2408 a dire scandal which has absolutely nothing to do with puglia

[QUOTE=adriatica]by the way realise all threads have to have the puglia word in to be read...[/QUOTE]

Ha ha!

On a serious point - I've always been intrigued with the fascination on this forum with Puglia. As a place to keep a holiday home it can be fantastic - wonderful climate and lowish property costs (or at least they were very low 4 or 5 years ago).

However, as a place to move to on a permanent basis as an expat family with children, is it really that good? Poor health care, terrible education system, very few work opportunities, poverty, crime, adriatica's horror stories, and so on. Soon the market for bed and breakfasts, pseudo estate agents/property finders, amateur English teaching, and all the other expat staples will be saturated and then what?

Am I the only person here who thinks it is a little crazy to buy a house for say £80k in Puglia and then throw another £100k at it, when for the same money you could buy a very nice house within spitting distance of Rome, Bologna, Verona, Vicenza etc and find genuine sustainable work, far more culture and things to see and do, much greater ease of real integration into Italian society, better schooling, better hospitals, no expat ghetto etc?

Disclaimer: I had the worst pizza in history in Brindisi which may have affected my opinions on Puglia.

Ahh boys you've started slagging off Puglia thats more like it, what on earth was John thinking of writing a thread without some slurr on Puglia? Must be ill :eek: :p :eek: :p

[QUOTE=neilmcn]

However, as a place to move to on a permanent basis as an expat family with children, is it really that good?

Let me think, Puglia or here in Uk :confused: Pedophiles now taking children from inside their own homes (thankfully both found same), rape of a 12 week old baby, arson attack on family with disabled bullied daughter, both parents dead and daughter fighting for life, alleged kidnap of Prime Minister's son, brutal murder of Lauren Smith 4 miles from my home, young lawyer stabbed in the head on his way home from work, people heard cries but too frightened to help, ...............just general news this week ...I could go on but I'll depress myself for the rest of the day.

And so the bitching goes on.....where's Rina when you need her......lasted all of about 2 mins! :D

[QUOTE=paula hampson][QUOTE=neilmcn]

However, as a place to move to on a permanent basis as an expat family with children, is it really that good?

Let me think, Puglia or here in Uk :confused: Pedophiles now taking children from inside their own homes (thankfully both found same), rape of a 12 week old baby, arson attack on family with disabled bullied daughter, both parents dead and daughter fighting for life, alleged kidnap of Prime Minister's son, brutal murder of Lauren Smith 4 miles from my home, young lawyer stabbed in the head on his way home from work, people heard cries but too frightened to help, ...............just general news this week ...I could go on but I'll depress myself for the rest of the day.[/QUOTE]

Ah - the age old confusion between perceptions and reality. What Italy needs is an equivaent of the Daily Mail (main function in life to frighten middle england). In the past there have been equally horrific stories in Italy (- and anyone who thinks Italy is 'better' in this respect is sadly deluded. That's not to say that Puglia isn't 'safer' than some UK inner cities - it's also probaly safer than downtown Napoli (sorry Aliena) but broad generalisations such as 'Puglia is safer than the UK' are just meaningless - is it safer tha rural Cornwall for example?

I realise that many people on this forum are 'living a dream' and view Italy through rose tinted glasses but a bit of reality would be nice

...end of rant...

[QUOTE=fieramosca][QUOTE=paula hampson]

is it safer than rural Cornwall for example?

..[/QUOTE]

But I don't live in pretty rural Cornwall, I live mid Manchester and Liverpool and although the village I live in is pretty decent I still wouldn't walk through the centre alone at night. Our UK yob culture is completely out of hand, you only have to look at the gangs of kids with their hoods up on the street corners day and most of the night, so there is no way you are going to convince me that San Vito will be just at threatening to live in for me or my family. Me thinks not. :rolleyes:

"is it safer tha rural Cornwall for example?"

...I think we've been here before on this safer/ less safe town/country debate, haven't we?

I live in rural Kent, and its a pretty safe bet that a walk to the shops won't involve getting stabbed in the head, raped, robbed or kidapped...

..same no doubt can't be said for some places as mentioned, but then neither could it of some sink estate in an industrial Italian city (now I doubt suppose any of the rose-tinted new lifers have been to such a place, but I think its a fair bet that they exist)..

...crime is a problem all over the western world...avoiding it, if that's what you find most important, doesn't necessarily involve moving to a remote and de-populated corner of another country...there are plenty of those in your own if that's what you want...

