We’ve moved into our town home! I guess now we are officially living in Italy!! This blog post is going to mostly be for the military families moving here but the post after this one I’ll get back to my usual blogging about our experiences this past week.
The process of getting settled in isn’t hard but it is just complicated & overwhelming a bit I think. During the first week or three here the soldier does all this running around (in processing) and spouses/children kind of just sit around and wait until a meeting they need to attend comes about. If you are a spouse with children what I recommend doing is going to the play groups with your kids under 4yrs old. The ones I know about are every Wednesday from 10-11:30 and a Child Development Center (CDC) building on the Caserma Ederle Post. There are also activities post on the glass doors and on bulletin boards in the ACS building (also on post) like arts and craft days, etc. Sitting around in the hotel room was BORING so I always had us out doing something mostly that consisted of a playground. You can’t really or you are not really suppose to (but I did) go off post until you are in processed which happens at about day 8 after your arrival (soldier takes you to be finger printed, etc.)
Another thing I was able to do was help with the house hunt. Housing is in a yellow building with tall red gate around it about 50 yards from the gate on 6th street. The Gate guards are Italian and some of them don’t speak English well so make sure you have your ID or you might be given a hard time getting back on post.
Mentally prepare yourself to deal with housing. They are a different breed of people. I'm not really sure what their problem is or why they think they don't have to be polite to people. Every person I've talked to including myself has had a bad experience at housing so no matter how nice you are to them,they will seem annoyed with you.
The Soldier will probably have to go first to housing or you go together and you will be given an appointment to go see a house. Getting into and out of the housing building is like Alcatraz. I'd explain how to get in but I'm sure they make it difficult for a certain reason so I better not explain it here...
Once inside you will sign in and then be called to the desk and then be sent upstairs. The lady upstairs, Sarah is who we delt with, is probably the nicest person we encountered there but she still had her days. She will make you sign this paper saying they are under a mandatory government quarters something blah blah. All that means is there are a abundance of houses operated by the US government and they want you in one of them. (That changes often so you might not need to sign it) You can decide you want to live on the economy if you want which means you find your own rental and deal with your own landlord and pay your own utilities and rent, and get no OHA. I do not recommend that from stories I've heard from other people who live in private rental! Most landlords are older and don't speak very good english so there is often a communication issue when you need things repaired or have other concerns. Utilities are a pain in the BUTT to set up (we waited 15 days to get a response about internet and we have great credit). The plan we have costs 69 Euro for 2 months ($117). I’ve read the average gas bill is converted to $300/mo and rent for a 2 bedroom is usually over $1100 plus electric, cable, internet, water/sewer. In government housing you don’t pay rent or utilities and in the Villaggio neighborhood AFN cable is included but internet and phone are not included.
If you tell the housing office you have a car currently or car on the way they will offer you a property that’s far away from the post (we made that mistake). A person who works for the housing office plays the role of your taxi driver and property inspector. He/she will meet you at ACS building to take you to the property at your appointment time. Of course they will try to sell you on it but my recommendation is not to take the first one you are shown even though they will make it seem like you have to take it. From my experience and others I’ve talked to, the first property they show is usually the crap one and is far away from post and they are just trying to load it off on a unsuspecting renter who doesn‘t think they have other options.
The property viewing process needs to be done quickly so if you are available to make an appointment really early in the day the taxi driver can take you back to the housing office after you view the property and you can schedule to see another one right away. If you decide you don’t want a property you have to sign a form saying it was shown to you and you decline it. If you see other properties and decide you actually want one that you originally declined you can still have it, if it is still available. The taxi driver will drive you to up to 5 viewing appointments. We specifically asked to have a place in the ‘on post housing’ even though it’s not on post, it’s gate guarded, has MP presence, and is treated like the military post.
The first day we were told nothing in Villaggio was available so we saw a place about 15 minutes east of Vicenza called Grisignano. It was on the 3rd floor (2nd European floor) and smelled of animal and pee. The doorbell from down stairs was broken so you couldn’t ring anyone up and it was tiny. I was trying to keep an open mind but I actually almost cried when we saw the place bc I just couldn’t imagine myself and my family living there. The following day the housing girl was on leave so the day after that we made an appointment to see another property and luckily a place at the Villaggio opened up so we saw it and accepted it that day. You can’t pick your move in day so even though we didn’t have anything here yet except for the baggage we checked at the airport with we were told we had to move in the following Monday. The housing office allows you to borrow things like beds, dressers, couch/chairs, kitchen table, bookshelves, end tables, etc until your shipment arrives. After you tell them which items you need they are delivered to you on the move in day. Also the Villaggio has American electric outlets and Italian ones!! Off post just has Italian outlets.
