Tag Archives: Italy

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End of Year Reflections

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At the end of the year, I think that it is natural to reflect on the year that is finished and look forward to the one just about to begin. I think that we all agree that 2020 is a year like no other in our lifetime. We watched movies and read stories about pandemics, but none of us had experienced one. Each of us experienced it differently, depending on our circumstances, our nature, our faith, and those around us. We had the additional unique experience of retiring and moving to a foreign land. So, how did we manage? Here are my reflections of our first ~10 months living in Italy during a pandemic.

Fireworks over Lucca

Our new town: We had visited Lucca three times before we moved here, so we had a good idea of what to expect. Yet on a daily basis, I still see beauty that I missed before. The walls, the streets, the churches, the museums – none are world class (well, except maybe the walls) but all dazzle me! And they are right outside my door! There are some aspects of Lucca that are “on hold” because of the coronavirus, such as concerts, celebrations, shows, and most street performers. We are definitely looking forward to them restarting!

Our new home: We are very thankful to have a beautiful apartment in a 500-year-old “palazzo” with amazing 360° views of Lucca. It’s on the third, fourth and fifth floor, and thankfully we have an elevator. But within the apartment there are still four sets of stairs! The layout is sorta odd, undoubtedly due to the multiple renovations that have taken place. But we use every part of the apartment and it is serving us well. It was renovated about 12 years ago but we have experienced several problems, such as leaking windows, leak in bathroom leading to some mold, steam heat & hot water that stopped and started every few days, and electricity that would shut down if we used too much. We continue to work through the problems; each time learning more and more about how to get things done in this culture.

View from our apartment, looking South

Our residency status: Before coming here, I generally understood the steps needed to become a permanent residence, but I underestimated the time needed to go through the steps and the number of times that I would need to copy our documentation (passport, codice fiscale, bank statements, birth certificates, …) and present it to a person who would painfully take us through the next step. Thankfully we were introduced to Tony, who helps us each step of the way. He tells us what the next step is, what documentation to bring, gets in line early for us, and talks to the person. For this, we give him €20. A very low price to pay for this valuable service! Jim has finished the process but I am still in the middle (due to an error that I made days after our arrival here). But it is nearly time for Jim to start renewing his “permesso di soggiorno”!

Our health: One of my goals for this year was to “Learn about the Italian medical system”. Well, I nailed that goal! Italy has a highly rated national health program that is generally covered by the taxes paid by residents. But in order to move here we need to get private medical insurance to have before we were able to sign up for the national program. We have been to the doctor several times each, gotten Xray’s, MRIs, blood tests, and Jim had a minor operation. So, yeah, I’ve learned a lot about the medical system…  The best parts have been finding good doctors that can speak English (easily or with some difficulty), pharmacists who are really very helpful and relatively low price for services and medicines. But we are still waiting for reimbursement for that operation that occurred at the end of August. In general, our health is probably a lot better than in the past. We walk more, ride bicycles again, and eat fresh & healthy food every day. Just still too much food & wine, so we plan to work on that in 2021…

Our friends: Despite the coronavirus restrictions, we’ve been able to develop friendships with several Italians and American expats. There was an active group of English-speakers that would meet each Monday afternoon in Lucca. Given the coronavirus restrictions, they aren’t so actively currently, but we look forward to engaging with them in the future. So far, all of our Italian friends speak English fluently (or nearly so). I know several non-English speakers, but relationships develop slowly when the conversations can’t go very deep!

Our church: Lucca is sometimes called “The City of 100 Churches” but they are nearly all Catholic… Our faith is very important to us, but we are not Catholic. So, we were thrilled to find a protestant church in one of our early visits to Lucca. Once we arrived, we started attending regularly via Zoom or in person, depending on the coronavirus restrictions. The church and people are wonderful, but frankly we really struggled with the language. A few months ago, we decided that we would attend an English-speaking church in Florence (about an hour drive from here) once things re-open. In the meantime, we watch various church services online and share a Bible study with an American couple here. Maybe one day there will be an international church in Lucca. We are looking for volunteers to come to Italy and help start it!

