Gala Placidia's activity

I'm not a lawyer, but I do not think that you can opt for a "separazione" if this is not the regime under which you were married. Also, I think that, unless the separation of assets regime is stated on the marriage certificate, you automatically fall under the joint assets regime. We were asked all those questions by our Notary when we purchased our property in Tuscany and we produced a copy of our (Spanish) marriage certificate. There is at least one lawyer (Charlotte Oliver) amongst our members. Perhaps, if she is around, she could explain all this better than I....

Basically, the Italian notary has to follow whatever you decided at the time of your marriage, whether you were having joint or separate assets. This is standard practice in most European countries.

There is a company that works with marble and stone right in Bagni di Lucca. I think that they are the ones who provided the marble counter top for my kitchen, but the joiner took care of everything. Worth checking with them: http://www.shoppingdonna.it/casa/pavimenti/toscana/bagni_di_lucca/marmoarreda It may be an expensive exercise......

Charging a small amount for prescriptions is currently being discussed by other EU countries having free medication for pensioners, the unemployed and the chronically ill. The idea is to charge a small amount per medication up to a maximum per annum so that those having to take a large number of medications will not end up paying too much. Possibly, it is a way to raise some funds at times of severe depletion and to discourage people from asking all the time for prescribed drugs which they do not need.... Australia has been using this system for many years and others may be checking at their results.

If you serve the roast with caramelised apples and a sweet potato purée, it becomes a gourmet dish. Enjoy!

Pork and black truffles go very well together. Just make some incisions in your usual roast pork cut, fill them with little slivers of black truffle and put it in the oven. Also delicious with poultry, prepared in the same way. Scrambled eggs and truffle is also great. Delicious in a risotto as well.... The sky is the limit!!!! Enjoy!

Hello and welcome to the Community. I can also recommend Casa Tuscany in Bagni di Lucca.

Karen, you have been very lucky. The Spanish market is very flat at the moment; however, these things do happen. Obviously, you found the right buyers at the right time. Congratulations and enjoy the Basilicata experience. Starting all over again is always a challenge.

Thanks, Badger.

I think that your first step would be to check with your American Health Insurance to see whether you are covered under the circumstances. I would say that you may have some limited cover for ordinary travel; however, if you are requesting a temporary residency it is quite possible that you would not be covered. Then, ask your American Health Insurance whether they have some type of additional cover that could be added to your policy.... If all this fails, then, you have to get a separate insurance. Look at Serge's post on the 5th of June 2009 which tells you what the Italian authorities require. Yes, he refers to EU nationals under the age of 65 (retirement age in Italy); however, the requirements would be the same for any other nationality who would not be covered by a Health Agreement between Italy and the country of origin. From the information you got from the Italian Embassy, I do not think that US citizens would benefit from any special agreement because of the characteristics of the US Health System. So you are looking at getting a Health insurance policy which could cover you for say a year and that you could renew if needed. By the way, it is not a good idea to give your personal email in a post. Community Members may contact you by sending a private message and then, you decide whether you want to give that person your private email address.