November 27, 2006 Before I start with our trip to Urbino I need to give you a little idea of what happened in the days before we went.
On Tuesday, Larry turned on the lights in the living room and there was a flash and then all of the lights downstairs went off. He thought there was a short in the chandelier so he rerouted the wires so that we could have electricity downstairs. Everything worked except for that light and a small problem with the TV. It would work, but only one channel came in and it was fuzzy. We figured that was no big problem so we didn't rush to let Paola know. On Wednesday night, I plugged in a little electric heater in our bedroom. Larry told me the cord was too short, but I plugged it in and it came on so, of course, I left it on. The next morning it had shut itself off. Larry said it was because the cord probably pulled out a little because the cord was too short! He brought me an extension cord, but when I tried to unplug the heater I couldn't get it out. As it turns out, it didn't pull itself out a little--it melted inside the outlet! So, on Thanksgiving Larry replaced the plug on the heater and was in the process of replacing the outlet when one of the wires dropped down and shorted across (I'm not sure what that means but I'm sure most of you will!). So, now we have NO ELECTRICITY! I have a pie in the oven and still need to cook the turkey! Luckily, Larry was able to get the downstairs going, but we still had no electricity upstairs. Thursday night we used a flashlight to find our way up to bed and to shower and shave the next morning (well, Larry shaved, I didn't). Then we were off to Urbino!
Now, back to my Urbino story! Last month, as you may recall, we went to Urbino on Tuesday, October 17th for our appointment to turn in our papers for our permesso. We had been told it would take about a month so we decided to wait 5 weeks to be safe before going back. On Tuesday we rode the second bus to Urbino which we thought would be free of students, but would require a change of buses. Instead, it too, was full of students and we needed to change buses both in Sassocovaro and Casinina. Also, when we got on the bus we let the kids on first and ended up standing until we got to Piandimeleto when some of the kids got off. We arrived in Urbino at about 5 minutes before the questura opened only to find it was closed for the day! So, for 4 hours we wandered around killing time and the only thing accomplished was Larry and I each bought a hat from a woman who told us we looked "bellissimo/a" in them! We did have some pretty good pizza at "La Buca" which is a very small hole-in-the-wall type of pizzeria! We caught the double-decker back and we rode in the first row of seats on the top! That was kind of neat, but every time the bus went by a tree we would feel we were going to get smacked by the branches.
We couldn't go back on Wednesday because I needed to pick up my turkey and, of course, we couldn't go on Thursday because it was Thanksgiving, so off we go again on Friday. We took the double-decker that leaves at 6:55 and arrived with about a half hour to spare. This time the questura was definitely open with about 20 people waiting to get in. When the rude man asked for receipts I handed him ours and he took a quick look at the date and handed them back and said it was too early! I asked when and he said "forse prima di Natale" (maybe before Christmas). So now we have 4 hours to kill and what to do? Before we left, I went back in and asked the man what days they would be closed next month and he told me they were always closed on Tuesday and Saturday. I tried to explain that last month we came for our appointment on Tuesday and he said, no they are always closed on Tuesday! My receipt says October 17th, which according to my calendar was a Tuesday, but oh well!
As we walked up the steep hill into Urbino, we saw a pharmacy announcing flu shots. We forgot to go on Thanksgiving to get ours and the next time they were offered in Belforte was on the 30th, so we decided we'd get them in Urbino. Larry tells the woman we'd like flu shots and she says fine and leaves, but doesn't ask us to go with her so we thi
nk that she is going to give them to us in the lobby. We began to take off our jackets and when she came back and saw what we were doing she got this weird look on her face. Then she asked if we wanted them done there? They don't have a medico so we bought the vaccines to take home! It was about 17.00 euro for both of them. (Larry did a wonderful job of giving himself and then me the injections!)
After wandering around until the bus came, we headed home. I called Paola to let her know about our electricity problems and she said she would come over to see. When she arrived Larry was in the living room trying to get the TV channels to work without much luck. Larry explained the two different problems and she went to the circuit box and Larry showed her how one of the circuits would reset but the other one wouldn't. She pushed it in and out a few times and told us it was bad and her dad would have to come replace it. And then when she pushed it in again the power came on upstairs! We were so excited and embarrassed by that! Thankfully, no more bathing in the dark, but embarrassed that we called her over and it seemed as if nothing was wrong!
She brought me a CD of Italian Christmas music (as a gift and would not let me pay!). She also brought us a centerpiece and a garland for decorations. Oh, and a "rosmarino" plant! So we sent half of our apple pie home with her!
By the way, after Paola left Larry went back to try to fix the TV and all the channels were back where they were supposed to be!
Oh, and here's another couple of pictures of the castle as you know what they (meaning Larry) say--you can never have enough pictures of the castle!
