Illuminations

We went into Perugia this morning to check out another store called OBI (we think this is Italia-speak for Hobby). This is definitely the closest to a B&Q we have come across. Much better than Leroy-Merlin (and nearer).

Then, on our way to lunch, a juggernaut side-swiped our car.  After the impact I was able to pull over to an inside lane and so we were really lucky that the damage wasn’t worse. The police arrived and helped us fill in the necessary accident forms and, chatting to them, the driver accepted it was his fault. The police seemed relieved, having seen our plates, that they weren’t expected to speak English. They also said that we were very lucky; but in the meantime we now have all the insurance stuff to deal with and two big dents in the passenger side.

After this little escapade we headed off to Burger and Fry (see also Water Works) for one of the best burgers I have ever had. Today’s special was a Wagyu beef burger with dried goose breast, spinach, caciotta cheese, and a pear and chilli puree.  Sides are huge so one fries and one salad was plenty.  The pud was good too. I had a seriously chocolatey mouse with orange sorbet and James “I don’t eat pudding” Packer, had a cheese cake with fresh fruits of the forest.

We then noticed that the serving staff were wearing t-shirts that advertised, on the back, a lighting shop that we had not yet visited. And so we set off to find them.

Idea Luce was even better than Comei Luce, the other good (but tiny) lighting shop we found in Perugia (see To Perugia).  Loads of wonderful lights to choose from and in particular one that I have set my heart on for our staircases.  It is called ‘Stendimi’ which means ‘Hang me out’ (like washing).  It is made by a company called Knikerboker.  The designer used to work for Castellani, a well known lighting company here, and then decided to do his own thing.  If you visit their site you will see some quite outrageous creations that I am sure would go down a storm in Dubai. But amongst their designs is this one; it looks like someone has draped a white hankie or cloth over a bar, just like a washing line.  The ‘cloths’ are hand beaten (‘hand thumped’ in their description) metal and will look brill.  If you want to visit more than once, you have to like them too…

We were woken this morning at stupid o’clock by the local police asking if I had a Porsche Cayenne. I said no, only in my dreams.  The policeman was the same one that came to check our residence at our house so he must have been confused when I opened the door, in a dressing gown, at an entirely different address.

The previous night we had left the car in one of our usual car parking spots. We had briefly discussed the grammar of a sign about parking restrictions and had assumed it only applied to the road beyond the sign. A few minutes later the door bell rang again and this time it was another police office telling us we had to move our car. So we were obviously wrong, and it was the whole road that was closed to traffic.

This afternoon we decided to do to a bit of guerrilla gardening.  I met our neighbour a while ago and agreed with her that her gardener would trim the laurel hedge between our gardens. After more than three weeks we had still not heard anything. The weather is warming up and it needs to be done before the sap rises otherwise it will end up three times the size.  So, armed with secateurs and loppers we clambered up onto the wall and trimmed everything we could reach. We filled three rubbish bags and will hide the evidence if we can find a recycling place that takes greenery. She spends most of her time at one of her many other houses, anyway.

The builder came by to see how the plumber and electrician had gotten on today.  Neither of us were impressed. He, because he couldn’t see what they had done, and me, because I had been there all afternoon and so knew they had only turned up for three hours this morning!  Words will be said tomorrow I think, especially if it is holding up the builder.