Milky Bar Kid's activity

Thanks Ronco and Modicasa.

Yes it has been a long haul. I think we only survived by building another house in the UK which was a useful diversion.

As suggested, yesterday I went back to the Geometra and asked for a discount and dangled the carrot of being on TV (our UK house build was filmed by Channel 4 and they have expressed an interest in the Italian project) which he seemed quite keen on and said he will speak to the other engineer and geologist.

So from what has been said I am not expecting anything massive but it is good to know that the quotes are not outside the norm.

Thanks again

Hi Ken
Sorry for delay in replying. Should be out in September but with work I always tend to travel last minute, so have no exact dates. If you want to meet I suggest you contact me at the end of August and let me know when you will be there. You can also PM me through the Puglia Posse forum. My user name is The P's
ciao
Robin

Hi KenWe have restored a trullo outside Alberobello and have a wealth of information and contacts.  All the above information is correct apart from maybe the cost of cone restoration, that sounds very expensive but obviously difficult to comment without knowing the size and state of the original.  As with building work anywhere you really do have to shop around but some basics are - paving €45/50 persqm plus cost of stone, dry stone walling about the same and basic block building of a single storey extension around €500 a sqm.  I would stress these rates are for first class workmanship.  If you need anymore info, just ask as I know how difficult it is to find someone affordable, honest and reliable.

Hi KenWe have restored a trullo outside Alberobello and have a wealth of information and contacts.  All the above information is correct apart from maybe the cost of cone restoration, that sounds very expensive but obviously difficult to comment without knowing the size and state of the original.  As with building work anywhere you really do have to shop around but some basics are - paving €45/50 persqm plus cost of stone, dry stone walling about the same and basic block building of a single storey extension around €500 a sqm.  I would stress these rates are for first class workmanship.  If you need anymore info, just ask as I know how difficult it is to find someone affordable, honest and reliable.

Although it is illegal to resell a vignette and Ebay do sometimes cancel auctions, quite a few do get sold. I have for the last 3 years bought this way and bought one, unused for £20 inc postage last month

Got back from Puglia last week.  Left Alberobello at 5pm Friday  and arrived at Dunkirk at 3pm saturday (using 2 drivers and plenty of stops) and returned over  60mpg so we must have kept the speed down! Thanks to Alan H for suggesting the Mulhouse/Nancy/Metz stretch to avoid tolls - lovely road and we came off the motorway after Mulhouse at about 6.30am and after passing all those wonderful looking boulangeries we finally gave in and stopped at one for a highly calorific breakfast.  The road is also quite fast and scenic. Thanks also for the Lorrach - Basel bypass tip - worked a treat on the way down and is quicker during the day. Only error was that entering Luxembourg the first service station was packed, should have figured there was a reason - the second service station just before you leave Lux and go into Belgium was closed due to road repairs.

Let me tell you about my house insurance (note: - do not confuse Italsure with Intasure) I have for the three years insured via Italsure.  Each year I had a comparative quote from Intasure and found that not only were their premiums higher but like for like cover was not as good and excluded earthquake cover. Then last year I receive this e-mail from Italsure stating:- Your Europlan policy falls due for renewal on xxx. Unfortunately Europlan are not offering renewal on these policies so we would like to offer you another program as an alternative. It turns out that the 'other program' was Intasure and the renewal jumped from £280 to £450 with inferior cover. I then started to get chased for renewal by Intasure without agreeing to any switch nor had I given authority to Italsure to pass on my details.  This annoyed me so I started to investigate. I discovered that the underwriters of my Europlan Policy, A Copeland, were continuing to offer the same cover as I had before BUT because I went to them direct this years renewal was £250 with earthquake cover ( of course that will be dependent on where you live) So Italsure, got their facts wrong (lets be generous here) about the Europlan Policy, passed on my personal details to another broker without my authority and they recommended a policy with a staggering 80% premium increase.  Quite frankly it stinks. My advice - before you sign up to any policy organised via Intasure or Italsure get a comparative quote from A Copeland

Thanks for the replies.  I think I have found the solution.  The TomTom routeplanner http://routes.tomtom.com/#/map/?center=55.01%2C-3.445&zoom=4&map=basic allows you to put in time and day of departure and then says it will adjust for traffic. Haven't had time yet but will compare its findings to the via michelin to see if there is any real difference.

Is there a route map that you can factor in the time and date of travel to help avoid jams at Basel and St G tunnel? Am planning on catching early evening DFDS ferry to Dunkirk then drive through most of the night with 2 x drivers (usually catch a couple of hours sleep in the car) going the usual belgium/ luxembourg/basel route to arrive at Lake Garda early to mid afternoon.  So just figuring out the best place to pull over in Switzerland for some rest but don't want to get caught at the St G tunnel on a Friday morning