After our first day which we essentially spent as a tourist in the city, the real work began. I do have to say that given the fact that we moved our family half way around the world - we have had a rather smooth transition.
Here is the recap of the items that we attempted to accomplish:
First thing Monday morning, I was able to pick-up my car from Whirlpool. As a part of the standard benefit package in Europe, most individuals above Sr. Manager are entitled to a car (I do think this is something that all ex-pats get as well - but hey, I thought it was interesting on the difference in benefits between the US and Europe). Our car is a VW Passat Station Wagon.
Since we had a car, one of our next order of business was to get a new car seat for Elyse. She had outgrown the one in the US and quite frankly, we didn't want to haul ours across the pond. Evan is actually big enough by Italian law to not need one, so we just have one for Elyse. One key difference here is that we live (thankfully) in more of an urban area. So we walked to purchase the seat and then Shane carried it the 8 blocks back to the apartment (pic below - and of the temporary apartment)
Of course, we had non-picture worthy items to take care of as well. This included: opening a bank account (still haven't receive the bankcard almost 3 weeks later), getting Evan confirmed for school (another post), getting Shane an Italian number and SIM card, getting myself my laptop and phone for work and the inspection and general preparation for the apartment (new appliances, keys, repairs etc). Last but not least: learning how to drive to our new apartment and to work without the GPS.
From a kid standpoint, we also had some "work" to do. Evan and Elyse are clearly use to living in a small town in Michigan where you can run pretty free up and down large sidewalks. The streets and sidewalks here are a bit more crowded and narrow. We had some very tense moments when they were a bit too close to other cars or other pedestrians for comfort. (it also results in a few moments in which our children would declare that Mom and Dad had put on their "cranky pants") Below is a picture of them beneath the statue they at least had freedom to run to on our way into town.
My previous post discussed the aperitivo - and by the end of Monday we were ready! We found a great little spot where Mom and Dad could enjoy a drink and the kids a little food and all of us some Uno cards.
As to be expected, Shane and I found the local wine shop. We were quite please with the Bourbon selection - given that we had left most of ours back in Michigan. While there is no Pappy - we at least can enjoy some Buffalo Trace!
Our final items from the US arrived on Thursday; Shane and the kids spent the day at the new apartment with the movers getting all of our stuff unpacked and moved. We were hoping to stay in the new place by the first weekend (again, we are very lucky to have had a smooth transition).
As with most moves, we still had a lot of stuff to buy! We were fortunate that on Saturday we found both a mall and a grocery store (in the mall) within walking distance. We bought a TV from a group of salesman who spoke almost no English - and us even less Italian. We got some basic groceries and we searched all over town for a shower curtain to no avail.
We also decided to make the very important purchase of an Italian Nespresso machine so we can enjoy the cappuccino and/or espresso from the comforts of home. While we were waiting, Elyse made good friends with an old Italian man. While neither spoke the language - they hit if off just the same.
On Sunday, we had the important lesson of not leaving the key in the ignition otherwise it drains the battery and you have to figure out how to find jumper cables in a different language. Luckily, my boss was kind enough to let us borrow their car so we could shop for jumper cables at the italian version of the super target. It was actually a blessing because we could find all of the little things you need when you move: trash cans, electric cords, light bulbs, cleaning equipment etc.. Of course, as I was looking for Kleenex - I ended up tipping over a rather large display which resulted in the following:
Throughout the whole week - while it felt, at times, like a lot of work, we did have one thing to keep us all happy - gelato!
Figures - takes 3 years for Elyse to warm up to me, and 3 minutes for some random Italian dude. Glad everything is going well and hope that the local super target carries ziploc bags too. I hear your supply is low.
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