It feels as though so much has happened and yet nothing has happened. On
Thursday morning I went to my new clinic/hospital for the first time and
started meeting people and checking in. Everything looks great, but
everyone gives me a knowing smile when I tell them that I am the new
chief of Pediatrics. And parents of patients that I have met all tell me
that I have big shoes to fill. Wonderful.
After having Lisa O'Keefe,
the family health chief's wife, run us all over everywhere later that
morning, we decided to rent a car. We can't pick up our minivan, which
is sitting here, somewhere, until we receive our air force licenses on
Monday or Tuesday. But we can rent a car on the economy and drive it
everywhere, even on base. Doesn't make any sense. Military madness
reigns supreme, even in Europe.
In order to get cell phone access (or rent a house, or do anything, except rent a car), you have to have a codice fiscale, sort of like an Italian social security number. But to get one, you have to drive to Pordenone,
which is the biggest city around and located several miles south of the
base. So, armed with our blue Peugeot wagon and some directions, we
ventured into the unknown. Street signs are rare, which is to say
nonexistent, but having looked at the map several times, I sort of just
knew where to turn and where to park. Ashley was pretty amazed, but
those that know Ashley's driving prowess won't think much of that. Of
course, we forgot to get the codici (plural) for the kids, which they need to attend Italian schools, but let's not detract from my driving victory.
On the way out of Pordenone, we saw a gelato place. Mandatory stop. First of many, I am sure.
That
night, we drove out to see our new house from the outside. The previous
tenants had locked the keys in the house, which they thought is what
they were supposed to do. The place is huge. More on the inside later.
We met the O'Keefes there and they took us to dinner at Vecchio Caffe, a well-known pizza place in Polcenigo.
The pizza was great, a thicker-crust, American-style, but you could
tell that the sauce was top notch. Behind the parking lot was a kid's
swing, a beautiful river, a bridge over the river, and steps leading
down to the edge of the water where the kids could throw rocks. All with
the backdrop of green hills and gorgeous old Italian buildings. Are you
kidding me?
Friday, I went back to work for a while,
blah blah blah, and then we ran errands for a while. Finally, we got the
chance to meet our landlord's daughter, Michaela, at our house. Again,
the place is huge! The layout is bizarre, however. The downstairs
hallway is enormous, easily twice the width of normal hallways. The big
room downstairs, which we will probably use as the game/TV/computer
room, has a small fireplace (nice) and a huge, long, narrow sink (?).
The
guest apartment has a nice-sized kitchen/dining/living room, one large
bedroom, two baths (one with a shower, one with a bath) and a smaller
bedroom. Downstairs in the apartment is a large room with an old
refrigerator, sink, and stove that haven't been used in years. I guess
that Italians would sometimes have a kitchen upstairs and downstairs,
depending on the season. Sorry, we forgot to take pictures.
On the way home, we saw a caffe called "Alla Trota Blu"
(roughly translates as "Blue Trout Style") and again made an impulse
stop. We had the signature dish as an appetizer. Wow. Smoked local trout
garnished with arugula and fresh nectarines. The main course was
eggplant dumplings in a tomato sauce. Again, wow. The only downside was
the pace, or lack thereof, of the service (we had to ask for our cheese
plate to go), but they were very tolerant of our kids. We sat outside on
a peninsula that juts out into a small pond. We taught the kids the
words for duck (anatra), table (tavolo), and others. Hopefully it will
start sticking.
We
decided to stop for gelato, again, on the way home. This place we had
seen across the piazza from Vecchio Caffe, so we hung out in downtown
Polcenigo again, this time with a camera.
On
Saturday we slept in, finally got some exercise, and had a great home
cooked meal that we ate outside at the TLF (temporary lodging facility)
playground.
Sunday
was adventure time once more. Ashley had heard about a beautiful hike
near Polcenigo. We parked just off the highway and walked past some
stunning Italian homes before we hit the trail head. Wild cherry trees
grew everywhere, and they tasted fantastic even though they weren't
quite ripe. From higher up the trail was a great view of one of the
neighborhoods of Polcenigo.
We
were the only Americans there that we could tell. There is a natural
spring that rises up out of a cave at the base of the trail, with a
caffe alongside, and there were a lot of Italians stopping there for an
evening meal. After several unsuccessful attempts at communicating in
Italian over the past few days, I didn't have the guts to try and talk
to any of the young families there. Hopefully that will change as well.
