I'm not sure if I'm honest, but it's good to know that the working week has finished - not that we're not still busy in other ways, but at least Helen can come out of her cave and we can spend time together. I think that's what weekends mean for us right now.
The plan for today was to get our applications for our S1 forms filled in and posted off to the UK. These forms replace the E106 (yeah I know, neither mean anything to you). Both serve the purpose of proving that your National Insurance contributions are up to date in the UK, and therefore should entitle you to medical care in any EU country. From what I understand, the S1 is a certificate stating that whichever (EU) country you've set up home in can charge the UK for any healthcare costs incurred for the duration of the validity period of the certificate. I'm not clear how long the certificate lasts, but it's supposedly intended to cover a period until you're deemed assimilated into the new country's system and are therefore covered by that for the foreseeable future.
So we're hoping that the document given to us by the commune stating that one of the requirements for residency was a private healthcare policy, was aimed at immigrants from countries that don't have this S1 arrangement and that we therefore won't have to fork out considerable sums of money on aforementioned policies.We'll find out soon!
Once we'd posted the forms off at the local post office we would then do a bit more land clearing in the very overgrown area that we've earmarked for geese (henceforth known as 'the goose land' or 'Gooselandia' - thanks Henry), and then all being well meet Jennie, Pete and Megan in Lucca for an hour or two before our Skype podcast interview at 5.30pm.
Before we could do ANY of that, the first job was to put the battery - which had been charging since yesterday morning - back into the car so that we could run our errands and make the trip into Lucca. So while Helen put a load of washing on the line, I fitted the battery, put the key in the ignition, turned it to start the engine and... NOTHING. After more than 16 hours of charging it was safe to say that the battery was morta (dead) so we needed a new one. Fortunately, we hadn't yet returned the enormous charger/jump starter on loan to us from Sue and Chris, so we were able to wire the car to the mains and start it, so we headed off with a vague map of places that Google thought might sell us a car battery and hoped that the engine wouldn't stall on the way.
We made a quick stop at the bins, remembering not to turn the engine off (if we did there was absolutely no chance of getting going again, so driving involved lots of internal chanting 'don't turn the engine off, don't turn the engine off'), then pulled over at Amanda's to buy a loaf of bread and to run into the post office to post the forms - well, Helen did the leg work while I sat in the running car.
After that we headed in the direction of... you've guessed it... Montecatini Terme! I did comment that we would have save a small fortune in fuel by now had we bought a house in Montecatini.
We decided to make a slight detour shortly outside of Pescia onto a road less travelled (by us), knowing there were a fair number of shops on this road - to be honest, we couldn't for the life of us remember what any of them sold, but we thought it would worth the short detour if it ended up saving us the longer trip to Montecatini.
There was nothing of any use though, only a tyre place. As we looked for a right turn to get back on track, we realised that we were in Santa Lucia where we went to the Festa last week, and as we turned right, we noticed another tyre garage. I decided to pull over (keeping the engine running) to ask the guy there if he knew where we could buy a battery. He asked me something that I couldn't catch, twice. His accent was particularly rough (I know that's rich coming from a Brummie, but that's how I found it), I told him I didn't understand, but that it was for our Fiat Doblo across the road - to which he said he could give us a battery and told me to bring the car in. We couldn't quite believe our luck.
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| Just your average garage next to an old tower. |
Once the car was on the forecourt, he promptly opened the bonnet and asked me to switch the engine off. We were a little hesitant as, if he didn't have a battery for us, he was going to have get us started again - but we figured that, of all places, this was probably the best place to break down in and that, of all people, this guy would be the most likely to have some jump leads. Once the engine was off, he was in the bonnet quick as a flash, pulling the old battery out and fitting a new one - the whole process took around 4 minutes, during which time I realised we had only €70 with us in cash, and it didn't look like the kind of place that would take payment by credit card. As the guy was bolting the new battery into place, I asked how much it would be. €80 was the reply. Of course it was!
