Sabina's activity

A final suggestion....I advise you also to go along to a Buffetti shop (a nationwide chain of  "official" stationary stores) where they should be able to sell (or order) you a book that details the min-max cost of most individual aspects that would go into any building quote...e.g. the min-max that can legally be asked per linear metre of  cutting out the traces (hacking a channel in the wall) ready to receive electric cable / water pipes etc.  This at least allows you to check whether quotes are going over the limit! Can't remember exactly what the book is called, maybe someone else can help you with the title, if not, explain its contents and I am sure they will know what you mean!  I only found out about it AFTER all the building work had been done - and almost wished I hadn't!!

My understanding is that you have to give no less 2 months notice to either cancel or "reduce" your Sky contract - in writing with recorded letter that you receive confirmation has been delivered (raccomandata con ricevuta di ritorno).  BUT...not just any two months, it has to be two months prior to the anniversary of when the contract was originally taken out.  So, if you signed up in December, you given written in at least October...but better September as if the letter arrives a day or two "after" the original date, then you are trapped for another year. This is what Sky customer services told me to do about 18 months ago when I pared down the "packages" to the minimum...and it worked.

If you've decided on Lazio, but not necessarily where in Lazio...why not come and have a look around the Sabina...about 60 km NE of Rome...(I wrote about it when I signed up)  I think you might find prices a bit cheaper here... Most of the big franchises have got branches here....and there are a few "independents" too...Best Immobiliare, Polidori, Case di Famiglia. For names of towns and a map...got to www.sabine.it

Just on a practical note....bear in mind that there are not as many large DIY superstores here (B&Q etc). There's a Leroy Merlin next door to the Porta di Roma Ikea...but other than that, buying materials is not going to be as easy as in the UK, and from what others have told me, lots of the basic stuff ends up costing more from builders merchants and the like... Hiring large equipment is also not as easy in the UK...you will probably be able to hire a cement mixer (and bulldozers, tractors etc) if you have a hunt around...but the variety of tools that can be hired in most medium to large sized towns in the UK from the average "hire shop" are unlikely to be on offer. One way around the problem is borrowing from neighbours...but you will need to get to know them first - or perhaps tapping in to the expat community around where you live and draw on their knowledge and experience about where to get what. If you do end up hiring a builder - be aware that Buffetti (a nationwide chain of stores selling mostly office stationary and government "booklets"...have book that gives you the min/ max from/to price of all building jobs...so you can at least check and see if you are being given a fair quote. Also bear in mind that many builders prefer to work entirely or partially "in nero" - in black, i.e. no formal invoices.  An advantage is that the overall cost to you is cheaper (no vat) but on the other hand you will have even less likelihood than usual of any recourse if something turns out to be poorly executed / wrong!  Also - there are tax breaks available on some of the costs incurred in restoring / renovating an existing property - so you should check this out with an informed and trusted geometra /architect - but even the estate agent that sold you the property (if you went through one) should be able to give you that info. Finally....be wary of accepting the first recommended builder / tradesman....(I'm not talking price here)  often it is a relative friend of whoever you are talking to...they may well be the best ever at what it is they do...but try and get the quality of work confirmed by someone you KNOW is not connected in any way (I was caught out this way, as were other expats I know...and later, once we had become a more integral part of the community people would say...well, what do you expect, so and so has always had a reputation for being sloppy / unreliable / whatever!)  In my experience, the idea of going to see a person's work at a previous client's house is not as readily accepted here as it is perhaps in the UK. Good luck!

I highly recommend "In God's Name" by David Yellup.  To quote the blurb on Amazon: "it's been at the top of the bestseller lists all over the world. It contains some of the most explosive and dramatic revelations ever published about the internal affairs of the Vatican." I read it when it was first published - and with each "new" edition, it has been updated.  I found it fascinating but also, to some extent, appalling - and friends who have since read it themselves agree. Two literally read it cover to cover - going without sleep to finish it as they just couldn't put it down! I should point out however that some people might find it offensive, in that the Vatican does not come out of it in a very good light....  

Couldn't agree with you more...I love Naples too!  I lived in Sorrento for several years - working in travel and used to go into Naples often - both by car (a wonderful old-style 500) or train and never had any problems. Lively, colourful, warm-hearted people the Neapolitans, and although it's a city with many problems - there's also much that's oh so right with it! I now live in Sabina (northern Lazio) and also loved to knock back the rosso...talking of which, ever try the Gragnano when in Naples...got a slight fizz to it which I normally don't like, but in this case...squisito! Good food?  Another passion, but now that middle age has set in, am making a last ditch attempt to lose some excess weight!  Healthy as the Med. Diet might be...there are lots of wonderful dishes that do pile on the pounds! Oh well...they do say the Italians live to eat whereas the Brits eat to live! Although I don't think that is nearly as true as it once was, they certainly take time and pleasure in their food here.  What I do miss however - living out in the sticks as I do (which is otherwise perfect and just what I want) - is the lack of opportunity to eat / cook other cuisine and have to rely on friends coming out to bring me the ingredients - which when they are flying low cost is not easy due to luggage restrictions! Never mind...there are other things in life too and you can't have it all!    

