Penny's activity

If you know what the Italian law is regarding UK licences, please do tell!

Graham, see if you can find a good commercialista to do the ICI for you. Ours only charges 10 euro per person (assuming the house is in 2 names - otherwise just 10 euro). Ours does all the paperwork, pays it, tells you how much it is and if you didn't live in Italy would let you pay him by bank transfer. A lot cheaper than flying over! The form you have receieved is just saying that you are inscribed in the register to pay your rubbish tax. They are just asking for details of the property and owner. It's not a ploy to get more money honest.

Check out this website: http://ec.europa.eu/youreurope/nav/en/citizens/living/car/driving-licens... for more details.But also see the section in Italiacs below. I assume this is where the requirement to have your UK driving licence recognised and an Italian driving licence number issued. This is the pink sticker that costs about 45 euro if you go to a driving school and shows your current address and Italian driving licence number. You will also have to have a medical every 5 years like an Italian. Mine is about to expire so that should be fun! Mutual recognition1. The principleArticle 1(2) of Directive 91/439/EEC stipulates that all driving licences have to be mutually recognised within the European Union. Where the holder of a valid driving licence acquires "normal residence" in a Member State other than that which issued the licence, the host country has to recognise the licence.Directive 80/1263/EEC laid down a period of one year during which the exchange had to be carried out by the authorities of the state of residence. This obligation has been abolished since 1 July 1996, the date of entry into force of Directive 91/439/EEC. It is still possible to exchange licences but it has to be based on a purely voluntary action on the part of the licence holder.At the time of the exchange, the Member State in which the holder has acquired normal residence issues a Community model licence of the corresponding category or categories, without the need for a theoretical or practical examination. Authorities must however check that the licence is valid.2. ExceptionsArticle 1(3) of Directive 91/439/EEC establishes an exception to this general principle of mutual recognition. It is noted that « Where the holder of a valid national driving licence takes up normal residence in a Member State other than that which issued the licence, the host Member State may apply to the holder of the licence its national rules on the period of validity of the licence, medical checks and tax arrangements and may enter on the licence any information indispensable for administration. »

• With regard to the period of validity of driving licences, Directive 91/439/EEC therefore allows Member States to apply their national provisions. In practice, the validity arrangements vary from one Member State to another. This means that a different period of validity, shorter for example, can be applied to the holder of a licence, in the event of change of residence.
• With regard to the interval between medical examinations, this has not been harmonised by Community legislation. In the majority of the Member States, it coincides with the period of validity.
• Driving licences issued by a non-member country and recognised by a Member State, are not recognised reciprocally in a systematic manner, even in the eventual case that the licence has been exchanged for a Community model in the meantime. It is therefore advisable to contact the competent national authorities.
• Member States are not obliged to recognise driving licences issued to persons aged under 18.

They are still there past October just only on Tuesday & Thursday & Saturday. There is a new destinations map on the site showing which are summer only routes.  Doubt he's put the cut routes up yet though.

Depends on when in September and where they are staying. In the mountains, late September can have some mist and occasional showers, making ti very atmospheric, but it is generally warm during the day and cooler at night (more pleasant weather really than now!). Having said that I have spent many days sunbathing at the beach in late September. Early September is still hot. A lot of the beach stuff closes around 15th September as do a lot of Italian run agriturismo's pools. It alwasy used to make me laugh that the agriturismo I rented an apartment at for 2 years, opened it's pool on 15th May and closed it on 15th September regardless of the weather.

We rent bikes and do escursions and MTB guiding. You have to provide your own bag or box on airlines

I would thank you Andrew but there isn't a button! The reason you don't see many bike hire places is that you have to have a licence rather like a car hire company to rent bikes here. It also prevents us from repairing bikes and selling bikes. Crazy eh? But then that's Italy!

You can treat them with linseed oil but you need to keep doing it and they may still mark. It depends on if that bothers you or not.

The food here is very simple and can sometimes get a bit monotonous so it is great to be able to have an Indian. It makes a chage and reawakens our spicy tastebuds. We'll definitely be trying it.

I can't remember if we sent you this or not: http://web.tiscali.it/trimac/