...or you could move to a genuinely low crime and ordered society...where property prices are low and respect is high...lets see now..anyone for Iran? :)

The thing that depressses me about the UK is the lack of police on the streets, there is just no deterant - I live round the corner from where that poor lawyer got stabbed, I didint see any policeman in my area (walking) for 8 years. It is lawless Britain unless, you need a lawyer because the company insentive gift is a bottle of wine and your muslim. Is it true than 1 in 5 people is a lawyer? Our hospitals are filthy and dilapidated. Our trains packed and expensive. Our tax rate ever increasing, and you cant buy a flat in London for less than £250K and thats in a dogey area. Yes that PC bloody Britain.

Now then Italy, has visible police, is family focussed. The trains are clean, efficient and easy to book, eating out is inexpensive to get a great meal, wine is CHEAP. It even has great football. But you cant smoke in resturants or bars...tricky :(

I live in rural Cornwall and also want a place in rural Italy.

Greedy get me. :D

Dave with 2 boys who wear hoodies that don't attack old folks

[quote=Aliena]Talking of Iran.. is that the place where there is absolutely no culture and little hope of learning the language?[/quote]

No, you're thinking of Liverpool. :D

Derek

surely there must be some marathon runners that can post in reply to my original sort of query...could prodi have done it.... and more to the point on this italy forum how many know mr prodi and would you like him to be helping you out this year with your taxes...

apart from that a lot of what said here ... especially in this post has all the reasoning of a brain dead mouse.... when oh when will the uk comparison stop...when will anyone actually realise that the italian train system is at least as decrepid if not worse than most european train services.... in fact they have already this year had several accidents ...have had people sitting all night in the freezing cold through breakdowns and are now under investigation for a hopeless national and commuter service....

as regards where is more violent the violence here exists in all the peripheries of all the major and minor cities.... i have posted here on the problems of crime in abruzzo and have pointed out that the areas around chieti,pescara,lanciano and vasto are what are described as high crime areas of this region....

a recent and ongoing story from pretty lanciano entails the systematic raping of young school girls over a long period by gangs of town youths.... not the first time ... lanciano seems to have a habit regarding this sort of crime... so no you wouldnt walk the streets of lanciano that happily.....its all here... ..

isnt it strange how the reallity of a place when it doesnt fit prejudicial perceptions are often shot down with irrelevant and comparative arguements...

and as regards paedophilia ... a strange phenomenom here is the absolute and total non involvement of any of the religous organisation or its members in this country of any involvement in that type of crime.... unlike all other christian countries in the world.....

another family fact here is that there is some family member killing another family member almost every day here in italy.... one of the highest kill rates in europe ... amongst families.... and that is not the criminal more well known type...

so after all that ...who does run marathons ... and to get the thread back to a more serious type of discussion ....could he have run it....

John, you started this argument AGAIN just by putting Puglia in the thread title and getting peoples backs up. By not putting it in perhaps you may have got a serious answer, as it was nobody gave a stuff about a bloody race...:mad: and as for Italians sitting in the cold all night on the trains they can think themselves lucky they weren't involved in the Paddington Rail disaster or any other of the fatal incidents we've had over the last few years due to maintenence cuts....

[FONT="Book Antiqua"][SIZE="3"]ciao tutti

While it's easy to list some recent and horrifying criminal attacks that have happened in the UK I don't think that's helpful in making any sort of comparison between the UK and Italy.

What John and some other Italian residents try to show in these posts seem to be that corruption in local and national governmental bodies in Italy is
endemic and that this has a knock on effect for the people living there.I don't think that even the most right wing Daily Mail readers (and no Italy does not deserve the Daily Mail as has been suggested ) believe that Britain is as bad as Italy in that respect! Bringing this information to the attention of those who plan to move to Italy seems quite reasonable to me.

Concerning Trenitalia I have nothing but praise for them!! If I go from Plymouth to Exeter (55min) walk on fare is £15 ...Pescara to Rome £8! Ticket machines in the station work and are easy to use even if you don't understand Italian.The only negative side is that hardly any Italians seem to use them.

Living in rural Cornwall .....its not all roses you know .Last week the turkey farmer up the road decided it was time to clean out his sheds (they get done once ...if you saw the state of them you woouldnt eat his Turkeys!)
none of us could go outside for 2 days,still the dog loved it!

