Information on the apartment
located in Roma, Via del Mascherino 72, scala B, 4th floor #14
The apartment consists of a very spacious living room,
a small kitchen, two bathrooms and two bedrooms.
The apartment is located at the fourth floor of a building with elevator and has a surface of about
95 sq. meters (over 1000 sq. feet).
The building is located less then 100
yards from Piazza San Pietro (Saint Peter square). It belongs to a
neighbourhoods full of grocery-shops and artisan-shops. In particular Via del
Mascherino borders Borgo Pio one of the renowned traditional
neighbourhood of Rome. It is also very close to Via Cola di Rienzo, where shops
of all kinds are located (including fashion shops).
The owners of the apartment are Paolo Cotta-Ramusino and his wife
Mariola Alberti.
Their home phone number is +39 02 655 4915. Their office phone
numbers are as follows:
Paolo Cotta-Ramusino: +39 02 503 1 7277
Mariola Alberti: +39 02 503 1 6311 or mob. +39 338 5029994
.
In calling from Italy you just drop the international code +39.
email:
paolo.cotta@mi.infn.it
alberti@dico.unimi.it
The apartment is 150 yards away from the terminus station, on Piazza Pia,
of bus 40 express and local bus 62 that connects San Pietro with Piazza Navona, Piazza Argentina (near the
Pantheon), Piazza Venezia and the main RR station (Stazione Termini).
200 yards separate the apartment from the closest subway station (Ottaviano).
Many other buses stop in the nearby P.za Risorgimento: i.e. bus 81
takes to Via del Corso in the City center.
Parking is possible, but very difficult, in Via del Mascherino:
it is free on Sundays and during night-time. It costs 1 EUR/hour on
working days (Saturdays included) from 8am to 8pm.
You have one (little) key for the entrance door to the building and one (big)
key for the entrance door to the apartment. The are 3 key-holes in the entrance
door to the apartment. The top one is fake. Your key works only with the
middle hole. The door locks automatically. So if you if you are locked out of
the apartment remember that the Portiere has a copy of your key. In
getting out of the apartment please make at least 2 turns of the key: it is
much safer than just having the door only automatically locked. Notice that you
can extract the key only after an even number of turns (0, 2 or 4).
The Portiere (custodian of the Building) is Giuseppe . His
working hours are Mon. to Fri. from 7.30am to 1.00pm.
You can ask for assistance to the Portiere on various
matters, but he speaks only Italian. He has a copy of the keys of your
apartment and can lend it to you if you are locked out. If
you ask the Portiere to come out of his way out to help you in something that is not
part of his normal duties, please do not forget to leave a generous tip.
The water from the tap is drinkable. The general water faucet is at the
right of the bidet in the small bathroom. You can leave it open at all times.
To have hot water open any faucet and turn it to the far left; after a minute
or so the water will be turn hot enough for a shower. If you turn the faucet
off and then on, you will have again to wait a minute or so to have hot water.
Due to the level of water pressure, it is not advisable to have a hot shower
and at the same time use the washing machine. Please be sure to turn all the
faucets of the apartment off (but the general one) before getting out of
it.
As anywhere in Italy we have AC 220 Volts, 50 Hz. The general switch is located
at the left of the entrance-door. If you have to replace a bulb, please buy
bulbs of the same type. Each lamp has a maximum allowed power (watts) for the
bulbs. This is the reason why we often use the large, power-saving bulbs
that give a strong light with low energy consumption. The power-saving bulbs
are very expensive and in order to preserve them it is better to avoid too many
switching on and off. Please be so kind to replace all the bulbs that cease to work.
In the apartment you can find: an air conditioner, a washing machine,
a dishwasher an oven
a refrigerator,
a vacuum cleaner (located in the closet in front of the entrance-door),
a TV set, a VCR, that can play American videos,
a CD-player with integrated amplifier-speakers, a
coffee-maker, with filters, a toaster, a coffee-grinder,
a mini-chopper
(the last items are located on the shelf in the kitchen), a
ceiling fan (controlled by the switch in the living room near
the door that leads to the inner part of the apartment), a hair-dryer, a
water-heater (in the small bathroom), an iron with ironing board,
2 exhaust fans (in the kitchen).
The air conditioner is located in the master bedroom. In order to activate
the machine you have first to turn on the switch near the mirror in the master
bathroom. In the drawer of the left bedside table there is a white remote control to operate the air conditioner.
There is a TV set, a VCR and a decoder for a dish antenna: each
one has a separate remote control.
To see the programs received by the dish antenna, you have first to
switch on the TV set, then press the special symbol on the TV remote with a circle and an arrow.
Then use the silver remote. You can see now you all main standard Italian TV channels that you can also see without the dish antenna
and also: 506 (Rai news - in Italian), 520 (BBC world - in English) and 544 (arte' in French).
The general switch is located outside the window of the kitchen. The
general switch can be left open at all times. There is also a local stove
switch, located at the right side of the stove (horizontal=closed; vertical=open).
Please keep this last gas switch closed when the oven is not in
function!.
The kitchen is rather small, but fully equipped. It takes little time
to realise that right door of the closet cannot be opened completely
unless the door of the kitchen is closed. Sorry for this inconvenience.
The limited space
available in the kitchen can create some other problems to you, specially at
the beginning of your stay. Something that happened to us when we entered the
new apartment was to bang the head on the open doors of the kitchen furniture,
or to inadvertently pour water from the sink into the space behind the
refrigerator. Also notice that it is dangerous to try to reach the piece of
furniture suspended directly over the oven, while you are cooking something.
