I travelled via Belgium last week and decided to stay overnight at Dinant, where I have stayed previously and found to be marginally less bad than most towns in Belgium.To anyone contemplating a similar stop - don't.The whole of the town is being
At La Dolce Vita exhibition at Olympia this year I bought a jar of garlic cloves preserved in a pizzaiola type oil and vinegar mixture.It is just amazing for snacking, the whole cloves are really crunchy with a fairly mild flavour of the garlic an
I need to buy a tyre for my car. I googled all the usual words but came up with nothing. Back in UK I would simply go to Kwikfit, or ATS etc and it would be done on the spot.
Does anybody have a contact for a sun blind maker?Think of a conventional, rather old-fashioned roller blind with the roller fixed at the top of the window and the blind hanging vertically down.
I've taken to the Belgium/Lux/Nancy/Gotthard route as I can get all the way without tolls - except the accursed Dartford of course. Remember Mont Blanc tunnel is quite expensive (each way) whilst Gotthard is free once you have your vignette. I came out here 2 weeks ago and very nearly had to turn back just after Luzern as the snow was really bad and the road had not been cleared for a while. I persevered (in my rear wheel drive car!) and found that Gotthard was OK as it had been cleared. They had stopped heavy lorries from going up though, and they were all lined up back at Sursee. The Belgian route is no longer than going straight through France, though arguably the roads are maybe not quite as good. Terry
Let's get one thing clear, problems with immigration are rarely about the individual people themselves, who probably are equally honest, hard-working etc etc as the locals. I have been privileged to have travelled over great parts of the world and have generally been delighted with the peoples of the world and their different cultures. In fact, is that not what inspires us to travel in the first place? To my mind, Italy seems to have dealt reasonably well with immigration, though I suppose in pockets of the country there may well be problems. I think the reason why Italy has coped well is because Italy has an extremely strong - and creditably uncompromising - sense of culture. But with mass immigration, that unique culture can become diluted - as is happening in many places elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get a balanced discussion on the pros and cons of immigration because opponents are usually branded as "racists" by the proponents. Even though one may love the people of the world, but hold the view that it is culturally inappropriate for them to move into other countries en masse. But I still can't come to terms with how the UK robs the third world of its trained medical people (who need them far more than we do) to staff the (already excellent) NHS - just in order to meet some arbitrary targets so the Government can score cheap political points.
I've always wondered how the majority of the British have missed the very obvious advantages of the bidet. I guess people really believe that wiping with paper gets you clean enough. I think it's linked to the good old British superiority complex, after all, "we taught the world how to behave" and the common misconception that "all foreigners are dirty" - particularly the French. I believe there is a tale that the bidet was invented by a man who was a friend of the king. The king therefore decreed that every house in France should have one, thus assuring his friend's business success. The story gains credence in UK from the very fact that the British genuinely can see no need for them. I love the reaction you get from people when this subject comes up - particularly from women non-users who become very affronted at the suggestion they are not very clean!
The tone of this thread is very different to the one in July 09 on the same subject, to wit; We just received a demand for license payment which dates from the time we applied for residency, so we assumed the residency application triggered the bill. I seem to recall on the old forum the general feeling was to ignore it if you are non-resident, otherwise cough up. Submitted by adriatica on 25 July 2009 - 1:02pm. would advise against ignoring any bill here...well at least comune,tax or in this case TV... in fact anything billed through a government agency... the peril ... not immedaiate is that the unpaid bill will be passed to one of the governments various collection agencies .. well thats a certainty... and it will eventually if remaining unpaid end up in an italian court and will then be assigned to whatever property the code fiscale indiates that person ons in Italy... eventually it will end up in an asta ... auction for the payment of said bill... this happens to Italins quite frequentley...often because the collection agencies seem to ignore settlements of bills... it seems to me and a lot of Italians that paying bills quickly when they arrive is best... the late payment triggers the collectrion agency option and once with thenm resolving things seems to be a nightmare...
