alan h's activity
Questions Asked
For many years now I have used the likes of 'mappy', 'via michelin' etc for calculating different routes down to Italy - for us its a part of our holiday, so we don't always want to take the quickest/shortest route down. We prefer to vary the rou
Today I received an email from the Swiss Travel Centre. The relevant portion is;- "The GBP price for a Vignette will increase from 01 June 2011 and we wanted to give you the opportunity to purchase this years’ Vignette before the pric
P&O have introduced a new ferry on the Dover - Calais route - its called the Spirit of Britain. They seem to have a special offer on at the moment [on this ship only] I've just booked a return crossing [car + 2] for £60 - significantly less th
Does Tomato soup exist in Italy? We were feeling a bit under the weather when we went out to Italy 2 weeks ago. As part of the R&R process, I fancied some soup, and looked around the supermarket. There were lots of different soups, but I rea
The route/timings for next years Giro d'Italia have been posted http://www.steephill.tv/giro-d-italia/ My son rang me up to inform me that the route passes about 100m away from
I think the groups now exist [at least - when I go to the 'make a new post' section, there they are, in the "Audience" section] Hope someone uses them soon - after all the time its taken
Anyone used the Harwich to Hook of Holland ferry service? I'm hoping to drive down to the holiday home later this year, and was thinking of using the service.
By chance I went on the old Forum yesterday - found that someone had PM'ed me from that forum only a few days ago. I hadn't got any notification of a PM, but obviously the old Forum PM system still works It might be worth doing the odd visit
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try http://www.ryobi-direct.com/index.html
The only problem will be the capacity of the power supply. In Italy, this is often only 3kW [equivalent to 13 amps] so all you have to do is make sure you don't have more than 3000 Watts running at any time. In practice, this means;-
Its easy peasy really - or you can pay extra for a stronger supply - but that's not very 'Green' is it? .
What also worked was the 'mark forums read' button that allowed you to avoid having to open a posting just to get it off the 'new' listing. God - how I miss that one! .
"It feels a little strange and unfamiliar but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon" Some of us are still struggling
If you look at the 'mappy' website, [or multimap. via michelin etc etc], that will give you
Ferry costs vary on route etc - the obvious crossing is Dover to France - costs vary between £60 return [Norfolk Line - weekday] to £200+ [Eurotunnel, P&O, Sea France - peak booking]. From Manchester, the Hull - Rotterdam overnight crossing looks expensive - but it saves about 250 miles driving each way, plus an overnight stop. Driving distance from Rotterdam is similar to that from Calais/Dunkirk Motorways in Belgium are free - so it can pay to pop up from Calais - travel distance increases by about 12 miles only Cheapest petrol is Luxembourg [Belgium route takes you there] - see - http://www.theaa.com/onlinenews/allaboutcars/fuel/2009/may2009.pdf Overnight stops vary from about £30 a night - Formula 1 up to whatever one wants to pay Allow 400miles/day max driving - so you won't feel completely knacke*red [I try to keep it down to 300 - 350 max] "You pays your money and takes your choice" .
If you want to see what its like on the autostrada - go to http://www.nextsa.ch/nextcam.htm [scroll down page to see relevant webcams If the road looks busy/stopped at the tunnel - leave the autostrada at the Varenzo exit and drive 'over the top', rather than through the tunnel .
We have a copy of this book in our Italian place - for friends staying there who don't speak the lingo. We came across it when it was recommended to our GCSE Italian evening class. You can see it here http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0860207684/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-page - click the page tags to turn them. .
Try 'Googling' You get things like http://www.lefthanddriveleeds.co.uk/usedcarsales.php .
Daft as it sounds - one of the easiest options is probably to buy the small car in the UK, insure it with a company that will do extended periods abroad [there are a few] and drive it down - bringing it back once a year to re-tax, insure and [if necessary] MOT it .
There is a through train [mon - fri] from Aulla to Rapallo - leaves 09.20 - arrives 11.00 The only through train back leaves at 20.00 [arriving at Aulla at 21.25 [Both trains stop at other points along the CT] For all other options look at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en its the best site for train times This give plenty of time for 'sightseeing' and walking. For walking suggestions - look at sites such as the ATG and Inntravel websites for their Cinque Terre walking holidays - these will give you an idea of what you could do in a day. The walk along the coast is easier than the 'higher routes', but is full of Americans doing the '5 cities' - [ they don't know where they are - but they just know they've got to do the '5 cities']. Front page of the Forum site today - http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy-featured/liguria/famous-five-0 .