The Paper Trail

We've been in Italy a little over a week and in that time have acquired the pile of receipts shown in this picture.  The Guardia di Finanza, the taxing authority, requires that pretty much every transaction generate a receipt of some kind.  Some things apparently act as their own receipts, like bus tickets and cards you buy at the tabaccheria to add minutes to your cell phone.  But if you buy a cup of gelato, not only is the merchant required to hand you a paper receipt, you are required to show it in the unlikely event that an inspector makes your acquaintance while you're eating your cioccolato or frutti di bosco.


Our shopping methods are different here, with many more small purchases from specialty markets, so on a single shopping excursion we may end up with scontrini fiscale (receipts) from two or three fruit and vegetable sellers, another from the panificio (bread shop) and yet another from a wine shop.  The bancomat (ATM) also gives a receipt, but it seems to be known as a ricevuto fiscale.  


Can I recycle this pile now?


Roberto

Hearing Things

There are a lot of good things to hear in Bologna.  One sound we enjoy every day is the clangorous pealing of bells from the Basilica di San Martino Maggiore, which is just over the garden wall behind our apartment.  Depending on the day of the week, the festival being celebrated or perhaps only at the whim of the bell ringer, the four big campane send their message out over the city.  Sometimes they ring in order from high to low, sometimes in changes and often in apparently random patterns.  One thing is certain: we don’t sleep through the ringing.  There are other churches within easy hearing as well, and sometimes I think the ringers call out or challenge each other.  And it turns out there’s a Bolognese system of bell ringing.  You can read more here, including further links to videos.

We also benefit from the schools of music in Bologna.  Last Sunday we happened to see a notice for an early evening concert in the oratorio of St. Cecilia, with its 16th century frescos.   The price was right—an offering of your choice.  The presentation was by four music students, a young woman pianist and three cellists, part of the Festival of San Giacomo that runs into October.  I can’t praise the young woman pianist enough.  She began with two challenging pieces by Bach and finished the evening with a beautifully lyrical, wonderfully executed Chopin ballade.  

Many notes.  {:-O)

In between, she accompanied each cellist in turn in works by Dvorak, Tchaikovsky and others.  The deeper sonorities of the celli sounded great in the acoustically live stone oratorio.  So sorry I wasn't able to photograph the artists.

This past martedì (Tuesday) we came across a flyer for a concert given by five young artists at the School of Italian Opera, associated with the opera house here.  The presentation was right around the corner from our apartment in a building fronted by one of the oldest porticos in Bologna, dating from the 12th or 13th century.  You would never know that a room like this lay behind that façade.  The singers all had powerful voices, well suited to an opera house, and elicited bravos from the audience.  I actually got chills at the end of "Recondita armonia" from Tosca, and the duet from La Boheme "Oh soave fanciulla" brought tears to many eyes.  All together twelve operas were represented, and we went home well pleased.  And the concert was free.

Last night as we were washing up after dinner, we heard a choir singing.  As with the bells, San Martino next door was the source.  Apparently the hall where the choir practices opens toward our garden, and for over two hours (until nearly 11 p.m.) we were  serenaded with music by (I’m guessing) Monteverdi or another late Renaissance/early Baroque composer.  It was wonderful to throw open the windows and let the multi-part harmonies flow in.  It was a really good choir, singing a capella, and a fine way to end the day.    The next sounds we heard were the birds calling out the dawn.

Roberto e Cinzia

Permesso di Soggiorno, Part One

When we started our research about living in Italy, among our first stops was the Web site for the Italian consulate, because we were pretty sure we would need some kind of visa from the Italian government.  Of the many types of visas listed (university study, fashion model, adoption, religious, work, etc.) only “Elective Residence” fit our circumstances.  We had to have airline reservations coinciding with the start of the visa period, document our exact residences during our stay, prove our financial means so we wouldn’t be a burden to the state and demonstrate health care coverage.  This took a fair amount of planning and work as well as a couple of hours of standing-in-line time at the consulate in San Francisco.  And it cost $120 each in cash.

Our research also turned up a requirement that within 8 business days of arriving in Italy one must “present oneself to the local Questura [police headquarters] and obtain a Permesso di Soggiorno.”  It turns out that though the national government issues a visa allowing entry to the country, it is the local police who actually permit you to remain, and the  permesso is literally a permit to stay.  However, it also turns out that it’s not simply a matter of showing up and getting a thumbs-up.

Others have been this way, of course, and not surprisingly a few have written of their experiences.  We found horror stories of hours and hours spent waiting at the Questura only to be sent away for lack of some document or other.  But by luck and persistent Googling, Cyndy found a fairly recent write-up that eased our way somewhat, though this little adventure isn’t finished yet.

In an attempt to make things work better all around, the post office is now the first stop on the path to a permesso.  There we were given kits that included forms to fill out (black ink only, block capital letters, one letter per box, stay within the lines) and instructions (in Italian, of course) on what additional documentation is required.  It turns out that we had to resubmit all the stuff we’d already sent in for our visas except that this time it had to be on A4 paper, and the passport photocopy must include every page, even if blank.  Fortunately we have computers, thumb drives and a very accommodating copy service around the corner (which is now about €9 [$13] better off thanks to us).  Each application also had to have a special tax stamp (purchased at a local tobacco shop for €14.62 each).

