La Micina

We have a new neighbor. She showed up a few weeks ago unannounced at the apartment next to ours. We wouldn’t have known she was there except for her meow. Clea is our neighbors’ tabby kitten.

We live in an apartment building that has a central courtyard (Valerie calls it an air shaft) with no garden and no balconies; there really is nowhere for a kitten to go when she is put outside. Clea will sit out on the landing in front of our apartments, sometimes quietly and sometimes meowing as cats do when she wants back inside. This has become a morning ritual for us: get up and peek out the door peep-hole or kitchen window to see if Clea is outside waiting, or just wait to hear her meow.

The interesting part of this is our landlord does not want us to have pets; she made that clear when we were looking at the apartment. Fortunate for Clea we rarely see our landlord in the building, and we aren’t about to give her up. Our neighbors are pensionati and one time when Clea was outside I asked la signora what the kitten’s name was, she said Cleopatra is her favorite name and they call the kitten Clea.

I am surprised that so far Valerie has not opened the door and invited Clea in one of these mornings, for us kittens are irresistible. For as Valerie says “poverina micina”.

Cranes overhead

The national bird of Italy is the “crane”, no not that majestic flying bird but the steel towers that soar into the sky with their long arms hanging over the towns and cities of Italy.

I would love to have one of the companies here in Italy that supplies construction cranes to job sites, I would be rich. These cranes seem to be at every building construction site no matter if it is a one story or twenty story project. Granted that for the way the towns in Italy are put together sometimes the only way to get materials into a cramped space would be by a crane, but I have seen some at home sites in the countryside you can drive up to with any truck you needed. These steel towers rise vertically from minimal bases and can swing a couple hundred feet over rooftops.

Cranes are as much of the landscape in Italy as are TV antennas and satellite dishes. They loom high over parts of Ascoli Piceno at several restoration projects in the centro storico. On our first trip to Italy I thought they were a glaring blight on the landscape but I now just consider them a part of the view. With the prevalence of earthquakes and a country thousands of years old there will always be projects for the national bird of Italy.

Lira, euro and dollars

When we made our first visit to Italy in 1998 they were using the lira and the standard was 1000 lira was about $.80 US. This made things pretty simple when you were buying something to compare prices, for example you could get a cafe' for 1000 lira. We were also amazed at how inexpensive many everyday things were compared to prices we were paying in the US. Fresh fruit and vegetables, coffee, vino, olive oil, pizza, etc were all less expensive in Italy. Of course there were things more expensive, like gasoline was a several dollars a gallon where it was about a dollar a gallon in the US.

On our later trips Italy had converted to the euro and we did notice a change. If you read the financial reports they confirm that prices for many things increased, what may have been 1000 lira was converted to 1.00 euro (instant inflation). The government officially reported that inflation since the euro conversion has been minor but many independent reports paint a different picture.

The euro and dollar have had a rather up and down track record over the past few years. With our decision to move to Italy this was one of the things I looked at: how far would our cash go once converted to euro. A few years ago the conversion was a pretty close 1 for 1, then spiked to above $1.30 for 1 euro, dropped back to under $1.18 for 1 euro and seemed to settle in the area around $1.20 for 1 euro when we were finalizing plans to move to Italia. Things have changed and the euro seems stuck closer to the $1.30 for 1 euro range and now that cafe' will cost about $1.30.

That said, our experience is that many of the everyday items we enjoy while living in Italy are less expensive than in the US - that $1.30 cafe' in Italy is still a bargain compared to $1.50 or more for the swill at Starbucks. But a stronger dollar sure would make our cash go farther.

Ascoli Piceno - Palazzo dei Capitani

Palazzo dei Capitani

Over-looking Piazza del Popolo is the Palazzo dei Capitani with its bell tower. This travertine structure was the seat of government for Ascoli Piceno for many centuries and is constructed on Roman ruins that are visible in some of the ground floor display rooms. After climbing the short stone stairs you enter the interior courtyard with a view of the tower above. Climbing the staircase around the courtyard you can obtain a wonderful view of the piazza below through some of the front windows.

The front of the palazzo has a large clock and a series of statues from the 1500’s. Over the main portal is a statue of Pope Paul III and there others representing the four Virtues. The tower jutting above the piazza also has a clock and a set of bells.

This palazzo houses the information point for the province and is used regularly for exhibitions of local and visiting artists, lectures, craft shows and other events. Every week seems to bring a new event to this grand showcase for Ascoli Piceno.

Trash day...every day

What is the best way to keep a medieval historical city clean – by hand. Here in Ascoli Piceno there are city employees who go around six days a week and pick up the trash and sweep the streets with a hand broom. Our building has no dumpster; we place our trash outside the building entry door each night and in the morning it is gone. The city trash collectors roam the streets with a pull cart collecting the trash and sweeping the cobblestone streets with a hand-broom.

