alan h's activity

Questions Asked

I'm planning my route down for a months visit in July.

Mon, 06/04/2012 - 08:13

I logged on this morning to my local webcam, to look at the snow on the ski slopes.

Thu, 01/05/2012 - 04:47

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14995588Loved the note about changing the locks!

Wed, 09/21/2011 - 09:20

I have just got back from my latest trip to Italy, and thought some of you might be interested to hear about a Swiss hotel that we stayed in on the way down.It is the Hotel Engel in Stans [near to Lake Lucerne, a few minutes from the motorway

Mon, 07/25/2011 - 05:21

For many years now I have used the likes of 'mappy', 'via michelin' etc for calculating different routes down to Italy - for us its a part of our holiday, so we don't always want to take the quickest/shortest route down.  We prefer to vary the rou

Wed, 06/01/2011 - 09:25

Today I received an email from the Swiss Travel Centre.  The relevant portion is;- "The GBP price for a Vignette will increase from 01 June 2011 and we wanted to give you the opportunity to purchase this years’ Vignette before the pric

Mon, 05/23/2011 - 09:45

I've just driven down and back for a [much too] short holiday, and feel that an update on how fuel prices look on the way down would be useful to fellow travellers The following is a good site for seeing what prices have been like  

Mon, 04/04/2011 - 05:02

P&O have introduced a new ferry on the Dover - Calais route - its called the Spirit of Britain. They seem to have a special offer on at the moment [on this ship only] I've just booked a return crossing [car + 2] for £60 - significantly less th

Sat, 01/29/2011 - 06:08

Does Tomato soup exist in Italy? We were feeling a bit under the weather when we went out to Italy 2 weeks ago.  As part of the R&R process, I fancied some soup, and looked around the supermarket.  There were lots of different soups, but I rea

Mon, 01/24/2011 - 08:29

The route/timings for next years Giro d'Italia have been posted http://www.steephill.tv/giro-d-italia/   My son rang me up to inform me that the route passes about 100m away from

Sat, 11/06/2010 - 07:04

Comments posted

Thu, 02/18/2010 - 07:44

 "I do not know what happens with my links... Sometimes they do not work"   Its not just you - everytime I tried to copy that link it seemed to add an extra http// when trying to open [so it always failed]

Thu, 02/18/2010 - 05:39

  L'Aquila: A successful story of restoration of monuments in an emergency situation   at the Italian Cultural Institute in London on Weds 10th march at 6.30pm   go to   http://www.icilondon.esteri.it/IIC_Londra   Look in events section for details

Answer to: South vs North
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 10:54

 Is Mr. Lynn the same person who [in the last Millennium] allegedly did a survey that showed the IQ in Ireland was very low - because anyone with any sense had emigrated years ago!?   It seems to be of a similar standard    [I've just seen - Mr Lynn comes from Ulster - seems to bear out the first survey]

Answer to: Mudslides
Wed, 02/17/2010 - 07:05

 for those who haven't seen it yet   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl7_OMqOZbo

Answer to: Sterling £££
Sun, 02/14/2010 - 07:50

" ............ the group of "PIGS" is made of Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain. ..........."   Lets hope they don't get similar problems in Croatia, Rumania, Austria and Poland

Tue, 02/09/2010 - 18:16

 Don't forget the third option.........   Sell the garage contents in the UK and buy furniture [new or second hand] in Italy   The cash flow [including savings on transport costs] should be looked at, just to make sure its not worth it

Answer to: Bidets
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 17:00

  Postmac said;- Whether you like them or not- If you intend to sell your house at any stage to an Italian they will want one so you'd be foolish not to install one.   I entirely agree - when I was getting my new bathroom fitted - everyone [Brits as well as Italians] said that if I ever wanted to sell [to italians] it must have a bidet

Answer to: Community Spirit
Mon, 02/08/2010 - 06:01

Totally agree - and what about posting it as a new thread  such as 'The Friday joke' and kick start an old tradition  [and for the newcomers - Friday. in this context, grew, as the last 'Friday Thread' developed, to mean any day of the week]

Mon, 02/08/2010 - 05:15

Could be a winner with the Welsh

Mon, 02/08/2010 - 05:11

By leaving a few clean sweet potatoes in a container of peat, kept damp and left in the warm in March April, "slips" will emerge from the surface. When they are over 20cm from the soil, trim them off and pot into 1 litre pots and allow to grow on. In late May, after the last frost has finished, remove the potted plants and place them rooted into the soil. Being a semi tropical plants they require at least 110 days to mature. They are vigorous, and once they start growing, will readily spread. They are hardy and unlikely to suffer any foliar problems and should out compete any weeds, once the soil has initially been made weed free. In late September, carefully dig them up. Once dug, you will need to leave them to mature a further week in the warmest area you have in the house, this allows the skins to set and the flavour to sweeten and become true to type.

      Footnote - I've just got back from Christmas in East Africa - where sweet potatoes are a staple part  of the diet.  Over there, once planted and growing, the plants spread out over the soil, and where they touch the ground they tend to form new roots - these rooted bits are what they re-plant for the next crop - but I don't know if things are right for sucha propogation method in Italy