I travelled via Belgium last week and decided to stay overnight at Dinant, where I have stayed previously and found to be marginally less bad than most towns in Belgium.To anyone contemplating a similar stop - don't.The whole of the town is being
At La Dolce Vita exhibition at Olympia this year I bought a jar of garlic cloves preserved in a pizzaiola type oil and vinegar mixture.It is just amazing for snacking, the whole cloves are really crunchy with a fairly mild flavour of the garlic an
I need to buy a tyre for my car. I googled all the usual words but came up with nothing. Back in UK I would simply go to Kwikfit, or ATS etc and it would be done on the spot.
Does anybody have a contact for a sun blind maker?Think of a conventional, rather old-fashioned roller blind with the roller fixed at the top of the window and the blind hanging vertically down.
As far as my understanding goes, one of the great advantages of the offshore bond was the ability to withdraw up to 5% of original capital value without triggering a chargeable event. if annual income is not needed, the 5 percent allowance is rolled over to subsequent years so a cumulative withdrawal allowance can be built up over the years. And this is not deemed to be "income", so doesn't affect Age Allowance. Another advantage is the ability to assign the bond to someone else (e.g. a non-taxpayer), also without triggering a chargeable event. Both of these mean that the offshore bond should still be a very useful tool if used properly. Unless I am out of date? Terry
Fuel in Belgium is cheaper than France (if you find you can't make it to Luxembourg). Diesel is more expensive than petrol in Switzerland, about the same proportion as UK. Basel doesn't have any hold-ups if you travel mid-week. Nor does Gotthard. Terry
I Google Earthed the passes you are going over and I have to say it looks a spectacular route. I unfortunately can't do scary roads any longer as I seem to totally lose it if the armco barrier runs out at any point. My friends tell me it's an irrational fear, but I can't see anything irrational about being afraid of plunging to an ugly death by falling off the edge of the road e.g. in the event of a front wheel puncture. Italy seems to me pretty good about maintaining a good safe barrier (Splugen Pass excepted); some countries are decidedly dodgy - I was amazed to find a long unprotected area on the Fernpass - the main road from Germany into Innsbruck. You tend to wonder how many they lose. It is a problem though, as it stops me going up unknown mountain roads for fear of getting to a situation where I can't turn round and go back if I feel I have to. It wasn't always a problem, just another downside of advancing age......... Terry
We have had a Telecom Italia landline and Alice broadband for nearly 3 years without any problems whatsoever. I'm not sure what we pay but it seemed like a good package at the time. Setting it up was very easy - went to the Telecom Italia shop in the village and it just happened from there, no waiting or anything. They sent a guy along who set it all up for us at no extra cost, and he spoke good English which was just as well at the time. Terry
We have had quite good experiences in Switzerland. The Ibis in Basel is excellent and Basel is worth a visit if you happen to be near there. The other place we have stayed is Sursee, which is a good little town on the Sempachersee just short of Lucerne. The motorway service station near Sursee is excellent for fresh individually cooked Rosti - it just happens to coincide with lunchtime on our usual run! If only the UK and France could learn from them........ Terry
Your list of buffoons curiously includes only left wingers - surely you should not omit Jonathan Aitken, Derek Conway, Andrew Mackay, Jeffrey Archer - and they broke the law as well as being buffoons. Wholeheartedly agree, but none of them have been in Government while my friends have been taunting about Berlusconi, so irrelevant. Read the words. The real buffoon is Osborne, possibly one of the most intellectually challenged Chancellors in history. Well there's that Brown fellow to consider in that category; I won't post his failings due to lack of bandwidth, but believe it's well documented in Vernon Coleman's book "Gordon is a Moron". Diane abbott et al may not be everyones cup of tea, but dont compare them to Berlusconi Didn't. it shows a political ignorance that can only be born of the Daily Mail. The reason I normally stay away from any threads to do with politics is because someone always eventually demeans himself with cheap jibes. T
For years I have listened to my English friends jibing at me about Berlusconi being a ridiculous political figure whilst suffering apparently unconcernedly under the likes of Brown, Prescott, Harman, Abbott, Mandelson, various Milibands etc etc. They are the real political buffoons. TK
I make the trip frequently and just arrived yesterday. I came via Belgium, Luxembourg (diesel at €1.11), Nancy, Basel, Gotthard. Really easy trip - as usual - and absolutely zero in tolls. The Swiss vignette costs the same as one way through Mont Blanc but lasts for over a year. Terry
After years of Blair and Brown (not to mention Lord Prescott, Lord Mandelson and the Miliband show) I can't believe anyone can criticise any other country's political setup. If that is the result of a non-flawed democracy and an enlightened electorate, I give up.