Sorry if I upset you...I'm not saying that things are any better any where else...and of course there are vast numbers of Italians who love and adore their pets...but in rural areas, where the "norm" is to have working dogs rather than pets this is often not the case....and this is not only based on my observations, but also what the vets in the practice I go to (all Italian and from this area) say! And as St Francis spent a lot of time in Sabina (just next door to Umbria) it does seem somewhat ironic...that's all! Yes, a rottweiler is a big dog, and taking one on is a big responsibility...which is why I said I was looking for someone who could both afford it and have the space.  My point in this story (which just happens to be set here, but could equally well be set in the UK, USA or anywhere else in the world) is that it is hardly news that they ARE big dogs, and that the people who first took this dog home to an apartment should have thought of that before they did so...but having had it for a year, it is cruel and uncaring to simply say find it a home or it will be killed!   No country is perfect...if only!   There are lots of wonderful things about Italy, (I have lived here for many many years) and England too, where I come from, but both countries also have many things wrong with them....and I don't think that there is anything wrong in talking about something that is not ideal or perfect - I thought free speech was part of living in a democracy! Judging by your name you are Italian - so perhaps you too have seen the reports on striscia la notizie about the awful living conditions for dogs in many of the canile communale around the country?  Again, I am not saying that this ONLY happens in Italy - just that it does happen! So...auguri di buon anno...e non te lo prendere!

Although there are now laws aimed at protecting animals from cruelty etc - and that (in theory) will punish those that are responsible - or that abandon them -  in practice they are very rarely applied! (Nothing new there then.....) It is the law that says animals can't be put down for as long as they are healthy or treatable...so it is not so much that vets are being awkward, they are obeying the law.  I am sure that some do what they can on the quiet but.... yes the roving wild packs of dogs that are certainly a danger, for which there is a  strong arguement for putting them down humanely before they attack and injure a person - and in many instances, it would also save them from the poor quality of life that many endure until they are either shot by a local farmer, or run over by a car!  That said, many of the "canile communale" are awful places...terribly overcrowded (some have 3 or 4 times as many animals as they were designed for) and often with insufficient funds to properly feed and care for the animals.  My vets (there are 6 of them in the practice) volunteer at the local canile twice a week to do what they can - for free- (they also help out clients who have little money to spend on vet bills, but lots of love for their pets!),  There are rescue centres run by volunteers, but donating money to spend on animals is not high up the list of worthy causes for most Italians.  My vet told me that there is a law that says that for every x thousand people (I don't know the details) a commune is supposed to have a canile - (and that state or perhaps European funding is available) and that where a commune has less than that number of residents, they can link up with neighbouring comune...but few bother, and nobody says anything!  There is also a problem with funds being waylaid by the malavita apparently.  The funding provided is, let's say 3 Euro per dog per day (it may be more or less, I've forgotten).  Once the canile is up and running, "someone" comes along and says unless you give me 2 Euro of that money we will do x, y, z......  Striscia la notizia - has also done several exposès about the whole problem.  For those that don't know, it is a popular programme, humourous and full of satire and irony, but which  also goes "undercover"  to expose all sorts of things - from lousy / corrupt kennels, to the "maghi" (clairvoyants) that appear on TV, lawyers "arranging" papers for non EU citizens wanting to stay in Italy, the state of roads, new roads that received EU funding but have never been finished, etc etc etc. Actually - the spaying and neutering of cats and dogs is usually available free or in some regions, at a much reduced cost, but the ASL vets(ASL is equivalent of NHS) - although my own vet says that they are often more like butchers than surgeons.   That, however is not why most Italians don't have their animals "done".... I can't tell you how many times I have been told that it is "against God / nature" (but apparently killing or abandoning the puppies / kittens is OK....) There is much to love about Italy...but sometimes I wonder why on earth they ever chose St Francis as the country's patron saint, when love of animals seems so low down on the list...   Oh well... The Rottweiler has apparently "gone" but we don't know how / where / when....    

I lived in Sorrento for quite a few years, and often went into Naples for shopping etc as it was so much cheaper and more varied.  It is a fabulous city - vibrant, noisy ,happy and I agree with the other person who said the food is great.  It gets a lot of bad press...much of which is well deserved - but just treat it like any other city in the world where poverty and hardship is rife.  Don't walk around looking as if you are a millionaire (in comparison....) count money out in the street, wear lots of jewellery etc.  I used to just put folded bank notes in my jeans pocket and carry a plastic bag....never had any problems at all.  As to the rest...utilities etc are as bad there as anywhere else in Italy....learn to be patient!

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