Our language skills: We consider this our full-time job. I’ve been studying Italian off and on since 2017. I’m currently working with an online tutor two times per week and a local tutor once per week. I can comfortably talk with people in stores, ask for desired items, and pay for my purchases with a bit of chit-chat mixed in. Phone calls are still challenging but I was very pleased that I made a follow-up doctor’s appointment last week with no major problem. As part of our “integration agreement” to become permanent residents, we need to pass a language test at the A2 level. I hoping to complete the test this Spring or Summer. Jim essentially started over when we moved here. He works with an online tutor three times a week and I think that he is making great progress. His biggest challenge is that he depends on me to communicate in challenging situations!

Our transportation: We mostly stay in town given the coronavirus restrictions and our primary mode of transportation is walking and riding bicycles. But in late December we purchased a car, making local trips to doctors, supermarkets, and home improvement stores easier. We look forward to the time when we can drive around Tuscany and Italy. We can use our U.S. driver’s license with an International Driver Permit for one year after establishing our formal residency here. Then we need to get an Italian driver licenses. The test is difficult for everyone AND is in Italian. It typically takes expats 3 months of intense studying to pass it. And because we will be considered “new drivers”, we will get provisional licenses and can only drive cars with very small engines. Really… with 45 years of driving experience…

Our finances: We are doing ok, especially given that we retired several years before we expected to. We have a great financial planner who is guiding us through new situations for us. I’ve learned to deal with our bank better but we are still adjusting to managing our cash flow, utilizing debit cards, an Italian credit card, and occasional trips to the bank for withdrawals. Some of their rules still don’t make sense to me. The exchange rate dropped a lot but fortunately our planner suggested that we transfer several months of money before the big drop. I’m hoping for better exchange rates before March! I’ve also started to prepare for the Italian and US tax activities that we’ll tackle in early 2021.

Our retirement: I still can’t believe that we don’t have to go to work on Monday… or next week… or next month…

And what about 2021? Jim gave me a funny look when I said that we ought to come up with goals and objectives for 2021, but all of those years of annual planning cycles have trained me… I won’t bore you with all of the details but two that we are really looking forward to are:

  • Travel within Italy, including Sicily wine tour and regions that we haven’t visited before
  • Welcoming visitors, and helping them learn about the beauty of culture of Italy

We hope and pray that the coronavirus will come under control in 2021 and we will all have a good and healthy year!

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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

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But of course, first there is Thanksgiving… Most years, we stray quite far from the traditional feast. I suppose that we wanted more normalcy this year, so went with the traditional foods of Thanksgiving. However, purchasing and preparing the foods was not so traditional. It is difficult to find the typical ingredients, so we had turkey parts instead of a whole turkey, made the dressing from fresh bread, etc. I made my first ever green bean casserole, but completely from scratch. And 99% of the people around us weren’t celebrating! Normally the American Expats would gather, but not this year. We still spent the day focused on what we are thankful for and had phone calls and messaged with several family members.

On Thanksgiving Day, Lucca turned on its Christmas lights. The streets are beautifully lit and several of the piazzas have special decorations. Each year they pick a different theme for the special decorations; this year it is the poetry of Dante Alighieri.

  • The last verse from Dante Alighieri’s Paradiso means
    “The love that moves the sun and the other stars”
  • From Inferno “And then we went out to see the stars again”
  • Medallion of Dante outside of the Anfiteatro
  • Our beautiful anfiteatro with lights and the moon!
  • San Michelle with the moon on a cloudy evening

You may be wondering if the town has any Christmas trees in the piazzas… One is up, but not decorated yet. The Italian tradition is to wait until December. 8th. Most of the shops are stilled closed because of the coronavirus, but they should be reopening on December 3 or 4. An article in a local news site said this about the uniqueness of this year:

“The light – comments the councilor for economic development of the Municipality of Lucca Chiara Martini – is the symbol of hope, we are in a difficult moment for our country, but we did not want to give up Christmas lights to the warmth they can give. The Municipality of Lucca has given its support because even the symbols of tradition are important for a community affected by suffering and economic difficulties and commerce is the living heart of our city: we support our traders, especially small businesses, our restaurants, our bars, our artisans. Never as this year is it important to make our purchases at zero km to help local businesses and reach a spring in which we hope to definitively overcome the health emergency “.

