chrisnotton's activity

If it is going to save you a lot of money & your geometra can arrange things easily for you then then the advantages probably outweigh any disadvantages. You may find however that there might be a couple of obstacles put in your way by the commune. This really depends on the local interpretation of the rules & who your geometre knows there. From what I hear, if you were in Ascoli Piceno then you might be advised to run away now but in your area perhaps things are a little more "arrangeable".

1. You may find that you need an address in the commune where you can be inspected. This usually goes away once they realise that you are not Eastern European or scarily foreign                            
2. You may be asked to provide evidence of medical coverage. Sometimes a form from the DW&P in th eUK will do it, sometimes a cheap medical insurance policy certificate, If your geometre has enough pull then all this can be "overlooked" too.                                                                                  
3. You will probably have to show that you have some money in the bank so bring a few copies of bank statements or savings. I had already opened an Italian bank account when I applied & that was enough for my commune.

You will not lose any NHS privileges unless you tell the DW&P that you are leaving the country to reside elsewhere. There are a number of strategies to avoid this even if you do, but you probably won't need to worry about this. I would go for it only if it will save you a reasonable amount. Useful thread here: http://www.italymag.co.uk/community/post/residency-vs-non-residency I have My Residency, Carta d'identita, Attestazione di regolarità per i cittadini dell'Unione Europea, Tessera Sanitaria etc. all in place now but it took some arranging!

I wish they'd put Luton-Rome back on. I hate flippin Stansted at the crack of sparrow-fart! 

Thanks for that. I have signed up!!

You can retract an Ebay bid: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buy/questions/retract-bid.html#retract Pip pip

You might try looking round for a Morphy-Richards Roma they seemed to get good reviews. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Morphy-Richards-Roma-Pump-Cappuccino-47505-Coffee-... Really you won't find a good coffee machine very cheaply. It is just too complicated to copy what you get in a pro machine on a small scale. The grinder is at least as important as the machine, so you really need a good one of those too. Have a look on this site www.coffeegeek.com for more information La Pavoni & Gaggia both make good domestic espresso machines but Italy is not the best place to buy them! THis is because most Italians drink their daily coffee in a bar & keep a small stove-top espresso pot for use at home. The UK, Holland or Germany seem to have the best prices for these small machines. You might find a Gaggia Espresso like this still around http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/consumer/gaggia_espresso or a La Pavoni http://coffeegeek.com/reviews/consumer/la_pavoni_espresso_machines I used one of these daily for about 10 years before upgrading to a single-group pro-sumer machine. Pip pip

Ciao e tutti, In theory there is: http://www.cotralspa.it/collegamenti_Aeroporti.asp But I have never seen it when I have been waiting for busses at Ciampino so I would venture an email or two if I were you. Here is a link to some discussions on the old board about it: http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/travel-holiday-advice/8520-shuttle-bus-ciampino.html. The bus timetables are on the sites. If you are traveling at the weekend, or during the lunchtime station-bus hiatus, then it is probably quicker to take the shuttle-bus direct to Termini as the traffic is light & the station shuttle & trains are less frequent. Always assuming the the Ciampino-Fiumicino is mythical  The Atral/Schiaffini busses are much nicer & cheaper than the Terravision ones! In bocca al lupo

Salve, When we bought our land we were told that adjacent landowners had a "DRITTO PRELAZIONE TERRENI" which they had a year to exercise. This meant that they had option to buy the land at the catastral value we had paid for it. We were told that as we had paid over the odds for agricultural land that it would be very unlikely that anyone would do this and that this statute was largely used to discourage farmers from selling land to each other for less than the market value. However just to be sure we would be prudent to wait a year before doing anything to improve the land. For example connecting services, planting olives, constructing agricultural buildings etc. therefore making the land more attractive or valuable & attracting attention. We were aided in implementing this advice by the financial crisis which has made us very prudent indeed.    In bocca al lupo

You could try: http://www.reifendirekt.de/ You can get most types & sizes overnight from them. You could also check prices & availability of alternative makes too! Seasons bah-humbug!

Also Adrian Flux http://www.adrianflux.co.uk/ Clements, who don't care where you car is registered. http://www.clements.com/expatriate/overview.asp & don't forget Saga who have unlimited foreign use on their standard policy! In bocca al lupo!

It's a bugger! Their credit card is still good but your best bet now is N&P who are removing their charges in the New Year. Presumably to attract all the NW flex customers abandoning ship. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/savings-and-banking/article.html?in_article... Also if you live in London then Metrobank says it will not charge any fees for foreign ATM's & give a good spot rate. I think they want to pick up some NW customers too. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11344048 I am going for both as it is always handy to have some sort of back-up for when a card inexplicably stops working. Also I can top them up instantly from my UK bank account by phone or on the Internet so hopefully........................... Tanti saluti!