Becky[/SIZE][/FONT]

pauline

a few weeks ago fatal crash in the rome campobasso line...last year fatal crash ...milan venice line.... why because the trains are not fitted with automatic braking devices ....the signalling system is a hundred years old...and they often run on single tracks.... the rolling stock is old and outdated..... people that have to use the trains to commute are fed up with late and overcrowded trains.... sometimes none at all .... regular strikes by rail staff and in general a hopeless dirty and in efficient system... with no compensation offered to anyone for any problems caused by all the ineffiency........ these are two accidents that have stuck in my head... the last one because an italian/british family... i think the husband bringing his english family home for the first time after thirty years happened to be killed..amongst others .. the milan venice one because there were a lot of people killed and injured....its all the same everywhere.... its just you hear it in england about england... i hear it in italy about italy.... you just dont happen to like the fact that you now read italian news and views in english ... why dont you put me on your blocked threads list and then i wont upset you ever ever again.... or even more simply because i did warn you it had nothing to do with puglia not bother reading the post

Jack, never thought of that, good point, shall look into it :rolleyes: . Why don't we ask all the Puglia Posse who have done the move, where you looking at the region with rose tinted glasses?, would you ever go back? and was it all a big misstake. I think we know what the answers will be ;)

Lady will you behave, you've made a boring question about marathon runners (which nobody answered to) run onto three pages. My downward button can't cope................

You lot do talk such drivell..

We all know that Puglia is a toxic dump..."Le" Marche is just a dump, and Abruzzo is a toilet....

no where else really matters, and if it does its only because.... oh no the gaoler is here.......

[QUOTE=paula hampson]Jack, never thought of that, good point, shall look into it :rolleyes: . Why don't we ask all the Puglia Posse who have done the move, where you looking at the region with rose tinted glasses?, would you ever go back? and was it all a big misstake. I think we know what the answers will be ;)[/QUOTE]

thats not an answer! very few have lived there long enough to give a
realistic answer, you yourself have gone on about all that is wrong with
britain and totally forgot that these are things that have or will effect
italt as well..... rose tinted glass? i think so....

Overcrowding on rush hour London, I have never experienced anything like this in a capital city, even the tube in St Petersburg was a least clean. There is no comparision, our trains are vile, its £140 return to Preston 2nd class where frequently the toilet s are flooded and filthy and £35 to fly BMI on a nice clean plane in half an hour.

As for crashes well we'll have a few recently havent we, with subtractors that arent qualified and dont accept responsibilty for their actions just take our tax payers cash and give it to the shareholders.

This privatisation it only happening in one place in the WORLD, the world and its in the UK, wake up and smell the coffee, stop ranting and get your facts right.

[QUOTE=trullomartinafranca]And so the bitching goes on.....where's Rina when you need her......lasted all of about 2 mins! :D[/QUOTE]
Buon giurno all. dont worry trullomartinafranca - I'm still here with my ear to the ground. Of course there is crime - there is crime all over the world. Its a fact of life. I would venture to say however that Puglia has a lot less crime than other places. When on a tour, you are always told to watch your bags & wallets. Well for me (in Manchester) its the natural thing to do and we dont need reminding - any large city has its crooks. Anyone who doesn't like Puglia should get out then.

We have nice new (2005) air conditioned trains on our Kent to London line. They run pretty much on time, and are comfortable. Sorry to be the harbinger of good news. ;)

[QUOTE=Wishful Thinker]You lot do talk such drivell..

We all know that Puglia is a toxic dump..."Le" Marche is just a dump, and Abruzzo is a toilet....

no where else really matters, and if it does its only because.... oh no the gaoler is here.......[/QUOTE]
Order Order!!! Let's have some order now please children.

fantastic, your taking orders? make mine a nicely chilled Trebbiano :)

[QUOTE=Wishful Thinker]fantastic, your taking orders? make mine a nicely chilled Trebbiano :)[/QUOTE]
Well I dont mind if I do - I'll have a Brindisi red please Wishful - grazie

Now your talking a huge galss of Primativo please, this time next week :D

Now listen you lot, don't, whatever you do, don't tell Aliena you're getting on fine, buying each other drinks, telling each other you all really like Italy.

She'll go ballistic, i'm telling you.

it's OK, she's busy counting stiches down in the naughty room...

..what you having?

I say, i don't mind if i do. A large glass of the Montepulchiano from the Gallasso winery just down from you in Penne, in Passo Cordone.

Saluti

Oi Tink,
You're the ship's navigator, where's Liguria?, is it near Puglia?

Tink quick! As your passing Puglia I need a lift, [COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Ryanair are busy doing a Brizilian strip or somthing! Just got to find Aliena and see if she's finished my woolly socks and Eskimo suit. Best you stop drinking this is urgent! [/FONT][/COLOR]

Elaine,

....i think you're confusing us with someone who gives a damn!