Monday, October 19, 2009

This account is very typical of any Home Exchange experience. John & I have been Exchanging for about 15 years.

We were in Rome 27 years ago on a 'see Europe in 3 weeks' backpacking experience. I remember a seedy hotel quite near to the 'Termini' (main railway station) This time we are doing it in style but it will probably cost us less than the previous time.
Our home exchange is in Trevignano Romana a sleepy town rising from the shores of Lake Bracchiano and about 35km North West of Rome. We arrived early at Leonardo da Vinci airport which was strange as we left Seoul about 45 minutes late. Never the less our Home exchange partner was there to greet us (we had exchanged mobile numbers earlier and made contact easily) After a big hug and greetings we were whisked away by car. No language problems this time as it was all catered for!!
Our home exchange partners are retired and have a permanent home in Trevignano and a holiday home in the hills West of Rome. We are to spend our last week there. We were taken home and greeted with a splendid meal of home made pasta and a glass of the local 'red' and crusty bread and then, after explaining the 'workings' of the house they took off to Scanzano while we are left to the luxury of a lakeside retreat for just over 2 weeks of serious Rome study. Oh yes, we also have a car at our disposal - a 2000 Corolla.
We have decided this time to have one day on and one day off, meaning we take the train the 40mins into Rome every other day, unlike trying to see the whole of Rome in 2 days as we did previously. We drive to the station and park free for the whole day.
We are a bit if a curiosity in the village as this is total Italian immersion. The local square has a bar/ restaurant where the locals congregate and John & I are seen there sometimes twice a day. The coffee is sooooooooo good. I thought coffee was an International commodity and with reported price rises that coffee would be at a premium. We are surprised to pay only 80 Euro cents ($NZ1.60) for a very good cappuccino. John was impressed with his 2 Euro bottle of red at the local Supermarketo. I think we will like this place. Things that are expensive are meat which we have decided we don't really need.
We always feel privileged that we can live in a community and really get a taste of local life. This is one of the real bonuses of Home Exchanging
Differences we have learned to cope with.
1. No oven. Many Italian homes don't have one
2. If you sit down to have coffee in Rome it costs 3 times as much as standing up. Cover charge or something.
3. Strange opening hours for shops. 9am to 1pm - 5pm -8pm. Closed Saturday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon and all day Sunday. Some restaurants don't open on Mondays, some on Tuesdays.
4. Pedestrian crossings do not mean much as cars don't stop. I believe the penalties are severe if they knock you down.
5. You can get away with any old speed if you are not spotted by the cops.
6. We broke every record to get to the Vatican museums early and be first in the queue. We arrived 1/2 hour before opening and found a queue of roughly 1000 already there. The queue moved quickly though and with such a vast place that the crowds were not oppressive.
Leaving time and a day to clean the house, do the laundry, replace items in the kitchen that we have used and leave a small gift of appreciation for our hosts
More to come................................
We are now in the Abruzzo region about 60kms West of Rome.
Last night we attended the annual 'get together' in Rome put on by Annalisa Pujatti the delightful lady who is the Italian Organiser for HomeLink. Present for the dinner were about 40 members or potential members of HomeLink Italy. We were invited to spend the night in the Rome apartment of Liliano D’Ascanio, one of Annalisa’s members. She was a delightful lady in her 50’s who is a language teacher at high school. She tells me she can think in English, French & of course her native Italian. She just loves ‘hosting’ people from other cultures and we spent a long time talking to her about this and that. She enjoys using the HomeLink option of 'Hospitality offered' and we very much enjoyed meeting Liliana
more.......................
We have now moved on to the holiday home of our Italian hosts. Scanzano is a delightful small village with a population of no more than 100, the sort you dream about. It is only 60kms from Rome and I cannot for the life of me think why the city dwellers have not exploited the area as it is well within commuting distance. English is not spoken here and according to our hosts, neither is Italian. It is a type of dialect. No children in the village only oldies who look as if they have been here for ever. A few younger ones caught the bus this morning. When we arrived there had just been a procession through the streets and they were strewn with flowers. Just lovely. I believe it is Corpus Christi. The house we are in is one of the old originals, probably hundreds of years old. It has been gutted and is totally modern inside except for the cellar which is interesting. With the cellar it is 4 stories high but is only 6m wide and in many places the stud height is very low and you are continually bumping your head. There is an amazing spiral staircase which John describes as steep and tortuous. 2 bedrooms 1 &1/2 bathrooms but an amazing roof terrace built into the roof of the house below.
Civilsation is about 7 kms away. It is a small town called Tagliacozzo, but with supermarkets and places to dine so we are all set up for a weeks exploring. It is a hilly area, good for walking and because it is in the hills at about 100m high, it is much cooler than Rome.
Like most of the towns in this area Tagliacozzo is perched on a mountain side. We had lunch there and then decided to drive to the top. Quite a good 2 laned mountain road winding its way up. We got out of the car at the top and spied a small road going downhill through the old town. We always look out for ‘Sensico Unico’ (one way street) and there was no warning so down we went only to find out that the road became narrower and narrower until John needed guidance so I got out and walked backwards in front of him thinking that it would only be around the corner and we would be in the clear. Not so. It was nearly 1km and in time I needed help from a friendly local when there was only 1 inch on either side. You have to realize that there was no way John could reverse back and he was quite committed !! We made it to our relief and now know why there are so many of the original Fiat 500’s around

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