Following last weeks debacle at the ASL office (Italian health office) I casually mention I was going to start the process to obtain Italian citizenship. The ink had not even dried on my little post when Sal from sarsaparillasal.blogspot.com suggested we should have a little race to see who will be the first to obtain their Italian citizenship.
Sally from sarsaparillasal
Mrs Sensible thinks I am crazy to even contemplate trying to obtain Italian citizenship, she might be right but being crazy has never hindered me in the past,
Lady of the Cakes asked me if my quest was in anticipation of the Brexit.
I couldn’t find a picture of Lady of the Cakes but I did steal this image from her blog, it’s probably a good likeness.
To be honest I don’t think the United Kingdom leaving the European Union will make much difference to me when it comes to dealing with Italian officials. Most of the officials I have been unfortunate to come into contact with, either think the UK is not part of Europe, or maybe just not part of the European Economic Area. Even the Italian Police who frequently stop me to check my driving licence think the UK is a country sandwiched somewhere in between Poland and Russia and goes by the name of the Ukraine!
Here is a nice photo of the Italian police with their shiny new Lamborghini police car.
Happy Smiley Faces
And here is another picture of their shiny new Lamborghini police car.
Oops our gallant boys in blue with their shiny new toys.
Ok, so back to Sally and her suggestion that we should have a race to see who can cut through the Italian red tape and be the first to obtain Italian citizenship.
I, Pecora Nera hereby throw down the gauntlet to publicly challenge Sally to the race, may the best friend win.
Sorry Sally I couldn’t find a nice gauntlet to angrily throw on the floor.
So let the challenge begin… dun dun duuuuurrrr.
PS I have had a snoop at her blog and she is fluent in Italian and has lived here longer than me and….. I’m doomed to lose.
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Englishman in Italy 
Someone should start a betting book on this one. Good luck, both of you!
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I think that is a good idea, erh will you take a bet from me of 50 euros that Sally will win?
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Sure, double or nothing?
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With my luck…. nothing 😂😂
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I’ll be keeping an eye on this in order to pick up some tips if and when the time comes. In bocca al lupo!
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Join us, we could have a three horse race 😉
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Based on the kerfuffle it took just getting residency in this place, I need some time to recuperate first! 😉
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Did the local policeman call to your house to see if you were really living there?
We have lived in three different houses and the policeman only came the first time..
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I’m not sure. It’s highly possible that they did but I never answer the door unless I know who it is.
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yes, well, good luck with all of that—if obtaining citizenship in Italy is like any one of your harrowing (daily living rituals) tales such as having wood delivered, getting internet service, the search for a lost cat (which by the way be kinder to mishmash) or selling your chips, or seeking directions, or eating while Mrs S is away officiating weddings…yada yada yada—I fear you are delusional—and whereas I do love all things Italian—I would only hope you would seek a dual citizenship as I would hate to see you leave the UK as it perhaps leaves the EU—leaving you, as we yanks like to say, SOL….just saying 🙂
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Mishmash is a scabby good for nothing cat, however today she is behaving.
If I manage to obtain Italian citizenship I will be able to retain my British passport. I will be a little like James Bond with a martini in my hand, I just wont be eligible for the snazzy car
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well as we see, even the police don’t deserve a snazzy car—now, do you prefer shaken or stirred 🙂
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Always shaken never stirred. 🙂
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a man, or sheep, after my own heart 🙂
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If you knew me, you’d know I am an eternal optimist – I always believe “where there’s a will there’s a way” – but, Italy was the one time/place like I felt no matter what I did I could not make things happen. I once blogged about a canceled green day concert right after we moved to Italy and viewed everyone’s calmness at the venue as “zen” – a more seasoned friend said he saw it as “giving up” because in Italy you just feel impotent and relent. I hope you can disprove this pessimism. 🙂
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Unfortunately I think you have hit the nail on the head, the Italian “Zen” is exactly as your friend described, nobody was surprised and knew screaming and stamping their feet would change nothing.
I am still in the screaming and stamping my feet stage, I am not sure I will ever reach the Zen stage
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I thought it would be easy being married to an Italian??( Or in partnership). But then nothing seems like it is straight forward. It will be fun to see how the competition proceeds. In boca al lupo!
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I also thought because I am married to an Italian, obtaining health care etc would be easy…. but it makes no different. To be honest I need to find a friend who has a friend who can ask the twit in ASL to un-delete me.
To get anything done in Italy you need to have a friend who can pull the correct strings, sad but true
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Good luck! I just want to obtain my dual citizenship between the US and Italy, and tracking down documents in the US seems to be no picnic or walk in the park either. Oh and I love the pic of the smashed up Lamborghini….nice touch!
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Oh Lord! that will be harder than my quest. Have you had to prove that your mother’s maternal grandmother once owned an Italian dog and liked eating pizza???
The rules for Americans seem harder than the rules for people from either the United Kingdom, Great Britain or even England. No wonder the Italians are confused and prefer to believe I am from the Ukraine.
I had to squeeze the Lamborghini pic in, they claim they weren’t going fast it kind of slipped under the car. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/6700068/Italian-police-Lamborghini-Gallardo-written-off-in-crash-with-Seat.html
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Believe it or not, your question is not too far from what I am trying to prove. It’s a shame it’s so complicated, but hopefully in the end it will be worth it so that I can “easily” transition to life in Italy someday. Thanks for the link to the story too!
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Italy is just a crazy place, sometimes I ask Italians why it is like this and they either shrug their shoulders or they give me some sort of explanation, sometimes the explanation is crazier than the problem
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Never say never!