On Tuesday, Larry turned on the lights in the living room and there was a flash and then all of the lights downstairs went off. He thought there was a short in the chandelier so he rerouted the wires so that we could have electricity downstairs. Everything worked except for that light and a small problem with the TV. It would work, but only one channel came in and it was fuzzy. We figured that was no big problem so we didn't rush to let Paola know. On Wednesday night, I plugged in a little electric heater in our bedroom. Larry told me the cord was too short, but I plugged it in and it came on so, of course, I left it on. The next morning it had shut itself off. Larry said it was because the cord probably pulled out a little because the cord was too short! He brought me an extension cord, but when I tried to unplug the heater I couldn't get it out. As it turns out, it didn't pull itself out a little--it melted inside the outlet! So, on Thanksgiving Larry replaced the plug on the heater and was in the process of replacing the outlet when one of the wires dropped down and shorted across (I'm not sure what that means but I'm sure most of you will!). So, now we have NO ELECTRICITY! I have a pie in the oven and still need to cook the turkey! Luckily, Larry was able to get the downstairs going, but we still had no electricity upstairs. Thursday night we used a flashlight to find our way up to bed and to shower and shave the next morning (well, Larry shaved, I didn't). Then we were off to Urbino!
Now, back to my Urbino story! Last month, as you may recall, we went to Urbino on Tuesday, October 17th for our appointment to turn in our papers for our permesso. We had been told it would take about a month so we decided to wait 5 weeks to be safe before going back. On Tuesday we rode the second bus to Urbino which we thought would be free of students, but would require a change of buses. Instead, it too, was full of students and we needed to change buses both in Sassocovaro and Casinina. Also, when we got on the bus we let the kids on first and ended up standing until we got to Piandimeleto when some of the kids got off. We arrived in Urbino at about 5 minutes before the questura opened only to find it was closed for the day! So, for 4 hours we wandered around killing time and the only thing accomplished was Larry and I each bought a hat from a woman who told us we looked "bellissimo/a" in them! We did have some pretty good pizza at "La Buca" which is a very small hole-in-the-wall type of pizzeria! We caught the double-decker back and we rode in the first row of seats on the top! That was kind of neat, but every time the bus went by a tree we would feel we were going to get smacked by the branches.
We couldn't go back on Wednesday because I needed to pick up my turkey and, of course, we couldn't go on Thursday because it was Thanksgiving, so off we go again on Friday. We took the double-decker that leaves at 6:55 and arrived with about a half hour to spare. This time the questura was definitely open with about 20 people waiting to get in. When the rude man asked for receipts I handed him ours and he took a quick look at the date and handed them back and said it was too early! I asked when and he said "forse prima di Natale" (maybe before Christmas). So now we have 4 hours to kill and what to do? Before we left, I went back in and asked the man what days they would be closed next month and he told me they were always closed on Tuesday and Saturday. I tried to explain that last month we came for our appointment on Tuesday and he said, no they are always closed on Tuesday! My receipt says October 17th, which according to my calendar was a Tuesday, but oh well!
As we walked up the steep hill into Urbino, we saw a pharmacy announcing flu shots. We forgot to go on Thanksgiving to get ours and the next time they were offered in Belforte was on the 30th, so we decided we'd get them in Urbino. Larry tells the woman we'd like flu shots and she says fine and leaves, but doesn't ask us to go with her so we thi
nk that she is going to give them to us in the lobby. We began to take off our jackets and when she came back and saw what we were doing she got this weird look on her face. Then she asked if we wanted them done there? They don't have a medico so we bought the vaccines to take home! It was about 17.00 euro for both of them. (Larry did a wonderful job of giving himself and then me the injections!)After wandering around until the bus came, we headed home. I called Paola to let her know about our electricity problems and she said she would come over to see. When she arrived Larry was in the living room trying to get the TV channels to work without much luck. Larry explained the two different problems and she went to the circuit box and Larry showed her how one of the circuits would reset but the other one wouldn't. She pushed it in and out a few times and told us it was bad and her dad would have to come replace it. And then when she pushed it in again the power came on upstairs! We were so excited and embarrassed by that! Thankfully, no more bathing in the dark, but embarrassed that we called her over and it seemed as if nothing was wrong!
She brought me a CD of Italian Christmas music (as a gift and would not let me pay!). She also brought us a centerpiece and a garland for decorations. Oh, and a "rosmarino" plant! So we sent half of our apple pie home with her!By the way, after Paola left Larry went back to try to fix the TV and all the channels were back where they were supposed to be!
Oh, and here's another couple of pictures of the castle as you know what they (meaning Larry) say--you can never have enough pictures of the castle!
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