That apartment on Via Cavour

And the winner is...

At least one reader guessed right: the three-bedroom on Via Cavour ended up being our first choice once we were actually here in Fidenza, despite our earlier difficulties trying to buy it long distance. And despite that empty room where a kitchen used to be, and despite the real estate agent's apparent lassitude in moving the deal forward.

There's the building, above. Our apartment (I hope!) will be the second floor, the balcony that doesn't have any plants yet.

We have now signed a contract, and so has the seller, agreeing on the price and all the other details. We are hoping to go to a notary and sign the next document, and hand over a deposit, on Wednesday, at which point we will get a set of keys. Then once the town signs off on the property documents (whatever that means), we all meet with the notary yet again, pay out the rest of the money, plus taxes, commission, the notary's fee, and so on and so on, and then the apartment will be fully and officially ours.

But whether that first meeting really will take place on Wednesday remains a bit vague; it took a lot of annoyingly American pushiness to browbeat the real estate agency into giving us a more or less firm date. Agent Massimo and his boss sometimes act as if we are badgering them to give us money, instead of the other way around. All of which continues to give me agita about whether this really will go through.

Ma coraggio!

Here are a few pictures of the interior...

 The place where a kitchen will go...

...the master bedroom (after we paint out that mural)...

...the living room...

...and the view from the balcony looking east. That little tent up the street is the outdoor seating for La Strega (The Witch), my current favorite bar/caffe in the neighborhood.

Pam took this photo for us (can you spot us on the balcony, way up the left?) to show how close the apartment is to the Latteria, our favorite local source for cheeses, prosciutto, and other necessaries. That's the Latteria on the far right.

To explain our enthusiasm, here's what the Latteria looks like inside. I wish this photo could convey how deliriously good it smells in there.

Allora, avanti! Let's hope this all goes ahead as planned.