robbiemarche's activity

I'm sure there's much about this in other forums....however when we returned from Italy last Summer with our Norfolk Terrier it was evident that there are many things that could trip you up when being inspected at the Eurotunnel Terminal in Calais. Our vet in Chiusi had 'helpfully' left the exact time of her inspection blank on the pet passport - but when we arrived at Calais the officer said that we would have to wait until midnight in order to ensure that the inspection had indeed been carried out within the right time window.  We then had to contact the vet in Italy out of hours and get them to fax through the confirmation of treatment AND also find a vet that was open in Calais and have a reinspecton/re-endorsement - very stressful! The couple behind us were also refused because although the form had been correctly completed and stamped by the vet, there was no squiggle or signature above the stamp. Same story - urgent faxing back and forth and a further check by a local vet in Calais that was fortunately open. So the message is to be quite obsessive about checking absolutely everything which has to be completed on the pet passport and also ideally be at the ferry terminal / eurotunnel terminal during normal working hours - not in the evening or at night in case anything needs to corrected. But good luck - it's lovely having a furry friend on holiday!

I would check your policy wording carefully:  most UK policies for comprehensive cover eg Allianz, Direct Line etc do allow journeys abroad BUT the cover automatically defaults to the minimum level of cover required locally - typically third party only unless you pay extra one-off premiums. The situation was different a few years ago but almost all insurance now is sold on a price comparison basis and so cover is cut down wherever possible.

Maybe you also should consider your car hire company.  Some are notorious for deducting wrong items. We have always used Hertz or Avis who have always been very good and they check over and sign off the vehicle on the return.  Taking your own car out is great if you have the additional time but it is more expensive for most trips (petrol, motorway tolls, eurotunnel or ferry, overnight stays, tunnel tolls, breakdown insurance and green card) and, critically, the wear and tear can be very great especially on some of the appalling roads which masquerade as strade provinciale.  We have just had 10 days in Tuscany and the car hire through Avis was £197 from Pisa airport. If you are anxious about crash or theft then you can get an annual car hire excess policy for about £40 to cover all your overseas rentals fir 12 months.

THe problem with open fires is quite simply that the heat goes directly up the chimney (and often the smoke comes into the room). The solution to this is to use a Jetmaster cast iron box.  Esentially it's double skinned steel box which allows a natural convection of the heated hot air into the room but the front is still completely open.  They're quite expensive - £1,500 to £2,000 but I have just bought one on eBay for £130.  There is only one moving part - the lever for the vent so they can and do last for decades.  No need to buy one new. THe efficiency is about 45-50% as compared to a stove which might have efficiency of up to 85% - but you do have a wonderful open fire. They do tend to heat the room faster than a stove as well. They are made in the UK and there are are stockists in France and Belguim - but my advice is to buy one second-hand and have it delivered out.  THere is also another make called Tortoise but I have not use one of those.  Same principle however Anyway whatever you choose, good luck!

For me, I need multiple means of picking up the language: occasional private lessons, films (yes, I love Il Gattopardo too!); magazines etc. And sometimes just sitting down with as grammar book. The BBC 'Talk Italian Grammar' book is very good for me. I did find that the Penguin Parallel Texts Series were brilliant: short stories by Moravia, Calvino, Ginsberg etc - one side of the page in the original Italian and the other side of the page in English. There are some lovely stories. Italian Short Stories: Racconti In Italiano (Vols 1 and 2): (Penguin Parallel Texts Series) Italian Short Stories: Racconti Italiano (New Penguin Parallel Text Series) But good luck however you manage it!

Gosh thank you Fillide - that's perfect ... much appreciated!  Robin

There's a very good Italian magazine called Casa Antica which you can get at most bookstalls. It has lots of adverts for this kind of material + an index at the back. A link is here: http://www.casantica.net/indirizzi.asp For the old materials, you can contact Lacole http://www.lacolecasaitaliana.it/Catalogo-prodotti.asp or Sestini Corti http://www.sestiniecorti.it/classicointerni.html (which you will see on the A1 motorway at Bettolle next to the exit for Asciano and Lago Trasimeno). They will email you with prices - so you can use that as a comparison. Good luck!

Yes, I signed up. We all should. Avaaz is pretty effective; They organised a petition against a new intellectual property treaty (ACTA) and secured over 2.4m signatures and this was then presented on 28 March to the European Parliament.  So, yes this kind of grass roots action does work.

Gosh Winnifred that looks lovely. Are you renovatring this in part so that the property can be rented out? And are you making different decisions therefore compared to if you were just going to be living there as your home?? And do you have a fixed price for the renovation on  turn-key basis or do you expect simply to get a builder and do up the property on a time and materials basis? Be very interested on yur thiughts on this since I'm contemplating buying somewhere - probably in Le Marche - and still uncertain about these issues. thanks  Robin

  That's all - very helpful all and I think it's an important point to realise who might be the potential buyers when one finally comes to sell - clearly Italian buyers are more numerous but they will be looking for something quite different from the far fewer numbers of British retirees or those looking for holiday houses. I will keep on looking and have to work out the figures based on any specific property we see Robin