So, as he finished up, I offered him €70 and my passport, telling him I would leave it with him until we returned from the ATM in ten minutes with the money. He seemed to genuinely appreciate the offer, but waved me away and told me not to worry about the passport. I couldn't imagine that happening in the UK (mind you, I couldn't imagine turning up at a garage with a flat battery and leaving 5 minutes later with a new one in the UK either) - there seems to be a genuine high level of trust amongst the people around here, which is so refreshing, and worth every bit of bureaucracy we've faced (although I say this having not yet tackled the residency!).
We took a quick scoot down the road to find an ATM and returned with the money, at which point we got our receipt (scontrino), which would serve as our guarantee. With the car now working (for now at least), it was time to head home for some strimming and mowing - yes, the lawn needed mowing again after only a week.
Most of the morning had gone already, but we managed a good hour and a half before it got too hot (it was due to be early 30's again today). It was then time for showers, lunch and a drive into Lucca. We can't believe how lucky we are to have the lovely town of Lucca only 30 minutes away from us!
We had arranged to meet the Kidd family in the Piazza Amfiteatro - so called because it is the site of a former Roman amphitheatre, which gives it its elliptical shape. It's a beautiful little square (or ellipse) with plenty of restaurants with tables and chairs outside to sit at and and watch the world go by while you have a coffee, wine or beer. We saw the Kidds walking through the square and they soon spotted us, and in no time at at we were all sitting down in the shade with ice cold beers - rather large ones (my fault I'm afraid), but they all seemed to go down well regardless. Of course Megan didn't have an enormous beer, but she seemed happy enough with a large bowl of chocolate ice cream.
Before we knew it, it was time to go - time had flown once again and it was an all-too-short meeting, but the Kidds are paying us a visit at the house tomorrow so we can pick up where we left off. We can't wait! It was so good to see them!
We arrived home around 5pm, with the Skype call due to start at half past. We had realised yesterday that over the last two weeks our monthly internet allowance had taken a bit of a battering - not only did we have guests in the apartment, but we suspect the majority of the usage had gone on my daughter Skyping her boyfriend for hours every night as well as lots of YouTube/iPlayer watching having gone on. With all of that we'd already hit our limit - we've been struggling to stay within it since we started the service, it seems that 35GB doesn't go very far. It was an easy decision to decide to upgrade to the next package for an extra 85GB a month as it's all tax deductible, so either the Italian tax man gets it or we use it as internet data - no brainer, as Kevin Bacon would say.
The upgrade was supposed to have been active as of midnight, but of course when we got home and checked emails we found one saying that it wouldn't take effect until midnight tonight! That was no real surprise, as it always seems to be an uphill climb here. We attempted our Skype call to Travis and Patrick at TotalTuscany.com, but it wasn't quite happening and it certainly wasn't good enough to record for a podcast. We decided to reschedule the interview for tomorrow, feeling quite bad that these guys had got together especially to talk to us, only to be beaten by one of our problems, I hope they're neighbours!
Travis and Patrick found us via Twitter last week, checked out our website and blog, and were interested enough to want to interview us for their website. They are both committed Italophiles and can't get enough of Tuscany. They visit regularly with their families and help others in the US to get the most from their trips here, so we're looking forward to speaking with them tomorrow.
The day gone, it was now just time to sit and relax outside on the patio. Just as we were about to head outside, we heard the thunk of a car door shutting. A very normal sound generally speaking, but when you have no neighbours, and aren't expecting anyone, it makes you sit up. I went outside to investigate and heard the familiar voice of Sue asking if we wanted visitors. Of COURSE WE DID!! The whole family had come to see us after a visit to Sorana, and we ended up having a lovely impromptu evening drinking, chatting, nibbling crisps, nuts, cheese, cured meats, tomatoes and bread, and talking about life and the universe. Literally. Henry and Erik had spotted my telescope, which I had got out and set up for them to look through. Henry in particular was curiously asking me about what he could see through the scope - but the Italian school system had clearly taught him more than I knew!
Before we knew it, 10pm had arrived and passed, the moon rising was rising above the hill south of the house, and it was time for the Phillips family to head home, but not before the promise of a pizza evening at theirs soon using their wood fired oven! We can't wait!
Once we'd seen them to their car and locked up the Smith family home for the night, Helen went to bed having nursed something of a headache all day, while I made a start on the washing up and settled down on the sofa with a glass of wine while I wrote this blog post. Looking forward to another sociable day tomorrow!
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