Again, I have no wish to take sides, and I thank Lisa for copying the message over. It just seemed to me that a forum which apparently cancels registration without warning, doesn't respond to queries and is shut to new users probably isn't working properly. But maybe it's a quirk of the technology, not the people. No offence intended!
I'm trying to sell my house in Northern Ireland at the minute (not a good time) so that I can live in Italy in retirement. If I sell the house, I'll have enough to buy a property meeting my needs in Umbria, but I wouldn't dream of buying immediately I move to Italy. I'd hope to rent for a year, find out if I really do want to live the dolce vita as much as I think I do, and find a permanent home that really, really suits me for forever afterwards. I understand that if you're not already retired, you'll probably want to own a property in Italy before you move, so there's less hassle when the time comes, but spending your savings on the basis of a few visits seems like a big risk to me.
I've driven around Tuscany quite a lot; and always in an underpowered rental Fiat. (Oh, actually no, once they gave me an MPV, which I accidentally took down tiny winding lanes in Florence centro storico. Got stuck. Had to reverse out.)I don't think you have anything to worry about. Traffic levels are generally quite low, even in high tourist season. Italian driving is usually assertive and definite. I prefer that to dithering or faffing about. For some reason, all the worst driving I've seen in Italy has been from German- or Austrian-registered cars, so keep an eye out for those.
I was in Castelluccio a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit "Wild West", isn't it? In fact, I was just thinking that when a herd of unaccompanied donkeys came down the main street!
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Again, I have no wish to take sides, and I thank Lisa for copying the message over. It just seemed to me that a forum which apparently cancels registration without warning, doesn't respond to queries and is shut to new users probably isn't working properly. But maybe it's a quirk of the technology, not the people. No offence intended!
I'm trying to sell my house in Northern Ireland at the minute (not a good time) so that I can live in Italy in retirement. If I sell the house, I'll have enough to buy a property meeting my needs in Umbria, but I wouldn't dream of buying immediately I move to Italy. I'd hope to rent for a year, find out if I really do want to live the dolce vita as much as I think I do, and find a permanent home that really, really suits me for forever afterwards. I understand that if you're not already retired, you'll probably want to own a property in Italy before you move, so there's less hassle when the time comes, but spending your savings on the basis of a few visits seems like a big risk to me.
I've driven around Tuscany quite a lot; and always in an underpowered rental Fiat. (Oh, actually no, once they gave me an MPV, which I accidentally took down tiny winding lanes in Florence centro storico. Got stuck. Had to reverse out.)I don't think you have anything to worry about. Traffic levels are generally quite low, even in high tourist season. Italian driving is usually assertive and definite. I prefer that to dithering or faffing about. For some reason, all the worst driving I've seen in Italy has been from German- or Austrian-registered cars, so keep an eye out for those.
I was in Castelluccio a couple of weeks ago. It's a bit "Wild West", isn't it? In fact, I was just thinking that when a herd of unaccompanied donkeys came down the main street!
A new Castorama has just opened at San'Ercolano at Foligno. I know that's probably 80km or more, but it's definitely B&Q-like!