Italian cities are cluttered with large apartment buildings, narrow streets and many old buildings with 5-7 stories, often without an elevator. The buildings lucky enough to have elevators are only made for a maximum of two to four people. If you have ever been inside an Italian apartment building elevator, you know how cramped it can be. When my in-laws come home from grocery shopping, they load their tiny elevator with the bags and my mother-in-law rides it up while my father-in-law takes the stairs!
So in my curiosity of wondering how things work, I have always wondered how people move their furniture into high floor apartments. Plus, Italians have large pieces of furniture; in part because the standard for ceiling height is at least ten feet. They have entertainment units aptly called parete (meaning wall) because it fills an entire wall; an armadio, or wardrobe, for each bedroom that is at least eight feet tall and also covers an entire wall; dining room furniture, couches etc. I have found myself scratching my head many times trying to figure out how they move these monoliths from one place to another. And you never see people moving in or struggling to carry furniture up the stairs--so how do they do it?
