Wow it has been over two years since I’ve written anything on this blog. I have not posted anything because I felt I had nothing interesting to post. Life had become routine and we had not gone anywhere.
Without writing a 500-page novel, after returning from the States in June 2010 after the death of my mother, we fell back into a “routine” where we basically “existed” and both the husband and I had been stuck there ever since. My husband’s back started to increasingly give him more and more problems and ended up bed ridden. I continued on with my English lessons and taking care of my husband. August of last year we spent ten days along Lake Lugano where one of my husband’s cousins has a house along the lake.
January 2012 we spent a weekend in Oltrepò Pavese Italy. Oltrepò Pavese is an area in the northwestern corner of the region of Lombardy. Oltrepò is famous in this area for their wines. Beautiful area, just some of the roads at night made me a bit nervous! Considering we were in the mountains, in winter. There were some parts of the road there was no guard rail so nothing between you and the raven below, ice/snow covered road and in total darkness. Easily understandable why one would be nervous, no? The other half understood when we went back in April, we took a little road trip on the same road during the day and in better weather conditions obviously. It sunk in why….
April 2012 my purse was stolen from my car on my weekly trip to the supermarket. I had loaded up my car, taken the shopping cart back, put my purse on the driver’s side seat, and closed the door for a moment. A car with two men stopped and asked for directions, where these men were from I do not know, but from their accents and complexions not from Italy. I gave them directions and they were off. I got into my car, pulled out and looked down, no purse! Went back to the supermarket, tore my car apart, nothing. Went into the supermarket, nothing. Checked by the shopping carts, nothing. At least I still had the car key and my cell phone. But everything else, gone. Wallet, my South Dakota driver’s license, credit cards from here and the States, house keys, Italian Identification Card, Italian health card, cash. I had put my husband’s wedding ring in my wallet for safe keeping because it had become too tight due to he gaining some weight. The ring is now gone as well. At least my passports I had left at home that day.
Thankfully my husband was home at the time so the apartment was open. But just in case we changed the locks since my house keys were in my purse along with my identification, which lists my address. By the time all was said and done, took over a month to get all missing documents replaced, mainly my Italian documents. My driver’s license I have a temporary paper license valid for one year until I can get back to South Dakota to have a permanent replacement. The Italian bureaucracy was crazy, as always. I have come to expect that here.
So if you decide to move and live here and have to report your wallet/purse stolen and need to replace your Italian documents, the procedure is as follows:
- File a police report (denuncia in Italian) with the local police or Carabinieri. If you had any credit cards in your wallet, try to track down the credit card numbers; the police WILL ask for this and if you don’t have them they will not take the report. They’ll tell you to come back once you have the credit card numbers. Without this police report you are unable to get a replacement I.D. , health card or permit to stay (permesso di soggiorno) or passports.
- Visit your local town hall (comune) with two photos and the ORIGINAL police report. The comune will NOT accept a photocopy of the police report. The new Italian Identification cards are now valid for ten years expiring on your birthday.
- Italian health office is your next stop (or even before the comune) to replace your Italian health card and fiscal code card, which are now conveniently one card. The health office, like the comune, asks for the original copy of the police report (denuncia)
- To replace your permit to stay (permesso di soggiorno) you will have to visit your local Questura (police station) with of course the original police report in hand to find out what the procedure is.
Father and Son in Alleyway in Bobbio, Italy
This summer, just busy working and trying to stay busy working. At the end of August we’re planning on spending a week in Austria. A much needed and well-deserved vacation away. I’ve only been to Austria once, for supper after watching a football (soccer) match in Liechtenstein. So I am really looking forward to going and also because my husband will be able to relax which he needs at the moment.
The photos are of when we went to Oltrepò Pavese, will post more sometime this week.
Life in Italy 