Gratitude, Gratitude & More Gratitude

The last few weeks have definitely been difficult, dealing with our Covid, our airbnb and the heat .OMG it is SO hot, it has been over 30 degrees every day for over a month. We have been caught up in a heatwave that is engulfing Western Europe where more than 200 monthly temperature records have been broken across France, and other countries including Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Spain recording all-time highs. Here in Lucca we are getting what would be the hottest summer weather usually reserved for July and August but getting it in May and June instead. There has been no rain except for the occasional blob that lands on your head once in a blue moon and then no more. Climate change is really happening and I really started worrying especially for my mum that if it gets any hotter we would have to escape the heat. While lying in bed trying to recover from Covid I started investigating how to get from Pisa to Reykjavik, Copenhagen, or anywhere further north for a few days or weeks should this heat actually get any worse.

I am happy to report though that after the last exchange I had with the airbnb host we decided to move out into our own place. I was perplexed by her attitude and since she offered to give us a refund even though we hadn’t asked, or were even entitled to one (methinks because she was afraid of a very deserved bad review), we decided it was time to make our great escape and blow this popsicle stand. So, on a stinking hot day, I packed my large suitcase and made a few trips back and forth on the little bus to our apartment and dumped stuff there. We had accumulated some food items, and out of necessity an ironing board, a plunger, some cleaning supplies and now had more than what we came with.

Mum was still recovering and feeling pretty weak but we felt we would be better in our own place, even though it still echoes when we walk through it. My friend Mia knew a guy Roberto with a large taxi and on the dot of 5pm as pre-arranged our knight Roberto arrived, and with the precision of a Tetris champion loaded his taxi with our cases, three guitars, boxes of food, us and Pandy in one quick trip to nostra casa. Unfortunately, he left everything in the downstairs loggia and so over the next few hours I climbed up and down those stairs bringing everything into the apartment. It took a few hours because I needed to rest in between and guzzle water as it was still so hot even in the early evening. A couple of times I thought I was going to keel over, and that it would be just my luck that now when I finally made it into the country I’ve dreamed of for so long that I might drop dead in the stairwell, but thankfully I didn’t, and I am blessed to live another day….phew.

Laura and Mirko our adorable neighbours loaned us a bed frame and 2 mattresses, a table and four chairs they had spare, as well as some crockery, cutlery, pots and pans. Amy and Scott our American friends we met at our English Speaking Mondays group loaned us a fan, a drill, and some bigger mugs, as the size of mugs in Italy are about as large as a thimble and simply not big enough for the cups of tea we imbibe. Our lovely friend Georgia loaned us some delicate tea cups which are so beautiful, we really are afraid to use them in case we break them and also brought some screwdrivers as I’ve got some furniture assembling to do! Another friend Diana has offered us some extra towels and bedding which I will pick up later this week. A lovely couple, Nancy & Patrick that we met on the street one day when the fireman were there cleaning up windows that had spontaneously flung themselves out of an abandoned building onto the street right near our airbnb provided us with the name of a doctor we could see if we really needed one, and that he would accept chocolates and wine instead of payment. Apparently this was the third such windows incident in as many weeks, and so we urge people walking on Via San Pierino to be mindful of possible falling windows.

Considering we have only been here 8 weeks, I am just amazed at how wonderful people have been to us, rallying around, enquiring about our well-being when we were sick, and asking if we need anything, dropping off loaves of bread, offering to walk Pandy. It has warmed the cockles of my heart and only further strengthened my view that there are far more kind and beautiful people in this world than the nasty ones that always seem to monopolise the airwaves.

The apartment is absolutely lovely and even only very partially furnished, we are comfortable and enjoying having a decent kitchen to cook in, a fridge and freezer that works where we can find things, a bathtub to lie in and. cool off in if it gets too hot, and a lovely view from our balcony. There is nothing like having nothing in your home to bring out the creativity and resourcefulness in a person, and I have been finding uses for odd things, like my flower pot climber cage turned into a waste paper basket, a large box that a comfy chair purchased for mum came in turned into a coffee table, some scarves that I found at the market turned into tied on cushion covers, and an upturned saucepan lid covered in baking paper, handle removed, turned into a small baking tray. We have a fruit tray turned into a sponge holder, tin cans turned into seedling pots, a fruit box I found on the street turned into laundry/cleaning products storage and anything that enters the house is scrutinised for other possible uses before discarding.Mum is, loving her cardboard box bedside table saying it is the perfect height! We are enjoying this minimalist lifestyle and are starting to wonder what on earth were we thinking shipping our things over from the land down under.

