The signed compromesso and the keys arrived by DHL before Christmas. Domenico had agreed that we could go over and stay in the house between the compromesso and rogito, but the UK was in lockdown and Italy was only letting residents in.
So we just had to wait. In the meantime, we got on with whatever we could do. We took over the accounts for electricity, water and rubbish collection each of which was rather convoluted and time consuming (the Italians do seem to like their red tape). We opened a Euro bank account. We switched our car insurance, breakdown cover and travel insurance to Saga who are geared up to long holidays abroad.
We waited and we kept checking the rules for travel as they chopped and changed. We both got our first vaccination done in January as we were volunteering on the vaccination programme, but this did mean we would need to wait till the end of April when we would be fully vaccinated before we could sensibly travel.
At one or two points it looked like we might be able to go out using the house purchase as a reason for travelling. With Italy lagging far behind on the vaccinations, however, we decided that we would quite possibly get off to a bad start with our new neighbours if we rocked up at a time when their cases and deaths were rising. So we decided to keep on waiting.
Planning for Martin’s 60th kicked in and a date was set for the celebration on the weekend after the planned end of UK lockdown. We sent out tentative invitations to about 100 friends and family. We started tasting wine and finger food; we bought a gazebo and recyclable bamboo plates and cutlery. We also set a firmer date for our departure for Italy in mid July (a couple of weeks after the party).
Then the new Delta variant started kicking in. We stopped party planning and waited to see how it would pan out. A few times we thought seriously about heading off to Italy, but stuck it out hoping we wouldn’t have to cancel the party. Well, that didn’t pay off. On 14th June Boris announced the by then expected delay to the lifting of restrictions. The party was off.
So we are still waiting and hoping that travel to Italy will be possible on the date we have planned (14 July). We’re happy to take any tests needed and quarantine at both ends of the trip if needs be. The rogito is scheduled for 26th July. Here’s hoping…