so I, in fact joined what seems to be the minority and paid up. I'd hate to buy into a lot of problems for the sake of a few quid. Terry
I had followed the previous correspondence and was going to use Stuart Collins. However, while reinsuring my other car with Saga, I specifically asked them about this point. They replied that there were no such restrictions and quoted about £100 less than SC. When phoning back to go ahead with the policy I again made the point and they assured me there was no such issue, so I went ahead with them. So there are two recorded phone conversations to that effect if ever push came to shove. Terry
Surely the tunnel itself is level or almost so for its full 17 kms once you get into it, for rather obvious reasons. The steep climb is about 5 kms up to the entrance from the north; the climb from south to north is much longer and more gentle. I use it all the time and have never had any problems with any vehicles speeding. Nor do I have any problems with lorries - I think myabruzzohome must just have been unlucky.
Can't echo loudly enough the need to get on with it - we got our residency through within a week of the 18 months being up (phew). Comunes do vary - our comune wanted official translations of Birth and Marriage certs stamped by the anagrafe, but the comune next door only needs a consular declaration. Find out which they will accept - consular declaration is easier and cheaper. Best advice is to go to your comune and ask for full details of what they need. They have an official form with all the requirements listed. If you go through it with them you will end up with your own checklist of what is needed. They will tell you which E form to apply for if you intend to leave the NHS. Terry
We have residency, spending about 7 months Italy 5 months UK (+ or -) and normally drive to and fro. I like to use the big car (rhd) for the to and fro but my wife doesn't like to drive it on our narrow lake road, so I bought a lhd Panda to keep in Italy all the time (ish). The main agent in UK said he could sell me one but it would be on 6 months delivery, so I found one with the help of 1st Car Imports via t'internet. It came from Belgium, pre-registered 09 but with zero kms and very competitively priced. Part of the service was to import it to UK (though it didn't leave Belgium) so it is on UK plates. It is insured with Saga for very low money; they have no problem with the car being lhd, nor for unlimited use in Europe. Road Tax is £35! I figure if I look like getting any bother re the 6 month rule, I can easily drive either of the cars out of Italy for a spell - it's only 40 mins to Switzerland. Terry
That's good news as having just achieved residency, I am about to forward my application for the reduced tariff. I had naively thought I would merely send my residency confirmation and it would all just happen, albeit slowly and bogged down with unintelligible forms as usual. Terry
Comments posted
I've taken to the Belgium/Lux/Nancy/Gotthard route as I can get all the way without tolls - except the accursed Dartford of course. Remember Mont Blanc tunnel is quite expensive (each way) whilst Gotthard is free once you have your vignette. I came out here 2 weeks ago and very nearly had to turn back just after Luzern as the snow was really bad and the road had not been cleared for a while. I persevered (in my rear wheel drive car!) and found that Gotthard was OK as it had been cleared. They had stopped heavy lorries from going up though, and they were all lined up back at Sursee. The Belgian route is no longer than going straight through France, though arguably the roads are maybe not quite as good. Terry
Let's get one thing clear, problems with immigration are rarely about the individual people themselves, who probably are equally honest, hard-working etc etc as the locals. I have been privileged to have travelled over great parts of the world and have generally been delighted with the peoples of the world and their different cultures. In fact, is that not what inspires us to travel in the first place? To my mind, Italy seems to have dealt reasonably well with immigration, though I suppose in pockets of the country there may well be problems. I think the reason why Italy has coped well is because Italy has an extremely strong - and creditably uncompromising - sense of culture. But with mass immigration, that unique culture can become diluted - as is happening in many places elsewhere in the world. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get a balanced discussion on the pros and cons of immigration because opponents are usually branded as "racists" by the proponents. Even though one may love the people of the world, but hold the view that it is culturally inappropriate for them to move into other countries en masse. But I still can't come to terms with how the UK robs the third world of its trained medical people (who need them far more than we do) to staff the (already excellent) NHS - just in order to meet some arbitrary targets so the Government can score cheap political points.
