The apartment
Tuesday, May 19th, 2015
I mentioned our apartment in a previous post. It’s interesting in all kinds of ways to be living in a building the was built before any european/americans lived in what is now the USA. The building where we live was built in 1550. The one in front is newer, having been build in only 1600. Of course a lot as changed over the years but in Italy they seem to always do their best to maintain the character and history of the building. So we are on the 2nd floor (3rd floor in the U.S.) and top floor. It is what is called a “mansarda†which is to say it is just under the roof of the building and as such it has a ceiling that is slanted.
We’re at via santo stefano 66
The location of the apartment is just about ideal. It is in a great neighborhood just about midway between the center of town (Piazza Maggiore) and the school where the lovely K is taking Italian lessons. It faces the cortille (courtyard) rather than the street so it’s very quiet. We wake up to birds singing in the tree just about every morning.
the little terrace
The roof and ceiling has obviously been rebuild; perhaps several times over the last 465 years. Still the rough hewn large wooden beams appear to be the original ones. I’m not sure of what the plumbing situation was so long ago but imagine that it was minimal at best. But now there are two bathrooms, and a kitchen complete with dishwasher, washing machine and microwave (the latter I rarely use). And now a bunch of photos.
halway looking back toward the front door to the building
The entry way
The breakfast area, kitchen and bath beyond the entry
stove, dishwasher, oven, microwave and washing machine
exposed beams and fireplace in living/dining room
dining/living room table
second bedroom
desk in the second bedroom
up the stairs to the master bedroom
the master bedroom
hanging strands serve as a curtain for the “armadio” – clothes closet
Up the stairs from the master bedroom to the second bathroom
The troublesome hotspot
It has wifi provided by a “hotspot†the connects to the cellular network and provides wifi connections for my computer, our iPads and phones. It works pretty well with occasional need to reset the hotspot device and inexplicable excessive data use. We are supposed to have 3 gigabytes available for the month but after 2 weeks it has run out. Antonella (the proprietor) is coming by today to take the hotspot to the provider to understand why it’s consuming so much data. I can’t imagine that we’re going through so much data so fast.
An interesting side note. There is a little courtyard inside the front door and gate where people park bicycles. There is a sign on the wall that says it is absolutely forbidden to park a motorcycle or any motorized vehicle there. Just beside the sign is a Moto Guzzi complete with cobwebs which is a sure sign that it has been there for a long time.
Sign that says that it is absolutely prohibited to park motorcycle or motorized anything
motorcycle parked in the little courtyard
Such is Italy.