We have been minimizing our Amazon orders, shopping at the local stores that are still open, and waiting for others to reopen soon.

We also set up our tree in our altana, which can be seen from Lucca’s wall. Jim has enjoyed lighting the tree and putting up special lights for Christmas in the altana.

It’s not only beginning to look a lot like Christmas, it’s also starting to feel like Christmas. Our hope and prayer are that you will have a special Christmas and will reflect on God’s awesome power and His amazing love!

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Another lockdown!

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A week ago, the Italian government announced a three-tiered system for restrictions to tackle the coronavirus. Each region (similar to a State in the USA) would be declared either yellow, orange, or red depending on the coronavirus metrics. But the good news was that Tuscany was yellow, so not a lot of changes. Last night the government announced that Tuscany is orange.

What to do?

  • “Snack” with friends at his restaurant (after closing). Well, the snack was several courses and included four bottles of wine. The restaurant will be closed now with only take out and delivery allowed. Two of his friends have been helping at the restaurant and staying with him because their cruise ship jobs are on hold until. They’ll head “home” tomorrow and we will miss them.
  • Lunch with the Rice’s, an American couple that live in Lucca and have become great friends. Lousy lighting in the photo, but an impressive last meal before the lockdown. We’ll continue meeting with them at least weekly via Zoom as we pray and discuss books together.
  • Shopping for items that we may have a hard time getting. We don’t expect problems getting food, buying essentials, and can order stuff on Amazon. So, we went shopping for decorations for a Christmas tree that we plan to put up in December. And Jim went to Pisa to buy some bottles of 2001 Col D’Orcia Brunello at a great price.

This lockdown shouldn’t be as restrictive as during March and April. We’ll be able to take walks and ride bicycles on Lucca’s wall, a beautiful park that surrounds the city. I think that most stores will remain open, but am not sure about that. Late breaking news… rumor on the street is that the government plans a total lockdown if the numbers don’t start improving in five days.

So, how did we get here again??? Below are two graphs that I created from data that is freely available from a government website. The first shows data from all of Italy; the second is the region of Tuscany, where we live. The blue lines shows the number of new cases reported each day. You can clearly see that the two peaks – and that this second peak is much higher than the first. I believe that this is because there is so much testing being done now as compared to the first peak. During the first peak, most of the testing was done for people coming to the hospital with severe symptoms of COVID-19. Yep, they had the virus. Now there is lots of lots of testing being done, even on people without any symptoms. So the non-symptomatic, but infected, people are now being identified. The more problematic curve is the red line, showing the people that are in intensive care. You’ll see that the curve is still a bit lower than the first peak. The hospitals were full during the first peak and they are filling fast now. Fortunately, the Italian health system has prepared for this second wave.

And you can see that I still find all kinds of reasons to analyze data in my newly retired life. 😉

So we have big plans for lockdown – read, study Italian, do several jigsaw puzzles, play games, watch Puccini operas (full length operas available on youtube.com!), walk and bicycle the walls, walk through the city, and enjoy the quiet.

Because of the coronavirus, things have changed here over the past few weeks. And we are well aware of all of the changes and challenges in America. We think and pray for our families, friends, and the country’s leaders everyday.

