#17: Riscaldamento and Panettone (aka Heaven)
Ciao Nonni!
Christmas preparations have well and truly begun. The city has been strewn with fairy lights on all the main pedestrian streets in the centre, and many of the shops have begun to dress their windows with festive decorations. Most excitingly for me - panettone is everywhere! My absolute favourite of all the festive foods. I'm finding it very hard to resist buying one every time I go shopping. So far I've managed to limit myself to purchasing only one small loaf, however I'm not sure my resolve is going to last much longer. Perhaps I should at least try to make it until December before I really let loose? At least I know I won't ever eat a whole one to myself, as both Leo and Raffy (as well as David) are avid fans of the sweet, bread-y treat.
We were planning to head up into the mountains for Christmas (the Dolomites or maybe even Austria), however I've since learnt that the Christmas markets in Lucca are some of the best in the country. We're now thinking that we might stay and enjoy our first Christmas here in our new hometown. Of course we will miss everyone in Australia terribly. I may have to make a big pot of proper stock for tortellini in brodo to curb the worst of my homesickness! It will never be as good as yours though.
In domestic news, I'm surprised and delighted to have discovered the joys of water radiators. They are the heating (riscaldamento) solution of choice here in Italy. They are magical. Now that we've been allowed to turn them on (usage not being permitted by governmental decree prior to 1 November) they have changed our life. All of our clothes dry in about 10 minutes of being draped on top of one. I am obsessed. Maybe my love will diminish once we receive our next energy bill, but honestly I don't care. I already know I'll miss them when we come home again.
After a decent break from Italian bureaucracy these past few weeks, I'm gearing up again for another round of tasks that need to be completed.
The first is to acquire healthcare cards for all of us, known as Tessera Sanitaria. These will allow us to register with a public paediatrician and GP in Lucca. This has to be done in person at the local hospital. I've been putting it off as the need is not urgent, but still needs to be completed.
We've been able to do everything we've needed to so far through private doctors and the reciprocal agreement between Italy and Australian Medicare, but apparently the Italian Government is considering charging foreign residents two thousand euros per year to access the national health service in the near future. Better get in now before that happens!
The other task, which has been my most dreaded since we arrived, is to open an Italian bank account. As with the healthcare situation, we've managed to get by without one so far. But we are paying more for some of our utilities as a result, not to mention that the kids' school hassles me every month to set up a direct debit. Which of course can only be done with an Italian account number. Ugh. Fortunately their insistence doesn't go so far as to not accept my manual transfers - obviously payment in any form is preferred over none at all.
Unlike most other bureaucratic processes, if a banker cannot be bothered to help you they can send you to another institution. There is only one Italian health service, or Questura for immigration documents, but there are many banks, so there is even less guilt attached to being completely unhelpful.
Even for Italians this process is challenging. When I ask anyone (Italian or foreigner) for a bank recommendation, the universal response is to advise using anyone except their current provider.
Wish me luck? As is said in Italy - in bocca al lupo!
