05 November 2006 - 18 November 2006
An uneventful journey saw Rob and brother-in-law Mark driving the Transit, towing a trailer from the Isle of Man via Liverpool, Dover, Calais and the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Pergola. We set out at 0815 on Sunday and arrived at 1130 on Tuesday. The Transit pulled the heavily laden trailer with relative ease, although the climb up to the Mont Blanc Tunnel was 2nd gear at 40kph in the crawler lane. Incredibly, during the 2300 kilometer journey, we didn't get lost once.
On arrival we set about clearing out the unwanted furniture left behind by the previous owner and we also removed one of the two kitchens; this room is to be our lounge as it has a fireplace. We also spent a couple of days just cleaning the house - the previous tennant had left it in a bit of a state.
Fliss and the kids arrived on the Saturday and Mark left on the Sunday. As we had to drop Mark off at Ancona airport, also on the Sunday, we all trooped off to Ikea to stock up on all the essentials which we had to leave behind because they wouldn't fit in the van and trailer. Several hundred Euros later and we now have the various basic items which we need to start our life in Italy; crockery, cutlery, mattresses, wardrobes, etc.
The following week was spent, with some help from our Estate Agent, Claudio, getting our boiler serviced and heating oil delivered, enrolling Kate into the local school, sorting out mobiles and trying to find a pot-bellied stove for our fireplace. We also continued the long task of cleaning the house and gathering up all the firewood scattered around the various outbuildings which will be cut to suitable size once we've found a stove and we bought a new washing machine as the one left behind by the previous owner didn't work.
As expected, life is quite different for us here. Aside from the weather, warm (around 20 degrees) and dry by day but cooler at night with the occasional shower, the shops close for two or three hours at lunchtime and our lack of language skills mean we have to rely on others, the dictionary and phrase book, lots of hand gestures and the patience of the locals. This is one area we really need to address soon. Food shopping is also quite different; we have had to make changes to our diet, mainly for the better though as junk food and pre-packaged food is less readily available. Trips to the DIY store are also a little different; we haven't found anything like B&Q yet and the local stores tend to be somewhat more specialised and maybe, a little on the pricey side.
19 November 2006 - 30 November 2006
Kate started at her new school in Pergola and really loves it. There are 76 other non-Italian children there but she is the only one from the UK. The Scuolabus picks her up at 0720 so we all make the effort to get up at 0630. She goes 0800 - 1300 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and 0800 - 1630 on Wednesday and Friday.
Not been here two weeks yet and Rob has already been offered a job selling sewing machines and steam cleaners to UK wholesalers over the telephone. Currently considering the offer. We're not desparate for cash but some income would be nice.
We went to the Tax Office in Fano to register with them. Only one form to fill in and no fee to pay - they must be really keen to get hold of our money!!! Once the house deeds come back from the Notary we can register with the Comune in Pergola and then we can visit the Police in Pesaro to gain residency - ah the joys of Italian red tape.
Still haven't found a suitable pot-bellied stove for our fire place, guess we'll have to keep looking. And following a very windy night we now know that our chimney needs sweeping - lots of soot fell into the fireplace.
The highest mountains (5000 feet plus) close-by now have snowy tops even though its still pleasantly warm down here by day whilst early morning mists quickly burn off to give a gloriously sunny day.
We are now well underway with grass and weed clearance and we've also started the minor repairs needed to the outbuiding roofs with maybe 20 - 40 tiles to replace. Quite easy on the Dancehall and the Long Barn as these are clad with modern concrete tiles. The Tall Barn is clad with the traditional clay tiles and so will be more difficult. Also, its a lot higher!!!
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