Chin Chin

The good news from this weekend is that it looks likely we will have our car before too much longer (which in Italy means sometime between now and the second coming). And the even better news is that Stephen has his identity card, so the world is now our lobster.

As I had a lesson this morning with Lorella, I was not able to join Stephen standing in line waiting for the Comune door to swing open at 10.30, along with some other petitioners attempting to weave a way through the bureaucratic minefield. I have decided that Italian local government lies somewhere between Bleak House and Gormanghast.

After some waiting, while a man with a folder seemed to look by turns puzzled, aghast and frustrated before disappearing in a huff, it was Stephen’s turn and the Carta D’Indentita was completed in double quick time. At least it would have been if he’d had the change to pay the €5.37 fee – how’s that for a random number? He had to hasten across to the Bar Centrale, buy a quick coffee and get some change before returning and handing over the exact amount. ‘Welcome to Italy,’ said the imperturbable Fiorneza. Well, she was only nine weeks out on that one.

In the afternoon we hit Civitanova with Flavia as she needed sundry items for the various members of the household – shopping for clothes being an alien conception to its male members, whose role in the procedure is to complain that it doesn’t fit. Duh.

After this, we all went to see Mr Pompei where Stephen brandished his newly acquired carta d’identita. Mr P looked overjoyed and promptly took a photocopy of it – so can we have our car, please? They have our money, Stephen’s passport and identity card details, address, bank account details, codici fiscali, telephone numbers, blood type and DNA breakdown so surely they do not need anything else…

We celebrated with dinner at the pub – bruschetta (that’s pronounced ‘brushketta’ remember) and a plate of their wonderful tortellini with boscaiola sauce then a relatively early night after all the excitement.

Today has been fairly quiet, apart from a jaunt to the CorridoMnia shopping centre in Corridonia to check out a couple of household stores, including Maisons du Monde, where we bought some aperitivo glasses. As Stephen observed, we have a whole house to sort out and refurbish and I was buying glasses. You have to start somewhere.

Whilst at the centre I also took the opportunity to buy a couple of pairs of shorts and some more t-shirts - with weather this hot it is alarming how quickly the washing piles up. But the real find of the day was the Lindt chocolate shop and coffee bar: if you are ever find yourself in the vicinity of one of these havens you have to try the coffee that has a whole chocolate in the bottom and is topped with whipped cream, served with a small glass of ice cold water. Of such small pleasures is life made – just like my new aperitivo glasses.