We’ve officially been here in Italy for a month! In some ways, that feels so hard to believe – didn’t we just get here? But then I remember that I lived in a hotel for four weeks on base, and that felt long.
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Our biggest news: we’re officially moved into an apartment! We found a place in the town we wanted, and after a few weeks of ironing out logistics, we’re in!
The apartment is massive. We were expecting to sacrifice on size and quality to get the location we wanted, but we didn’t have to in the end. Six minutes’ walk from the piazza and some grass just downstairs for Wedge means we couldn’t have asked for a better location.
The apartment itself has the high ceilings I love in old buildings, with plenty of space for hosting and a patio that runs the length of the apartment. Best of all? Tons of natural light! Every single room has windows except the hallway, and it is glorious.
Another great part about being here? WE GET OUR STUFF BACK! Those of you who’ve moved or PCS’ed (military-speak for moving) internationally know the feeling. We gave everything up to the movers in May and just got our furniture and belongings. The first night I woke up several times in the middle of the night thinking “why is this bed so comfortable?!?”
We got lucky and managed to schedule all our belongings (two shipments) and our borrowed furniture (washer, dryer, and some armoires) to arrive on the same day. So it was crazy, but everything made it in one day of hogging the elevator. The movers worked really hard to get everything up here as fast as possible, and Logan managed to direct traffic while I started organizing a bit.
That was on Thursday. Since then, I’ve spent all day every day unpacking! It’s been tiring work but so satisfying to build our home. Today (Monday), I’m really starting to see overall progress! We’ll need to buy a few pieces of storage and furniture, mostly some kind of kitchen work table, but I’m surprised at how well we’ve managed to fit everything into a home with only one closet.
Unpacking has also given me some perspective on why people are minimalists. I don’t think I’ve got it in me to be a minimalist (hello, cooking gadgets) but looking at all your belongings at one time – and spending three days dealing with them – will do that to you. We got rid of a bunch and stored some things stateside, and I think I did a decent job not bringing 589274389 decoarative vases. But there are some realities of an overseas move that I just didn’t think through and will do differently next time. (Would you be interested in a blog post of realities of packing to move abroad?)
Now that we’re out of the hotel and getting settled into our town, I’ll share more about la bella vita in Italia!
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Arrivederci!
This blog post made me so happy!! Love hearing about all your adventures and experiences (good and bad – the highs and lows!). I would also be very interested in a post about the realities of planning to move abroad 🙂
Thanks lovely! I’ve already started a list of the things I wish I’d known. 🙂