The first day we were told nothing in Villaggio was available so we saw a place about 15 minutes east of Vicenza called Grisignano. It was on the 3rd floor (2nd European floor) and smelled of animal and pee. The doorbell from down stairs was broken so you couldn’t ring anyone up and it was tiny. I was trying to keep an open mind but I actually almost cried when we saw the place bc I just couldn’t imagine myself and my family living there. The following day the housing girl was on leave so the day after that we made an appointment to see another property and luckily a place at the Villaggio opened up so we saw it and accepted it that day. You can’t pick your move in day so even though we didn’t have anything here yet except for the baggage we checked at the airport with we were told we had to move in the following Monday. The housing office allows you to borrow things like beds, dressers, couch/chairs, kitchen table, bookshelves, end tables, etc until your shipment arrives. After you tell them which items you need they are delivered to you on the move in day. Also the Villaggio has American electric outlets and Italian ones!! Off post just has Italian outlets.
ACS building has a Lending Closet and I went there to borrow things like kitchen knick-nacks, utensils, plates, bowls, cups, cooking pots, etc. No electric stuff like microwaves or toasters and no linens but you can get electronics for cheap at the thrift store across from the PX. We had to buy linens for the beds, pillows, and towels which are all sold at the PX but are more expensive than I wanted to pay. Unfortunately the beds are very uncomfortable. No springs just padding, it’s horrible. If you can bring a air mattress, linens, pillows, towels with you on the plane, I recommend it so you won’t have to buy it. The bad news for us was that our unaccompanied stuff came 2 days after we moved in so we spent $100+ on stuff we only needed for 2 nights because we had linens, etc in our unaccompanied baggage. Grrr!
Our car is not here yet so we have been riding the bus from Villaggio to the post and walking which takes me about 25-30 minutes (pushing a stroller) depending on which part of Villaggio you are walking from and which part of post you are arriving at. The walking path from Villaggio to post is kind of hard to find. Message me or something if you want exact directions and I’ll work on getting road names and better details this week so I can make it easier on you all than it was on us! This info can only be sent to an AKO email account for security reasons.
The Villaggio shuttle comes to 4 stops almost every hour in Villaggio starting as early as 5:30am and as late as 7pm. The bus comes to our stop every hour except the 6 o’ clock am hour and noon hour.
Here is some info on the bus: It’s free! You must show your ID when you get on. Kids do not need safety seats. The bus is usually late. The bus is sometimes a blue/white school bus or a white van. If the bus is full the ppl left standing have to wait for the next bus. Soldiers have priority on the bus over family members. So far this has not happened but it’s been close & my husband ask the driver (in Spitalian, lol) what happens when it’s full and that’s what we were told. Some drivers speak little English and some are American. The bus stops at the clinic and commissary on post then goes to Villaggio, the vehicle/registration place, Lerino rigger posts, and then back to the main post and starts over again. Sometimes it skips certain places and goes different routes so check the schedule to be sure it’s going where you need to be that round. You must show your ID every time the bus comes up to a military gate including the entrance to Villaggio . Usually a gate guard boards the bus and checks Ids.
Our car is not here yet so we have been riding the bus from Villaggio to the post and walking which takes me about 25-30 minutes (pushing a stroller) depending on which part of Villaggio you are walking from and which part of post you are arriving at. The walking path from Villaggio to post is kind of hard to find. Message me or something if you want exact directions and I’ll work on getting road names and better details this week so I can make it easier on you all than it was on us! This info can only be sent to an AKO email account for security reasons.
The Villaggio shuttle comes to 4 stops almost every hour in Villaggio starting as early as 5:30am and as late as 7pm. The bus comes to our stop every hour except the 6 o’ clock am hour and noon hour.
Here is some info on the bus: It’s free! You must show your ID when you get on. Kids do not need safety seats. The bus is usually late. The bus is sometimes a blue/white school bus or a white van. If the bus is full the ppl left standing have to wait for the next bus. Soldiers have priority on the bus over family members. So far this has not happened but it’s been close & my husband ask the driver (in Spitalian, lol) what happens when it’s full and that’s what we were told. Some drivers speak little English and some are American. The bus stops at the clinic and commissary on post then goes to Villaggio, the vehicle/registration place, Lerino rigger posts, and then back to the main post and starts over again. Sometimes it skips certain places and goes different routes so check the schedule to be sure it’s going where you need to be that round. You must show your ID every time the bus comes up to a military gate including the entrance to Villaggio . Usually a gate guard boards the bus and checks Ids.
Ok my brain is fried now from trying to remember all that but I sure wish someone had laid it out this black and white for me so that’s why I’m doing it for ya’ll. As time goes on I'll post other useful stuff that I learn too.
Hi! I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your blog. We are getting ready to PCS there and I am TERRIFIED! Reading about the normal, everyday things helps a lot. So thank you for all of the time you put in to do this!!
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