Lordy Me

The Hickory to Anghiari Challenge

Preparing for an international trip, while exciting, can be laden with unforeseen hitches. Double, triple or quadruple that when the trip is not simply a vacation abroad, but relocation, as in our case. Since we had no confidence that we would be granted long stay visas, our assumptions had rested on the prospect of a three month stay in Italy and return to our Hickory home sometime in the Spring of 2021. We were thrilled, of course, to learn that our Elective Residency visas had been approved, but the good news forced us to transition to a wholly different approach to our departure and the subsequent indefinite but lengthy time away from the U S. In the new scenario our townhouse could be, and was, leased long term as an unfurnished space and our recently purchased car needed to be sold rather than left to sink into entropy while sitting in a parking lot for extended periods of time.

As we spun into high level activity, Murphy’s Law of course threw a few barbs into the process meting out a leaky toilet, suddenly altered and now inconvenient appointments, and my developing case of bronchitis. Still, with only a week’s notice we were able to empty shelves of unused food and deliver it to local food banks, get covid tests, sell the car, strip our townhouse down to bare walls and floors and collapse onto beds at the local Days Inn the evening before we were to leave for Atlanta.

On the day of our flight we arrived at the airport looking forward to eating a meal to offset a couple of days of breakfast, lunch and dinner comprised of snacks. Unfortunately in our terminal nothing was open except a bar, so we staved off hunger with an exhorbitantly priced alcoholic beverage. We anticipated that our meal on the overseas flight would be a bagged lunch waiting in our seats as had been provided when we flew back to the States in the Spring. But, thankfully, Delta had resumed regular food service and we were able to enjoy a hot and actually quite tasty meal for the first time in two days.

Because our departure from Atlanta had been delayed for an hour, the layover time for our second flight was reduced to thirty minutes during which we had to go through security again. Rushing through Charles De Gaulle airport, burdened by heavy carry on luggage and an anxious dog scrabbling his way along the highly polished floors, we huffed and puffed our way to the departure gate where we were greeted with, “Are you the people from Atlanta?” Yes we were, and the other passengers, already seated, waited patiently while we found our seats and stowed our carry-ons. Minutes later, we were on the way to Florence.

Not surprisingly, our luggage did not make the connection to Florence, but otherwise our arrival was quick and smooth and we were soon in our rental car, on the way to Anghiari. As we drove into the familiar territory around Arezzo, about 45 minutes away from home, we found ourselves stalled by an horrific accident blocking the road taking us to Anghiari. Neither our navigation system nor locals could direct us to an alternative route so for an hour or so we drove around or waited in parking lots for the road to be cleared. When we eventually resumed the trip and passed the accident site, our mood was somber, thinking of the unfortunate person or persons who had suffered a devastating, possibly terminal event, and feeling very fortunate to have been merely inconvenienced.

And, at last, we drove up to our home in Anghiari. Even Django knew exactly where he was, trotting up the steps to our door as if he had just left the day before. Of course, the house was cold, very cold, with the thermostat set at an energy saving fifty degrees. And we had a toilet leak–a toilet leak! Our trip had been bookended by recalcitrant toilets on both sides of the Atlantic. Still, homecoming was all that we had waited for–Hickory already seemed like an irreality now. Later when we went to the local cantina to grab a pizza for our dinner, the owner greeted us with, “It’s about time you got back.” Yes.

Although we faced the challenge of initiating the Permesso process after the weekend, we luxuriated in the absence of pressures on our first full day back, lolling in front of the tv watching cooking shows, recuperating and simply enjoying being in Anghiari, only needing a glance out the window to remind us where we were. Monday morning, though, we trekked to the post office to pick up our “kit” with forms to fill out, starting the process of becoming residents. There were some confusing, seemingly contradictory, instructions to stumble over but we completed that phase of the process by Wednesday morning and were given an appointment at the Questura in Sansepolcro for just two weeks later.

Now, a week after we arrived, the toilet is fixed, the luggage here and having only mundane concerns feels like pleasure. There is still mail to sort, ceilings, walls and floors to clean, and supplies to be purchased but if it doesn’t happen today, it can be done tomorrow, or the day after.