I've always wondered how the majority of the British have missed the very obvious advantages of the bidet. I guess people really believe that wiping with paper gets you clean enough. I think it's linked to the good old British superiority complex, after all, "we taught the world how to behave" and the common misconception that "all foreigners are dirty" - particularly the French. I believe there is a tale that the bidet was invented by a man who was a friend of the king. The king therefore decreed that every house in France should have one, thus assuring his friend's business success. The story gains credence in UK from the very fact that the British genuinely can see no need for them. I love the reaction you get from people when this subject comes up - particularly from women non-users who become very affronted at the suggestion they are not very clean!
The tone of this thread is very different to the one in July 09 on the same subject, to wit; We just received a demand for license payment which dates from the time we applied for residency, so we assumed the residency application triggered the bill. I seem to recall on the old forum the general feeling was to ignore it if you are non-resident, otherwise cough up. Submitted by adriatica on 25 July 2009 - 1:02pm. would advise against ignoring any bill here...well at least comune,tax or in this case TV... in fact anything billed through a government agency... the peril ... not immedaiate is that the unpaid bill will be passed to one of the governments various collection agencies .. well thats a certainty... and it will eventually if remaining unpaid end up in an italian court and will then be assigned to whatever property the code fiscale indiates that person ons in Italy... eventually it will end up in an asta ... auction for the payment of said bill... this happens to Italins quite frequentley...often because the collection agencies seem to ignore settlements of bills... it seems to me and a lot of Italians that paying bills quickly when they arrive is best... the late payment triggers the collectrion agency option and once with thenm resolving things seems to be a nightmare...
so I, in fact joined what seems to be the minority and paid up. I'd hate to buy into a lot of problems for the sake of a few quid. Terry
I had followed the previous correspondence and was going to use Stuart Collins. However, while reinsuring my other car with Saga, I specifically asked them about this point. They replied that there were no such restrictions and quoted about £100 less than SC. When phoning back to go ahead with the policy I again made the point and they assured me there was no such issue, so I went ahead with them. So there are two recorded phone conversations to that effect if ever push came to shove. Terry
Surely the tunnel itself is level or almost so for its full 17 kms once you get into it, for rather obvious reasons. The steep climb is about 5 kms up to the entrance from the north; the climb from south to north is much longer and more gentle. I use it all the time and have never had any problems with any vehicles speeding. Nor do I have any problems with lorries - I think myabruzzohome must just have been unlucky.
Can't echo loudly enough the need to get on with it - we got our residency through within a week of the 18 months being up (phew). Comunes do vary - our comune wanted official translations of Birth and Marriage certs stamped by the anagrafe, but the comune next door only needs a consular declaration. Find out which they will accept - consular declaration is easier and cheaper. Best advice is to go to your comune and ask for full details of what they need. They have an official form with all the requirements listed. If you go through it with them you will end up with your own checklist of what is needed. They will tell you which E form to apply for if you intend to leave the NHS. Terry
We have residency, spending about 7 months Italy 5 months UK (+ or -) and normally drive to and fro. I like to use the big car (rhd) for the to and fro but my wife doesn't like to drive it on our narrow lake road, so I bought a lhd Panda to keep in Italy all the time (ish). The main agent in UK said he could sell me one but it would be on 6 months delivery, so I found one with the help of 1st Car Imports via t'internet. It came from Belgium, pre-registered 09 but with zero kms and very competitively priced. Part of the service was to import it to UK (though it didn't leave Belgium) so it is on UK plates. It is insured with Saga for very low money; they have no problem with the car being lhd, nor for unlimited use in Europe. Road Tax is £35! I figure if I look like getting any bother re the 6 month rule, I can easily drive either of the cars out of Italy for a spell - it's only 40 mins to Switzerland. Terry
That's good news as having just achieved residency, I am about to forward my application for the reduced tariff. I had naively thought I would merely send my residency confirmation and it would all just happen, albeit slowly and bogged down with unintelligible forms as usual. Terry
Hey Badger, I'd better come to yours for dinner
. But surely you're not suggesting they take advantage of we poor and needy around lake Como?