sebastiano's activity

actually there aren't too many feb-nothing-march nothing -  april 9th + 25th -    may 1st-  june nothing- july nothing- august 15th- sept nothing -october nothing - november 1st - december 25th ,26th so only seven public holidays till the end of the year except something on a sat/sun and probably every locality has it's own municipal/ saint's  holiday

whatever we all might say in here it's still a great place to live...having said that it's vital to remove ANY rose tinted glasses before making a decision to move. it's not only about language although thats important too...it's not only about money thats always vital..it's a lot to do about suprisingly big cultural differences these vary according to where one may elect to live.We have seen on this forum (and very often) people who have chosen to live in localities which by AVERAGE european standards and even italian average standards would be considered fairly remote/rural with all the consequent cultural/social implications involved...just as if someone decided to move to the far north of Scotland/mountains of central Wales or parts of Canada .on the same score one might find that life in the larger northern cities like Milano or Torino is not so different nowadays from Manchester or Lyon...just a thought...good luck

no,actually it's not about the hoards coming off the cruise ships or whether they spend or not.It's much more simple the cruise ships are destroying venice faster than anything else.many don't realise that venice stands on millions of wooden poles/trunks embedded in the floor of the lagoon and they've been there for centuries the problem is with the massive displacement of these giants of the sea and even at ticking over speed and manouvering literally pulls at the foundations of the city which start to collapse it's already underway.To my mind it's inconceivable to jeapordise this city just to give a thrill to cruise passangers who,as you rightly say, can stay in the caribbean and destroy coral barriers instead

if you will be permanent residents and you are or will be working and tax paying then there is no charge to join the state health system. no charge on doctors visits,hospitalization,operations,essential prescribed drugs ( apart from a small charge ticket eg, Euro 1,00) and there are somecharges for ambulatorial anaysis/x-rays / blood tests etc.A good way round the last is to join the blood donors association which gives access to  free extensive bood tests every three months allowing you and your local doctor to monitor your health ( you can do that anyway a good thing to do and there's a section in every hospital)

the problem is definitely not buying equipment it's all out there on the market.The question is as to whether you will be allowed to put in a turbine.These things are VERY controlled.Iwould suggest that the first thing to do is to go to the comune to find out the first response on the matter,as other authorities could also later be involved.At some point you would also be required to come up with  a very detailed engineers report on the waters involved the size of the necessary deviation,the equipment to be used, water volumes involved,environmental impact etc etc.Before necessarily having obtained any form of permission which could depend exactly on the above.

not WW1 ..but the Marche today.It's Sunday...i spent all day yesterday clearing snow pathways to get around the house and more importantly get to the wood pile.Today it starts all over again we now pass in trenches just measured at 1 metre 70cm no where else to throw the snow....the snow plough comes more or less once twice a day but it keeps on coming...as long as electricity/water don't give up we're ok but it's very hard and since my snow chains broke trying to get out of a drift ..can't get out at the moment. we'll see what happens next..interestingly enough we do not hope that it will suddenly warm up (as has happened in the past) because it could cause devastating land slips..

take the original bill to the bank somewhere on the back should be all the details for filling in the direct debit request  the bank will do it on the spot ,that way you won't have to bother with the post office again..

if you are intending to rent your property for "seasonal holiday use" (although this can vary from region to region) in this part of the country is limited to 60 days.More than this constitutes a full blown business.you'll be able to find and very probably in english too on the Regione Toscana official web site the tuscan parameters.Also your local comune will be able to give you some other info as officially one should also register the presences ( ie the identicification of the people staying at your place like with hotels etc) whilst in the past many will have ignored these obligations but in the current climate of "witch hunting" it would be advisable to do it by the books

up to three years ago we were "under" the consorzio of Ascoli Piceno.Then they went out of business and the outlets all over were taken over by the consorzio of Forlì-rimini-cesena which has since expanded to become the consorzio agricolo adriatico.they have everything on computerized lists and since their arrival have been able to buy things that they don't do/eat/know around here.like for example beetroot which is eaten a lot in romagna but not here.I think there'll be a consorzio somewhere around montegiorgio (as they are all part of the same organization now) your neighbour would be able to tell you exactly i'm sure.once you go ask if you can look down the lists of seeds for example on the computer, the parsnip which is far from unknown in italy it's just that it's eaten in "other places" not in the marche,is pastinaca (thats singular)...

i seriously think you're looking in the wrong places.You don't buy potatoes in the ferramenta go to your local agricultural consorzio.Ours sell at least thirteen different varieties including red potatoes, large belgian kennebeck,majestic, yellow potatoes etc ,it would be to totally uneconomical to cart 25kg sacks of potatoes around europe or have them sent out....just ask anyone for the consorzio agricolo you might be in for a pleasant suprise as ,if it's a good one you can get AND EVEN ORDER THINGS THEY HAVEN'T GOT quite easily.FOR EXAMPLE i quite like American sweet potatoes they're not even eaten around here but thru the consorzio they got them in for me at no extra cost .They are also the best (value) place to purchase potting soil, fertilizers,various kinds of weed killers,land things in general,seeds also they can procure things that people THINK you can't get in Italy (nonsense) like at least three varieties of red beetroot,parsnips,the list is long and remember avoid nurseries (except for buying flowers if you have to) in general