There is a similar routine each day after the local mercato vendors depart in nearby Piazza Roma, the city street cleaners pick-up the trash left by the morning’s mercato but since this area is large enough they are able to utilize a mechanical street sweeper.

There is an emphasis here on recycling and we divide our trash into several categories: plastics, paper, glass, biodegradable food and the rest is trash. We get a regular supply of bags for our trash, food and plastics while there are bins on several streets where we can deposit our paper and glass. With the amount of wine consumed here the glass bins are regularly full.

One of the distinguishing features of the street cleaners is their bright fluorescent uniforms, you can spot them a kilometer away. It is interesting that most of these workers that I have seen are women, not the type of sanitary workers that I recall from the US.

Police at the door

This morning as we were leaving our building to have our morning caffe e cornetti we had a visitor waiting for us when we opened the door to the street. Standing there was a poliziotto who obviously was looking for us as he asked if we were the Schneiders. No, we haven’t done anything wrong; we were expecting the polizia to visit us to confirm our occupancy here as part of the residenza process. Tuesday when we went to the Anagrafe ufficio they told us the polizia would visit within a week. (See 16 January post)

We invited the poliziotto up the three floors to our apartment where he asked if we were married; in Italy when women marry they do not typically take their husband’s last name. We pointed out the copy of our marriage certificate he had from the Anagrafe. He asked if we were the owners of this apartment and we told him we were renters. He asked how long we have been in Ascoli Piceno and finished with the question we always get: are we working or students. After two minutes he was done, shook our hands and went off to his next task for the morning.

There is nothing like a smiling policeman to greet you at your door in the morning. Hopefully the rest of the residenza process will continue to proceed this smoothly.

Ascoli Piceno - Duomo

Cattedrale di San Emidio


Ascoli Piceno’s Duomo is named Cattedrale di San Emidio in honor of the city’s patron saint and protector. The original church was started in the 4th century on the remains of an ancient Roman forum structure and took its current shape in the 15th century. This travertine structure is the focal point for Piazza Arringo and the attached bell tower signals the time each day. This is a beautiful building with a dome that was painted in the 1800’s with soaring travertine pillars.

In the south nave is the Cappella del Santo Sacramento which houses a famous polyptych by Carlo Crivelli from 1473. This painted panel incorporated wood, painting, gold and jewels; some of which were removed by Napoleon’s troops. This chapel has a lovely dome and paintings on the adjoining walls showing scenes from the life of San Emidio.

To the north of the altar area is a chapel with a large ceramic panel that commemorates people martyred for their faith. This panel covers an entire wall and the use of colors and symbols is an enchanting blend. It is interesting in that there are martyrs portrayed representing both the Catholic and Protestant faiths.

In the crypt below the church the remains of San Emidio are entombed in a Roman sarcophagus and there is a life-size sculpture of the saint. Here you can also see parts of the original Roman substructure for the Duomo which was used as an early Christian burial site.

Ascoli’s Duomo is a jewel befitting this provincial capital.

Applying for Residenza...with some problems

This morning we went to the Anagrafe officio to apply for Residenza here in Ascoli Piceno. We have been in Italy for eight months but had not applied when we were in Anzio as we knew we did not want to stay there long term. Once we moved to Ascoli we waited to actually get our Permesso di Saggiorno from Roma Provincia and then we had the holidays and visitors.

The office is located here in the centro and when we arrived we had to wait for the man who handles the Residenza to return to his office. Fortunately he was a pleasant gentleman to deal with as he advised us that we needed to provide translated copies of our birth and marriage certificates but he filled out the forms and began the process of our application advising that the Polizia would come by our apartment within a week to verify where we lived. We inquired as to why we needed the birth and marriage certificates translated as other expats we know were not required to provide those documents. He explained that each comune and provincia sets their own requirements; it is not a universal process in Italia. Fortunately he did not just tell us to come back when we had everything but the process has been started.

We do not have to obtain the Residenza but it is beneficial to us in that we can now register with the Italian healthcare system, it provides tax benefits and allows us to apply for a carta d’identita which is an all in one identification card (verses carrying our passports and permesso di saggiorno). Now we wait for the Polizia to visit and begin the process for getting the necessary document translations.

Heating the apartment...and my towel

Every house I have lived in for as long as I can remember in the US had a forced air natural gas fired heating system. Here in Italy you will be hard pressed to find that kind of system, and that suits me fine. In Italy the predominate heating system is a radiant hot water system with the typical metal wall-mounted units. I find that the advantages to these units is one that they don’t dry the air and create drafts as were accustomed to with a forced air system and it is always nice to be able to stand next to a warm heater unit on a cold morning. These units also are very useful for drying clothes and especially the units in bathrooms as they are designed to warm and dry your towels, a very practical two-fold purpose.

