25 November 2015: NOTHING Like I Expected!

I woke up this morning and scurried down to get breakfast before the 10am deadline. I slept more soundly last night than I have in a long while.  As per usual, breakfast was lovely and fresh and inviting.  And everyone seems so glad to see you.

After my last sip of tea and bites of toast with fresh marmalade I am off to my first appointment. I am going to open a bank account. But first I have to find the bank. I enter Banco di Napoli, via P. Pignatelli 28, 72017 Ostuni (BR)  into my iPhone and I go. In the pouring rain. Only one little wrong turn along the way and I arrive at my destination. (I am even learning to park like an Italian.) My appointment is with Dott. Ferdinando Sallustio, the bank manager. He greets me and offers me a seat. His desk is piled with mountains of papers. He tells me that he has my details but has not been able to open my account yet because of the papers.  It will only take a few minutes he says. He jokes about an idea for a horror movie involving the papers. And he tells me that he went to Los Angeles once on a Rotary Club scholarship. He liked it very much. And then voila! My account is open and I have a debit/ATM card. Bank of America put to shame. And when I come back in February he will supply me with a special device to use for internet banking. They're out of stock today. We exchange pleasantries and he is off to deal with his next clients. They're from the UK and, I believe, Ukraine?

So now, what to do? My meeting with the contractor is not until 4pm. And with it being winter season, and nasty weather, I don't have the luxury of plopping myself down at a café and people watching (one of my favorite things to do in Italy). Immediately  I remembered from my last house-hunting trip that there was a kind of "superstore" near Fasano. On the way to our new house. That sounds like a plan as I can't resist a store that sells everything. So as the rain continues to come down even harder, I go to look for a dry place to kill some time.

"Conforama" does really sell everything. Furniture, whole kitchens, appliances (yay, they even have clothes dryers....which my friends tell me no one in Italy uses but I will), lighting, electronics, home goods, clothing, etc. And they have a supermercato called "Conad" where I lost myself for 30 minutes imagining what I will cook when I live in Italy. To my delight I found a section of the store selling vegan/vegetarian food!

OK. Still another hour. So I decide to try their little "food court equivalent. I order a trancio (slice) of pizza and a Coca Cola Light. €3.60. Delicious! Some day I really do hope to break the pizza habit so I can call myself a true vegan but today I am weak.

Now...off to Selva di Fasano. I arrive a little early and snap some pictures of the property. Despite the rain, the outside looks so much better since the workers have removed debris and excess brush that had grown around the perimeter while no one was living there. I am amazed at the work they have done before a single payment has been received....dispelling quickly my impression of what I would be up against doing this project in Italy. An impression largely based on Hollywood's interpretation of European workers. Shame on me for rushing to judge.

NB: I have bought this three-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment without ever having set foot inside. I have only seen pictures. And a floor plan. It sits below Craig's villa, which is lovely. And I have been inside the villa twice. However, when we were able to negotiate a price of €60k for the apartment (an amount that wouldn't buy you a closet in Los Angeles) I thought "how bad could it be?". And since I am left with a nice chunk of cash I can renovate completely to my liking, right?

So, promptly at 4pm, there descends on the property a large group of people consisting of: 1) Roberta, the young woman who found us the properties and is acting as my liaison and translator during the renovation; 2) Franco and Francesco, the realtors who represented the property and are supervising the renovation project; 3) Giovanni, the general contractor; 4) the electricians (who also install satellite TV); 5) the plumber; and 6) assorted other folks whom, I assume, are associated with the aforementioned tradesmen.  I'm a little overwhelmed, but really, really pleased about the effort that is being made on my behalf on this cold, rainy afternoon.

We begin with the outside and go over all of the work that has to be done while we still have light. The fence and iron gate: replace to match iron fence around villa above. The old cinder block wall: replace with new a stone wall and add embedded ambient lighting. The old garage door: replace. And the list goes on.

Then we step inside. And I am completely taken aback. They have already gone in (note again that I have not yet paid a dime) and demolished and removed the old, ugly bathroom. Pulled up all of the old tile flooring (not an easy task). Demolished a wall that had separated a small kitchen from the rest of the living space. And they haven taken away all of the debris. The effect is great. I am standing there looking at a wide open space.  A blank canvas. Am I excited? Yes! Am I absolutely intimidated? Yes! You see, anyone who knows me at all knows that I do not having a creative bone in my body when it comes to interior design. And I fully admit that. I can look at a picture and say yes or no to a design or style. But starting from scratch? Are you kidding me?

Nevertheless we begin. Starting with the electrician, followed by the plumber and the general contractor, we walk every room. Where do I want lights? Where do I want TVs? Where do I need water? Where do I want radiators? Air conditioners? Do I want a laundry room? Do I want a shower and a bathtub or just a shower? Do I want a toilet and a bidet or just a toilet? Do I want to buy kitchen "furniture" or do I want a built-in kitchen made of Pugliese stone? Where do I want the stove? The sink? The oven? The refrigerator? Do I want to keep the existing fireplace or do a re-design? What kind of flooring do I want? What kind of tile in the bathroom? Wall color? Window trim? Doors?

Oh. My. God. I stare at the samples. I am nearly paralyzed. But I just keep answering. It will either be beautiful or a disaster. I have no idea at this point. But here's where I stand as of today:

1) Built-in kitchen made of beautiful Pugliese stone. (NB: This decision very much reinforced when they take me to the showroom to meet the handsome designer who is going to do the kitchen.)
2) Bathroom sink and counter will also be designed and produced in beautiful Pugliese stone by said handsome man. And I will have a big luxury shower. No tub. (We're building a pool in the Spring. We can soak in that.) Just a toilet. I have never used a bidet.
3) Fireplace will also be redesigned and produced in beautiful Pugilese stone again by said handsome man.
4) The floor will be done in wood grain tile to provide some warmth and depth, but be durable enough for a house with many dogs.
5) The walls will be white.
6) The doors will be dark brown.
7) The window frames will be done to match the doors.
8) We will close off the door between the garage and kitchen to provide more space for kitchen being designed by none other than the handsome man.

Whew! Enough for today. Roberta and I break away from the men and head to Ceglie Massapica to have a celebratory drink. It was her birthday on the 17th and mine is on the 28th. She turned 31 and I'm turning 51. Could I really be that much older? Ay!

We pop into a little bar order drinks. And as is usual we are treated to a whole host of delicious snacks. Olives, nuts, crackers, bread. And as we are chatting, we are interrupted by the owner of the bar who has apparently detected my American accent. His name is Egi. He is Italian. his wife, Nina, is American. She us from Palm Beach, Florida. Egi is very excited. So he calls his wife and puts me on the phone with her. She has lived in Puglia with her husband for 22 years. She says she loves him and that Puglia is a lovely place to live. But she misses Florida and her kids. She wants us to get together for a pizza when I move in March. So we exchange information. Already I am making new friends.

We say our good byes and I head back to my cozy room at Masseria Il Frantoio. It's been a really long day. And there is a LOT of work to be done. 

Here are some "before" pictures....