Back to the post office (coming soon: an article on the post office), where a patient woman went through all our paperwork, filled in a few missing details, applied rubber stamps, took €58.83 apiece, and sealed each of our packets with tape.  They are now en route via registered mail to a processing facility, I think in Rome.  We in turn were given receipts and appointments for 18 days hence for the next phase at the Bologna Questura.  In theory the police will also visit our apartment to make sure we really live here.

Part Two coming in a few weeks.

Roberto

Il Giorno della Repubblica

On June 2 Italians celebrate  Il Giorno della Repubblica (the Day of the Republic), which is  something like 4^th of July in the United States.  Following the fall of fascism at the end of WWII, Italians voted on whether the new government should be a reinstatement of the monarchy or a constitutional republic, with “republic” winning.  This year Italy is also celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the unification of Italy in 1861, so the celebrations are doubly meaningful. 

In Bologna the event was celebrated in Piazza Maggiore, the big square in the center of the city right in front of the Basilica of San Petronio.  First there was a ceremony at the wall of the caduti (fallen) from WWII, near the Neptune Fountain, with local survivors carrying their military unit banners in a short procession.  

Here is one of the vecchi (old ones), a veteran of the Bersaglieri (sharpshooters), the Italian Army’s high mobility infantry corps, distinguished by flowing black feathers on their combat dress helmets.  This fellow was riding the bicycle he used during the war and had a recording of Verdi’s Và pensiero playing.  It was the unofficial anthem of the Italian unification in the 1860s.

Then, at exactly 11 o’clock a fine army band began the parade of military squads and civil authorities into the piazza.  Italy has a few more of these than the US does, including the Carabinieri, which is a national police force but part of the military, and the Guardia di Finanza, which is the taxing authority, but which also has military strike forces for action against organized crime, drugs and smuggling.

We had a great view as they all marched past us. 

When all the military units had assembled, the veterans marched in again bearing their banners, and then came banners of all the communities in the local region, headed by Bologna.  All this was accompanied by a fine series of “Attention” and “Present Arms” by the military squads and an urgent cadence from the band that was impossible to ignore.

When everyone was present and official speeches had been made,  the Italian national anthem was played and sung, ending with a rousing Si!

During all of this a curious, and I would say typically Italian, atmosphere pervaded.  There were lots of kids there, and everyone made special efforts to let them see, and no one paid much attention to children not quite under control.  The crowd, which had edged right up to the honorary blue carpets was easily persuaded to move back by gentle urging from a single army captain walking up and down, but it would edge forward again if he didn’t pay attention.  But he was the most temperate man you could imagine, pausing to talk to many and to give affectionate pats to each child he came to. You might say there was an abundance of authority present but sensible enforcement.

Finally all the troops and dignitaries withdrew leaving only the band, which, much to our delight started playing a Sousa march and followed that with several more crowd-pleasers, including a great WWII-era swing number.  Here are a couple of pictures of the band.  The leader would start each piece by raising his hand and snapping his fingers only two or three times to set both the tempo and rhythm.  In the end they too marched off, to great applause.

Later we saw on TV that there was a much bigger parade with more ceremony in Rome, but we went away happy to have participated here in Bologna.

Roberto

Siamo Qui!

We are here!  In Bologna.  We arrived Wednesday afternoon as planned.  All our travel connections worked, and the baggage arrived on time and intact (though we found a Notice of Inspection from TSA left inside one of Cinzia’s bags).

Getting out of town involved a marathon day of cleaning the house, loading the storage container and packing our luggage.  Here’s Cinzia sitting amidst all the potential clothing before triage.

And here I am standing in the empty PODS container about to start loading.

After a few hours sleep at a hotel near SFO, we flew off to Italy via Dulles (United 777) and Munich (Lufthansa A333), with the last leg on Air Dolomiti (Embraer 195) into Bologna.  The taxi dropped us in front of the portone (literally, big door) of our apartment building, where we were soon met by the rental agent Simone to give us the keys and help get us settled.  

Our apartment is charming, though not without quirks.  We’re one story up from street level, but it’s a tall story, especially carrying baggage.  Our main rooms face an interior garden courtyard, with a big conifer just outside the bedroom window.  There are exposed sections of old fresco painting on some ceilings alongside ancient chestnut wood beams, and the floors are rich, old herringbone hardwood.

The neighborhood is full of shops, ristoranti, bar/cafes, and small business offices.  A few doors away is a fruttivendolo (small fruit and vegetable market); farther along is a wonderful gastronomia, a sort of fancy food shop with house-made (fatta a casa) pastas, cheeses and cured meats.  There are a lot of these in Bologna.  We bought cute little pasta called caramelle (because they're shaped like small candies in twisted wrappers) for our first dinner here.  We also have a high concentration of gelato shops around us.  We got sort of a late start yesterday but still managed to try a couple of them.

For our friends at Caffè del Doge, please know that we miss you but found lovely cappuccini with beautifully fine-textured foam at Bar Pasticceria Impero on Via dell' Indipendenza.  Roberto had his first bombolone of this trip—a cream-filled pastry like those he enjoyed on our first trip to Bologna undici anni fa.  And Cinzia had conchiglia pesca—a shell-shaped pastry filled with peach (not fish) jam.

Thursday, June 2, is a national holiday here and is likely the subject of our next entry.

Ciao, Roberto e Cinzia