Good news about access to cash via cash machines (ATMs) using British bank cards. We like many others have been having problems for a while accessing cash this way.
Yesterday we visited the Cinque Terre with some friends who are staying with us. We had a lovely day but is was nearly ruined at the end by an incident on the train back to La Spezia.
In our village there is a rule that you can have bonfires between 7am and 10am but not on Sundays and holidays. Who enforces it I do not now as I have never had a fire since we took down three pine trees and had a fire for 3 days to burn all the brash. It was then that a neighbour told us about the rule.
Haven't had to remove ticks from myself but from the dogs. Read on the internet that with tweezers, twist them anti clockwise as they go in clockwise. Did this with the dogs and they came out fairly easily.
And I have read somewhere (maybe even the old forum) that if you call 112 in any European country, there will be an English speaking operative to take your call. Just as well for in normal circumstances my Italian is weak - I bet in an emergency it would be complete gibberish.
We have a house in the commune of Licciana - in the hills of Lunigiana. In many ways, the commune are still in the 1950s. However, all I do is go into the municipio with my property details and last year's ICI documents and they work out what I owe, produce a bill and I pay it with my credit card there in the office. I go twice a year, April and October. It has been €287 for the last three years now. Though I never like paying it, at least the process is painless - other than it takes about 15 minutes as they use mechanical adding machines with long handles on the side that you pull. They then print out your bill on a computer. Could only happen in Italy.
The other thing to remember about wasp stings is that if you have been stung before, susbsequent stings can be far worse and evnetually your body reacts violently to what is just another sting. A close friend of ours has to carry special antidotes for without these a wasp sting could kill him. When he visits us in Italy he always tells me where they are - just in case.
We are up in the hills behind your prospective property - above Licciana. The trick we have learned is become more Italian and do not get phased by anything. It will all happen when it happens!! All are helpful here - and never be afriad to ask - however simple the question - trust me we've all been there and will be again I am sure.
After trying to email / write to 3 for a few days, yesterday someone called me back (Mumbai calling). I was on the phone nearly an hour. Luckily it was on my office landline and I had my headset on. We have three contracts - mine, my wife's and the internet dongle. She could only deal with one at a time!! Anyway to cut a long story short, by the end of the conversation, I have reduced the phone rentals from £15 per month to £5 per month (loyalty discount) but made no progress with the internet dongle account as I only pay £5 per month for that anyway. I have worked out that with the £10 per month we save on the phone rentals (£120 per year each phone) we can make about 720 minutes of calls a year to the UK at the new 34p per minute rate. That of coursse is still less than the 300 free minutes per month we had before. I was assured that the contracts would be exactly the same (one has 14 months to run and the other we can trade in at any time). With regard to the internet, we will have to use the other account we set up before we had the 3 dongle. It was with a local 'wi-fi' company in Aulla and we have an ariel for it. We are on PAYG with that at €2 per hour. I will then cancel that account with 3. The proof of the pudding of course is when all of this happens. We have nothing in writing (they do not do that sort of thing) so we shall see when the bill comes in July!! If you are with 3 and find it difficult to move easily, try this tack and see if you can get a better deal.
Comments posted
We would recommend these collars. The also protect against ticks
In our village there is a rule that you can have bonfires between 7am and 10am but not on Sundays and holidays. Who enforces it I do not now as I have never had a fire since we took down three pine trees and had a fire for 3 days to burn all the brash. It was then that a neighbour told us about the rule.
Haven't had to remove ticks from myself but from the dogs. Read on the internet that with tweezers, twist them anti clockwise as they go in clockwise. Did this with the dogs and they came out fairly easily.
And I have read somewhere (maybe even the old forum) that if you call 112 in any European country, there will be an English speaking operative to take your call. Just as well for in normal circumstances my Italian is weak - I bet in an emergency it would be complete gibberish.
We have a house in the commune of Licciana - in the hills of Lunigiana. In many ways, the commune are still in the 1950s. However, all I do is go into the municipio with my property details and last year's ICI documents and they work out what I owe, produce a bill and I pay it with my credit card there in the office. I go twice a year, April and October. It has been €287 for the last three years now. Though I never like paying it, at least the process is painless - other than it takes about 15 minutes as they use mechanical adding machines with long handles on the side that you pull. They then print out your bill on a computer. Could only happen in Italy.
And of course as the base for risottos
The other thing to remember about wasp stings is that if you have been stung before, susbsequent stings can be far worse and evnetually your body reacts violently to what is just another sting. A close friend of ours has to carry special antidotes for without these a wasp sting could kill him. When he visits us in Italy he always tells me where they are - just in case.
We are up in the hills behind your prospective property - above Licciana. The trick we have learned is become more Italian and do not get phased by anything. It will all happen when it happens!! All are helpful here - and never be afriad to ask - however simple the question - trust me we've all been there and will be again I am sure.
After trying to email / write to 3 for a few days, yesterday someone called me back (Mumbai calling). I was on the phone nearly an hour. Luckily it was on my office landline and I had my headset on. We have three contracts - mine, my wife's and the internet dongle. She could only deal with one at a time!! Anyway to cut a long story short, by the end of the conversation, I have reduced the phone rentals from £15 per month to £5 per month (loyalty discount) but made no progress with the internet dongle account as I only pay £5 per month for that anyway. I have worked out that with the £10 per month we save on the phone rentals (£120 per year each phone) we can make about 720 minutes of calls a year to the UK at the new 34p per minute rate. That of coursse is still less than the 300 free minutes per month we had before. I was assured that the contracts would be exactly the same (one has 14 months to run and the other we can trade in at any time). With regard to the internet, we will have to use the other account we set up before we had the 3 dongle. It was with a local 'wi-fi' company in Aulla and we have an ariel for it. We are on PAYG with that at €2 per hour. I will then cancel that account with 3. The proof of the pudding of course is when all of this happens. We have nothing in writing (they do not do that sort of thing) so we shall see when the bill comes in July!! If you are with 3 and find it difficult to move easily, try this tack and see if you can get a better deal.
Depends on the amount you are thinking of changing