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Okay, so I put off doing laundry for two weeks because I really didn’t want to tackle the washing machine instructions. I wanted to take the easy way out so I sent Larry off with the shirts to what I thought was a dry cleaner, but it turned out to be a leather repair place????? Still hopeful, I asked a couple of our quasi English speakers where we might find a dry cleaner but no one knew what I was talking about. So lucky for me the machine instructions were also written in English and after 30 minutes of intense study I was off and running oblivious to my real problem – drying.

I have no dryer, as most people don’t. Many hang their wash out over the street, but I’m on the ground floor. Others, like us, have to use a drying rack. Fortunately, our landlord has provided us with a very nice one as well as an ironing board and the dreaded iron. In retrospect I clearly should not have waited so long to do the laundry because I now have three loads (albeit small because my washer is small) to dry and one rack that is looking smaller by the moment. Problem #2 – the only room in the house without hardwood floors is the bathroom (which is way too small to consider) and the “cantina.” Many older Italian buildings have cantinas which are essentially dry-storage where they keep the homemade wine, cured meats and root vegetables. Our apartment has one, but it is more of a damp-storage. As our landlord explained, it is because we are so close to the river (2 blocks?) that it is damp and musty and she just stores cleaning supplies and building materials there. Now I was never great at science but I’m pretty sure if you put a rack full of wet clothes into a cool damp room they will not dry. So I gave Larry a hopeful estimate that the laundry might be done in three to five days. I checked this morning (48 hours in) and even his wash-out-in-the-sink-dry-by-next-morning-travel-underwear was still wet. Since the clothes were at least no longer dripping wet we moved them into the living room, opened the one window and turned on the fan, which was Larry’s idea (he’s much better at science). It was very humid today and then we had thundershowers, so I’m thinking another three days and we’ll be ready to iron. This really sucks. As I keep reminding myself – charm comes at a price.

    5 Comments

  1. Holy smokes! When Garry asked if I am enjoying your blog posts, I said; “What posts”? Then I find out he is getting email notifications for your posts and I’m not. Yikes, you’ve written so many great stories and I am so sorry I haven’t been keeping up. Skinny jeans, damp laundry etc. it’s all enchanting. I checked the box for notifications. Miss you two so much and am thrilled you are having such a great time. Love YA

    • Well now that explains why I hadn’t heard a peep from you. Knowing you like I do I was sure you couldn’t resist commenting on some of the posts. I was going to email you and ask “what’s up?” I’m relieved.

  2. Is this photo upside down on your computer? The pictures are correct when I view the site from my IPad but some are upside down or sideways when I view the site on the IMac.

  3. Oh my god! I have tears in my eyes from laughing so hard! I could write a 3pg article on the “joys” of doing laundry in Europe! Another wonderful “day in the life” in Italy….. :^)

    • So glad it made you laugh. We have always used a laundrymat when we needed to wash so we could get it over with and get back to the fun. If this goes on much longer we’ll just have to find one here and start over. Fortunately, this morning many of the small items are dry as we kept the fan going all night. Progress!

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