I’ve made it! I've managed to finally, actually, really leave Rome. As of March, I’m now officially (ok, not yet bureaucratically officially, but practically and spiritually yes) living in Turin.
(I’m putting this at the beginning of the post, so that - in case you don’t read further - you know where to visit me. Do it.)
As you might have guessed from the recent posts, I was very ready for this move. Rome is definitely a fascinating and beautiful city, but between its native challenges (horrid transport is a certain madness-inducer) and my personal configuration (months of travelling up-and-down between Rome and Turin), it didn’t really get a fair chance.
Turin, on the other hand, seems to be the perfect city for life, at least for what I’m looking for (and yes, there is a post on it in the pipeline). I can’t yet quite believe that I’m really based here.
Plus, I’ll be able to continue with the same job from home, at least for some time, which is great because I really enjoy my work (though admittedly, working in gender might not be quite healthy for me - don't get me started on the topic).
Unexpectedly, it seems we've also just managed to close (yet another) phase of househunting. We had been looking for an appartment since January or so, though with little (or no) hurry, as we’re quite enjoying the slight chaos of our current shared house.
Househunting* in Turin is like a war: Titanic/grandmother-style appartments are the norm (I saw an announcement for one decorated in "Napoleonic style" - and that's exactly what it looked like), and for the (very few) nice places your only chance is to call within the first two hours from the announcement publication; otherwise it's just too late. Accordingly, our househunting had peaks of frenetic activity alternated with prolonged periods of inactivity, caused by utter exhaustion from the active peaks.
And so finding this appartment came almost as a surprise. I won’t really believe it until we move in (theoretically, May), but you should know it has a sofa-bed, which we’re told is comfortable. Just saying.
The (yet another!) big change is that we are now officially mobile. Let me present you Il Rospo (or Ropušák - The Toad).
(I’m putting this at the beginning of the post, so that - in case you don’t read further - you know where to visit me. Do it.)
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| Do you need an additional motivation? This is the morning view from our current window |
As you might have guessed from the recent posts, I was very ready for this move. Rome is definitely a fascinating and beautiful city, but between its native challenges (horrid transport is a certain madness-inducer) and my personal configuration (months of travelling up-and-down between Rome and Turin), it didn’t really get a fair chance.
Turin, on the other hand, seems to be the perfect city for life, at least for what I’m looking for (and yes, there is a post on it in the pipeline). I can’t yet quite believe that I’m really based here.
Plus, I’ll be able to continue with the same job from home, at least for some time, which is great because I really enjoy my work (though admittedly, working in gender might not be quite healthy for me - don't get me started on the topic).
Unexpectedly, it seems we've also just managed to close (yet another) phase of househunting. We had been looking for an appartment since January or so, though with little (or no) hurry, as we’re quite enjoying the slight chaos of our current shared house.
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| It actually doesn't look like this often |
Househunting* in Turin is like a war: Titanic/grandmother-style appartments are the norm (I saw an announcement for one decorated in "Napoleonic style" - and that's exactly what it looked like), and for the (very few) nice places your only chance is to call within the first two hours from the announcement publication; otherwise it's just too late. Accordingly, our househunting had peaks of frenetic activity alternated with prolonged periods of inactivity, caused by utter exhaustion from the active peaks.
And so finding this appartment came almost as a surprise. I won’t really believe it until we move in (theoretically, May), but you should know it has a sofa-bed, which we’re told is comfortable. Just saying.
The (yet another!) big change is that we are now officially mobile. Let me present you Il Rospo (or Ropušák - The Toad).
(I need to make a historical comparison here. Because no matter how much we try, we can never be as cool as my grandparents.)
In reality, it was the Rospo who found us. We were vaguely looking for a car, thinking more in terms of larger sleepable Doblo-style thing - but (typically) couldn’t decide - when Miky got a message from a former colleague, saying that he has an old car which he doesn’t use and he'd like to give (literally) away – and whether we know someone who could be interested.
It sounded too much like karma talking (or screaming, rather). And so we became vehicle owners.
In a place where public transport network is limited (yes, I'm complaining here), being independently mobile makes a difference when you want to explore. We've started to take advantage immediately - and Rospo has been behaving very well so far.
Besides, spring has come (summer, almost, in fact!) and that feels just so good.
Is all this a bit too perfect?
It sounded too much like karma talking (or screaming, rather). And so we became vehicle owners.
In a place where public transport network is limited (yes, I'm complaining here), being independently mobile makes a difference when you want to explore. We've started to take advantage immediately - and Rospo has been behaving very well so far.
Besides, spring has come (summer, almost, in fact!) and that feels just so good.
Is all this a bit too perfect?
* During the househunting process I also learned about another Italian speciality - The Bathroom Window Obsession. More to come in a post dedicated to Italian specialities.
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