I travelled via Belgium last week and decided to stay overnight at Dinant, where I have stayed previously and found to be marginally less bad than most towns in Belgium.To anyone contemplating a similar stop - don't.The whole of the town is being
At La Dolce Vita exhibition at Olympia this year I bought a jar of garlic cloves preserved in a pizzaiola type oil and vinegar mixture.It is just amazing for snacking, the whole cloves are really crunchy with a fairly mild flavour of the garlic an
I need to buy a tyre for my car. I googled all the usual words but came up with nothing. Back in UK I would simply go to Kwikfit, or ATS etc and it would be done on the spot.
Does anybody have a contact for a sun blind maker?Think of a conventional, rather old-fashioned roller blind with the roller fixed at the top of the window and the blind hanging vertically down.
My tap water in UK is horrible so I don't drink it, but it does make good tea. The tap water here is really good to drink yet somehow the tea tastes identical to UK.I only drink Ceylon tea which has quite a delicate taste (delicate little thing that I am), so I have to bring it from England.
I was similarly "done" under the 1 month rule with my house insurance. I did receive a renewal notice but decided to ignore it and insure elsewhere. Only to find the renewal was contractually binding and that they would take me to court for the annual premium.So I did renew, reluctantly, (but gave them 11 months notice of quitting this time around).Why I got caught was because they had not quoted a renewal premium, hence I thought I had grounds to quit them. It turned out that the premium would have been exactly the same each year for as long as I would need the insurance. So not such a bad deal, but still vastly more than the competition.
I so sympathise with your predicament as I am very sensitive to noise myself. Most noise is caused by thoughtlessness and it's probably the thoughtlessness that winds me up, more than the noise itself.What I would ask is whether your neighbours generally agree with you, or are you a lone voice? If it's only you who have complained to the administrator, he is unlikely to give much weight to your complaints. Particularly so if you are not Italian, as it seems to me that Italians are generally more relaxed about noise than, for example, the English, especially as regards barking dogs.I think you would need to get the rest of your neighbours onside if you are to get swift action out of the administrator.
Thanks for all the input, and especially to chalkie for your generous offer of help.I have actually now ordered from an online source, in France, who will deliver to my local gommista for him to fit it. At just a few euro more than half the cost quoted by anoother local gommista. I'm all for supporting the local economy but a saving of euro133 on a single tyre is not to be sniffed at!Terry
Thanks guys. I popped into a place in Como which looks the part and who said they could get me the tyre tomorrow. Only snag was they want euro 280 for one tyre, slightly less than double what I usually pay for the same tyre. I'll try Carole's link and see if I can do better (I'm at Musso, 10 mins walk to Dongo).
Yes, I did try googling for gommisti and came up with the usual directories. It seems that they are all small and local so are unlikely to have my tyre in stock. None have websites so I can't even get an idea of price.I guess I will have to order one on (probably lengthy) delivery, or go direct to a Merc dealer and pay through the nose!The only online option I found was a firm in Germany who, I think, deliver the tyre to you and you tajke it along "to a fitting centre near you" to get it put on the car.
I'm in the process of buying a lhd Panda to keep here (almost) permanently. I have secure parking for when I'm not here. I'm registering it on UK plates and Saga will insure it. Transport to the airport is no problem as I usually drive to and from UK in my main car. I'll take the Panda for its MOT in 3 years time and annually thereafter.Problems? Finding a lhd car to register on UK plates. Ask a Fiat dealer in UK for a lefty and he will quote you 6 months delivery, so mine is coming from Belgium via an internet based importer. I did visit the dealer so was able to point at the car and say "That one please".As for resale, I think these days there is a huge market for a lhd Panda - the ideal home away from home car - as there are now so many Brits living abroad.I'll report back any problems - like if the car doesn't arrive or something!Terry
I've been wondering whether it may be advantageous to transfer ownership of my Italian property to my two children immediately. I fully understand the UK implication of such a transfer, as well as the obvious risks (divorce etc), but am totally ignorant of any implications here in Italy.
We just received a demand for license payment which dates from the time we applied for residency, so we assumed the residency application triggered the bill. I seem to recall on the old forum the general feeling was to ignore it if you are non-resident, otherwise cough up.
Comments posted
My tap water in UK is horrible so I don't drink it, but it does make good tea. The tap water here is really good to drink yet somehow the tea tastes identical to UK.I only drink Ceylon tea which has quite a delicate taste (delicate little thing that I am), so I have to bring it from England.
I was similarly "done" under the 1 month rule with my house insurance. I did receive a renewal notice but decided to ignore it and insure elsewhere. Only to find the renewal was contractually binding and that they would take me to court for the annual premium.So I did renew, reluctantly, (but gave them 11 months notice of quitting this time around).Why I got caught was because they had not quoted a renewal premium, hence I thought I had grounds to quit them. It turned out that the premium would have been exactly the same each year for as long as I would need the insurance. So not such a bad deal, but still vastly more than the competition.
I so sympathise with your predicament as I am very sensitive to noise myself. Most noise is caused by thoughtlessness and it's probably the thoughtlessness that winds me up, more than the noise itself.What I would ask is whether your neighbours generally agree with you, or are you a lone voice? If it's only you who have complained to the administrator, he is unlikely to give much weight to your complaints. Particularly so if you are not Italian, as it seems to me that Italians are generally more relaxed about noise than, for example, the English, especially as regards barking dogs.I think you would need to get the rest of your neighbours onside if you are to get swift action out of the administrator.
Thanks for all the input, and especially to chalkie for your generous offer of help.I have actually now ordered from an online source, in France, who will deliver to my local gommista for him to fit it. At just a few euro more than half the cost quoted by anoother local gommista. I'm all for supporting the local economy but a saving of euro133 on a single tyre is not to be sniffed at!Terry
Thanks guys. I popped into a place in Como which looks the part and who said they could get me the tyre tomorrow. Only snag was they want euro 280 for one tyre, slightly less than double what I usually pay for the same tyre. I'll try Carole's link and see if I can do better (I'm at Musso, 10 mins walk to Dongo).
Yes, I did try googling for gommisti and came up with the usual directories. It seems that they are all small and local so are unlikely to have my tyre in stock. None have websites so I can't even get an idea of price.I guess I will have to order one on (probably lengthy) delivery, or go direct to a Merc dealer and pay through the nose!The only online option I found was a firm in Germany who, I think, deliver the tyre to you and you tajke it along "to a fitting centre near you" to get it put on the car.
I'm in the process of buying a lhd Panda to keep here (almost) permanently. I have secure parking for when I'm not here. I'm registering it on UK plates and Saga will insure it. Transport to the airport is no problem as I usually drive to and from UK in my main car. I'll take the Panda for its MOT in 3 years time and annually thereafter.Problems? Finding a lhd car to register on UK plates. Ask a Fiat dealer in UK for a lefty and he will quote you 6 months delivery, so mine is coming from Belgium via an internet based importer. I did visit the dealer so was able to point at the car and say "That one please".As for resale, I think these days there is a huge market for a lhd Panda - the ideal home away from home car - as there are now so many Brits living abroad.I'll report back any problems - like if the car doesn't arrive or something!Terry
If you are married they want your Marriage Certificate.
I've been wondering whether it may be advantageous to transfer ownership of my Italian property to my two children immediately. I fully understand the UK implication of such a transfer, as well as the obvious risks (divorce etc), but am totally ignorant of any implications here in Italy.
We just received a demand for license payment which dates from the time we applied for residency, so we assumed the residency application triggered the bill. I seem to recall on the old forum the general feeling was to ignore it if you are non-resident, otherwise cough up.