Movin' on up...

Things have been a little crazy with the move but
'Virgil Brigman is back on-line'
(a line from a great scifi movie...can you guess which one?)

Life is settling down as we are settling in. It is an amazing feeling to be in the new apartment with our stuff. It has quickly become home (at least for the next few years). This installment of the blog will be focused on the move, the movers and never feeling old!

Though it took a little longer than expected to get our goods from the states we were made comfortable at The Silver Hotel Groups...(wait for it)... The Grand Hotel Beverly Hills. The staff and accommodations were fine. After we learned that the bartenders could actually make American style Martinis (known as Martini Cocktails in Europe) we liked the place even more. The desk staff was wonderful about recommending places to eat and helping us get settled in our new neighborhood. Oh, I forgot to mention the hotel is a 5 minute walk from the apartment. During the day, Tom would go to work, I would go to the apartment, we would both do work, and then we would both come back to the hotel and have dinner.

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 After about 3 weeks in the hotel we received the word that the movers would be bring our stuff on Saturday the 19th at 7:30am. The found out that they could not fit the 40ft container on our block. So they had to unload the goods into smaller trucks to be able to deliver everything.   About 7:15am on the morning of the 19th, Tom & I came around the corner of our block to see they had already arrived. To our amazement they were ready to go. Also to our surprise all but one of the guys were in their 50s (I am being kind - probably 60s -made me feel young). We both wondered how they were going to last the day but they did a GREAT job!  The set-up was like a fire truck with an extension ladder. Attached to the ladder was a basket, they would load up the basket and up everything went (See Video 1 below). 

About 11am rolled around and the head guy "Papa", as he was called by his fellow movers, told us that they might not be able to finish today because the last truck had broken down (at least that is what we think he said - they spoke no English). According to what we could figure out the last truck was the one with the little lift to get the remaining items up to the second floor of the apartment (and the motorcycle). While waiting Tom went out and got everybody lunch and we just sat around. Finally, at about 3-4pm we noticed movement.  Things started arriving again, we were back in business. They moved the remaining items up to the terrace and started setting up the little lift.   

While they were doing that stuff, I went down stairs to coordinate the moving of the bike. The younger of the guys (about 35-40 years old - the youngster) was great with the bike. He moved the bike from the moving truck to another truck with a lift gate then lowered it to the ground and moved it into the garage. It was like a ballet the way this guys moved the bike in such a tight space. Bikes are not easy to move from side-to-side they like going backward and forward. He moved this large piece of metal like it weighed 100lbs vs the 400lbs it was. He had to maneuver the bike from indie the lift-gate truck onto the small lift gate then lowers it (no easy task, Video 3). After getting the bike in the garage - I tried to explain how thrilled I was with the way he handled the bike. As with the others, he spoke no English and I little Italian. Using hand gestures I got across my delight in how he did his job.  He smiled, looked at me, and lifted his sweatshirt up to reveal he was wearing a Harley Davidson t-shirt. Then he patted himself on the shoulder and smiled a knowing smile that he did a great job. After that I went back up stairs to see them moving the remainder of our items up to the second floor. They were passing the items through our rather large bedroom window.  They removed the window, set up the lift and went back to moving us in (See Video 2). After finishing they replaced the window and assembled our furniture. After a great job and a long day our movers left around 7pm (granted they had lunch and a 4 hour break along the way).

Now the rest is up to us...

I promised Tom that I would take my time unpacking and organizing, so I figure 3 days instead of 2 days.

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Other updates:

   - We have a meeting with an Italian tutor next week. Can't wait to learn this lyrical language better.

   - The lemon tree is doing fine.  We have already had to lemons and more are ripening.

   - Next weeks blog will have a more local color and beautiful architecture.

   - A future blog will be dedicated to the tiny cars of Italy - they are too much fun.

   - Tom is settling into his job nicely. He is working long hours but still enjoying himself.

Lastly, the Barrington Resort & Spa Europe is open for business. Book your stay early our reservation book is filling up quickly.

We would like to send our love to all our friends and family.  Rome is wonderful but we miss you all!!

Hope you enjoyed this entry and have a Fantastic week!

Ron & Tom

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Pics of the week:

One for Greg and one for Sam:

Greg - it even has Friday night
Midnight shows here.  In English
with Italian Subtitles.



Sam - Hope all is well with the new
business (& the family).
Here is the first Mugshot from Italy



Video 1:  The lift from the street to our terrace:

Video 2:  The little lift getting items to the second floor:



Video 3:  The Harley guy getting the bike from one truck to the other: