Pat H's activity

So you are eating non italian food then hhhhmmmm

Yes of course. I have bought a hard copy as well. I was disgusted by the whole thing especially how he took the £10000 (probably to stop you getting a lawyer). Hope you are writing a sequel

  Just finished it. Excellent. really really enjoyed it. Well done. I take my hat of to you. It sounds from the outside that you have done an excellent job with the children.

I agree. There is nothing new in this situation. If you are interested in learning the real reasons behind the mess we are all in read Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance by Nouriel Roubini one of the very few economists who warned that this was going to happen way before it happened. The causes are not as simplistic as all the journalists would have you believe but it is all just history repeating itself in a different form this time. The other fact that most people glide over very easily is that this is just one set back in the history of Italy (which includes many many setbacks even pre Garibaldi). For a country to build itself up after the decimation of World War 2 to the position it is in now shows a very resilient people. The low personal debt and high personal savings also show a people who have learnt from hundreds of years of famines, wars, invasions, mafia problems etc etc. In fact I remember a great passage in I think it was the brilliant book Midnight In Sicily. The headline in the Corriere della Sera “The cake is finished” after the mafia had taken all the public money and Italy faced a similar crisis. Well, the cake is now well and truly finished and the situation is so serious that hopefully they will start tackling the structural problems finally. However if they re-elect Berlusconi it will tell you that they still need to learn some lessons.

Andy T Apologies to Ugo for this off topic posts but at least they keep the thread alive I am afraid that I don’t see it like that at all. I also feel that the pound will not collapse but looking at the pound against other currencies over the last few years, it is clear that sentiment does not believe that the UK economy is  strong. The problem with italy is not the people it is the government. Italian personal debt is amongst the lowest in the EU. Italian personal savings amongst the highest in the world (and both are in far better shape than the UK). This graphic (although drawn on statistics in 2007) illustrates the debt issue well. I also doubt very much the majority will continue to want to pay their way while politicians woefully mismanage the reforms. The huge mountains to climb in the UK (reform of the welfare system, NHS fraud, very low public service productivity, woeful manufacturing base, over reliance on the banking sector etc etc ) have not even slightly been tackled. Instead the government have taken shots at the easy targets, the army, the police etc etc and they can’t even do this properly. Also remember that there is an election coming; all the people who have lost their jobs, their hospitals etc etc will probably not be voting for the coalition again. (Turkeys and Christmas) We are all cursed by politics which gives us politicians running the country and only their degrees of corruption vary.  

9-eyes.com

I know that there are both good and bad Italian and foreign bed and breakfast owners. I don't judge people by their nationality and I also realize how difficult it is to start a new life in another country. So far we have managed to steer clear of the dog in the manger syndrome and don't mind foreigners polluting Italy. I just remember that I too am a foreigner. So we try to judge a B&B by the cost and service. If we feel it is a good deal, we  recommend it, and if it is a bad deal we also say so. It is amazing how powerful trip advisor is if you learn to read between the lines.

Thanks for that link Esme, I am enjoying this thread but I find it a bit depressing to remember how active and "vibrant"  the old  forum was.

For what it is worth here is my take on this issue. I have stayed in a lot of B+Bs around the world including many Italian ones. Generalisations are never useful. My experience has been that foreign owned B+Bs can be most helpful especially if your Italian is not up to scratch. Some know the area well and can give excellent advice tailored to help a foreigner however you need to be aware that most people need to make a living and you should take some of their recommendations with a pinch of salt. Why are they recommending that estate agent? Because they have dealt with him or because they are " friends"? This is obviously not specific to foreigners; Italians probably have more opaque relationships that foreigners but remember that just because someone is friendly doesn't mean they are your friend. Having said that I have been given an immense amount of help from Italian hosts as well.   As for the B+B aspect I have found foreign owned B+Bs probably more to my liking. Many Italian B+Bs I have stayed in have been a bit cold and unwelcoming. Often they have not actually been  B+Bs but rather self catering flats. I have also found in my experience that foreign owned  B+Bs are much better at marketing themselves. In my experience they also answer emails, have answering machines and return calls and have better websites.    My bad B+B experiences: Room that stank of cigarette smoke and towels almost a thin as newspaper. Turning up with email confirmation to a house in pitch darkness at 10 pm and no answer to the door and no one answering the phone. Breakfast served be Basil Faulty's Nazi instructor who felt that Italy was for Italians and how dare any foreigners actually even think of visiting .    My good experiences:   Too many to mention.   All in all I much prefer B+Bs to hotels.

From experience I know that cost is a very poor factor to use as a comparrison Italian or non Italian. Compare the package not the price