10 May 2006, Piazza Cavour, Napoli
It’s official. We’ve moved! We’re free, independent and enjoying our privacy. Gi has already enjoyed the pleasures of cooking naked in a kitchen organised to his personal requirements. Similarly I’ve enjoyed showering guilt free with a bathmat and late night skips to the kitchen for a drink without fear of disturbing anyone else.
I’m sitting in one corner of our place at my new desk, feeling somewhat unable to convey what’s happened over the last couple of days.
After my birthday, Gigi and I spent the week in limbo, having verbally committed to the mini apartment at Piazza Cavour but having to wait til Saturday 6th May for anything more to happen.
I’ve learnt that Naples is city where it’s best not to expect things to go according to plan. Unfortunately I’m a planner, an organiser, and once a plan is in place it’s pretty challenging for me to deviate from that course. So, I spend a good deal of my time here preparing myself (in my head) for the fact that an appointment, an invitation to dinner, a bureaucratic process or someone’s promise will not eventuate…at least not according to (the original) plan. Oh, it will probably happen, in due course, but that could mean weeks, months, or worse, before they remember, make it a priority, clear the red tape, or even be bothered.
The landlady of the mini apartment is a local, but she’s spent time in Australia along the east coast working on a cruise ship between Sydney and Cairns. In fact she had those yellow road sign souvenirs stuck up on the window and over the weekend arrived dressed in a fleecy blue jumper with Aboriginal art design on the front. I haven’t gathered the full story but it seems that she bought the mini apartment when it was still in it’s original, historical condition (read: cave like) and had it fully renovated before living in it part time (with various other members of the family at times) as her work is sometimes based in central Naples. Her name is Annalisa, she is somewhat alternative and, like a lot of Neapolitans, she likes to chat (read: for Jenny lose time, procrastinate), seems to do things at the last minute and has a wide circle of well-connected friends (read: potentially helpful for Gi’s work). Interestingly Annalisa is a teacher, and she was first married to a man in Greece.
Her husband Maurizio (I assume they are officially married, although I’m no longer surprised to discover that a long standing couple have never formally married here, but are simply engaged) is a robust man with a beard, long unruly hair who usually wears one of those fishing or hunting vests with lots of pockets bulging with all manner of useful paraphernalia. Maurizio is the doer. He gets things done, and has a gentle way of moving his wife along while giving her propensity to over communicate the space (and patience) it needs. (In fact, thinking about it I bet Annalisa is an Aquarian just like my mother and Gigi). So far he seems to be a gentle, caring man with a dry sense of humour – I like him.
This whole process has been a little unusual by local standards and certainly compared to Australia. There are a number of local newspapers and weekly journals published each week that list property for rent or sale, vehicles for sale, employment opportunities and general trading (like the classifieds or Weekend Shopper for those of you playing in Brisbane). We had decided to focus the search for a place on something that would accommodate Gigi and I, his mother and his sister however it became increasingly obvious that finding something suitable was going to take much longer that we were prepared to wait. Gigi had seen the ad for the mini apartment at Piazza Cavour previously and kept mentioning to me that he still liked the idea of living in the historical centre of Naples and that perhaps we should look at it. This is a bit like proposing that you want to live in Fortitude Valley or New Farm which generally means higher rent, less space and potential problems with neighbours in compact living arrangements, parking etc.
One day Gigi rang the number on the ad for the address. The next day we used the Internet at Piazza Cavour and wandered past the address to check out the local area. It’s fifty metres from the piazza and literally in the heart of the city. Here’s how events unfolded from that point on.
· Gi called again and we went in to have a look.
· A place we’d been considering as a family group at Pomigliano was delayed again, so Gi rang Maurizio to express our interest in the mini apartment. He offered them Euro 100 / month less than they were asking, half expecting a counter offer that we wouldn’t be able to afford.
· On 25 April, we were invited to their house to discuss the rental arrangements with Gi’s offer having been accepted. They live on the other side of Naples, near Baia and the Acropoli di Cuma (see previous blog “Liberation Day”), in a villa with two teenage children (who I suspect are from earlier marriages), three big dogs, a cat and a kitten who enjoyed using my hand as a scratch and claw toy. They know that we are also renting out a house in Brisbane, and felt that while the rent was below market value they wanted tenants that would look after the place and the furniture. One of us must look clean and decent!
