Is it me, or is this year starting off very well weather wise ?............ not a lot of long-lasting snow (for us) early on and now(we are only mid June) it's 'hot'................, I recall some weeks ago having to water the garden/plants every day, and then we had a few storms and now and (by the looks of it for the next few weeks), more watering will be required.

This year we have had an abundance of red spider mites, and the most FANTASTIC displays by the night lights (fireflies/'fairies') for 6 weeks or so,.............

As I am not yet residente I have always paid my ICI in one go for the full amount in December for the past 6 years. I have just been told that I should be paying half now and half in December - I have never been asked to pay any penalty for paying late and have always believed that what I was doing was allowed - can anyone confirm it is ok to still pay it all in December or is it essential to pay now?

thanks

Am

Does anyone know if you can buy memory foam mattress toppers in Italy. I have tried Grancasa.

I remember from another post on here that there is a similar type of shop in Pisa but can't remember the name.

Any suggestions appreciatated !!

On Friday 10 June we were in the La Spezia area and it happened that Il Presidenti di Italia was there too.  The police were out in force, the roads had blocs, and the traffic lights remained red.  It was the first day of our 8 day stay and my 84 year old mum had a nasty fall tripping over a very neat and tidy drain cover.  She was badly hurt and a lovely young man came to our rescue and called an ambulance.  It arrived within 10 minutes and mum and I were whisked away, ambulance siren sounding, passing through all the road blocs and red lights to the San Andreas H