I am also thoroughly enjoying exploring our cute little neighbourhood called the Borgo Giannotti which sits just a 5 minute walk away outside the Port Santa Maria gate. Pasticceria Sandra across the street has the best coffee and their chocolate croissant is hands down the best I have ever eaten anywhere in my life and that is my new little local. The only Sri Lankan/Indian grocery store in Lucca, source of many of my favourite ingredients is located in the hood, and as they have gotten to know me I have convinced them to bring in 1 litre tetra packs of coconut water and I have assured them that I will purchase them regularly even though they cost 3 times more per carton than they do in Australia, which of course is much closer in proximity to the coconut water producers.

There is a bi-weekly (Wednesday and Saturday) market and it is absolutely amazing what you can find, everything from clothing new and used, to household goods, plants, fresh vegetables, cooked food, shoes and everything in between. There is also a slow food farmers market every Saturday, and the beautiful Serchio River and the gorgeous old bridge that goes to Monte San Querico is a 5 minute walk from the house, past some quirky modern antique shops, a couple of hidden laneway osterias, an organic cosmetics shop and the famous Tessieri tile factory which has been making tiles since 1902, and which we can actually see the forge from our balcony.

The people in our local shops are so friendly, and even when sometimes I am not quite sure what they said, like “would you like a plastic bag?”, or something any simpleton should understand, they are so lovely and smile. Pandy always gets a treat from the girls in the Piume chemist, Deborah in the clothing store, the elderly lady at the Pizza shop, and Pandy has most recently charmed the socks off the guys in the barber shop who she insists on visiting every time we walk by. Water is almost automatically brought in a bowl for Pandy and other dogs if sitting in a cafe or restaurant and I have come to realise that perhaps Italians are even more dog crazy than the English!

One day on a particularly hot morning mum and I were coming back from the market and mum suddenly felt faint. There was a little osteria nearby and I asked if mum could sit down on one of the chairs outside. The lovely young man insisted she come inside, offered her his arm and escorted her in, sat her right under the air-conditioning. The gorgeous waitress brought iced watered while I fanned my mother, and he brought her a coke and insisted she needed some sugar to make her feel better. Their kindness and attentiveness was just a wonder to behold and we’ve been meaning to go for dinner there for weeks but couldn't because of Covid, but are planning to go there tomorrow evening for a special treat and to support their lovely restaurant L’Osteria Al Borgo.

I must mention a story from my old hood to further illustrate the kindness of people I have met. I had an issue wth my Vodafone SIM card a few weeks back where I had recharged it, which was acknowledged by a text message, but then I could not make calls or send texts. I popped down to the local tabaccheria as I knew they recharged SIM cards there and met Carla who I’ve waved to many times at the counter. I tried to explain what had happened but she couldn’t understand me so she yelled across the street to Karina who owns the bike store, “Kari Kari veni qui!!” Kari come here. I explained to Karina who I have had many chats with over the weeks who then translated to Carla.

Carla decided to just get on the phone to Vodafone and told them off in no uncertain terms as to why was I not able to make calls, how dare them take my money and not provide a service, that I am a brand new customer from Australia and so on. I felt sorry for whoever was on the end of that phone, because as it turned out I had to recharge my phone by the 26th of the month and even though I had, it had somehow not got through in time, but they were going to fix it this one time only. It was absolutely hilarious listening to Carla, and Kari and I were cracking up big time, plus all the local old guys were popping in and out buying smokes, lottery tickets, bus tickets and wondering what all the hullabaloo was about. When Carla was finished with them she explained to Kari in a very agitated way what had happened and Kari explained to me, Carla said “I am a hot blooded Sicilian" so they will not mess with me.

We all had such a great giggle because as this was all happening Kari had to run across the road intermittently to rent someone a bike, and then Carla would get riled up and start the whole story again and then Kari would explain to me again what had happened. It was just so wonderful of Kari and Carla to be so helpful.. A few weeks later, when I emerged out of my Covid cocoon, Karina then learning that we were going to be moving out early from our Airbnb offered me anything I might need for my home and also wanted to give me her car to drive, but I explained I didn’t have my International Driving Permit yet and was still worried about driving on the right hand side of the road and I would be terrified of crashing. Without missing a beat she said, “You crash my car I’d kill you!” I think I also have a hot blooded Argentinian on my hands!

I have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of everyone here, but through the inevitable struggles one faces when moving to a brand new country, there have been new friends and complete strangers ready and willing to help in any way they can. Sono molto fortunata! :-)