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Not beauty, but war…

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In my blog posts I’ve been showing and talking about the beauty that surrounds us during these early days of retirement in Lucca, Italy. But the last few weeks, Jim and I have been exploring and learning about the local World War II activities. Within an hour from our home, there were many battles fought and much sorrow. We’ve taken two trips to nearby villages to see and understand more:

The Gothic Line at Borgo a Mozzano

Between 1943 and the summer of 1944, the commanders of the Nazi forces constructed a 32K kilometer (20K miles) defensive line from the Adriatic Sea to the Tyrrhenian Sea, as a last stronghold against the invasion of Northern Italy. The defensive line was known as the Gothic Line or Green Line. At Borgo a Mozzano (about 30 minutes from our home), bunkers, anti-aircraft emplacements, communication trenches, and antitank ditches are still well-preserved. We visited a museum and two bunkers during our tour that was led by a very informative and engaging guide.

The museum was stuffed full of artifacts and interesting documents.

This map was copied from the Nazi commanders and taken to the Italian partisan fighters and Allied troops. The dots show locations of bunkers. Without this map, the Allied forces would have been in a very weak position. With it, they broke through the line.

Our guide told us stories about many of the local individuals that lived through WWII, including several that he had interviewed for a book. Anna Maria was the person that brought the map from the Nazis to the partisans, risking her life. She was 18 years old at the time.

Here is our guide in front of one of the bunkers, explaining how they were built, hidden, and used during the war. We went through two of the bunkers. Most of the bunkers are not opened to the public. These two are available only through guided tours.

A beautiful medieval bridge located in Borgo a Mozzano. You can read the legend of the bridge here.

Sant’Anna di Stazzema

In 1944, Nazi officers were given orders to round up Italian partisans in the Tuscan region. On August 12, about 300 Nazi troops surrounded Sant’Anna di Stazzema, a small village in the Apuan Alps. This remote village had been flooded with refugees that were gathered here to hide from the Nazis. The Nazis found them, rounded them up and shot them. Some people were herded into basements and killed with hand grenades. Before burning the village to the ground, the Nazi soldiers murdered hundreds of women and elderly and 116 children, the youngest of which was just 20 days old. The precise number killed is uncertain, but the most commonly cited number is 560 people.

The massacre, perhaps the most egregious war crime committed by the Nazis on Italian soil, took place as the Nazis were retreating up the Italian peninsula. Some historians say the killings were in retaliation against Italian partisans resisting German occupation; others maintain it was an unwarranted act of intimidation.

The Nazis burned all of the buildings in the town, but the church has been rebuilt.

A child’s artwork in the church says “I can do some things that you can not. You can do some things that I can not. Together we can do big things.” (my translation) Maria Teresa in Calcutta

A steep and long (for me!) path leads to a memorial. Along the way there are plaques showing the story of the Passion of Christ and corresponding depictions of the massacre. Very powerful…

At the end of the path is an Ossuary Monument in memory of the victims of the massacre. The monument is a large tower 12 meters tall with four arches, a tombstone holds the names of the dead that have been identified, and many other features to help us remember.

This lists the names of all known victims. There were entire families killed, so many of the victims had the same last names. There were also signs in the church and museum that showed pictures of the children and pregnant women who were killed that day.

The view from the memorial was gorgeous. You can see the Tyrrhenian Sea, seaside towns, beautiful mountains and forests.

And some updates on life…

  • We are still working through the process of becoming residents. Jim has an appointment next week that will bring him very close. My next appointment is in December.
  • Once Jim gets the card showing that he is a resident, we can buy a car. We can drive for one year with our International Driver’s License after becoming a resident. Then we need to get an Italian Driver’s License, which is very challenging, especially because the test is in Italian. And for the first year, it is considered a Provisional license with extra restrictions, like you can only drive a car with a very small engine. So… we plan to buy a car, but a small one. For example, my Mini Cooper had an engine that is much larger than we are allowed here!
  • The government changed the rules to control the coronavirus last week, including requiring everyone to wear a mask whenever in public – inside or outside – with just a few exceptions. But then the number of new coronavirus cases started to rise very quickly. We are expecting new rules again today or tomorrow. Rumors include online school only, closing restaurants, 10pm curfews, etc. I don’t like it, but I fully support taking whatever actions are needed to get it under control. The number of new cases per day:
  • The weather has changed here. So far, October has been usually cold and wet. The last few days (and this coming week) have been gorgeous. I’ve been posting early fall foliage pictures on Facebook, although the trees are still mostly green. And I’ll end this blog post with a picture taken one evening last week, after a storm when the sun burst through the clouds.

