Pacentro08's activity

There are tons of opportunities for learning Italian in London, from local authority classes to one-day workshops and meet-up groups for speaking Italian and meeting people who are mad about Italy and Italian. Starting a class at this point in the academic year might be more difficult, but the City Lit and the Italian Cultural Institute are a good starting point. Then if you want to work on your own, the BBC website has lots of good stuff. Here's a starting point but you should also look at La Mappa Misteriosa which is a lovely interactive video course for beginners. The link will take you to a specific clip and you can find your way around after that. http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/greetings-in-italian/2383.html Finally, have a look at what I offer. On my Facebook page and via Twitter I give tips on learning Italian and information about Italy too, on occasion, that you might find useful. Italy and Italian really gets into people's hearts, and I'm sure you'll have great experiences as you get to know the country, its people, culture and language. People here will give you lots of good information too, so just ask. Have fun! www.susangirellihill.eu Find me on Facebook: Susan Girelli Hill Tweet me @SGirelliHill

I'm in the UK at the moment so don't have my leaflet to hand, but I seem to remember it's important to have shoes by your bed in case of earthquakes at night. More people are injured by running over bits of masonry and broken glass in the panic than you would imagine. Our comune issued us all with a safety leaflet, which I keep meaning to translate into English for visitors to the village but haven't quite got around to it yet. I keep a small bag by the bed with water, torch, whistle, socks and gloves (for protection as much as the cold) and my trainers are next to it. Take care everyone

I used AutoEuropa 6 times in one year from Rome Ciampino and got excellent service and cars until the sixth time when all the staff had changed, the actual car did not correspond to the information on their computer and I was charged 484 euros for a tiny scratch that could have been there when I picked it up as it was dark. Fortunately, I had insured with insurance4carhire and they paid out quickly without any quibbles. I tell all my friends and students who are coming out to take out a policy with them. I have not used AutoEuropa since, because I got the feeling that the whole setup had changed, rather than it simply being a case of new staff. I've used Avis once but generally use Hertz. I book online, well in advance and pay in sterling. This year I have twice been able to take advantage of rates of £8 per day (yes really) for bookings of two weeks or more. I also now take photographs when I pick up the car and drop it off and go back and tell them if there's damage they haven't noted. Forewarned is forearmed!

  I bought a Mokona - the one that looks like a giant Moka stove-top coffee maker - about 18 months ago in the UK  when it was half price. It doesn't have a grinder but takes ground coffee, pods and cialde. I'm very happy with it and I gave one to a friend who struggles to get a decent espresso here in Penzance and she's thrilled to bits! I noticed it was much more expensive in Italy - for the reasons given above, I guess - but they have come down in price. When I'm in Italy I use a stove-top Moka or go out.

I can't comment on your experience, I'm afraid, but I can say that my own purchase was fairly straightforward, so don't despair. There is another forum that is only about Abruzzo and people there may have some advice to offer. Not sure if I'm allowed to mention it, but I guess you could easily find it through a search engine. Welcome to the Forum and good luck with the house hunting.

I recently discovered that some  UK/US programmes can be watched in English, without subtitles, on digital, if you have your TV set to English as the preferred language. Wallander was even in Swedish, again without subtitles. I can currently get RAI1, RAI2, Rete4, Canale5 and Italia1 on both digital and analogue. The same programmes were dubbed in Italian in analogue. There may be more to it than this of course, but I'd been messing with the channel scan to see if there were any new channels on digital and I think I changed the language by mistake. Would be interesting to see if anyone else can get this. I'm in Abruzzo.

I watched an Italian programme on mosquitoes earlier this year which said you would get bitten less if you wore dark clothes - the opposite to this article's advice. Different type of mosquito?

  Someone else who knows Sulmona! I have a house in Pacentro (no surprise there!) and asked people in the village over a year ago how much a taxi from Pacentro to Pescara would be and was told it would be about 100 euros. Gives you a rough idea.   Best wishes P

Hi Anniet2   I've private messaged you   Best wishes

Hi Tartuffa This isn't British-owned but I stayed ages ago at the Hotel Aprile in Florence (family- run, I think and it has a nice little courtyard which makes you forget you are in the centre of town) and friends stayed two years ago and thought it was great. But check the prices as my memory is that it was refurbished and the price went up a lot. Buon viaggio P