We went UK to Venice last month, via Koblenz, at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle, which worked out really well. There's a great steakhouse there (Gaucho). Then into Austria, over the Fernpass (spectacular) and stayed the night in Innsbruck, which we really liked. Next day over the Brenner and on to Venice. All in all we loved the trip.
Comments posted
As far as my understanding goes, one of the great advantages of the offshore bond was the ability to withdraw up to 5% of original capital value without triggering a chargeable event. if annual income is not needed, the 5 percent allowance is rolled over to subsequent years so a cumulative withdrawal allowance can be built up over the years. And this is not deemed to be "income", so doesn't affect Age Allowance. Another advantage is the ability to assign the bond to someone else (e.g. a non-taxpayer), also without triggering a chargeable event. Both of these mean that the offshore bond should still be a very useful tool if used properly. Unless I am out of date? Terry
Fuel in Belgium is cheaper than France (if you find you can't make it to Luxembourg). Diesel is more expensive than petrol in Switzerland, about the same proportion as UK. Basel doesn't have any hold-ups if you travel mid-week. Nor does Gotthard. Terry
I Google Earthed the passes you are going over and I have to say it looks a spectacular route. I unfortunately can't do scary roads any longer as I seem to totally lose it if the armco barrier runs out at any point. My friends tell me it's an irrational fear, but I can't see anything irrational about being afraid of plunging to an ugly death by falling off the edge of the road e.g. in the event of a front wheel puncture. Italy seems to me pretty good about maintaining a good safe barrier (Splugen Pass excepted); some countries are decidedly dodgy - I was amazed to find a long unprotected area on the Fernpass - the main road from Germany into Innsbruck. You tend to wonder how many they lose. It is a problem though, as it stops me going up unknown mountain roads for fear of getting to a situation where I can't turn round and go back if I feel I have to. It wasn't always a problem, just another downside of advancing age......... Terry
We have had a Telecom Italia landline and Alice broadband for nearly 3 years without any problems whatsoever. I'm not sure what we pay but it seemed like a good package at the time. Setting it up was very easy - went to the Telecom Italia shop in the village and it just happened from there, no waiting or anything. They sent a guy along who set it all up for us at no extra cost, and he spoke good English which was just as well at the time. Terry
We have had quite good experiences in Switzerland. The Ibis in Basel is excellent and Basel is worth a visit if you happen to be near there. The other place we have stayed is Sursee, which is a good little town on the Sempachersee just short of Lucerne. The motorway service station near Sursee is excellent for fresh individually cooked Rosti - it just happens to coincide with lunchtime on our usual run! If only the UK and France could learn from them........ Terry
Your list of buffoons curiously includes only left wingers - surely you should not omit Jonathan Aitken, Derek Conway, Andrew Mackay, Jeffrey Archer - and they broke the law as well as being buffoons. Wholeheartedly agree, but none of them have been in Government while my friends have been taunting about Berlusconi, so irrelevant. Read the words. The real buffoon is Osborne, possibly one of the most intellectually challenged Chancellors in history. Well there's that Brown fellow to consider in that category; I won't post his failings due to lack of bandwidth, but believe it's well documented in Vernon Coleman's book "Gordon is a Moron". Diane abbott et al may not be everyones cup of tea, but dont compare them to Berlusconi Didn't. it shows a political ignorance that can only be born of the Daily Mail. The reason I normally stay away from any threads to do with politics is because someone always eventually demeans himself with cheap jibes. T
For years I have listened to my English friends jibing at me about Berlusconi being a ridiculous political figure whilst suffering apparently unconcernedly under the likes of Brown, Prescott, Harman, Abbott, Mandelson, various Milibands etc etc. They are the real political buffoons. TK
I make the trip frequently and just arrived yesterday. I came via Belgium, Luxembourg (diesel at €1.11), Nancy, Basel, Gotthard. Really easy trip - as usual - and absolutely zero in tolls. The Swiss vignette costs the same as one way through Mont Blanc but lasts for over a year. Terry
After years of Blair and Brown (not to mention Lord Prescott, Lord Mandelson and the Miliband show) I can't believe anyone can criticise any other country's political setup. If that is the result of a non-flawed democracy and an enlightened electorate, I give up.
We went UK to Venice last month, via Koblenz, at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle, which worked out really well. There's a great steakhouse there (Gaucho). Then into Austria, over the Fernpass (spectacular) and stayed the night in Innsbruck, which we really liked. Next day over the Brenner and on to Venice. All in all we loved the trip.