Author: Tracy

Today’s Lessons

| Tracy

Some people learn by watching others, some people learn by reading and doing, some of us learn by trial and error. Here are today’s lessons:

Our daily routine has suffered a bit being nine hours off of a lifetime schedule. We have found over the last few days that naps help, but that we also get up at the ungodly hour of 3 a.m. when we have had one. That being said, this morning at 6:30 a.m. we found out several truths about making friends with our neighbors.

1: 3 a.m. is an unreasonable time for any living person, over the age of 30, to be wide-awake.

2: 6:30 a.m. is an unreasonable time for any living person, who is retired, to be wide-awake.

3: Being wide-awake for hours on end in the dead of night does not help one make good decisions.

4: Breakfast at 6:30 a.m. is a reasonable idea if:

a: one remembers that one is not alone in the building

b: one remembers to turn on the fan above the oven

c: one remembers to not burn anything when the fan is off

d: one has the slightest clue where the shut off switch is to the smoke alarm

Lesson 1: One does not make friends, in France or elsewhere, by waking them up at the horribly early hour of 6:30 a.m. with a screaming alarm for nearly 20 minutes. Suffice it to say that we are extremely blessed that no one called the fire department as we do not have the language skills to explain ourselves.

Lesson 2: When moving into a new apartment learn how to turn off things that make loud noises.

Lesson 3: Turning off the main power switch from the circuit breaker does not cut the power to a hard-wired smoke detector with a battery backup.

Lesson 4: A man of 6’4″ and a cane of 3’4″ does not equal enough height to remove the battery from the smoke detector of an apartment with 15 ft ceilings.

The award for French faux-pax #1 goes to the Husband. And I must add that even after 20 minutes of trying to silence the smoke detector my eggs were wonderful if just a bit chilled. Tomorrow we should try them again without the alarm!!

First Visit to La Cite

| Tracy

Our first visit to La Cite was quite an experience . . . and we still haven’t made it past the second wall! La Cite is a double-walled fortress here in Carcassonne and it is quite magnificent. It sits atop a hillside east of our apartment across the Pont Vieux (old bridge). The walls are well over three feet thick and dwarf anyone standing near them. It doesn’t take long for you to start imagining yourself as the leader of an army attempting to gain entry into this fortress.

La Cite has over 3 kilometers of outer wall, nearly 1.6 miles, and we wandered through approx. 500 yards in all on this first visit. We headed over from our apartment about 20 minutes before sunset and approached the avenue that goes up the hill to one of the entrances between the two outer walls. From our vantage point we could see seven of the 52 towers on the outer walls.

The wall was built over centuries and it is apparent even with this first visit that the architecture of the times changed throughout the building process. We noted both romanesque and gothic arches built within a space of a few feet of one another. Overall the outer wall appears very romanesque in design which makes sense since most of the walls were built over the original Roman foundations from approx. 100 BC.

The colors are amazing in the early evening, the sky is very, very blue and the grassy hillside is very, very green which gives La Cite an almost cartoonish feel of color, especially in photographs.

While we were exploring we met a group of people on their way to the round tower to the left of area we were exploring and on our way back home, we noted there were flames and fire spinning and drumming happening in that open turret.

Not a bad first experience.

Final 24

| Tracy

Hours that is.

We are under the 24 hour mark and have successfully moved out of the apartment and into the hotel. Props to the Quality Inn at Virginia and Plumb for being dog-friendly and having a wonderful outdoor space for Kiara to soak up some sun and nibble on cherry-blossoms (they must taste great!)

We have repacked our luggage  . . .  yet again, and successfully managed to fit everything into two checked bags and two carry-on bags (well one carry-on and Kiara for me!).

We have downloaded the Delta app and logged in for updates/changes to our flight itinerary, but decided to do the check-in in person since we have luggage and the dog to check-in tomorrow morning.

But we are READY, very ready, and the nice spring day is making it all the more difficult to deal with the anticipation. Just a few more hours Reno and then we’ll on our way to Carcassonne and a brand-new adventure!

This is our last State-side post friends, the next one will be live after we settle into our new place.

Au Revoir!

Relocation – delays, disappointments and delights

| Tracy

In our journey towards living abroad we have done years worth of research and planning and decision-making and dreaming. Our dream of living in Italy was recently squashed by the Italian Consulate when after months of requesting additional documents and having to delay our original departure date we are still without a visa.

However, we are resilient as only the parents of eight children can be. When Plan A falls apart, Plan B moves to the Plan A spot and becomes a completely suitable replacement without regret. So our Plan B location was next on our visa application checklist. We found another apartment, with a totally awesome landlord – who speaks English – and went online and requested a visa appointment. This time we lucked out and the location of the consulate was in San Francisco.