· We had a second look at the place and discussed with Maurizio what items of furniture we wanted to keep and what could be removed. As a furnished place it should at least come with the kitchen, oven, fridge, bed and some living furniture. This place has new IKEA kitchen and bathroom, plus a washing machine (hallelujah), stereo, two lounge seats that convert into single futon beds (yet to be tested) plus other bits of dark wood antique style furniture. Maurizio advised that Annalisa was out of town the following week and still had a few personal items to remove (an understatement).
· Saturday 6th May we met them both at the apartment at 5.30pm, expecting to hand over the bond, finalise the agreement and start moving in that evening. However, I was fully expecting something to not go ‘according to plan’. Inside the apartment it was clear that Annalisa still had most of her personal items to remove. As far as I could tell the only thing she had already taken was clothing. The bathroom, kitchen and living area was full of toiletries, food, books and knick-knacks.
· Having underestimated how much stuff she still had to move, they packed up several bags and a box of things, planning to finish up on Sunday. As a compromise we handed over half the rent for the month and received one set of keys giving us access the following day. After unloading the car, we started cleaning and isolating Annalisa’s personal items to avoid a repeat of the halfhearted procrastinating process of that afternoon.
· At midnight we left to pick up Irene (Gi’s sister) from her Saturday night job and went home to the dodgy bed, mouldy ceiling and smoking mother-in-law (of course I mean she smokes, not that she’s smoking as in highly sexed).
· Sunday morning we headed to IKEA to research furniture and pick up some of those essential things you need in a new place (read: towels, quilt). What should have been a ten-minute trip took almost two hours first going in the wrong direction, taking the wrong freeway and following IKEA signs that led into the centre of a drug-dealing zone. To compensate we had lunch at IKEA amongst the Sunday crowd of unhurried well-groomed Neapolitans and their complaining, noisy children.
· The rest of Sunday was busy cleaning the rest of the apartment, going through the contents of the kitchen and trying to rearrange the existing furniture. It became apparent that the ‘small’ wardrobe would also need to be removed and replaced with drawers and a wardrobe to fit our clothes.
· Annalisa and Maurizio arrived at 8pm right on time for the 5.30/6pm appointment we had made the previous day! Having separated and bagged up her bathroom toiletries, fridge contents and collection of knick knacks it only took two hours to load up an antique glass cabinet, 2.10 metre tall wardrobe (yeah, the small one I mentioned before), and an antique tub chair all the while being interrupted by curious (read: nosy) neighbours and sidetracked with Annalisa and Gigi being Aquarians and being in the same room together.
· Finally they left, having exchanged two more sets of keys for the remainder of the bond. Of course, ten minutes later they were back to collect the handbag Annalisa had left in the flurry of farewells.
· Monday dawned after our first night sleeping in a new place where a strange click at 3am wakes you, as does the fridge and the alarm at 8am. We had become accustomed to being woken by Rosa’s neighbours who routinely start loudly and persistently rousing a child named Claudia at 6.30am who obviously prefers to sleep. With the doors, window and shutter closed in our new place we hadn’t heard a peep and were glad to have missed Claudia’s annoying fatherly alarm.
· Monday we headed back to IKEA (after a direct ten minute drive), first stopping at ‘Leroy Merlin’, exactly the same as Bunnings just more expensive. Amongst other household items we are now the proud owners of a wardrobe, drawers, bookcase, desk and the famous IKEA Lack table. Gigi spent a good part of Monday afternoon and Tuesday doing the assembly thing (I managed the Lack table…don’t really have a brain for following diagram instructions).
· More unpacking and organising Tuesday.
· It’s now Wednesday afternoon, 10 May and with the loan of his mother’s drill set and tall ladder we’ve finished putting up hooks, clothesline and a new light fitting. The washing machine is still doing overtime having purchased sheets, table clothes, tea towels, curtains and even more bathmats. The fridge is partly populated, the suitcases are empty, we’re in and pretty much sorted.
I’ll have to describe the mini apartment that Gigi and I now call home in a future episode. Maybe some photos too – I take a photo of Gi standing naked at every sink we own or rent. Of course he’s not facing the camera. I’ll see what I can manage.
