Here we are the foreigners (stranieri), the Americans (Americani), and immigrants (immigranti). It is not too strange since it is tourist season (although few of the tourists are American) but VERY strange that we are new residents (nuovo residenti). There are few English speakers here. On our first Monday in town Larry was anxious to start taking care of business and felt the most important thing was to get a bank account. Even though we had decided before we arrived not to do anything without a referral, we were too anxious to get going to wait to contact the one person we knew in town. Larry had decided to try BNL (Banca Nationale Lavaro) because they were large and should be able to handle accounts for non-residents easily. Plus Larry read they were smart enough to see the financial crisis coming and bailed out of their risky investments early. And they just happened to be a block away. So we dress to impress (bella figura), bring our large folder of paperwork declaring we are worthy and off we go. A few banks in San Diego have those security entrance/exits where you must enter a through one door and wait for the second door to open before you can enter or leave the bank. Here all banks have a similar security system except they are a cylinder large enough for only one person. Somehow Larry just glides through them but I am usually left trapped inside with a woman’s voice telling me in Italian that she hates me and won’t let me into the bank. I discovered later that I was taking it way too personal and she really just hated my new purse (jealous, I’m sure). Her jealousy must know no bounds because there is a bank of lockers next to the door where you can lock up your offensive items and take the key into the bank. Of course now everything you need to do business in the bank is outside in the locker. Nice system. Once inside we get in line at the teller window, knowing that he/she will not be able to help us with a new account but hopeful will direct us to the right...

First, I had to delete and re-post the Hello Italy! post as the formatting was all screwed up and it was the only way I could fix it. Regretfully, I also lost your wonderful comments, although I think we had read and answered them all. So keep those comments coming! I had a post ready a couple days ago but managed to delete it, and I don’t know how. Ah, the continuing saga of my love/hate relationship with technology. Those of you that asked when you would see more photos will be delighted to know that Larry went out this morning on a photo expedition to add to those he had taken the during our first two weeks. So it won’t be long now. Before we introduce you to the people of Ascoli (Ascolani), let’s talk about the people we don’t see. We have seen no homeless people. There are pleasant men from Africa selling roses and trinkets (and umbrellas when it rains) to make a living and others, some Gypsies, playing music for the donations – and I truly don’t have a problem with that. There those who weren’t successful at commerce that just ask for money, but they are few. Ascoli has very few criminals and, therefore, little crime. I asked someone about crime statistics and they had no idea what I was talking about. You can walk anywhere in the city late at night in safety, and because the city is so alive, you are usually not alone no matter the time or place. All this at a time when the country is in a deep recession. This is July and in Rome, Florence or Venice you would be cheek-to-jowl with thousands of tourists everywhere you went. In Ascoli, with all it has to offer, 90% of the people on the piazzas are locals. We saw our first tour groups last Saturday but they were so small that there was no need for the tour guides to hold up an umbrella or flower for the people to follow and we have not yet seen a typical tour bus parked anywhere. The Italians are very social people who live in relatively small apartments, so their living rooms...

Hello Italy!

By Larry & Arlene on Jul 9, 2013 in Blog | 2 comments

Good day (buongiorno) to our 50 subscribers! I know we promised not to bug you with posts more than once a week but so much has happened since we arrived that we need to break it down into smaller subsections and several posts to keep it crisp and interesting. Since we did not post for three weeks, bear with us as we make up for lost weeks over the next couple days. For our subscribers who are world travelers, some information may be well known. However, we must also give enough information to introduce those subscribers who have not been to Italy – such as our grandchildren – to this incredible country. Additionally, we started a new page with the inspired title of “food” so only those who really want the details of this incredible gastronomic experience may indulge. Don’t neglect going on the “Portfolio” page for some beautiful photos to back up the stories. These pages will be populated soon. After moving out of our house on Tuesday/Wednesday and then on Thursday/Friday spending 22 hours in transit (door to door), the word “exhausted” didn’t adequately describe our condition when we arrived in Rome at 9:30 AM. Getting through customs was uneventful and the van was there to meet us. Our driver, Antonio, was right out of central casting and spoke no English. That was okay because by then my vocabulary was reduced to pointing and grunting. So we had a very quiet three hour trip to Ascoli while we tried to imagine what was in store for us. It was raining on & off when we arrived but we immediately purchased an umbrella (left them behind) and walked to main piazza to see if it is beautiful as the pictures – and it certainly is. When we returned to the apartment, Larry took a nap while I, newly revived, attempted to dig all the non-clothes items from the suitcases. No surprise there were several notes from TSA that they had opened our luggage. I later would regret not joining Larry in the nap as I started nodding off in the middle of our first lovely dinner that evening and then had to pass on my first gelato opportunity....

