Saturday, August 6, 2011

Move it or Lose it

At long last, our household goods have arrived in our little apartment!  The relief of knowing that our possessions, both prized and otherwise, would be within our grasp in a matter of hours left me sleepless the night before.  Like Christmas, except you're just getting your own stuff back and it's about 85 degrees outside.



The movers were sitting on the side of the road having a smoke when we pulled up.  They had gotten there early but were in no rush to start unpacking before the hydraulic lift arrived, which was not scheduled to arrive until 4 pm and meant hard labor for them to start before the life.  They started anyway, verifying our 5 crates were numbered and sealed correctly and then piling as much as they could into our tiny, old elevator that fits no more than 2.5 people.  The problem, as has been noted earlier in the blog, is that the elevator doesn't go all the way up to our apartment.  It goes to the fifth floor (which is really the 6th) and we're up a floor after that. 

Hours later, around 5:30, the lift finally arrived.  It had been described to me as a ladder with a platform and sort of grapling hook that folds over the balcony.  What came was more like a bucket truck or window washing platform.  It extended up to our balcony, but not over the top.  So, seven stories above granite, marble and volcanic ash brick sidewalks, three Italian men were standing on a soft overhang of our downstairs neighbors.  No harnesses, no safety gear, not even on the right side of the balcony.  I started to get hives on my neck.  They were grunting and shouting, trying to lift our buffet over the three foot bucket handrail and then bring it down 6 feet to our porch floor.  I remembered the piece being heavy, but knew that I had slid it around the floors of our house in San Diego in an effort to clean behind it.  Upon it safely reaching the deck and all 3 Italian men still being alive, it turned out that our packers had wrapped inside our sound system, tennis rackets, the linens and duvet of our masterbedroom set and, just for grins, the cushions for my oversized study chair.  Add a partridge and a pear tree and it might really have been Christmas!

The day went on with relatively few broken items.  But none of this would have gone as smoothly without my wonderful husband, Tom, reminding me to stop hovering and breathe deeply.  Also, our wonderful friends, Kim and Nathan, who arrived with the most amazing Italian wine juice boxes and snacks.  We had packed water, Wheat Thins and a case of beer, but these two rolled in like real champs.  Nathan put together my crazy, asymetrical bookshelf while Kim checked and double checked all of the boxes coming into the house. 

To end the night, after prosecco and watching the wedding reception that we could spy on from our balcony (complete with a juggler!  Italy takes wedding reception entertainment very seriously), we found a great pizzeria!  Solopizza, our soon to be locals hangout, has an enormous menu of, wait for it, only pizza.  We each ordered our own and mini bottles of wine.  Kim prepared us with the warning that 9 times out of 10, when ordered off an entirely Italian menu, you normally get something completely different from what you were expecting.  For my part, I just don't know how many times it's going to take me ordering something with "fritto" in the title before I remember that it will be fried.  Nathan's pizza came, as he guessed, with 12 toppings, one of them being a soft fried egg.  Tom, yet again, took home the title of best menu choice and we all left, exhausted, full and relieved that the day was over.

More pictures to come as our place becomes our new home.  With me fiddling over the proper organization of bookshelfs, barware (or "wine cups" as our movers wrote on the boxes), and potted plants, we'll be sure to have enough crazy to keep the house interesting!

Love and hugs to you and yours,
Lynne and Tom
xoxo

4 comments:

  1. Can't wait to see more pictures (the slide show is on the fritz). Nathan and Kim sound like angels. I am so glad your stuff arrived and everyone survived. Love you Lynnie Lou!

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  2. Moving is so stressful in normal circumstances - I can't imagine in another country! Can't wait to see some pictures. Loving reading your adventures!
    xox, kvh

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  3. Congrats on a successful move! Those pictures are FREAKY! I can't imagine trying to handle the stress of seeing your things lifted seven stories on that (shaky looking) thing! I'm taking a deep breath for you...even though I know it is over already. So happy you're in. Much love to you and Tommy!

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  4. Ditto Christy! I can't wait to see pictures. Congrats on a successful reunion with your things!

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