So, how’s our ‘kiwi4everhome’ working out for us then?
Well, the answer would be: “Peachy as!” Meaning “Very well”, as my Kiwi friends would translate it, of course.
What we wanted back in the day was a single-level and secure dwelling, with all of our daily needs within easy walking distance (that ‘easy’ translating to ‘no stairs’, y’see). One with a good kitchen and lounge space, and one that was both warm in Winter and cool in Summer, too.
It should also be double-glazed to prevent any drafts and keep out noise.
It should have a terrace, or at least large-ish balconies, because why move to Sicily if’n you couldn’t enjoy the sunshine? With that sunshine in mind, we’d also like one that was South-facing, and naturally.
As for specific areas, once we’d (very early on) set our hearts firmly on Modica: It just had to be Modica Bassa, didn’t it?
Despite quickly falling in love with Modica Alta … I couldn’t see how we could make that work. Not without buying a car right away, which sort of wasn’t the point of settling here in the first place. Unfortunately!
Now, we’ve managed to ‘check-box’ most of the above. Except for that ‘single-level’ requirement. But that’s the nature of non-apartment dwellings around here.
As for the rest, we’ve renovated.
But that’s the nature of compromise, ain’t it?
No Point
Now one of the foremost reasons we moved from NZ to the UK, and then on to Sicily, was my September 2015 heart attack.
Sorry for mentioning it again, but it was certainly the main reason for our wanting to leave ... but not the only one. Of course!
Here we share the feelings of many parents with more adventurous children: As another reason was both of our sons had fled the nest. We were ‘empty nesters!’
Now, our eldest, Adam, starting high school had been one of the main drivers for our shift back to NZ in 2002, by 2017 he’d graduated from university and gone off to France. And our youngest, Anton, had also graduated and moved to the UK by then, so there seemed little point in us remaining.
Given we were in-all-but-name ‘gypsies’ who always wanted to keep moving. Okay, maybe that was more me than Alice, but still!
Anyways, there was this and another reason too: We wanted to get away from the ‘rat race’ that we’d both found living in Auckland had become. We were so over the whole “Keeping up with the Joneses” thing, which was getting, quite frankly, toxic.While neither of us had ever given into that pressure to ‘have to’ compete with neighbours and peers by acquiring material possessions and status symbols, we f’sure still felt it and absolutely saw it play out in many (not all!) around us.
Leading us both to exclaim: “What’s the damn point!”
Sorry for mentioning it again, but it was certainly the main reason for our wanting to leave ... but not the only one. Of course!
Here we share the feelings of many parents with more adventurous children: As another reason was both of our sons had fled the nest. We were ‘empty nesters!’
Now, our eldest, Adam, starting high school had been one of the main drivers for our shift back to NZ in 2002, by 2017 he’d graduated from university and gone off to France. And our youngest, Anton, had also graduated and moved to the UK by then, so there seemed little point in us remaining.
Given we were in-all-but-name ‘gypsies’ who always wanted to keep moving. Okay, maybe that was more me than Alice, but still!
Leading us both to exclaim: “What’s the damn point!”
Never Boring
A recent incident here serves to highlight the ‘chaos’ that can be life here in Sicily.
It began, as so much can do around here, with little prior notice. Basically, the problem was ANAS, the ‘Azienda Nazionale Autonoma delle Strade’ (‘National Autonomous Roads Company’), reduced two important local road viaducts down to traffic-lighted one-way.
Now ANAS was only doing what it was created and meant to do: Deal with road infrastructure, and manage and maintain the network of state roads and motorways throughout Italy.
Unfortunately (and I don’t blame the comune), the email wasn’t opened until the next morning. By which time the works had already begun, of course.
And the result was everything you’d expect: Total and utter chaos! Traffic was backed up for kilometres; tempers were frayed; and hours of the work day were lost.
Because these two viaducts, the Ponte Guerrieri and Ponte Irminio, serve as key parts of our local road network. Connecting as they do various parts of our city, and beyond. Consequently, they’re used by hundreds, if not thousands, of commuters and transport vehicles every day.
Not a word from Anas, and the works will continue well into next week too.
Who said life would be boring here?
