Anniversary

A few days ago, on the 26th September, we celebrated our sixth anniversary.

A milestone in our lives this, as six years ago on the 26th September 2020, also a Saturday, we boarded an 11:45 one-way EasyJet flight from London Gatwick to Sicily.

However, between landing in Catania, and the end of 2020, we had a race on our hands. A race against both time and the local bureaucracy. To meet a deadline that, on that warm September day, was then 96 days, or three months and five days, away.
That deadline? The 31st December Brexit cut-off, of course!
Because, by that date, we had to obtain documentation proving we were formally and officially resident here in Modica prior ... else it was curtains for us and our Sicilian dream.
We finally presented our ‘Dichiarazione di Residenza’ (‘Residence Declaration’) application to the comune (council) on Friday 30th October. Getting all our ducks in a row for this document had taken an absolute age. Involving much wrangling, arguing and outright pleading, but we’d done it all around a month after landing!
All we had to do now was wait (impatiently) for the 45-day-long, ‘set-in-stone’, waiting period to be over.
This period was due to end on the 14th December. Only 17 days before Brexit! We’d heard nothing by Friday 11th December and, with that deadline looming, Alice rang the comune to chase ‘em up. Only to be told why was she ringing, when we already had residency?
Welcome to Sicily…!

Card-Carrying

Although I’d rather not, thank you, I ‘have’ to bring up Brexit again.
Because, post-December 2020, although we now had our residency, there arose the need to ‘prove’ it. And the way the Italian authorities had chosen to do that involved (wait for it!) ... a highly bureaucratic process! Who knew?

Surely worth a toast!

They’d decided that a five-year ‘Carta di Soggiorno’ (‘Residence Card’) would fit the bill nicely when it came to that proof. While not compulsory, it entirely was, of course. Agencies here in Modica began asking us for it almost immediately. Not demanding it. Yet. But the pressure was f’sure on.
For instance, the health authority here said we had to present it when we re-applied for our nearly-free health cover in 2022. Or else!
Long story short, we managed to secure ours after months of being given the run around by the provincial Questura (Police HQ) And, when we finally did, they’d been backdated to March 2021.
Which meant we’d have to reapply for an updated version in March 2026.
So, come 2026, off we’d trotted to the Questura again, for our 10-year ‘Carta di Soggiorno Permanente’ (‘Permanent Residence Card’). I again won’t bore you with the details, but it (again!) took us months of ‘toing and froing’, involving some expense and a total of four separate visits.
However, we did finally score our cards this month. While again backdated to March 2026, we didn’t care, as we were now considered permanent residents in Italy!
Go us, yeah…

September

Autumn here in the northern hemisphere ‘officially’ begins in September.
Of course, when I was living in NZ, it signalled the beginning of Spring.

Either way, it’s always been my favourite month of the year. Not least because it’s my birthday month, Alice and I married 38 years ago on the 24th, and the 29th is our eldest son’s birthday too!
This year though, weather-wise at least, it’s been somewhat different. We’ve had one warm Summer! As I wrote last month, it’d been over 30°C every day since the 26th July. This streak ended on the 12th September ... a total of 49 days in a row!
That didn’t mean the weather suddenly got colder though. Far from it, here in Sicily, the days are still nicely warm, hot even ... it’s just the evenings and early mornings are getting a tad cooler. A welcome change for some who’ve been complaining loudly about the heat: I’m looking at you, Alice!
September also sees the ‘winding down’ of one growing season and, sadly, eggplants, bell peppers, zucchini and cucumbers are about done now. As are watermelons, peaches and most berries, too. My wife in particular lamenting watermelons!
Still, it’s not all bad news, as it’s now time for Porcini mushrooms, pumpkins, silver beet (chard), broccoli, and spinach. Okay, I f’sure don’t like pumpkins and spinach. To compensate, it's also the season for grapes (a personal favourite!), prickly pears, pomegranates and figs.
So, while I regret Summer’s over … mustn’t grumble!

More Soon...