Finding a place to live - 19 maggio (May), 2013

This is how it started. Dave sent me a message on a very busy school day to let me know that a trip had been set up for me to join him in Italy to look at housing options. It seemed a little extravagant to travel so far for just five days but I was anxious to picture where I would be living. I was amazed by how many people asked me if we were going to be on House Hunters International. I never realized how many people watch HGTV.

Less than a week later, at the Milan airport I passed through customs and looked for a man holding the Parker sign. We smiled at each other as we realized neither spoke the other's language and I followed him to the car. It was a dreary day and as we sped along the highway through an industrial zone, I certainly hoped that I had gotten in the car with the the right man.

Dave was at his new office so I spent the day alone with the relocation consultant Federica as we visited several different communities. She spoke English but in a stream of consciousness that left little room for dialogue. She seemed intent on convincing me what the typical expatriate was looking for. It was raining incessantly and I was told numerous times an hour how incredibly beautiful it had been earlier in the week. I realized quickly that I must get up to speed on this expatriate thing since this what Dave's status will be in Italy. I am really hoping that we can get a glimpse of real Italian life, not just that of the expatriate community.

First task was to decide on the location where we would like to look. The expectation is we will live in an apartment, hopefully one with two bedrooms. Dave has already told them I would like to live in town where I can walk to the market and where we and hopefully our potential guests can access public transportation.  Como and Saronno were already identified as possibilities; I was rooting for Como due to its proximity to the lakes and mountains for hiking and photography. We drove through the rain and I tried to get my bearings.

Como turned out to be a bigger place that I had anticipated. There is a smaller old city that sits on the southern shore of Lake Como with remnants of a medieval wall surrounding it. The city spreads out from there, up the hillsides and away from the lake.  We parked the car and walked through the narrow streets. All I could see were umbrellas and the jet lag was catching up with me.

The next morning, it was raining even harder than the day before when Federica picked me up at the hotel. In Italy, the process of looking at housing is very formal with a set appointment and the agents of both the property owner and the renter present. We had 8 appointments but (thankfully) two were cancelled that day as the units had been rented. Each property was totally different from the others and actually the process did remind me of an episode of Househunters. Two places didn't have a kitchen but I was promised that the landlord would "put one in" for us. Apparently that when people move in Italy, it is common for them to take the kitchen with them!  In one unit, Dave would not have been able to stand up straight because of the sloping ceiling in the living room. Somehow, a view over the train station and public cemetery was not quite the image I had from travel brochures. Perhaps it was the incessant rain that was making everything seem gloomy.

No kitchen!

Luckily, the 5th apartment we visited seemed promising. It was in the pedestrian zone which meant the car would need to be parked 4 blocks away outside the wall but it was spacious with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, high ceilings and plenty of tall windows. It had a balcony that hung over the street and had an inviting kitchen in place. Even though the current tenant's belongings were strewn about, it seemed like a place we could make our own.  I told Federica that I was pretty sure this was the one.

The next day, Dave was able to join us and visit the various areas we had explored. Finally the rain had stopped so we were able to walk the streets and show Dave how far his daily "commute" to the parking space would be from the apartment. He agreed that Como seemed to be the right spot and was open to the idea of living in a car-free neighborhood.  Dave had only seen photographs of the interior of the apartment but seemed willing to trust my choice. It was a relief to make a decision and be able to picture where we would be living.  On the way back to the airport, I realized that this was really going to happen. Life was about to change in a big way.