If like me, one of the few things you miss in Italy is a decent department store, in particular John Lewis, you may be interested to know that they now offer international delivery for £7-50.
Does anyone have a phone number for Telecom Italia that can be used from UK? We started trying to cancel our landline/ADSL contract with them last October - following their instructions to the letter.
After 10 years in Italy, the last 7 of which have been in Le Marche (Macerata province) for family reasons we now have to return to UK for at least a year.
A number of years ago I too was pulled over in a routine check. In Italy you are required to carry all orginal copies of the relevant documents ie licence. insurance docs and the 'libretto' with revisione (MOT) stickers on the reverse - we only had photocopies in the car. When the carabinieri questioned why the copies I pointed out to them that in the UK I had always been told to carry copies so that in the event of the car being stolen the thief would only have the copies and not original docs - after some deliberation they agreed that would be a sensible policy and sent us on our way!
Alan H beat me to it! I too would speak to the comune - they will give you the official and independent line - planning permission may be required so best to involve them early on.
Good question! We have often asked ourselves the same thing. Our immediate neighbours are an extended family group of parents (both now in their 70's and quite infirm), their three married sons (in their 40's and 50's) who all have 'regular' jobs and who work hard on the land at weekends and during any holidays they take and their, between them, 6 children who are all in their 20's. None of the latter ever venture near a tractor and do no work at all on the farm. They are lucky in that all the children do have a job of some sort. Many others we know in their 20's find it impossible to find a job, some are extremely well qualified and are now looking to UK/USA for employment as the nepotism/'not what you know but who you know' syndrome and lack of opportunity is driving them away. So I am not sure there is anything we can do other than support local businesses but sadly even then it will not stop the change in society nor the brain drain.
If it is just for be a water for the garden, what about sinking a large underground cisterna and collecting all rain water from the gutters? Lots of houses near us do this and whilst I suspect it will still need planning permission it maybe a cheaper option than sinking a well. Don't have time to read all the posts but there may be some ideas here: http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/gardening-agriculture/11465-harvesting-rainwater.html
61 cents per litre! Sebastiano, how do you do it? Even 10 years ago we could never negotiate a price for lpg from a tank as low as that! Price aside, I would certainly go for tank lpg rather than bottled gas - the bottles are hugely inconvenient, inevitably running out at completely the wrong time and getting hold of replacement ones can be a pain unless you have a supplier on the doorstep.
When Italy introduced the new plastic Tessera a few years ago they were incredibly sensible and combined the cards, as mentioned in the post above - on one side are the details for Italians (or non-Italians who are fully covered for state health care in Italy) to receive health care in Italy and on the reverse are the details for the emergency cover if needed in an EU country or one with reciprocal health agreement. Have a look at the link above - it explains it there and has some clear photos with explanations for the 2in1 card.
http://sistemats1.sanita.finanze.it/wps/portal/CittadinoTS/Area_ts As the above link shows, the front of the card is the Tessera Sanitaria used to obtain healthcare in Italy. On the reverse, is the TEAM the Italian version of the EHIC so your husband does not need to get the UK version as he is already covered under the Italian scheme.
Gail, I think you have misunderstood my answer. You cannot have dual comprehensive health cover - it is one or the other depending upon where you are resident. As you state you are resident in Le Marche and have the Tessera Sanitaria, whilst you are fully covered in Italy, you would only be covered under the reciprocal EU agreement for emergency A&E treatment in any other country included in the agreement, including the UK. So strictly speaking it is only emergency cover that the UK NHS can now provide to you as you are no longer resident and are registered under another country's health system. As for the SI form - I have never seen one, hopefully someone else can advise.
They published the current winter timetable for the AOI/STN route later than many others so at this stage I would not worry too much. Here's the link to the relevant discussion. http://www.italymag.co.uk/community/post/no-flights-novdec-ryanair-stanstead-anconawhats-going They change to the summer timetable at the end of March which coincides with the date you give so I suspect they will publish it shortly once it has been finalised. It has been normal policy to drop the number of flights to 4 a week over winter for a few years now so again this is not ominous. The flights are generally full and not ones that enjoy many bargain fares so I very much doubt they will drop the route.
