We’ve just been staying at our hotel here in Saluzzo till the gas gets hooked up in our apartment. This takes a long time in Italy. We can’t apply for citizenship until we have a permanent place to live, but I wanted to learn whether the comune will accept translations done by a friend or if there needs to be a certified translator. We also thought they might give us the letter we need to take to the Questura to get our Permesso di Soggiorno per Attessa di Cittadinanza (permission to stay while applying for citizenship), even though we don’t move in till next week.… Read more
Month: April 2008
Ciao with an Argentine Accent
Today we went to Church in Cuneo, the provincial capital, which is about one hour away by bus. We had a bit of a scare yesterday when we set out to find a way to get to Church. At our hotel, the manager said the busses don’t run on Sunday, so we should go to the train station. We went to the train station, and after poring over a schedule where everything said either that the train went on weekdays or that it didn’t go on holidays (Sunday is considered a holiday), we asked someone, who confirmed that the train simply doesn’t go on Sundays.… Read more
House Hunting in Saluzzo
Our (and our relatives’) efforts at procuring lodging in Lagnasco having proved vain, and having discovered that there are neither busses nor reliable internet in Lagnasco, we have decided to move to Saluzzo. We’ve been staying there anyway, and falling by degrees in love with it. The town is built right up against the hills, on the edge of the fertile plain. The beautifully preserved but still very much alive old city winds up the hill, culminating in its own castle, currently under renovation. We found a beautiful little apartment right in the middle of it, cobblestone streets, painted frescoes, and spacious vaulted ceilings and all.… Read more
Waldensian Valleys
Today we went to the Waldensian Valleys. Last week, we went through San Germano Chisone just as it was getting dark. We happened to stop just in front of the Chiesa Valdese (Waldensian Church), where someone was filling water bottles at the town fountain. So we filled ours too. But today we went back to see the valleys a little better. We drove up and up and up, higher than Melle, into Angrogna. There, we parked the car and walked down a path to a place where the mountain’s bones are exposed and broken in pieces. This was the Cave Church.… Read more
Deep Magic from Before the Dawn of Time
April 3
Yesterday we drove to Melle, where the Bodrero family originates. As we drove farther from Torino, the towns got smaller and smaller, and the little church in the center of each seemed more and more ancient. Finally, as we wound up toward the Western hills at the foot of the Alps, we passed into the town of Melle. The boroughs of the town climb up into the very tops of the hills, reaching a stillness broken only by birdsongs. The little green meadows are sprinkled with tiny, delicate butter-yellow flowers.
Through the town center and up a little winding hill is the borough of the Bodreros – a little cluster of centuries-old stone houses with shale roofs and tidy little gardens.… Read more
House Hunting in Lagnasco
April 1
Monday we drove back to Lagnasco. Tony spent a long time practicing the following phrases in Italian, to explain to his relatives who he was and why he was here:
Mi chiamo Tony Familia.
Mi dispiace. Parlo piccolo Italiano
I miei antenati vivevano in Lagnasco. Sono Bodreri. Siamo parenti.
Vorrei vivere in Lagnasco. Desidero affittare un appartamento amobiliare.
abbiamo bisogno dell’aiuto.
Tony’s relatives in Logan had shown us photographs of the Bodrero family they found in Lagnasco, and told us that the flower shop was owned by Roberta Bodrero. Accordingly, we went and knocked on the door of the shop.… Read more