Casa Monal's activity

  Good Luck!  The BBC has been issuing weather warnings all day today for Scotland so keep an eye on the reports.  Time to change mechanics….Innsbruck is in Austria! Yes the Germans are good with keeping their motorways clear. We’re driving from The Netherlands to the UK for Christmas (Eurotunnel Calais-Dover), less driving than you but the weather is still a concern.     PS It's snowing again as I 'speak' and it's been snowing all day!

  Great initiative!  Well done Italy.  We’ve been paying for plastic bags for over 10 years now.  A shop assistant here will never just offer you one either, you have to ask for it.

  I live in The Netherlands.  If you think the M25 is the biggest car park in the world, you’re sadly mistaken!  The Netherlands is!  Last week we had the biggest traffic queue ever…just a mere 960 kilometres of tailbacks  Our snow is almost gone but yesterday it took me two hours to do what is normally a 40 minute journey. And don’t forget that snow (winter tyres) are obligatory from the end of October to March in Germany, Switzerland and Italy!   You will be fined if you need to be rescued and you don’t have winter tyres.  If you are involved in an accident in Germany and you don’t have winter tyres, you will be fined whether you caused the accident or not.

Thousands of people fear they will not be getting their holiday money after Cornwall-based company Crown Currency Exchange went into administration Continue reading the main story

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• Firm's collapse brings wedding woe

Thousands of people face uncertainty over travel money after an exchange firm went into administration. Crown Currency Exchange, one of the UK's biggest foreign exchange websites, has collapsed - blaming the downturn in the travel market. Administrators MCR said that an estimated 13,000 consumers would be directly affected. These people should not expect an early resolution in the case and a quick return of money, administrators said. Collapse The business, based in Hayle in Cornwall, was established by husband and wife Peter and Susan Benstead five years ago.It allowed individuals and business customers to pre-order foreign exchange at a set price up to a year in advance, with amounts of between £300 and £10,000 available. But its bank accounts were frozen by Barclays at the weekend, barring it from withdrawing or transmitting any money to customers. And administrators from MCR and SPW were appointed on Monday. Continue reading the main story

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When the money did not arrive it left me feeling sick”

Andrew ParsonsCustomer They said the business had processed hundreds of millions of pounds worth of foreign currency in the last five years, providing travel money in 80 different currencies, as well as travellers' cheques and money transfers. "Like many operators in the travel sector, it has experienced a difficult trading environment during the course of the past 12 months which has been exacerbated by a further downturn and general tightening of the travel market," said administrator Paul Clark, of MCR. The administrators are contacting all those affected to advise them on their individual situation, but these people could also contact the company. "I have no doubt that they will be understandably concerned about their own position and we recommend that they contact the company directly," Mr Clark said. "We fully appreciate the difficult position in which many will now find themselves in - many in the build-up to holidays or business trips, as well as money transfers associated with second home purchases. However the administration process is in its early days and we cannot guarantee an early resolution for those looking for a quick return of their money." 'Shaking' Andrew Parsons, from Bedworth near Coventry, was due to receive £1,500 from Crown Currency Exchange on Friday, which was supposed to be spending money for a surprise family trip to Florida. He said he had been saving up for 14 months. "When the money did not arrive it left me feeling sick. I was on the verge of crying at work and physically shaking," he said. Mr Parsons, who is due to fly to Florida in a few days, has been left trying to borrow money from his friends and family to replace the lost currency. He said he and his family had made sacrifices to be able to fund the trip and he now felt like he had been "robbed".

Sounds fab!  Have a lovely time...save some sun for us...only down in September 

A beautiful woman walks in and sits down at the table next to a man. He decides because she's got a uniform on, she's probably an off-duty flight attendant. So he decides to have a go at picking her up by identifying the airline she flies for, thereby impressing her greatly. He leans across to her and says the Delta Airlines motto 'We love to fly and it shows'. The woman looks at him blankly. He sits back and thinks up another line. He leans forward again and delivers the Air France motto 'Winning the hearts of the world'. Again she just stares at him with a slightly puzzled look on her face. Undeterred, he tries again, this time saying the Malaysian Airlines motto: 'Going beyond expectations' . The woman looks at him sternly and says 'What the **** do you want?' 'Ah!' he says, sitting back with a smile on his face.  Ryanair   

  That’s great…we’ll be ‘neighbours’ when we are there  We have a small apartment in Pigna.  Gosh, yes a baby on the way and a potential move don’t go well together!  Enjoy your last month…get lots of sleep while you can…

  We may still catch you at the end of September!  We have travelled through the Gotthard tunnel in October and it was straight through.  We just seem to have bad luck because every time we have been caught, the pass is closed as well! We would love to use the pass.

  Same here. We downloaded the application forms and posted the completed forms to the Italian Consulate to apply for our CF.  We had no fixed Italian address. We had to collect the CF in person though.

  Oh wow, we visited Baiardo in April.  Not the easiest of drives up (especially from Casttel Vittoria) but well worth it…stunning views  @Penny, that’s great…anywhere exciting ...