Comments posted
How easy is it to get planning permission on land classified as 'agricolo'? Around us it is nigh on impossible. Good luck with the purchase.
A number of years ago I too was pulled over in a routine check. In Italy you are required to carry all orginal copies of the relevant documents ie licence. insurance docs and the 'libretto' with revisione (MOT) stickers on the reverse - we only had photocopies in the car. When the carabinieri questioned why the copies I pointed out to them that in the UK I had always been told to carry copies so that in the event of the car being stolen the thief would only have the copies and not original docs - after some deliberation they agreed that would be a sensible policy and sent us on our way!
Alan H beat me to it! I too would speak to the comune - they will give you the official and independent line - planning permission may be required so best to involve them early on.
Good question! We have often asked ourselves the same thing. Our immediate neighbours are an extended family group of parents (both now in their 70's and quite infirm), their three married sons (in their 40's and 50's) who all have 'regular' jobs and who work hard on the land at weekends and during any holidays they take and their, between them, 6 children who are all in their 20's. None of the latter ever venture near a tractor and do no work at all on the farm. They are lucky in that all the children do have a job of some sort. Many others we know in their 20's find it impossible to find a job, some are extremely well qualified and are now looking to UK/USA for employment as the nepotism/'not what you know but who you know' syndrome and lack of opportunity is driving them away. So I am not sure there is anything we can do other than support local businesses but sadly even then it will not stop the change in society nor the brain drain.
If it is just for be a water for the garden, what about sinking a large underground cisterna and collecting all rain water from the gutters? Lots of houses near us do this and whilst I suspect it will still need planning permission it maybe a cheaper option than sinking a well. Don't have time to read all the posts but there may be some ideas here: http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/gardening-agriculture/11465-harvesting-rainwater.html
61 cents per litre! Sebastiano, how do you do it? Even 10 years ago we could never negotiate a price for lpg from a tank as low as that! Price aside, I would certainly go for tank lpg rather than bottled gas - the bottles are hugely inconvenient, inevitably running out at completely the wrong time and getting hold of replacement ones can be a pain unless you have a supplier on the doorstep.
When Italy introduced the new plastic Tessera a few years ago they were incredibly sensible and combined the cards, as mentioned in the post above - on one side are the details for Italians (or non-Italians who are fully covered for state health care in Italy) to receive health care in Italy and on the reverse are the details for the emergency cover if needed in an EU country or one with reciprocal health agreement. Have a look at the link above - it explains it there and has some clear photos with explanations for the 2in1 card.
http://sistemats1.sanita.finanze.it/wps/portal/CittadinoTS/Area_ts As the above link shows, the front of the card is the Tessera Sanitaria used to obtain healthcare in Italy. On the reverse, is the TEAM the Italian version of the EHIC so your husband does not need to get the UK version as he is already covered under the Italian scheme.
Gail, I think you have misunderstood my answer. You cannot have dual comprehensive health cover - it is one or the other depending upon where you are resident. As you state you are resident in Le Marche and have the Tessera Sanitaria, whilst you are fully covered in Italy, you would only be covered under the reciprocal EU agreement for emergency A&E treatment in any other country included in the agreement, including the UK. So strictly speaking it is only emergency cover that the UK NHS can now provide to you as you are no longer resident and are registered under another country's health system. As for the SI form - I have never seen one, hopefully someone else can advise.
They published the current winter timetable for the AOI/STN route later than many others so at this stage I would not worry too much. Here's the link to the relevant discussion. http://www.italymag.co.uk/community/post/no-flights-novdec-ryanair-stanstead-anconawhats-going They change to the summer timetable at the end of March which coincides with the date you give so I suspect they will publish it shortly once it has been finalised. It has been normal policy to drop the number of flights to 4 a week over winter for a few years now so again this is not ominous. The flights are generally full and not ones that enjoy many bargain fares so I very much doubt they will drop the route.