a stop from

"Pronto Soccorso" After more than a dozen trips to Italy, it was time for one of us to get sick. Mike was the one who was unlucky enough to be chosen. Three days after we arrived, Mike began to feel sick with a fever and its accompanying aches and chills. It soon became clear we needed help and went to the local hospital which is only a couple of blocks away not knowing what to expect. Well... here's what happened. After we found the emergency room, Mike was immediately seen. As two male nurses checked him out, the female doctor asked questions and entered the information into a computer. They spoke well enough English and we knew enough Italian that communication was not a problem. He was diagnosed with influenza, given a glass of water mixed with Paracetamol, which we call acetaminophen and then given a prescription for a mix of Paracetamol and Ibuprofen. I was a bit concerned as no blood test was performed nor any meds like Tamiflu offered. With some research o

Panoramic View of the Piazza Giacomo Matteotti Almost every Italian town has at least one market day. On that day vendors set up stalls and sell everything from fresh fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, as well as plants, clothing and kitchen appliances. Our town has two market days. The big one is on Wednesday. Most of the food portion is located in the main piazza, Giacomo Matteotti and then trails toward the east with cheese trucks, porchetta (roasted pig) trucks, a large candy stand, and a couple of hand-made jewelry stalls. At the end of this section, you cross a pedestrian bridge and end up between several streets filled with clothing, linens, leather goods, and many other knick-knacks. It is always busy. Mike purchasing some grapes. My routine is to buy fresh fruit (always at least one cantaloupe) and some tomatoes, and then get two sandwiches from the porchetta truck. We tend to visit the same vendors each time. I then check out the bakery which is two streets

Panoramic view from a favorite gelato place Much of what I will share is quite positive; we wouldn't have bought a house here otherwise. But as with everything in life it must be balanced. We used an Italian bank to finance the loan for the property. During that time I had to learn how to send money from the states to a checking account to pay the loan as well as utilities on the house. The utilities use direct withdrawal but each requires a form to be filled that is unique to the utility and turned into a different place in the area. You can try faxing or emailing but almost ALL of my emails are ignored and faxes are often busy. After a year of working with our property manager and my own efforts everything was set up. Then... last fall the original bank sold our loan and all the accounts with it to another bank. Only the gas withdrawal remained effective. The process took nine months to a total migration that occurred on May 27th. In each step of the process my bank acco