It is located in the kitchen. A normal washing cycle requires the
following operations: load the machine (no plastic or wooden objects); fill
with specific powder-detergent or tablets ("Finish") the left box located in the inner
part of the door of the machine, close the lid and close the door of the
machine. Then press both the first and the fifth switch of the six switches of
the machine. Finally advance the circular indicator on the left slightly so
that the vertical bar matches with the dot. In order to have the door of the
dishwasher perfectly closed you may have to press firmly where the sign BOSCH
appears until you hear a click. In order to keep the dishwasher in good
conditions and in order to have your dishes properly cleaned, please empty
and rinse by hand all the dishes before putting them into the dishwasher
Due to the limited amount of electric energy available, you can operate
at the same time only one of the followong appliances: washing machine,
dishwasher and iron.
The dishwasher is new and is under warranty. In the unlikely case of a
malfunctioning, you should contact the technical assistance (with the
help of some Italian-speaking person).
Salt is needed in order to protect the dishwasher from the excess of
sodium-carbonate contained in the drinking water. Please put 1 Kg. of coarse
salt ("sale grosso") about once every 20 washing cycles. You should open the
door of the dishwasher, open the circular container located at the bottom of
the dishwasher near the filter, and pour the salt into the water contained in
the circular container. Finally close the circular container.
The oven uses both gas and electricity. If you want to cook, open first
the glass cover, then give gas to the fire you want to use and simultaneously
press the red button.
Please do not close the glass cover when the surface of the oven is hot!
The button next to the red one will start the electric oven
("grill"). You can also heat the oven with gas (middle indicator).
It is located in the small bathroom. A normal washing cycle requires the
following operations: load the machine (do not over-load), fill about a third
of the plastic ball with specific detergent for washing machine and put
it together with the clothes, close the circular door firmly, put the indicator
on the left at the letter "C", choose the temperature (between 40deg. and
60deg.), and finally switch the machine on.
For permamnent press fabrics, to avoid the final spin cycle, press the button
next to the "on" button. After removing the drip-dry items, choose the
spinning symbol, next to programs "G", "M" or "S", to spin the remaining items.
Please be sure that the detergent is a specific one for washing machines. A box
of such detergent is in the small bathroom.
Due to the limited amount of electric energy available, you can operate at the
same time only one of the following appliances: washing machine,
dishwasher and iron.
The washing machine is new and is under warranty. In the unlikely case of a
malfunctioning, you should contact the technical assistance (with the
help of some Italian-speaking person).
You can hang clothes in the small bathroom, but in lowering the hanger,
you have to guide it so not bang into the mirror. Sorry for this
inconvenience.
You may also hang clothes on the wires suspended outside the windows. Be
careful while leaning out of the window (see below).
9. Technical assistance
In case of a problem with an electric
appliance, one should make an appointment.
You need a help from some Italian speaking person.
Detailed information about models and maintenance services:
- Heater BERETTA, mod. IDRABAGNO Turbo E.S.I. 13,
maintenance TERMOTECNICA SITA 06 2156076, 06 2153433
- Air conditioner DAIKIN, mod. FTK 25 JAVINB, currently under warranty,
maintenance FrigoSud 06 638 6001, 638 0971
- Dishwasher BOSCH, mod. SMS 5082 II, 06 6623460
- Washing machine ZEROWATT, mod. LBS450X, 06 6633 044
- Refrigerator SAN MARCO, mod. 24/12 EC,
maintenance Agnelli&Dari 06 231 3523, 231 3530
- TV set, mod. 2150TD, and VCR TOSHIBA, 06 3720541
- Oven TECNOGAS, mod. 6642 XSE, 06 8862 934
Other useful number are:
- Plumber Renato Cesaretta, 06 7217513 or 347 6123373
- Carpenter Antonio D'apolito, 06 688 06364, Via del Falco 9
Leaning out of the windows is dangerous and should be done with care.
Leaning out of the window of the small bathroom is specially dangerous
since the floor of that bathroom has been raised.
You may request help for cleaning. The cleaning person is Caterina di Gioia or
one of her substitutes. Her telephone number is 06 307 0931, mob. 338 1216183. You may call Caterina
either directly, or you may ask the Portiere to contact Caterina for you.
Caterina takes 9,00 euros per hour.
The telephone number is 06 683 2937. We have two phones (main bedroom
and living room). In the living room there is also a counter for the units.
Please, do not remove the counter.
Internet on a ASDL line is available. The cost is 40$ per month (or fraction of a month).
The internet provider is called Alice. Bring your own computer with a CD driver and install the program
by using the CD that is in the Alice red box together with the modem. Follow instructions.
There are two ladders in a corner of the main bedroom. The small one can
be used to reach the upper levels of the closets. The big one should be used
only to access the top closet located over the corridor or to change some
bulbs. Please be careful in handling the big ladder. There is also a wooden
ladder to reach the upper bunk-bed in the small bedroom, which should not be
used to make the bed. For this purpose, it is safer to use the three steps
ladder. By the way, to ease making the upper-bed, we suggest to use proper
sheets: fitted sheet andthe comforter.
You will find an inventory of the items contained
in the apartment. The inventory does not include obvious items like doors with
handles, windows with glass, closets with shelves, WC's, sinks, etc. etc. The
inventory concerns the furniture, the kitchen equipment and the equipment of
other kinds. The inventory may otherwise be incomplete or incorrect. We will
appreciate if any significant discrepancy between the inventory and the actual
situation of the apartment will be pointed out to us.