Sotto Le Stelle 09 - Wiring decisions and more

A packed weekend in Puglia:

• Mino's 60th birthday party
• Renting valuable storage space
• Discussing electrical wiring
• And, of course, eating and drinking with friends

We were due to fly out on Saturday but brought our flight forward when Carole told us about a surprise party for Mino's 60th.



I was doubly pleased to be there as Mino did such a fantastic job for my 60th birthday party in Puglia.



Loads more photos of Mino's party on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/minomaggi/

Friday it was off to Sotto Le Stelle to inspect the progress.



The main progress was all pipework: mains water, hot and cold heating system pipes, waste water, and gas pipes. Not just across the floor but up to the roof where the boiler lives in a newly created niche. English boilers are generally installed indoors, the Italians seem to favour an external wall cupboard.

Saverio has also fixed the bathroom door opening to make it symmetrical - what was he thinking to make it otherwise?



On the last visit we saw a sign saying "For Rent" on the door to the basement space under the building. Typically Italian it had no name or contact number. Pietro was able to track down the owner and arranged for us to meet and discuss renting some space. We did not want a car space but just some room for bikes, olive nets, tools, etc.

The basement itself had the same vaulting as the apartments above. Apparently it used to contain an olive press - the older owner pointed out where the presses used to stand and the circle where the donkey walked round to power the press.



We agreed a price for this niche and moved stuff out of Trullo Azzurro - all part of preparing to let out the whole of the original place once Sotto Le Stelle is ready for us.

Sunday was time to meet up with friend for pre-prandial drinks and then off to Osteria Sant'Anna for a serious Sunday meal.



Monday we went back to meet with the electrician to discuss the placement of sockets and lights. He was supposed to have done the work the week before we arrived but he was delayed. It worked out better that way as we were able to make some adjustments to the placements for the better.



One of these was the adjustments was emergency lighting which is now an Italian legal requirement. We were able to say "Not there, that is where the cupboard might go".

Then it was lots of window shopping to measure up candidate tables, chairs and beds. This table also comes in an extending version and is four times the price of the Ikea equivalent but Mary hankers after this one.



More pictures on Flicker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmclellan/sets/72157633321809636/detail/