It’s official. We’ve moved! We’re free, independent and enjoying our privacy. Gi has already enjoyed the pleasures of cooking naked in a kitchen organised to his personal requirements. Similarly I’ve enjoyed showering guilt free with a bathmat and late night skips to the kitchen for a drink without fear of disturbing anyone else.
I’m sitting in one corner of our place at my new desk, feeling somewhat unable to convey what’s happened over the last couple of days.
After my birthday, Gigi and I spent the week in limbo, having verbally committed to the mini apartment at Piazza Cavour but having to wait til Saturday 6th May for anything more to happen.
I’ve learnt that Naples is city where it’s best not to expect things to go according to plan. Unfortunately I’m a planner, an organiser, and once a plan is in place it’s pretty challenging for me to deviate from that course. So, I spend a good deal of my time here preparing myself (in my head) for the fact that an appointment, an invitation to dinner, a bureaucratic process or someone’s promise will not eventuate…at least not according to (the original) plan. Oh, it will probably happen, in due course, but that could mean weeks, months, or worse, before they remember, make it a priority, clear the red tape, or even be bothered.
The landlady of the mini apartment is a local, but she’s spent time in Australia along the east coast working on a cruise ship between Sydney and Cairns. In fact she had those yellow road sign souvenirs stuck up on the window and over the weekend arrived dressed in a fleecy blue jumper with Aboriginal art design on the front. I haven’t gathered the full story but it seems that she bought the mini apartment when it was still in it’s original, historical condition (read: cave like) and had it fully renovated before living in it part time (with various other members of the family at times) as her work is sometimes based in central Naples. Her name is Annalisa, she is somewhat alternative and, like a lot of Neapolitans, she likes to chat (read: for Jenny lose time, procrastinate), seems to do things at the last minute and has a wide circle of well-connected friends (read: potentially helpful for Gi’s work). Interestingly Annalisa is a teacher, and she was first married to a man in Greece.
Her husband Maurizio (I assume they are officially married, although I’m no longer surprised to discover that a long standing couple have never formally married here, but are simply engaged) is a robust man with a beard, long unruly hair who usually wears one of those fishing or hunting vests with lots of pockets bulging with all manner of useful paraphernalia. Maurizio is the doer. He gets things done, and has a gentle way of moving his wife along while giving her propensity to over communicate the space (and patience) it needs. (In fact, thinking about it I bet Annalisa is an Aquarian just like my mother and Gigi). So far he seems to be a gentle, caring man with a dry sense of humour – I like him.
This whole process has been a little unusual by local standards and certainly compared to Australia. There are a number of local newspapers and weekly journals published each week that list property for rent or sale, vehicles for sale, employment opportunities and general trading (like the classifieds or Weekend Shopper for those of you playing in Brisbane). We had decided to focus the search for a place on something that would accommodate Gigi and I, his mother and his sister however it became increasingly obvious that finding something suitable was going to take much longer that we were prepared to wait. Gigi had seen the ad for the mini apartment at Piazza Cavour previously and kept mentioning to me that he still liked the idea of living in the historical centre of Naples and that perhaps we should look at it. This is a bit like proposing that you want to live in Fortitude Valley or New Farm which generally means higher rent, less space and potential problems with neighbours in compact living arrangements, parking etc.
One day Gigi rang the number on the ad for the address. The next day we used the Internet at Piazza Cavour and wandered past the address to check out the local area. It’s fifty metres from the piazza and literally in the heart of the city. Here’s how events unfolded from that point on.
· Gi called again and we went in to have a look.
· A place we’d been considering as a family group at Pomigliano was delayed again, so Gi rang Maurizio to express our interest in the mini apartment. He offered them Euro 100 / month less than they were asking, half expecting a counter offer that we wouldn’t be able to afford.
· On 25 April, we were invited to their house to discuss the rental arrangements with Gi’s offer having been accepted. They live on the other side of Naples, near Baia and the Acropoli di Cuma (see previous blog “Liberation Day”), in a villa with two teenage children (who I suspect are from earlier marriages), three big dogs, a cat and a kitten who enjoyed using my hand as a scratch and claw toy. They know that we are also renting out a house in Brisbane, and felt that while the rent was below market value they wanted tenants that would look after the place and the furniture. One of us must look clean and decent!
