Please Mr. Postman

​Being away this entire year and renovating our Casa Miedi from afar has meant a fair amount of online shopping for us.  This wasn’t exactly how we had planned it but, thanks to COVID, we have found ourselves on our laptops and phones, A LOT!  Looking for items from major appliances, to vacuums, and faucets and yes, even shower drain covers.  
 
Obviously, this would all be easier if we could choose these things in person.  You see, I am definitely a “kick the tires” kind of girl.  My creative, visual brain needs to see things in person, visualize to get a sense of size and placement.  I want to open the door to the washer and dryer and close them again, stand in front of the refrigerator, open the doors and actually see the size of each drawer.  Attempting this online with just measurements and a few photos has been driving my brain crazy!   
 
Once I got past the hours, days and weeks it took me to find the exact things I wanted, I then had to consider the shipping.  Normally, here in the U.S., this is relatively easy.  You have an address.  Your address. Your home. ONE address.  However, for our beloved Miedi in Italy, we need 4 addresses. Yes, you read that right, FOUR.   So, this means when buying anything that requires any sort of shipping or mailing, I have to pause and spend a considerable amount of time thinking about which address to use.  Why 4 addresses you ask?  This is country life in Italy.  As most of us living here know, sometimes the most simple tasks can become quite the paperwork laden nightmare filled with bureaucracy.  I am sure that living in a town or a city, is quite different as far as how one receives mail and packages.
 
We have adapted to our FOUR different addresses.  First, we have our “mailing” address where we receive bills, publications, magazines and letters.  This address simply includes our names, the name of our house and the town. The 2 lovely mail ladies in town know who we are and deliver mail to our mailbox at Miedi on their routes.   
 
Second, we have a “shipping” address. This is for packages from Amazon, small packages from family and friends, and various online shopping. Now, the sweet mail ladies in town don’t deliver these when on their routes.  I’m not sure if it’s due to the lack of space in the car, or just not wanting to put more than a stack of paper into the mailboxes, and make the walk to the door to leave the packages.  But whatever the reason, where we live, you had better have another address that CAN receive packages for you. Preferably someone that you know and trust, and that isn’t too far away for you to drive and collect said packages.  Lucky for us, we have Ceci.  She runs our local bar in town, and accepts all of our packages for us.  Conveniently, she is also located next door to the post office.  So, we can head into town and enjoy a coffee and a lovely chat with Ceci and leave with any packages we may have.  Perfetto!
 
Third, we have our “delivery” address.  You know, for really, really big things.  Like, construction materials, tiles, appliances, lumber, stone, etc.  Things that must make it directly to Miedi.  Now this address is an odd combination of a “sort of” house number and GPS coordinates.  Clearly this became important during renovation and we now have it memorized forever.
 
Last, and certainly not least, we have what we refer to as our “banking” address. This address is used for any official business we conduct such as banking, paperwork for the house, or business conducted at our local commune.  This address is similar to our mailing address with a few little changes.  One of them has become frustratingly hilarious to us.  You see at some point, years ago, when the previous owner filed papers at the local commune for work done on the house, a small typo happened. Someone typing up the paperwork made just a teeny mistake and Miedi, became Niedi.  And, since it would take mountains of paperwork and possibly months to fix, it was waved off with a hand gesture and left with an “it’s fine, just leave it”.    
 
The end result of all this is that we usually need more than one address when conducting any business online.  For example, during renovation when ordering the stove for the kitchen, first I had to enter our personal information, including the “mailing” address, then the “banking” address for payment, and then the “delivery” address for delivery.  And then cross my fingers and say a little prayer that when I hit the complete purchase button, it all goes through and my stove didn't end up somewhere else!
This is just one of many little things about life here that we have chosen to embrace and find endearing.   And while it can be frustrating at times, we wouldn’t have it any other way!

Thankfully, the stove arrived safe and sound to the right address

Stopping at the bar for packages and coffee while Pinga, the bar mascot, sunbathes