So on January 2, we made the 4 hour trip to one of our favorite cities in the world, parked the car near Grant Street, located the Consulate for our meeting later in the day, had a delightful lunch at John’s Grill [where Dashiell Hammet wrote the “Maltese Falcon”], took a stroll through the Westfield Mall and all of our favorite SF stores – many of which were still decorated for the holidays – and eventually headed over to Kearny Street for our meeting.

We arrived on time at 88 Kearny Street and rode the elevator to the 6th floor and waited outside the locked door for another 10 minutes until a young man in a security uniform came and opened the door and had us go through the security screening and then on to the waiting room.

We didn’t have to wait long before a very nice young woman called us to the counter and asked for our documents. We handed her the entire collection as specified on the Consulate Website and in the order requested. She gave us a big smile when she noted that we were retirees and finished going through the stack of paper. We then signed the applications in front of her, got our fingerprints scanned into her computer system, had our photos taken and were told that we would have an answer in 7 to 10 business days.

So we headed back to the car and drove home thinking that at least the process was faster and better organized than our experience at the Italian Consulate in LA.

Saturday (three days after our mid-week trek to California) we get a “We tried to deliver” notice from the post office. Making the assumption that there wasn’t enough time to get the actual visa we believed we would be receiving a request for additional documentation, similar to our experience with the Italian Consulate. Today Alan headed to the post office and called me from the car to let me know that our visa was approved and that we would be spending the next year speaking French.

As our new Plan A, Carcassonne France will be our home for the next year, with the option to renew if we decide to stay there a bit longer. Carcassonne is in the Langedoc-Rousillon region of southern France about 40 minutes from the French Riviera, Nice, Cannes, and Provence.

Carcassonne is divided into two main parts: the Cité de Carcassonne, a medieval fortress settlement with a history that exceeds two and a half thousand years. Picturesque fortifications with over 3 km of walls with 52 towers, (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was partly shot here) and the town centre, known as the ville basse (literally ‘lower city’), where the other sights and hotels are located. Our second floor apartment is in this area.

The two areas are separated by the Canal du Midi, a canal built in 1666 to connect the Atlantic and Mediterranean Oceans shortening shipping time from one month to one week. Both the Canal du Midi and the medieval fortress are listed as UNESCO World Heritage sites.

All in all, our plan to retire abroad has been a work in progress for quite a while from choices in South America (Belize, Panama, Costa Rica) to Florence, Italy to our new destination,. We are delighted with our new Plan A and expect to spend the next year enjoying our new city and doing a wee bit of sightseeing which we fully expect to share with all of you!

Viva la France!!

Eight Straight Wins

| Tracy

On Saturday, October 13, we attended the UNR vs UNLV football game with some of the kids – Dirk, Trey, Nick, Casey, Nicole, Tina (Nicole’s Mom), and grandchildren Carter and Avery. We had a fantastic time although most of us ended up with pink faces due to the great weather and Las Vegas sun! Avery and Carter enjoyed seeing “The Uncles” as the group of sons came to be called by everyone.

UNR didn’t handle the first half of the game very well and we were a bit worried that our last State Rivalry game would not end well. Thankfully our beloved Wolf Pack pulled it together in the second half and won the game! The two bands had a post-game play-off of their own when a spontaneous “Battle of the Bands” occurred as the two bands left the field. Grandchildren danced as UNR played the instrumental version of “Call Me Maybe.”

We celebrated with the family with drinks in the Stratosphere tower and dinner at the buffet with Tyler in attendance after a day of drill with his Marine Reserve unit.

Our stay at the Stratosphere was fun and the rooms were pleasant, the food was good, the company fun and the trip memorable.

A few of the kids couldn’t make it to the game and they were missed, but duty calls in all sorts of ways – Guard drill, Saturday classes, caring for tiny babies – and those who were not with us in person were with us in spirit. Some were even getting text updates on the game!

All in all, a great weekend, a good game and fantastic company for our last Rivalry game – who could ask for more?

The Uncles watch the Battle of the Bands
The Uncles watch the Battle of the Bands in a post-game show during UNRs Victory Dance.

Consulate Journey

| Tracy

A week after UNR defeated UNLV for the eight straight time, we found ourselves on a flight to Los Angeles for our visa appointment at the Italian Consulate.

We were prepared. Or so we thought. We had not one, but two binders full of documents (in triplicate), a list from the consulate Web site of the documents required and enough passport photos to choke a hippo.

