Eventually i am going to have a real adventure here in Italy and by that I mean one that does not include a trip to the hospital for an emergency surgery or a trip to Ikea for storage solutions ideas and items. In the meantime though, I get to contend with processes, or rather going from point A to point B but needing to stop at C, D, and E first to accomplish a task. Really this was supposed to be a simple task, get the paperwork completed to take advantage of the no value-added tax payment on purchases made at Ikea. Yeah, not so easy. To start this process, if you are making a purchase for 200 euros or more, you can avoid having to pay the value added tax on the purchase. So when we went to Ikea for this big purchase, we visited each indiviual information station and roughly translated into Italian the items we wanted so they could put the information on an informazioni prezze (intent to purchase price sheet). This sheet when completed, is submitted to the Tax Relief Office (TRO) and then you get the check payment from the bank and then return to the store with submitted paperwork and payment to collect your items or schedule delivery. The next day I went first to the TRO, luckily I arrived right as they opened at 11am. (really, 11am? Everything else is 9am or 10 am, so why 11?) I was told in advance it was a mulitple step process but perhaps in my pigheadness I failed to see how difficult the process would eventually end up being. When I reached the tax relief office, i realized I didn't have my credit card on me to pay for my purchases. It was a good chunk of change since we bought a couch, a desk, chair and shelving units, but I got the instructions on the process I needed to follow and that included heading to the bank FIRST and not the TRO to start the process. So, after driving back home to get the card I needed, and making sure I arrived at the Italian bank after their long lunch break, because seriously, evrerything here needs to be timed exactly or the process fails, I took my paperwork to the teller to get the check I needed. I was told that since we don't have an account with them, i needed to pay for my items in cash. That wasn't going to work. So frustrated yet once again, I called the big guns, the hubster that is, to assist in the problem. We went to another Italian bank on post to inquire about the payment options and of course the teller spoke only Italian and couldn't or wouldn't attempt to understand me. So he proceeded to get the check printed and all and then asked for cash too. I tried to explain to him that was not what I intended for him to do but hey, why listen to me? Luckily a coworker told the guy we would be back the next day to pay for everything since the banks only allow you to withdraw so much money per day from the ATM. Needless to say, the teller was a little peeved because now he had to cancel the check. (Seriously, had he understood me from the get go, we wouldn't have that problem).
Three glasses of wine later and a good night's sleep, I took cash with me the next day to get what we needed. Everything was going great, I got the check we needed, paid the $1 to get the check since we aren't members of the bank, and then headed to the TRO. But alas, it was only 10:15. I had 45 min to kill since again, they didn't open until 11am. We headed to the commissary, and then back to the TRO. Once the paperwork there was compelted and I paid my $10, i was on my merry way. After a brief return home to put away the melting ice cream and grab some lunch, we headed back to Ikea to pay for everything and set up delivery. I was told two days prior that delivery could be express, which meant I would get my items in 1-2 days. Unfortunately, i was told something different when I went to pay for the items. Since we did not live in Vicenza proper, delivery would take 1-2 weeks. Not happy i can tell you. If only we had my husband's truck here, this would be no problem. But no, that truck is back in the US. So we have to wait. I'm lucky I got through that process and the cashier spoke english. He did tell me I would receive a phone call about delivery and I asked if they spoke English because otherwise, it might be a problem to have to translate to them. I was assured that they do speak English, we shall see.
The kids are officially registered for school too. This 45 minute process included reviewing all the paperwork we previously sent in along with the school documents sent to the school. then i was handed paperwork to take to the bus people in the middle school next door and lunch paperwork to get the kids' lunch accounts set up. For that i had to return to post and head to the PX. After all that running around was complete, I was a little processed out. More wine was needed so i stopped at the Vino de casa (House of wine) to get some vino sfusi (wine on tap). Interesting concept and by far, the best recycling idea I have seen yet here!. You take in an empty wine bottle and have it refilled with one of the wines on tap. The copper barrels are humungous and have a long tube running out them to refill your bottle. Ingenious I tell ya, ingenious! The Italians do love their wine!!
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