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Thank you Miss Moneypenny,
PN aka 007
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Amazing. 😀
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Did you notice how I sounded like Sean Connery? I practised for 5 mins before sending the message
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I actually heard it. The sound of your Sean Connery impression was actually ringing out of my wordpress noble app.
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Well I hope that Lady Luck will be on your side and that you will win. Never say never. And yes, keep dual citizenship by all means. You never know…..
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I will keep my UK citizenship and if I am to beat Sally I will need a lot of luck….. She is fluent in Italian, her blog is in duel language for heavens sake!!!!!
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I suppose you could call her a “smart ass.” I wrote that as a joke, (Sally).
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She is one smart cookie, I have stalked her blog and maybe I was hasty in throwing down the gauntlet
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Of course don’t give up yet. You might just luck out. 🙂
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I haven’t given up yet, in fact this morning I had a haircut just in case I need to look social acceptable. The barber got a little carried away with his clippers, I no longer have long flowing locks, I think she was going for the US Marine look, tenshun!! stand by your beds.
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It seems your luck runs in spurts. 🙂 I think barbers and hairdressers vent their hostility on the clients. 🙂 My hairdresser (stylist) as they prefer to be called, gets carried away when cutting my hair. I have to watch her or she cuts my hair waaay shorter than I want. I don’t want to look like Peter Pan or a man. Oh well, such is life. Hair grows out or at least you hope it will. 🙂
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This one was definitely only a hairdresser, I think I need to learn the Italian for, please don’t make me look like a soldier
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Hee hee
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Hahaha no offence taken 🙂
and our PN knows he has every chance of winning this
Sx
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I’m glad you have a sense of humor.
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Can’t but wish you “good luck”!
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Thank you very much… 🙂
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It would be a good likeness… if only Lady Of The Cakes hadn’t scoffed so many of the latter…!
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Oh I am sure it is a perfect likeness. I like how the scarf is preserving some of your modesty
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A merkin would have been more useful in this regard, but, for some reason, significantly fewer of those are accidentally dropped or forgotten compared to scarves…
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Ha ha ha ha
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Pecora, I have a question for you and all your readers: if Italy is such an insane place, why made you move and most of all stay there?
I’m not being sarcastic, I’m just really trying to understand from my beloved sunny (yes yes!!!) London, for I know exactly why I left 20 years ago and never looked back.
If any consolation, I really want to get the UK citizenship but my very English husband can’t understand why…..it’s my heart telling me to do so!!!!!
Anyway good luck with this whole thing….hahahah….you’ll need it!x
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It is really difficult to explain, my excuse is I like the sunshine and normally the craziness of Italy amuses me.
I would love to hear the thoughts of other Expats (we are really just immigrants) .
There is a song written by Noel Coward called Mad dogs and Englishmen. He compares Englishmen to mad dogs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2YvYiWtovM
I am glad at the moment it is sunny in London. No doubt it will rain this afternoon and snow at tea time. England is renown for its amazing seasons and if you are lucky you can get to see all of them in an afternoon.
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Ahahaha…I thought you stayed for gelato and the amazing tv programs😉🙄
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The amazing TV programs!!! Ah ha ha, we threw the TV away six years ago, although we keep getting chased for payment of a TV licence
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I’m going to try and get it too! It’s Brexit fever!
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To be honest I don’t think Brexit will make much difference to me, well I hope not. I do think it will make a lot of difference to the UK and I don’t believe it will be for the better.
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But will we have to start queuing for our permesso di soggiorno again? That’s what I’m worried about.
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I had to queue for one last week, the ASL office demanded a copy!! They said the UK was not part of the Economic Union and therefore I needed a Premesso di Soggiorno !!! Mad
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Good luck with this mission. I took the easy way when obtaining another nationally by just being born with it :p (German and Finnish)
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I was born in Malta, my father was stationed there, they wont give me citizenship neither….
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Well I got both nationalities by birth as my father is from germany and my mother from Finland 🙂
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I think I will need to collect lots of useless information for them, I need to gain citizenship soon, before some bright spark decides to include a language test.
Because unless it is focused on wine and grappa I will fail for sure
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Heck PN, that was quick!!! No sooner do we have an intimate, private emailing sesh to establish the rules of play than the Contest Has Begun!!! So be it. The gauntlet has been taken up. Now, watch your back because we both know who’s going to win 😀
Baci Sallyxx
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Yvonne is in charge of the bets and the current odds. Just to be safe I have already placed my money on you winning
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start your engines, and may the luckiest person win!
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Beth, I got up this morning nice and early to start on my quest, unfortunatly my plans have been delayed by a cappuccino
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Bon chance! (wrong language, but I don’t know how to say good luck in Italian, so I thought French was the closest…) That’s a mighty fine pair of gauntlets – if bets were won on the strength of the gauntlets being thrown, then I think you are in with a chance.
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Bon chance works well in Piemonte, the local dialect sounds a little like my old French teacher (not that she managed to teach me much, I was even rubbish at languages when I was a chilblain)
The locals wander around exclaiming Bon! whenever they like something. I thought you would like my sexy gauntlets, I may need them when the loo explodes again
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It is good to know that if I visit the Piemonte area I will be able to sound like a local. 🙂
I think that now these gauntlets have been elevated to this challenge, you need to get a more industrial looking pair for dealing with loo explosions!
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There is a man arriving next week to empty/repair the septic tank, first he has to find it!!!
I have a sneaky suspicion it is situated under the rather impressive looking fig tree…
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Have you thought of turning your life into a film? Comedy drama would be the ideal genre I think. 🙂
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Ha ha, that would be fun.
I wonder which actors would play Mrs S and me?
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Hmmm, thinking caps on. Obviously would have to be a very handsome couple. 🙂
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Elaine, I really like your comments, in fact I love your comments
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