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

Tue, 01/26/2021 - 09:32

Be careful.

You may fall foul of import tariffs when transporting radiators to EU countries. Probably lots of paperwork to have done beforehand.

Tue, 01/12/2021 - 16:25

It's true - it was publicised before Brexit Day that we wouldn't be allowed, by the EU, to take meat or dairy products into the EU, so no meat or cheese sandwiches in the Channel Tunnel or ferries.

 

I was planning (hoping) that egg sandwiches would be OK. - Anyway,  I'd eat them before entering the EU - if we ever get to drive down to Italy again.

Mind you, about 5 years ago, we were stopped at the Swiss border, coming from Germany, and the Border Guard asked if we had any meat products in the car

Watched the video - even the driver was laughing at how ridiculous it was.  No wonder so many voted "Leave" in the Referendum

Sat, 01/02/2021 - 12:34

If your power supply isn't up to hedge trimming and lawn mowing, you could always get battery powered equipment.

At my place you can only run one of the following at a time;-

  • Oven
  • Washing Machine 
  • Hoover
  • Electric Heaters (When we arrive in Winter, until Fire and Central Heating heats the place up)
  • Hair Dryer    and
  • Iron

But, once you're used to it, it's easy to manage.

 

Fri, 01/01/2021 - 15:42

If you have a copy of your electricity bill, you can probably see what your property's Wattage is.

On mine it has two figures

"Potenza contrattualmente impegnata" (Contracted supply amount)  3kW .......and

"Potenza Disponsibile"  (Max wattage than be drawn (for a short period, but not for long)) 3.3Kw

So you can see what you can operate on it

Good Luck 

 

Fri, 01/01/2021 - 07:41

Any electrical equipment, lighting etc etc bought in the UK will work perfectly normally in Italy.  The voltage is totally compatible 

..............................

The only problem I've ever encountered is that some uk electrical things like toasters,irons , kettles etc have high wattage ratings, and can take most, if not all, of the available wattage from the house supply. It depends on how much your supply is.  It may effect the possibility of using a hedge trimmer.  There will be a plate on the trimmer that says what power, in Watts, the trimmer draws 

As an example, a 3kW kettle would use all the 3kW supply in my Italian house, and when my daughter and 3 friends stayed here and all got their hair curling tongs out, the trip switch blew!!!

Thu, 12/31/2020 - 03:13

Nothing from the Bank yet.

My Italian friend is trying to chase them up.
Hopefully they will transfer the account to a branch in a bigger town nearby.

(Everyone needs an Italian friend)

Wed, 12/30/2020 - 09:10

2 hrs after writing this my Comune newsletter informed me that my Bank, BNP, is closing/has closed my Branch - along with 299 others .

Wed, 12/30/2020 - 04:50

Don't know whether this will work, but .............

 

Can you get an Italian neighbour to buy a cheap pay as you go mobile for you? 

Until you get to Italy, they will need to forward any messages to you, or  they could send you the SIM card to you.

(I have an Italian bank account, so pay by Direct Debit - but SEN do send me me regular bills in the UK, so I know what is being paid)

Sat, 12/26/2020 - 04:35

Not sure what the problem with UK lighting in Italy is. 

Suppose there could be a problem with earthing in really old installations, but that's the only possible problem that I can think of.

One suggestion though - I found it very difficult to find bayonet fitting light bulbs, so buy fittings with the screw fittings. (And takes LED bulbs with you as they use so much less power  --  my place only has a 3kW supply, so  having lots of non-LED bulbs on can take up a fair bit of the supply.)

I would say, however, that you will get a really good choice of light  fittings in Italy

Good luck 

Mon, 12/14/2020 - 11:46

Good question, probably applies to UK residents as well.

HOPEFULLY you will get an answer.