Thursday, December 27, 2019
The Varese Skorpions like to do things the right and legal way.
Thus, today marked my third consecutive yearly trip to the Italian Consulate in Century City, California to file the necessary paperwork and pay the required fees in order to obtain my Work Visa for my upcoming six months stay in northern Italy to coach our beloved Skorpions.
Without this Work Visa, I can only legally stay in the European Union countries for a maximum of 90 days.
As always, the organization
at the Italian Consulate is,
shall we say . . . interesting
The Consulate's hours are a bit quirky and one must get an appointment with the Consulate to get a Work Visa about three months in advance.
I arrived for my 10:00 a.m. appointment about forty minutes early armed with all of my paperwork, a cashier's check and a good book to read while I waited.
I found three ladies in line at the reception desk when I got off of the elevator. The first one had an appointment but the next two didn't.
The man at the reception desk informed these two ladies in perfect Italian that they could not possibly enter the Consulate without an appointment. The ladies pleaded their case also in La Bella Lingua and magically they were admitted to the Consulate without the needed three month in advance appointment to a different part of the Consulate from where I needed to go.
Ah, Italia, how I love you.
The first lady who did have a Visa appointment was done in about five minutes.
I was next up and finished in about five minutes too which was about 20 minutes before my scheduled appointment.
The only hitch was when the lady I was meeting with asked for my code number from the Italian Olympic Committee in order to get a Sports Work Visa. I told her that I did not have it because it was not mentioned in the six part set of directions of what to bring to my appointment. She nicely offered to look my name up on the Italian Olympic Committee's website and, wouldn't you know it, I did indeed have the now required code number.
I sensed the all-powerful hand of the Skorpions' Santa Barbara Zanella pulling strings somewhere in the halls of power of Rome.
The annual Consulate ordeal easily behind me, I was in the mood for more Italian culture and/or cuisine.
There was an Eataly in the Westfield
Mall just across the street from
the Italian Consulate
I love the Eataly in Milano and was a OK with the one in Las Vegas. Let's see how this one stacks up to those two.
Panettone is a Christmas treat
in Italia
We even enjoyed one as one of our dessert choices at Laurie's amazing Christmas Day dinner.
LAVAZZA
is one of Italy's best coffees
Our coffee machine in Varese is made by LAVAZZA and has made us, goodness only knows, how many delicious cups of espresso over the last two campaigns in Varese.
I purchased a cappuccino
and a cream filled brioche
They were both MUCH larger than there counterparts in Lombardia and considerably MUCH more expensive too.
See, I told you that it was GOOD coffee!
Oh the aroma of fresh baked bread . . .
I bought a loaf of Rustico Classico for myself and a loaf of Rustico Olivo for Laurie.
The bread is delicious but the price was somewhat outrageous by Varese standards.
Interesting looking squash
Eataly's good looking butcher shop
Eataly has a HUGE
variety of Italian wines
These looked good but instead I bought
a bottle of white wine from Sicily for Laurie
and a bottle of red Barbera D'Alba for myself
I absolutely LOVE arancini
but the kitchen wasn't open yet
Cheese and hams . . .
WONDERFUL!
MAMMA MIA!
They had desserts . . .
. . . LOTS of rich, delicious looking
desserts but I was strong and
avoided temptation somehow
No, I can definitely NOT explain my resolve.
Lots of bread sticks
Those fabulous desserts were
still enticing me as I started my
trek back to Camarillo
A good day indeed for Italian bureaucracy, coffee, a pastry and checking out all sorts of Italian cuisine that beckons me from both near and afar.
Maybe we should go out for an Italian meal tonight at our new favorite dining spot, Made in Italy in Thousand Oaks . . .
A new EuroBall Adventure is now only a few weeks away.
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