· We had a second look at the place and discussed with Maurizio what items of furniture we wanted to keep and what could be removed. As a furnished place it should at least come with the kitchen, oven, fridge, bed and some living furniture. This place has new IKEA kitchen and bathroom, plus a washing machine (hallelujah), stereo, two lounge seats that convert into single futon beds (yet to be tested) plus other bits of dark wood antique style furniture. Maurizio advised that Annalisa was out of town the following week and still had a few personal items to remove (an understatement).
· Saturday 6th May we met them both at the apartment at 5.30pm, expecting to hand over the bond, finalise the agreement and start moving in that evening. However, I was fully expecting something to not go ‘according to plan’. Inside the apartment it was clear that Annalisa still had most of her personal items to remove. As far as I could tell the only thing she had already taken was clothing. The bathroom, kitchen and living area was full of toiletries, food, books and knick-knacks.
· Having underestimated how much stuff she still had to move, they packed up several bags and a box of things, planning to finish up on Sunday. As a compromise we handed over half the rent for the month and received one set of keys giving us access the following day. After unloading the car, we started cleaning and isolating Annalisa’s personal items to avoid a repeat of the halfhearted procrastinating process of that afternoon.
· At midnight we left to pick up Irene (Gi’s sister) from her Saturday night job and went home to the dodgy bed, mouldy ceiling and smoking mother-in-law (of course I mean she smokes, not that she’s smoking as in highly sexed).
· Sunday morning we headed to IKEA to research furniture and pick up some of those essential things you need in a new place (read: towels, quilt). What should have been a ten-minute trip took almost two hours first going in the wrong direction, taking the wrong freeway and following IKEA signs that led into the centre of a drug-dealing zone. To compensate we had lunch at IKEA amongst the Sunday crowd of unhurried well-groomed Neapolitans and their complaining, noisy children.
· The rest of Sunday was busy cleaning the rest of the apartment, going through the contents of the kitchen and trying to rearrange the existing furniture. It became apparent that the ‘small’ wardrobe would also need to be removed and replaced with drawers and a wardrobe to fit our clothes.
· Annalisa and Maurizio arrived at 8pm right on time for the 5.30/6pm appointment we had made the previous day! Having separated and bagged up her bathroom toiletries, fridge contents and collection of knick knacks it only took two hours to load up an antique glass cabinet, 2.10 metre tall wardrobe (yeah, the small one I mentioned before), and an antique tub chair all the while being interrupted by curious (read: nosy) neighbours and sidetracked with Annalisa and Gigi being Aquarians and being in the same room together.
· Finally they left, having exchanged two more sets of keys for the remainder of the bond. Of course, ten minutes later they were back to collect the handbag Annalisa had left in the flurry of farewells.
· Monday dawned after our first night sleeping in a new place where a strange click at 3am wakes you, as does the fridge and the alarm at 8am. We had become accustomed to being woken by Rosa’s neighbours who routinely start loudly and persistently rousing a child named Claudia at 6.30am who obviously prefers to sleep. With the doors, window and shutter closed in our new place we hadn’t heard a peep and were glad to have missed Claudia’s annoying fatherly alarm.
· Monday we headed back to IKEA (after a direct ten minute drive), first stopping at ‘Leroy Merlin’, exactly the same as Bunnings just more expensive. Amongst other household items we are now the proud owners of a wardrobe, drawers, bookcase, desk and the famous IKEA Lack table. Gigi spent a good part of Monday afternoon and Tuesday doing the assembly thing (I managed the Lack table…don’t really have a brain for following diagram instructions).
· More unpacking and organising Tuesday.
· It’s now Wednesday afternoon, 10 May and with the loan of his mother’s drill set and tall ladder we’ve finished putting up hooks, clothesline and a new light fitting. The washing machine is still doing overtime having purchased sheets, table clothes, tea towels, curtains and even more bathmats. The fridge is partly populated, the suitcases are empty, we’re in and pretty much sorted.
I’ll have to describe the mini apartment that Gigi and I now call home in a future episode. Maybe some photos too – I take a photo of Gi standing naked at every sink we own or rent. Of course he’s not facing the camera. I’ll see what I can manage.
1 comment:
That sounds awesome,jen!!
Would love to see ur apartment on a picture and in real! I'll will come to visit you or you will come to germany! Love ,EsTHer
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