alan h's activity

Many thanks B&M for the recommendation, although probably not where John and Toni are looking to stay, this Guesthouse in Schopfheim seems to be ideally placed on my 'Basle Bypass' route for a last stop before Switzerland.  May well try it this year, although I do prefer to get well into Switzerland [around Lucerne] for my stop, to ensure an early next day arrival at my place

"PS Stock up on energy saving light bulbs in the UK , Asda were selling them for 10p each, more like  a fiver in Italy!" But make sure you get the right fitting  [screw type - (large or small), - unless you've taken UK light fittings over]

The problem we have with staying in Switzerland is the cost - seems relatively expensive.  We usually do Ibis or Novotel - you know what you're getting - but that won't really help in the area you're asking about.  There are a few around Hergiswyl  [not cheap] Stans and Bouchs [both better] - both on the lake - do a Google to see whats available - there are a couple of possibilities] B&B - never had much luck in Switzerland We did get caught out once by a restaurant that didn't accept cards or Euros [had to find a cash point to pay!] - so check for the 'Cards Welcome' sign before going in ---------------------------- May I ask why you are going towards Sarnen? - unless you are taking the slow wiggly, but scenic, route to the Simplon, I'd suggest using the St Gotthard Tunnel/Pass route - much quicker   Alan

"Eaters Beware, I would not fancy any of your tomatoes...." Obviously, the fields are only used for grazing - no crops are grown - so not too worried --------------------- As an aside - Have you ever been to a sewage works, and looked at where they spread their 'clean waste' from the digesters? - the  thing that grows on it is tomatoes - from all the seeds that have been eaten and passed safely through the body and every treatment that is carried out - big juicy squashy tomatoes.  [I wonder what happens to them?] ----------------- The problem with society is that it is too clean - my late father [a country man born and bred, who as a lad earned money picking stones from the fields] used to say "a man should eat a peck of dirt before he dies"  [[a peck is about 2 gallons]  These days everything is sterilised, you even get antibacterial gel pump dispensers that you don't need to touch, in case they have germs on them - surely that's the point of the gel?  Let your kids eat sweets/food that have fallen to the floor, carrots straight from the garden with a bit of soil on them, cheese with rind and mould on it, just scrape the mould off old jam/marmalade and use the rest [don't throw the whole jar away] - then perhaps all these growing number of so called allergies won't affect them.    [rant over]

What lotan says is [I think] all very correct, and is particularly relevant to relatively recent installations However, in the hamlet where my place is there are only about 25 houses/flats and a permanent population of 20 or so - the rest are Milanese and Torinese using their holiday homes at weekends.  With the exception of one recent 'conversion' of an old building into about 8 holiday flats, most of the places are at least 50 years old, and many 100+ yrs old.  All the village is on septic tanks [of various designs and vintages - mine, which I share with 2 other properties is about 50 yrs old], and these tanks discharge [overflow] into the street drainage which goes into the stream. which flows into a significant Lake The farmer, who seems to empty all the tanks in the area, does his spraying onto the fields about 3 or 4 times a year.  Now, I'm not an expert, but it seems to me that an overflow into the drains/stream is much worse than spreading the waste onto the land - and nobody in the village has their tank emptied until the overflow has occurred. Many of us harp on about stopping being Brits and getting in to the way of life of the locals - so if my farmer wants to 'muck spread' waste on his fields, then who am I to stop him - its the way its always been done.  He risks prosecution of course - but that risk is very low in this community - its one of the joys of living in the countryside in a close knit community, miles from the police etc

The cost for emptying seems about right - thats about what the local farmer charges - he then takes it over the road and sprays it over his fields [Cheese from the cows is great - no lumpy bits at all!!!] The best thing is to be careful what you send down the pipes to the cesspool/pit.

• Make sure you use cesspit friendly cleaners around the house - the pit relies on bacteria 'eating the solids etc, and they are easily killed off by things like bleach etc
• Feed the pit regularly with a sachet of food like that from 'WC Net' - it boost bacterial action, and its just flushed down the loo every so often - most supermarkets sell it.
  • An Italian friend of mine takes the lid off his 'pit' every 2 weeks and sprinkles the sachet directly on the top of the 'gunge' - he hasn't had to have his emptied for over 15 year
• Don't forget that dishwasher and washing machine powders can kill off bacteria in the pit - so be careful what you use

Good Luck

2 suggestions -   1.  Try Googling "Walking in the Sibillini mountains" - there seems some info thrown up there, including...... 2.  Look at    http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/travel-holiday-advice/5368-walking-sibillini-mountains.html           [from the old Italymag website]

"Eurotunnel prices seem to be more constant" Don't forget Norfolk Line - usually the cheapest crossing, although I recently got a P&O crossing for £60 return

Bunterboy is right - fly drive is surely the best option [assuming there are airports near where you want to go to/from]. Otherwise you'll spend a significant part of your time travelling down [or 'blast down' in the car and be too 'knackered' to make any sensible decisions].  If driving - I'd recommend Sir TK's route, [and if petrol car, fill up in Luxembourg and Switzerland] Swiss motorway vignette - approx £30 from      http://rail.stc.co.uk/userdata_vignette.php?passid=5&frame=1&system=GB&affiliateid=45

"Just a question for Alan, why should you not pay your speeding fine?,  .... , why should you be exempt from this. ? It really doesnt help when visitors think its clever to evade the law." Sorry, where did I say you shouldn't pay the fine for speeding? - I just said I never received any notice.