alan h's activity

Questions Asked

My place is between Lakes Orta and Maggiore, and I have used Flybe in the past to fly from Birmingham to Milan Malpensa.Looking for flights in Sept/Oct, I was disappointed at the high costs - so went to the Easyjet site to look at the Luton to Tur

Thu, 08/20/2009 - 04:27

I have often advocated swinging up through Belgium when travelling from UK to Italy, on the grounds of the cheap petrol in Luxembourg and toll free motorways. I did this route again a couple of weeks ago, but found the roadworks on the Dunkirk-Lil

Tue, 07/28/2009 - 09:32

 I thought it might help people not break the law [or get caught breaking it] to some info on speed cameras they might come across in driving down to Italy. [This really applies to people like me who don’t have a sat-nav that tells them all the in

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 11:03

When driving to Italy, [Lake Maggiore area], from Calais, I almost always drive up towards Dunkirk and then head East towards Luxembourg.   The reasons for doing so is simple:-

    Fri, 07/03/2009 - 12:52

    If you are driving down to Italy, this regularly updated AA site gives you the latest info on fuel prices across Europe.  Its useful for deciding where to fill up. Note - in Luxembourg, [where I always fill up - its worth the minor detour from Cal

    Thu, 07/02/2009 - 05:32

    .     I heard this today on Radio 4.  I take it you already know of tough and bough and cough and dough?Others may stumble, but not you,On hiccough, thorough, lough** and through.Well done!

    Sat, 06/20/2009 - 16:58

    .   I'm considering handing over ownership of my Italian Holiday Home to my kids. Does anyone know

    • How easy this is to do, and how costly?
    • Whether this can be done in the UK - or do I have to do it in Italy?
    Fri, 06/19/2009 - 04:54

    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.