My current apartment has been tended to as little as possible since the early 60s, perhaps; the new one has been renovated with care, because it was the owner’s home. Boldù has a spectacular view over the marina; the new one a lovely cortile with lots of plants (that will be tended by the proprietor’s father regularly, beato me). The last is on the third (read, forth,) floor and 72 steps, the new one, piano terra, rialzata naturalmente. The one I’m leaving had a kitchen jammed in the corner (but a massive fireplace that I used as a pantry); I’m moving to a new kitchen, with a normal oven, cabinets high and low, a double-sink, and a bar that opens to the salotto, where you can chat or give guests sous-chef tasks ask you cook. The Boldù bath had a tiny shower with curtain that had a tendency to attach itself to you with the slightest air movement, along with the world’s smallest clothes washer and instructions in German; the shower in my new home has a semi-circular glass enclosure in a spanking-new tiled bath….and the lavatrice is hidden away in the shed outside. The new place has air conditioning, so I’ll have to sell the mobile unit I purchased to keep from roasting to death when the sun bolted in at precisely 3p each day until it set at 8p, 9p…or later. Soffocante.

The new location is ideal, just off Fondamenta Ormesini…10 minutes from the Remiera Cannaregio, and in an area with lots of stores for finding whatever you need.

Best of all, there’s a cat named Spritz, who pays regular visit to everyone in the condomimium, in the calle, along the Fondamenta. From what I can observe, it would seem that everyone he visits offers him a treat of some sort, o di più. I’m a cat person, and having to leave mine behind when I moved here was just awful. To have a cicone stop by on a regular basis knowing he’s not your full responsibility was the last sign I needed to feel totalmente a casa.

I asked the new proprietor (holding my breath), Say, a proposito, you’re not planning to need your apartment again in a year, are you? She assured me no, she would not, she has just purchased a house in Mestre in order to be able to take care of her mother from now on.

I’d just like the next move to be my idea, that’s all.