The boiler units to supply the heating system also heats water for our sinks and shower and is an on-demand wall mounted system which is very small compared to the 30 to 50 gallon size units common in the US.

As with the price of gasoline utility costs are relatively high and Italians adjust their lifestyles accordingly. It is common for buildings to be kept much cooler here in the winter, if they have heating, closer to 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Since buildings here are masonry, generally old and with minimal ventilation it is common practice to open windows and air out the house daily; rain or sunshine. We see windows around our apartment open every morning and open ours for 30 minutes or so each morning.

Cool morning air and a warm towel just out of the shower is a great way to start the day.

Plan for 2007: bella Italia

The start of the new year is traditionally the time to plan for the upcoming year. Since we have finally obtained our permesso di saggiorni from Roma, which are good until November 2008, we have spent some time reviewing our plans for life in Italia. When we started this whole process almost two years ago we decided to plan to be here for a year and then we would reevaluate if we wanted to stay longer based on our experience in Italia and our available funds.

We decided a couple months back that we truly enjoy life in Italia and we would need to look at ways to extend our stay as long as possible. A big part of this is if we would have funds for more than a year. The cash that we set aside for this adventure will allow us to stay for all of 2007 but our hope is to use this year to develop ways to make this our permanent home. Valerie is continuing to develop her freelance writing assignments and we are involved in some beginning stages of other opportunities for both of us to be involved in to generate revenue to support ourselves.

A lot of prayer, planning and execution went into moving to Italia and that is still the process if we want to continue life here in bella Italia.

Up at 2:00 AM for some Buckeye misery

We set the alarm for 2:00 AM our time to log-on and listen to the BCS National Championship game being played in Glendale, AZ. My alma mater, the #1 ranked “The Ohio State University Buckeyes” were playing the #2 ranked “University of Florida Gators”. We fired up our laptop and connected to the radio feed via Fox Sports.

The game started with a bang when the Buckeyes ran the opening kick-off 93 yards for a touchdown. Unfortunately that was to be the highlight for my beloved Buckeyes. Florida dominated the field defensively and took advantage of the short field they were repeatedly provided. By half-time the Gators were up 34-14.

The second half only slowed my misery as the Buckeye defense stemmed the Florida scoring but the Buckeye offense continued to be anemic. The final score reflects how the University of Florida dominated this game, 41-14, on the way to becoming the reigning collegiate National Champions in both football and men’s basketball.

Now it is back to bed to hope that I will wake-up in a few hours and this will just have been a bad dream.

Epifania - La Befana

Saturday was another national holiday here in Italia, Epifania, which commemorates the Magi visit to the infant Christ child in Bethlehem. This day is also special to the children of Italia as it is the customary day for a visit by La Befana.

The story of La Befana seems to vary slightly depending on the source but the jist is that she was an old lady intent on always cleaning her house. She was visited by the Magi on their way to Bethlehem and when asked if she wanted to accompany them to see the newborn Savior she declined as she had too much cleaning to do. She later realized her mistake and has spent the millennium searching for the Christ child along with her broom.

This story also parallels the story that most Americans are used to concerning Santa Claus as La Befana carries a basket which has sweets for good children and coal for the bad which she places in stockings hung by the fireplace. I have also heard stories that she goes from roof to roof and enters houses via the chimney.

Ascoli Piceno put on a big show for the kids in Piazza del Popolo with a stage and blaring music where they tracked La Befana’s progress to Ascoli Piceno. When she arrived she descended from various parts of the piazza including the Palazzo Capitani bell tower, some second story windows and from side streets on stilts. In all I counted seven Le Befane. This was a delight to both the kids and adults, and I too found myself smiling as La Befana was entertaining.

Capodanno a Ascoli Piceno

On the morning of New Year’s Eve we picked up Valerie’s Uncle Roger and Aunt Kathy in Roma and headed to Ascoli Piceno for their quick five day visit to Italy. Ascoli was preparing for the big night so most restaurants were closed and the stores closed early so we had to scramble to find provisions for the holiday week-end after being gone since Christmas Eve.

Piazza Arringo was the center of the celebrations but since I was fighting a fever and a cold I spent that evening and New Year’s Day in bed. Valerie, Kathy and Roger were out amongst the crowds and joined in the festivities of fireworks and flowing sparkling wines. Even from our apartment the night was loud with locals lighting fireworks well into the morning.

Tuesday I was feeling well enough for us to head back to Roma so Roger and Kathy could experience the Eternal City. They had two days packed with hitting the major sites in the centro. Since I was still tiring easily from my cold Valerie made sure they saw as much of that wonderful city as possible before they flew back yesterday for Ohio.

Despite the short duration of their visit and the cold I was fighting we had an enjoyable time together.