I am touched that you take the time to read my blog posts. If you have things that you’d like me to write about, please let me know! JoAn

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6 months in Italy and some glitches!

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But first a few pictures of the churches and streets illuminated for the Santa Croce festa on 13 September. Normally there is a long procession with people in medieval costumes, religious artifacts, and many local groups. Due to the coronavirus, much of the festival was cancelled or scaled back, but I loved wandering through the streets.

We arrived in Lucca on March 9th, so have now been here for more than six months. It feels the time has flown by, yet this now feels like home. While walking the familiar streets, I recognize many locals and even occasionally run into friends or acquaintances. But I still discover new streets, piazzas and stores. I’m now able to communicate as needed, although my pronunciation and grammar have lots of room for improvement. Phone calls are still tough. We are planning to buy a car within the next month or so and I now feel comfortable driving here.

But things aren’t exactly perfect here. We’ve run into a few glitches recently and both can give you a sense of the crazy bureaucracy here:

Permesso di siggornio: Getting our visa was challenging and took a long time, but it only gave us permission to enter the country. To stay, we need to get our permesso di siggornio (PDS). We applied in March, shortly after our arrival. We got the forms but of course all of the directions were in Italian. I googled and found some instructions on how to complete the non-intuitive forms, lists of documents to include, and tax stamps to attached. We turned them in and waited until the end of August for our appointment at the Questura (immigration office) to get our fingerprints. In the meantime, a local American friend introduced us to Tony, who helps expats and others through the crazy bureaucracy. A day before our appointment he checked on the status of our applications and that is when he discovered that I had made a mistake. A big mistake. I filled out one form because I had convinced myself that the form covered both of us. Nope…  I was supposed to complete one form for each of us. Bottom line, I had only applied for Jim. So, Tony helped me fill out MY form, we submitted all of the documentation again, bought new tax stamps and now I wait until December for my Questura appointment. My visa is valid until the end of February, so I should be OK. Ugh!

For Jim’s appointment at the Questura, we arrived before they opened per Tony’s instructions. There were about 20 people waiting for it to open, all wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. Then the door opened and everyone rushed to the front. Tony was there to maintain our spot and got Jim in for his appointment. That alone was worth the prices we paid for his services!

And no, the Questura appointment is not the end of the process. There are more appointments to finalize the PDS, get the identification card, and sign up for the national health insurance. And a slightly easier version of this is completed annually.

We also need to do several activities as part of an integration plan that we commit to. We are required to take training about the Italian government (a few hours of boring recorded training at a Government training location). Then take a test about the content a few years from now. Why wait two years, you ask? Because that’s how it work. We also need to take a test to show that we can speak and understand basic Italian. There are other activities as well, but those are the key ones.

The medical system: One of my goals for this year is to gain an understanding of the medical system. What better way to do that than needing some out-patient surgery! 

It turns out that Jim had a hernia…  We aren’t yet on the National Health Insurance so we have private insurance for at least the first year. We went to a local general physician who speaks English. He confirmed that Jim had a hernia, ordered some blood tests, and referred Jim to a surgeon. He is a doctor in the National Health system, so he doesn’t have a way to accept money from us. The doctors are paid a salary; they aren’t paid by the visit or the patient. Bottom line, the doctor appointment will cost us a nice bottle of wine. The doctors don’t have nurses or staffs. Before the coronavirus if you needed to see the doctor, you went to the office and waited for your turn. Now, you need an appointment. So you call or text the doctor to get an appointment – and they tell you when to come in. No nurse, no staff, just communicate directly with the doctor. To give the doctor the blood test results, Jim put them in an envelope and took them to the pharmacy by the doctor’s office. The doctor picks up results there and leaves info for patients there too. 

