Pacentro08's activity

I used Auto Europa several times in 2008-9 from Ciampino and found them very helpful. I wanted a Smart car and always phoned my order in. Then last summer I got a less than helpful response when I phoned and learned that all the staff had changed. I booked the first car online, it was filthy and had no water in the windscreen washer. The second car a few weeks later did not correspond to the description I was given ie the staff member told me it was a new blue Ypsilon and it was a not so new grey one. It was dark by the time I picked it up so couldn't really check it but the woman said there was no need as it was new. Needless to say, she found a scratch on it when I returned it. The computer description said it was orange, so I was less than confident that we were talking about the same car. They charged 440 euros to put the scratch right allegedly and fortunately I had a policy with insurance4carhire and got it all back. I won't be using them again as I didn't like their attitude. Maybe I was just lucky the first six times I used them before the staff left. I'll be looking to see if the staff have changed again when I go next month! Like others have said, Hertz seem to be competitive even without going via Ryanair which I find surprising. I'm hiring from them next time. And they have Smart cars much cheaper than Auto Europa now.

Welcome to the Forum and hope you find somewhere you really like very soon. All my Italian friends say a solicitor is not necessary, but my understanding is that the notaio is really just checking the docs and the amount of tax to be paid rather than representing the buyer and seller. My estate agent involved a solicitor as part of the deal, which I resented frankly, and I didn't see anything to convince me he had actually done anything. However, bearing in mind CapoBoi's comments above, it might  be an extra safeguard. Mine was a very straightforward purchase without the potential problems of land etc. I think if I was buying somewhere old and/or with land, I'd probably go for extra guidance. all good wishes

Hello again Hiller My case may be different because Pacentro has its own electricity so I pay them, but I pay a standing charge of about 16 euros every two months and hand in a reading every time I leave. We haven't got the SMART readers yet but am told they are on the way, which will be good. I had a much bigger problem with gas (which you don't mention so maybe you don't have any) but this may be helpful to you. I was getting estimated bills from Enigas, based on the previous year's consumption when there was a tenant, so the winter one was high. I paid it and then spoke to Enigas who had in the meantime taken a reading and knew thay had to refund me - which they did. They were very helpful and said I should request a 'blocco consumo' which doesn't cut your supply but stops the estimated bills. It runs for a year and can be renewed. Maybe ENEL have something similar. I was amazed how helpful they were, but maybe it wouldn't be so easy if you don't have much Italian. Good luck anyway   www.italianforyou.co.uk

It's occurred to me that if the previous owners of your house did not have to pay ICI, the comune won't have caught up with you. I had to go and register at the comune as soon as I'd signed the rogito and my vendors were keen that I did so, as it was not their first home and they were paying ICI on it and didn't want to keep paying while it was sorted out. So, like Tinker says, it looks like you need to register at the Comune first. They may even be able to help - our lot are really helpful. I'm assuming you are not permanently in Italy and hence want to pay online. We can't do this in Pacentro and I arranged for all my bills to go to an Italian friend elsewhere in Italy to pay for me. Another friend had an agent pay all her bills (till he returned to the UK!) but that was quite expensive. The comune staff get a bit twitchy about late payment because it's a state tax, but I paid for the first time last August and I did not appear to pay a fine. Might not be the same story if it happened this year though. I didn't know about INAC, so I'll follow that one up for my friend. Thanks Tinker. Good luck

Hi Danno I agree with Gala's always sensible and helpful advice. The more you listen to Italian, the more you absorb, even if you're not consciously paying attention. The difficulty most people have is that they are often/usually with English-speakers and never completely get out of that translating phase. It's hard work for the brain to keep making that shift from one language to another - especially as we get older - so you get tired. If your personal situation allows you to avoid English as much as you reasonably can, that will help. I met a Canadian couple two years ago who were not natural linguists, but they had decided that they would only speak Italian to each other while they were working in Lucca for a year. I was very impressed by their determination and the progress they made was impressive too. You might think about only hearing and speaking Italian for two hours each day from the minute you wake up and see how that works. It's all about findings ways that work for you and your situation. Watching films with English subtitles will only perpetuate the translating thing, so Gala's suggestion of Italian subtitles is preferable. One of my students records films and just keeps running it back until he's understood almost everything. Painful, but it seems to work for him. Maybe we should have a section where we only post in Italian, regardless of level, to help each other. Maybe it's already been tried, I'm a relative newbie. Good luck anyway and don't give up! Pacentro08 www.italianforyou.co.uk

  Lovely positive encouragement from Capo Boi!  It sounds like you're having one-to-one sessions, Cilla, so it's difficult to judge how well you're doing as there's no-one else to compare yourself against. Don't beat yourself up about it though as all the research says you don't learn if you're stressed! Have a look at my website - www.italianforyou.co.uk - in case I can be of any help. If you email me via my site, I'm happy to send you (and anyone else who's interested) a list of websites that have some fun activities to work on. And Bonacci and Alma are my two favourite publishers for books. Their websites are always worth a look, and again, I'm happy to give an opinion on anything that looks of interest to you, if I know it. I picked up another few gems from the Italian Bookshop stand at the Dolce Vita exhibition in London yesterday. Best wishes P

Hi Charlotte Hit the wrong button. I'm going on Friday to Dolce Vita and hoping to make contact with the Abruzzo property people. I'll text you once I'm there. Are you exhibiting? I'm planning to network and create some more interest in my summer Italian courses in Pacentro. Would be great if there are others from the community going to be there. I have a spare free ticket if anyone is interested as I can only go on Friday now. PM me if interested. Salutoni Susan        

Thanks AlanH and Postmac for the helpful info. The thing I was thinking about is for tragitti from the airports to anywhere within the Aurelian walls, and I think but not sure, Tiburtina is outside the walls. Geography has never been my strong point and I don't know Rome well either, so I'm fumbling about in the dark really.   Thanks again

    Thanks so much everyone. I'll pass on all of this and get them to sign up to the site if they have any more queries.   Best wishes

 Thanks everyone for these tips. I'll pass them on to the young'uns. They're planning on having two months in Italy, but haven't finalised where to go to in their camper van (sorry Giovanni, I don't know how old it is). Any further suggestions on out of the way places to visit with campsites or whatever they will need for overnighting in the van - rather them than me - would be great.   Many thanks