Our City

By Larry & Arlene on Jul 9, 2013 in Blog | 8 comments

The morning of our first full day in Ascoli we looked up and both the sun and the Italian laundry was out and the twice-weekly market, held in the courtyard of the old cloister of St. Francis’s Church (also known as The Square of the Vegetables) was in full swing. We grabbed a quick caffe and pastry and then made our first purchase from the market – underwear. Yep, left those behind too everything but what I was wearing, but that was unintentional. Fortunately, my good friend Linda went back to our house and retrieved them and they arrived via Federal Express today. Yes, you can buy anything at the market on Wednesday & Saturday – kind of like a Wal-Mart road show, in addition to the fresh vegetables, cheeses, meats, etc. that are available every day in the cloister built completed in 1568. We walked around town for about three hours the first day to familiarize ourselves with the where things were. With the exception of locations being closer than perceived on Goggle Earth, it immediately felt like we had been here before and like a place we definitely could call home for a while. Larry knew exactly where everything was and I was clueless, following him and taking it all in. Since then we have walked at least two miles a day and many days three or four checking out the neighborhoods. Unfortunately, that just balances out the pasta/vino/gelato consumption. The City (Citta) – They call it Ascoli. From now on it will be referred to as “our city”. We truly have been dropped into heaven. There are two beautiful main squares (piazzas) located a block from each other and only two blocks from our current apartment which we have enjoyed every day. The largest, the People’s Square (Piazza del Popolo) which was built in the first decade of the 1500’s is about the size of a football field with about four cafes (one of them being Cafe Meletti, which has been there since 1905) around the edges. This is also where the evening passeggiata and many performances and concerts are held. We have already seen a free dance performance and a free pop-rock concert there in...

As you can imagine, even after almost a year of planning and preparation the last week in San Diego was frantic. In addition to getting the packing done (and one last sort to get rid of what had to be deemed as surplus) family and friends were picking up large items they were acquiring and “shopping” from the various food, household and clothes items we weren’t able to take, all while saying our bittersweet goodbyes. The tough decision (ladies you will understand just how tough) was made early on that as far as clothes items went – that if we did not take it to Italy – it was out. Only the sentimental clothing items went into the one wardrobe box that went into storage. I’m pretty sure we would not have gotten it all accomplished without the kindness and help of some very special people whom we must thank here. Thank you Roberto for the loan of your truck and Deb & Linda (who bought our Lexus) for the inspired idea of trading us for your van with the seats out. Thanks to Sarah & Scott (Hannah & Simon), Lisa & Roger (Josh & Kenny), KJ, Christin, Manny and Sam V. for picking up what you needed to when you needed to. And to Lisa & Arianna and Sarah for dropping everything to pick up stuff we had to jettison at the last minute. Grazi mille! So off we went to the Hilton Harbor Island for the last two nights with ten (yes 10) bags to check at the airport not counting our four carry-on. As shipping out-of-season clothes was found to be cost prohibitive (at about $500 per box) it was decided to take everything with us. After the four free checked bags allowed between us it was only $150 each to check additional bags, as long as they did not exceed the size and weight requirements, up to 10 checked bags per person. In order to make room for the remaining computer equipment, Larry’s minuscule assortment of tools and enough computer cables to circle the earth twice we still had to jettison three more pairs of shoes (hope housekeeping could use them) and have Sarah pick...

