Recently in the United States, the idea of living in tiny houses has become so popular that a new TV show premiered focused on people buying tiny homes- often under 50 sq. meters. A movement seems to be underway to live more economically.

While not lauding tiny living, Italy and elsewhere in Europe, have been more conscious of living economically for some time in the name of energy efficiency.  In America where there has been plenty of land, we build  large homes in suburbs with thirsty lawns. Then we equip them with feature-rich appliances that drive the electric and gas meters high and proudly own cars known as gas guzzlers.  In Europe cars are small and economical- gas is expensive here and the streets are narrow.  Italy lacks the natural resources to create inexpensive electricity so clothes dryers are virtually non-existent in private dwellings. Natural gas provides the fuel for most stove stops here as well.

So it was no surprise when I rented the apartment here in my palazzo that the kitchen was quite compact. Knowing this and living with it for three months is another thing.  Swept up by a top floor apartment with panoramic views of Bologna in the heart of the city, I quickly dismissed the small kitchenette.  No problem I said to myself,  I can deal with it- so what if there is no kitchen table but just a shelf that can be propped up.  I can do this. To the left of the refrigerator is a pot rack with hooks that float just an inch or 2 out of my reach so on several occasions as I stand on my toes to snare a pot, a few have landed on my head!  Above the stove I have also done some balancing acts trying to extract my food stored there.

My tiny kitchen

Light my fire!

I have also been presented with challenges as well as lessons in the use of Italian appliances. Again being conscious of not wasting natural resources, most Italian stove tops I have encountered have no pilot light that is always on.  That’s right, for those of you who grew up with just turning the dial on your stove to light the burner, this was not always standard. Now mind you, I have always lived in fear of having to light a pilot light that has gone out and now with the burners here each time that I need to cook.  When I was young, my mother would get on her knees and poke her head and arm inside the oven with lit match in one hand and with the other turn the dial on top to allow just enough gas to light the oven.  Every once in a while she would give it too much gas and the stove would light with a loud whoosh, my mother’s arm quickly retracted and often singed.  We were not allowed to light the oven as children and so my fear of lighting gas stoves was born.

Now every time I have to light the stove top images of my Mom jumping back from the oven fill my head.  I use a sparker to light mine here- therefore not having to deal with the concept of an open flame to light the burners.  It provides some challenges that I have yet to conquer. You push in on the dial to open the gas when you are lighting it and then position the dial to your desired flame and release. Well often this causes the flame to go out and then I have to begin the process all over as I become a little hyper about my having too much gas in the air and will the thing explode on me! So far I have not blown up any appliances but have come close to igniting myself forgetting to remove my requisite Italian scarf. And the stove is so close to the sink that I have come close several times to knocking a pan off the stove as I maneuvered to wash some dishes.

Lighting the stove

How hard can it be to use an oven?

So now that I have the stove top under ‘control’, it was time to use the oven,  If you look at the picture of my kitchen, that is a stove top (cover down), oven and dishwasher all in one.  Yessiree- the latest in efficient appliances- the bottom of this appliance is a small dishwasher- not to be used when the oven is on.  No problem, as I could not figure out for the life of me how to turn the oven on!  Nor could the landlady ( it was her sister’s apartment and no one else had ever tried to use it).  So the local appliance repair guy came to the rescue and had it running with no problem though he did discover a problem with the dishwasher- whew.  After he left and my friend came over and I said – oh it is working now-  and proceeded to turn it on- and to my chagrin no heat again. Feeling sheepish I waited a few days before mentioning to my landlady that I still could not get the oven to turn on.  Up she came and looked at it and we kept turning all these dials.  The first dial is a timer so I turned this on and then the next was the temp and then type of cooking- bake- roast, etc.  And I learned something new that day- another efficiency in European appliances.  The oven will not turn on unless you set the timer and off it goes when your time is up.  I guess you can’t forget to turn off the oven though you can under cook some foods if you don’t time them right or have the proper temperature. At this point I have not taken up the challenge of the dishwasher- hand washing is just fine for my needs.

Laundry blues

One of the other challenges is the washing machine. Although it looks like a good size front loader, one must not be deceived by the amount of towels and sheets it will actually handle in a single load. The first time I did sheets I put the entire set in- after all they fit with some room to spare.  When using a foreign washing machine you have to first figure out what all the settings mean. There is no small, medium or large setting.  They all are geared to those symbols you see on the clothes you buy.

So if you say synthetic at 40 C that is all you set and I suppose it senses how much water it needs.  Well I guess it needed a lot for a full set of sheets because the next thing I knew I had a minor flood of soap and water seeping from under the washer!  So I have now learned to wash just one pillow case and one sheet at a time.  I guess this all ties into the fact that there is no room to dry more than that anyway.  My living room becomes quite colorful and cluttered as one sheet hogs the drying rack while I try to hang other clothes across chairs.

Drying sheets- economical style

Of course one has to remember that these palazzos built centuries ago have been repositioned as apartments and kitchens were often an afterthought and squeezed into spaces.  There is a reason that you can buy a 3 in 1 kitchen appliance in Europe as many appliances have been designed to adapt to these small environs in ancient buildings. Which brings me to the last tiny item, the elevator.  Not all buildings are outfitted with elevators but here we are lucky to have one on the outside of the building in the courtyard.  The steps are many and steep to my top floor apartment and well-worn from centuries of use with big dips in the center that leave you off-balance.

Elevator with a view

Going up?

The elevator is quite small- it says 4 persons max- but 2 is cozy and with 3 you are really quite squashed and that is 3 relatively small women.  But it is a modern convenience that not all buildings have- my friend walks up many flights of stairs daily to reach her apartment.  And I can attest to how small the elevator can seem, especially when the elevator gets stuck and you are in this glass enclosed sauna wondering how you will ever get out and how long you will be able to breathe in this coffin-like enclosure! Of course they had to tell me that this was the first time in its 12 years of use that it malfunctioned.  It took them 2 days to repair it and I refused to use it for another day after that!

So if you watch some of those shows on TV of people from the US moving to Europe and they all complain about how small the kitchens are and that they will never be able to cook a Thanksgiving turkey, well get used to living where being energy-efficient and cost-conscious is part of daily life. It is good for the environment.  And anyway, you’ll never find a turkey the size of one from the US!

And my bonus  photo is my favorite tiny vehicle – this carries the postal workers in the city to deliver the mail.  I love seeing this parked in the street as I head for my cappuccino in the morning.  Ciao!

Italian Postal delivery