The evening before the appointment we landed at LAX, took a taxi to our hotel, arrived three hours early and received a nice upgrade to a suite. After a glance at a map realized that we were just a few blocks from where our sister Trina and her husband and daughter lived and gave Trina a call to let her know that we were in town.

She immediately asked if we were free that evening and said that when she was finished with an appointment that they would stop by our hotel to visit. We eagerly awaited her arrival, sort of . . . both of us were exhausted after a day of travel and fell asleep within minutes of sitting down, thankfully our afternoon respite didn’t last too long and we were both awake to greet our visitors a few hours later. Trina and her husband, Glenn, took us to dinner at Norm’s, a favorite of theirs and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Rarely do we get such great one-on-one time with family as most family events involve many more people, so we were both excited and pleased for their time and attention. After dinner they took us by the cottage they’ve rented in LA, which is absolutely adorable and Trina walked her sister around the quiet neighborhood where they live while the brothers-in-law chatted at the cottage.

Trina had offered to pick us up the following morning and to drop us off at the consulate for our appointment, saving us a great deal in cab fare. We were happy for her company and really enjoyed the afternoon when we finished at the consulate. Trina took us to the California Academy of Science (the new home of the Space Shuttle Endeavor) on the USC campus where we explored for hours all of the great exhibits, then she took us on the route the Endeavor traveled from LAX to it’s new home at the Academy of Science. We were both amazed and awed at the size of the Space Shuttle and the ingenuity it took to get it from one place to the other.

Our afternoon exploits helped us to forget our morning at the Italian Consulate.

After arriving an hour early and waiting in the small room with a very large window looking down at Avenue of the Stars, we were called promptly at our appointed time by Patricia Maroni, our intake counselor for a visa.

She quickly looked through the binder of our paperwork and asked where we got the list of documents. Stating that she hoped we hadn’t used the one from the Italian Immigration site as that is not the same list as the one for the Italian Consulate General in LA. We smiled and told her we had the list from the LA Consulate Web site, whew close call, because weeks earlier we had called the consulate and were told that the list was on their Web site. She smiled and said “Oh no, that is not the one to use. It is outdated, you should have called and asked for the right list from us, then you would have been prepared.”

There are no words to describe the swearing that was happening in our heads as we looked at Patricia incredulously and stated “Well, now we know better for next time.”

Patricia graciously gave us the super-secret, can’t get it till you get here in person, list of documents and as we eagerly read through the list to see if we had the additional documents in our “other” binder of documents. We had one of the three we were missing, our marriage license. The other missing documents were a letter from us to the Consulate General stating why we wanted to live in Italy – that has to be signed and notarized – and a letter from our banker stating our monthly income, account types and balances.

We asked Patricia if a bank statement would suffice as many of us in the U.S. don’t actually know our banker. She said “NO. It needs to be a letter from your banker and needs also to be signed by your banker.”

So after our lovely afternoon with Trina and our niece, Etta-Kimiyo, we found ourselves back at LAX waiting for our flight and reviewing the events of our visit to the consulate and making a list for the following Monday.

1) write a letter explaining why we want to live in Italy

2) find a notary so the Consulate General knows that our next door neighbor didn’t write our letter for us

3) find our who the hell our banker is and get them to write us a letter

We pick up the letter at 10 am today and will be visiting the notary this afternoon, followed by a trip to FedEx to send everything back to Patricia, including the thank you card for all her help during our recent visit.

Fingers crossed people, we are hoping to get a favorable reply and the visa stamp in our passports by Christmas so we can book our flights, get the dog certified for travel and move in early January.

Whew, almost there.

Battle for Nevada 2012

Fremont Cannon, college football's largest trophy, a replica of a 19th century Howitzer cannon.
| Tracy

Our last “in person” game between state rivals, University of Nevada, Reno and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is soon approaching. This game and state rivalry has been an important event in our lives for the past 12 years. It’s right up there with Superbowl Sunday and the Academy Awards for our family.

When we married 12 years ago, we knew that it would be difficult for the children to spend holidays with more than one household a day. Children need to play and do not generally like to be opening gifts and eating and getting in the car to go to another household to open more gifts, eat again and get back in the car. We decided that holidays could be celebrated when we were together without disrupting the children, and then we thought it could be just as much fun to create special family days that were not traditional holidays.

So Superbowl Sunday became a family holiday, the kids would pick a team to support, so did we, food was laid out to be grazed upon during the day and lively shouting ensued. The Academy Awards were another family holiday. We printed up the categories, the nominees and everyone voted for who they thought would win and at the end of the night correct answers were added up and a winner named. These were the family days we most looked forward to, more than Christmas and Thanksgiving because these were our special times with our kids and we looked forward to them every year.

