alan h's activity

"We met a Swiss/German couple when we were ‘in residence’ last month.  They told us that the proposed cost of the vignette from 2013 will be between 120-160 Swiss Franc" I can't find anything about this on the web - anyone have any details/links etc?

I got fined for not paying on time [in June] a couple of years ago - so [like in most things Italian] it depends on your Comune. My Communes website states [please excuse the Google auto translation] "- 1st installment - Deposit: payable by 16 June.The payment must be equal to 50% of tax payable calculated on the basis of existing rates and deductions in the previous year. - 2nd installment - Balance: payable by 16 December.A balance due for the whole year dell'aliquota calculated based on current rates and deductions this year, with possible adjustment on the first installment. In any case, the taxpayer may make payment of tax in one installment to be paid by June 16." I paid mine on line this year at  http://equitaliasestri.pagonet.it/pagonet/bollettino_versamento.asp  but it doesn't cover the whole country Good Luck Alan

http://www.cronoscalate.it/schedagara.php?_gara=1062 and more useful -   http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.marmellataitalia.it/321/sport/Trofeo-Scarfiotti-per-auto-d-epoca.html&ei=DJf3Te3lFZCbhQegiO2lDA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CFAQ7gEwBA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DTROFEO%2BSCARFIOTTI%2B2011%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4GGLJ_enGB386%26prmd%3Divns

"Limited traffic reopens in Simplon tunnel The key Simplon rail tunnel linking Switzerland and Italy has been reopened to traffic, more than two days after a devastating fire in a freight train. The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) said at midday on Saturday that one shuttle train an hour in each direction would use the undamaged second tunnel which runs parallel to the one in which a goods train caught fire on Thursday morning. It issued a provisional timetable valid until Monday evening. Passengers for Milan, who would normally travel straight through, will have to change twice, adding about 20 minutes to their journey time.   A limited freight service will also be operated.   The second tunnel had been put out of operation by smoke penetrating through the transverse safety tunnels that link the two lines.                ..............   The cause of the fire, in which no-one was injured, is still being investigated.   It occurred just before the beginning of the long Whitsun weekend, when many people travel south to Italy. While the Simplon was blocked, passengers were taken over the pass by bus, and many others heeded recommendations to use the Gotthard route instead. An SBB spokesmen said trains going that way were “full but not overcrowded”.   Meanwhile, those travelling south by road also had to be patient. At eight o’clock on Saturday morning there was already an 11 kilometre queue at the northern entrance to the Gotthard road tunnel, entailing a wait of nearly three hours. By midday this had dropped to two hours.   However, the longest holdups were in the southern canton of Graubünden, where vehicles were apparently heading south via the San Bernardino pass." swissinfo.ch and agencies

If you are totally stuck - these hotels have free Internet in their public places  [2 wifi, and one with modem]  – drink some coffee while you work, have a snack, chill out;-   http://www.lodging-world.com/it/umbria/cities/marotta-di-fano/hotels-with-wifi

The air vent isn't a dehumidifier, but what it will do is help the air in the building to let it dry out naturally - after all - it should get pretty warm over the next few weeks/months.  You would probably need a few of them to have a proper effect

Dehumidifier - do you need one? If the place is empty for a few months - can you not 'let it air' and dry out naturally?  The property management company could 'manage' the airing [Opening/closing windows when the weather changes] Or - you could go to a yacht chandlers and get some solar powered air vents to keep the air circulating Example on Amazon  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Solar-Power-SOLARVENT1-Powered-Ventilator/dp/B000RM0YFW

"The problem is that there is no guarantee the electricity ..... will be in place, so we are not planning to stay in our new house, we will just set up the humidifier and come back in September"   Humidifier? How, with no electricity?  [or will you run a lead from your neighbours?

Norfolkline is a great ferry service, but could use more ships, and Dunkirk is no farther from Italy than Calais.  Its better placed for the route via Luxembourg [cheap petrol and no autoroute charges] We always pay the extra for priority loading and 'exec lounge' - all in all a very civilised way to cross the Channel.   [helped by the lack of coach parties]

"If you're going to be in daylight, use the pass instead of the tunnel. May cost you an hour, but worth it." Its well worth 'going over the top' - and if traffic is bad you can get off the motorway well before the tunnel/pass and parallel it on local roads