La Dolcevita's activity

Don't think it quite correlates.......I had no idea that we had 25kW here in the UK - I operate from the perspective off keepng usage to the minimum whilst staying warm and keeping an eye on the bill.  We could have the possibility of 3kW/6 or 25 - I'd still be the same.  

Great news being digital but what a phaff to go through.......thanks for the heads up on how to do it though! :)

HI Russell and welcome I can help you on your little CF plastic card.........you don't actually need it you are only ever asked for your number - however like you I wanted mine and it took a couple of calls to the London embassy (mid morning/mid afternoon seems to work best) and it will arrive in the post. As far as property goes there are lots of buyer bewares..........do a search on here to get you started.  Lots of near misses and war stories and of course some very easy purchases.  I've had one easy purchase and one nightmare (the nightmare was buying agricultural land where a neighbour exerised his right of first refusal otherwise known as prelazione and we had to sell him what we had bought) - even though we had bought through a solicitor - very very long story which ultimately has worked out for the best.   So first things first make sure you buy through a reputable estate agent and for bolt and braces get everything checked by a reputable lawyer and do YOUR homework - checking on here and asking questions is a great first step. There are also lots of good books out there that can guide you through the process.  You may strike lucky and get to know the locals who may have something to sell directly to you - if you do this have someone who can hold your hand through the process.  One of the many challenges in italy is that often lots of relatives own "shares" in a property and they all need to want to sell - can take a huge amount of patience. Once you have decided on your property and agreed a price - the seller will draw up a compromesso (bill of sale) at which stage you pay a % of the sale price up front (usually 10%) this is non refundable (unless you specify terms in the compromesso eg subject to mortgage approval etc) if your seller pulls out they have to pay you double the price.  Once this is signed the seller takes everythign to the notaio who completes all the relevant searches and then you turn up and sign all the documents together with the seller in front of the notaio - if you don't speak/understand a decent level of italian you are required by italian law to bring along someone to translate for you.  Sounds very strightforward which it can be............ Hope that helps for starters Good luck and keep asking the questions 

Blimey - what a bind to say the least.  The difficulty will be finding out for your particular area what is legal/illegal. We're up in Liguria so different regs and different for each commune - so in ours it's illegal tp put up a shed (though not sure if this is with or without a concrete base.) I'm guessing you've asked the question already of the locals that you're friends with? Have you got a forum for ex pats local to your area?

Your best bet is to go and ask your local commune as every commune has different regulations.  Have you asked an architect/geometra at all as they'd also be able to tell you if there was a "way" round it. 

I have no more excuses - thank you all so much   I love the mountain analogy and all the really practical and useful suggestions - having lots of choices suits me perfectly.   I listened to Michel Thomas in the car on a long journey home this evening - so perfect and am going to put him on my ipod/nano/ipad etc so he will be everywhere - along with you tube clips etc One of my childrens stroy book CD's arrived - like a little kid I ripped open to discover they'd sent the english version!!! And tomorrow I'm not working so am going to label everything in the kitchen and then move to another room the following week Am very excited now as opposed to sighing - and one day in the future may be able to participate in discussions on tense usage in different parts of italy (but don't hold your breath!!) Thanks again

Can't resist it Ram - "I for one" needs to be followed by "one for all!!" I had no idea to start off with on the other forum I "sort of" followed that it was just one person who went "off on one" in various forms - then I began to notice the subtleties (or sometimes not of the posters) and realised it was just the one person - which made me feel a bit better as I was getting the impression that all the ex-pats who lived in Liguria were either Eyeores (doom and gloom merchants) psycopaths or completely nuts.  And of course wherever you live/post there will always be one or two of these but I had visions of a Zombie type of region!! I've really really appreciated the time and effort many people from this forum have put in to answering what is probably lots of questins that repeat themselves on a cycle - and I look forward to being as "wise in the world" of Italy too (and of course being able tospeak the lingo too!

Am I meant to thank you Penny?????  It's a bit like Inspector Cleuseau meets Dallas meets Lassie!!!!  Don't understand it in the slightest verbally but as they say a picture paints a thousand words - and is far better than sitting in front of a text book! As you've probably gathered I should be doing my homework and not playing on a forum - so easily distracted..

Penny - you just want me to spend more money!!!!  

I think there has to be - it seems too much of a coincidence that both Judecas and Ms B have gone