The UNR vs. UNLV game isn’t one where anyone picks a team to support. We are now and will forever be UNR fans. This isn’t just any state rivalry . . . we play for the largest trophy of any college team in the U.S., the Fremont Cannon, and it’s a very, very serious event. The winner of the game paints the cannon in their school colors and the cannon has been it’s rightful blue color for the past 7 years. UNR can lose every single game in a season and as long as they beat UNLV they remain champions to all their fans and supporters, and this family. This year, like all the others, we will scream, holler, kick the back of the bleachers and have the time of our lives and will love and support our Wolf Pack for another year . . . as long as they bring that cannon home to it’s rightful place.

We are making the arrangements, getting tickets, arranging a small bus and generally beginning to get pretty excited for game day at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. This game will be bittersweet, but even that can be overcome as long as the cannon stays blue and comes home to Reno.

So say a prayer for our Pack on Saturday, October 13 for a hard fought victory . . . game starts at noon, prayers should start at approximately 11:45 am! Go Pack!

UNR vs. UNLV Football History

1969 Reno  UNR 30–28       

1970 Las Vegas  UNLV 42–30

1971 Reno  UNLV 27–13       

1972 Las Vegas  UNR 41–13       

1973 Reno  UNR 19–3       

1974 Las Vegas  UNLV 28–7       

1975 Reno  UNLV 45–7       

1976 Las Vegas  UNLV 49–33       

1977 Reno  UNLV 27–12       

1978 Las Vegas  UNR 23–14       

1979 Reno  UNLV 26–21       

1983 Las Vegas  UNLV 28–18       

1985 Reno  UNR 48–7       

1987 Las Vegas  UNLV 24–19       

1989 Reno  UNR 45–7

1990 Las Vegas  UNR 26–14       

1991 Reno  UNR 50–8       

1992 Las Vegas  UNR 14–10       

1993 Reno  UNR 49–14

1994 Las Vegas  UNLV 32–27       

1995 Reno  UNR 55–32       

1996 Las Vegas  UNR 54–17       

1997 Reno  UNR 31–14       

1998 Las Vegas  UNR 31–20       

1999 Reno  UNR 26–12       

2000 Las Vegas  UNLV 38–7       

2001 Reno  UNLV 27–12       

2002 Las Vegas  UNLV 21–17       

2003 Reno  UNLV 16–12       

2004 Las Vegas  UNLV 48–13       

2005 Reno  UNR 22–14       

2006 Las Vegas  UNR 31–3       

2007 Reno  UNR 27–20       

2008 Las Vegas  UNR 49–27       

2009 Reno  UNR 63–28       

2010 Las Vegas  UNR 44–26

2011 Reno  UNR 37–0

Total Wins: UNR 22, UNLV 15

Our last Rib Cook-off

Like a peach pie in a disposable tray
| Tracy
It's all about the RIBS!
It’s all about the RIBS!

We attended our last Rib Cook-off today. This one like so many in the past was all about barbecue sauce and roasted ears of corn, looking for a place to sit and eat that may or may not have a little bit of shade or somewhere to set down your sampler tray. And this year, like every year in the past I’ve left the dental floss at home. But that negligent aspect aside, it is the smell and the taste of well done barbecue and sweet and tangy sauces that has kept us going back year after year after year.

The Rib Cook-off is but one of the many events hosted in the Reno-Sparks area that we will miss in the years to come, yet as any good organizer knows you cannot add something new without letting something go or you just end up with chaos.

Nick enjoying his roasted corn
Nick enjoying his roasted corn

So we said our farewell to the Rib Cook-off with a sampling of excellently cooked and basted pork ribs, roasted corn on the cob, Alan indulged in a bit of deep-fried peaches with whipped cream shared with our son Nick who came along to spend a couple of hours with us out in the smokey, barbecue-flavored haze that is Rib Cook-off.

The foodie in each of us is pleased and our inner organizers plan to substitute barbecued ribs for the annual horse race in Siena in 2013 to keep life balanced and free of chaos while accepting that we will do without the familiar and embrace the unknown as we prepare for a future abroad.

See Alan’s event portfolio.

Portfolio Preview

| Tracy

An Italian Point of View has a new Web site. This new site has portfolios of our favorite photos from excursions we’ve had recently.

Updates will occur as we continue on our journey and our hope is to connect the new Web site and our Twitter, Flickr and You Tube accounts to our Word Press blog. For now I think we may have to memorize all of the Web addresses and add links, but as we become more proficient we expect that these things will also get easier to link together.

So visit the new site and view some our current online portfolios.