Movers arrive a week from today!  We just got our international drivers licenses this morning and stopped by our bank to let them know that we’d be banking from Italy for the foreseeable future.  For the really curious, below is a link to a video of our first apartment for 60 days @ 40 Euro a night in an old (as in Italy old) stone building in the historical center of Ascoli Piceno.  This is a holiday rental – fully furnished with everything you need, plus a weekly change of linens and cleaning.  It is one big room so the bedroom is an open loft above the kitchen area.  Notice the stone vaulted ceilings and how they must retrofit electricity through conduit on the stone walls.  There is no air-conditioning and it will be July/August, so we will test how well the medieval cooling system of thick stone walls works (with modern fans as back-up).   It is just a couple blocks off the main piazza so we can walk to everything.  If we end up liking Ascoli Piceno enough to make it our home base, we will search on foot for our next apartment with probably a two year lease.  The girl ( in her 40’s) who owns this rental lives next door and works in her family’s restaurant nearby – yes – our first restaurant connection! Once on the site, click on the British flag in the upper right corner to translate the site into English.  Click here to view silent...

Fortunately, our first 60 days in Italy will not just be all about setting up bank accounts and looking for a more permanent accommodation.  Luckily for us our arrival in Italy is just in time for all the summer festivals.  We are very excited to have just booked accommodations for July 19 & 20 in the ancient town of Gradara in northern Marche’.  This is the home of one of the best Medieval re-inactments in Italy, the Assedio al Castello, commemorating a famous siege on the castle in 1446  by Francesco Sforza.  I don’t want to blow our July post already but our accommodations are in the castle which at one time was owned by the Borgia family!  Since we just finished watching the 2nd season of “The Borgia’s” where this siege was recounted, we couldn’t pass this up.  This year is a one-off special event, but you will have to wait until July to hear more. Click here for a you tube piece on the castle – note – with sound and...

This article describes better than we ever could why we have chosen the Ascoli Piceno area to be our “home base” while in Italy. http://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/what’s-available-le-marche-abruzzo-border

WHERE ARE WE GOING?  The town we are going to initially is – ASCOLI PICENO.  It is the provincial capital of Ascoli Piceno Province in the Le Marche’ Region of Italy.  Italy has some 23 regions roughly equivalent to our states with the provinces sort of like counties.  From our internet research and driving around on Google Earth, it appears this town has everything we want so we have a 60-day holiday rental in the historical center to check it out.  If our research does not prove true, then we will take that time to find another town to live in for the longer term. WHERE IS IT?  Le Marche’ is in the central area of the country east of the Apennine mountain range that runs down the spine of Italy.  Le Marche lies east of the regions of Tuscany and Umbria.  The eastern border of the region is made up of over 90 miles of sandy beaches on the Adriatic Sea.  The major city of Le Marche is the seaport of Ancona with ferries to the Dalmatian Coast and Greece.  The town of Ascoli Piceno is less than 20 miles inland from the Adriatic and only 150 miles NE of Rome.  You would travel from Rome via the “Salt Road” (Via Salaria) originally laid out by the Etruscans to bring salt to the Rome area.  (We love this stuff!)  There has been documented human habitation and settlement in this area since the 9th century BC, making Ascoli Piceno actually older than Rome itself. CAN WE FIND IT ON GOOGLE EARTH?  Yes, just put Ascoli Piceno, Italy in the search area.  If you zero in on the town, you will see a central oval bordered by two small rivers which join up.  That oval is the historical center.  Now zero in on the large rectangle in the center.  This is the historical and picturesque people’s town square (Piazza Popolo) which was redone in the fifteenth century during the Renaissance in travertine marble and is generally acknowledged to be among the finest in Italy.  Our initial location is a couple streets to the right of this piazza.  If you have the time, take this opportunity to “drive” around the town...