July 1, 1997 - Tuesday 

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Talk about a day when everything just goes your way!   We started out our day out taking the bus to the new offices at Sodalia in north Trento.  It goes without saying the view is breathtaking from here (as it is around all of Trento).  I first met Marina who is Mike Bender's secretary.  She introduced me to Vincenzo who has turned out to be a valuable asset in getting me and the kids set up here.  Then I also met with my new manager, Angelo Solari, a slender, pleasant man right around my age.  We talked a bit about telcos and how disorganized they are and it was good to hear that my past experiences are not uncommon!  He and I are both surprised anyone can pick up a telephone and make a phone call [-grin].

Vincenzo told me that he would bring by the baby-sitter around to the hotel at about 17h30.  So the kids and I made our way to the next-door mall and bought some long pants for Kristie.  The past night was chilly and she needed more in the way of warmer clothes.  So does Stephen, but we got there just as the store closed and only had enough time to get Kristie's clothes.  We will have to run by again later to buy some for Stephen.  The prices are similar to what we pay back in the states!  That was a pleasant surprise.

We took the bus back to the city center and went to the park.  There is a man made pond here where a bunch of different birds can be found.  There are swans, ducks and geese making this place their summer home.   While they appear to be rather hostile Stephen did manage to get in a quick pet of one of them.

We made our way back to the hotel and had a quick rest before the super market would reopen at 15h00.  We went and bought some food for the day and brought it back to the hotel room.  We ate some lunch and waited for Vincenzo to arrive with the baby-sitter and information about a possible apartment.  At 17h31 Vincenzo, his wife and Gabriella came to the hotel.  Gabriella is the baby-sitter and she is from Sicily. She is 17, living here for the summer with her older sister who is 25.  She speaks enough English and if you speak slowly enough she understands quite well.  I think she should do well with the kids.  Then Vincenzo said that at 19h00 he would drive us out to see an apartment of someone he referred to as a difficult man.  But he had another appointment to run to and would meet us then.  Gabriella stayed for a while so the kids could get to know her better.  And we came across this chess board!  It was missing a couple of pieces (one rook on each side) but we used some of the stuff we brought to make up for them.  Gabriella doesn't play chess unfortunately, but if she can't teach them chess at least the kids will learn Italian from her.  The price she is charging is a very reasonable 250,000 lira per week.

We then met Vincenzo at 19h00 and he drove us out to north Trento to the apartment his wife had found for us.  You talk about a bargain, this is it!  There are two flats available, one on the top piano (4th floor) and one on the 2nd.  We may or may not get the larger one on the 2nd piano because he said someone else had looked at it but tomorrow we should know.  And he is charging me only 800,000 lira per month (roughly $500US)!  These are brand new apartments, furnished, one bedroom and a sitting area and kitchen.  Everything is meticulously done, all by the owner I suspect.  He is a bit of a talker, I think because he is an old man and doesn't see many people.  But other than that I think he will be an excellent landlord.  He owns a sizable piece of land next to our apartment building with a rather large vin yard and some chickens running around.  I didn't take any pictures of the view but wait until you see it!  And it is only about a 1km walk to the offices.  The owner said he was going to go out this evening and purchase the silverware and dishes for the flat.  Like most Italians we have met so far he was smitten with Kristie.  She is like a doll to these folks out here.  It doesn't seem to be too hard to get a telephone line put in here in Italy.  The only thing the flat does not have is a television set.  I guess that is good and bad in a way because unless I buy one I won't hear much Italian at home.  I suppose the small sets aren't too expensive so I will get one and simply give it to Vincenzo when I leave.  He and his wife have been extremely helpful to me.

The current agreement is that I will sign the contract for the apartment on Friday and pay the landlord for the month.  And the baby-sitting will start on Monday when I start work.  I really can't believe my luck here. Everything is falling into place and so smoothly.  A very different experience than what I had in Paris.

Sometime this week before I leave this hotel I will try to log into the internet and upload all the files I have put together on our trip so far.  I don't know if I'll respond to any email since Verona is quite a distance away, but I will read it.

 Click here to download the day's pictures - Warning this will download about 1M of pictures 

Copyright @ 1997, Alexandre POLOZOFF.  All Rights Reserved.