Getting Jim an appointment with the surgeon was a challenge for two reasons – I really struggle with speaking on the phone and it was August. Nearly everyone takes vacation in August: some for the entire month, most for a few weeks, but at least for a few days. I got the contact info of someone who could help me get the appointment and we communicated via WhatsApp. We had an appointment for several weeks later. Once we found the location for the appointment, we were pleased to find that the surgeon spoke decent English. He examined Jim and confirmed that he needed surgery, which would be done at the large hospital in Pisa. This would be out patient surgery, likely done via just a few small incisions. Next step is to meet with the anesthesiologist and do some pre-operative tests. 

When someone says Pisa, you likely immediately think of that leaning tower. I think of IKEA, Pisa University, and Cisanello Hospital (one of the best in Italy!).

We arrived at the hospital for the pre-operative testing and followed the directions to Building 10, the Orange area, followed the G route, then went down a floor to search for area 14. There was a long line outside of the pre-operative testing room and I tried to ask a question. They quickly realized that we couldn’t speak Italian well, whisked Jim inside and told me to stay out of the room. After about 3 hours, Jim came out to say that he needed a chest Xray and someone would lead us there. It was so confusing getting around that the “guide” asked 3 people for directions! Jim said most of the people spoke decent English. After about 4 hours total, we left. We walked around the city of Pisa and found a wonderful place for lunch. We got a glance at the tower; it’s still leaning. 

More directional signs than an international airport!

The next day, the surgeon called me. (No, not his assistant or nurse… the surgeon). He said that surgery would be Monday and we were to arrive by 10am. He gave us directions to the place to come for surgery and asked Jim to take a COVID-19 test on Sunday at 9:55am and asked that we pre-pay before the surgery. We had talked to our insurance agent and they will cover 80% of the cost, but we needed to pay up-front and they will reimburse us for 80% of the total.

We decided to pre-pay for the surgery on Friday so that we wouldn’t need to worry about it the day of the surgery. Boy, am I glad that we did that! After going to a few different buildings, we found someone who could help us. Because we aren’t using the National Insurance, no one seems to know how to deal with us. At one point, there were three people helping us and two people were called. After about an hour, they finally took our credit card.

Next step… the COVID test. We were told to go the hospital, parking lot A1, and look for an orange building with a tent next to it. Jim didn’t wait too long to have a swab in the throat and one in the nose. He also learned that we were essentially quarantined until he went to the hospital the next day. They said that they would call if it was positive, otherwise we were to come to the hospital the next morning.

Surgery day! Next problem… because we had paid on the Friday before, the date on some of the paperwork showed surgery on that Friday. Yikes! After lots of phone calls and a 1.5 hour wait, we were brought to Jim’s hospital room. The nurse showed us the room, including the bathroom and two beds. They said that I could sleep in the other bed. For outpatient surgery??? Surgery was scheduled for 1pm, but nothing seemed to be happening. Then they asked me if I wanted lunch and dinner. Of course, I was confused because I’m not the patient and Jim can’t eat. They ended up bringing me a decent lunch and dinner will come for Jim and I. They finally said that the surgery would be later than planned, probably around 2pm. Piano, piano… This “out-patient” surgery was going to include a night in the hospital.

After a few hours, Jim was returned to the room. The surgery was a success and his recovery has been very quick.

Bottom line, the medical care received was top notch. The administration and bureaucracy was very challenging!!!

Lots of words in this blog post, but I wanted to convey the complexity of life in Italy when dealing with organizations and government. Be sure to consider that very few of the people that we deal with regarding medical care, immigration, home repair, car purchasing, etc. speak much English. These conversations are typically a mix of Italian and English, with use of Google Translate when needed. But it is all worth it!