I'd be grateful for any advice other community members might be able to give me on another matter.
chris18's activity
Questions Asked
We bought a house in the Bagni di Lucca area in October 2011. We used the house for one week in late October 2011, a week either side of Christmas 2011, a week in February 2012 and then 2 weeks in April 2012.
Has anyone converted their Cantina into living space and if so what are the pros and cons ?
I'm not going to attempt it without a Geometra but would be interested to hear other members experiences.
Is the planned rise in the price of the Swiss Vignette to 100 CHF going ahead?
I understand that the vote in the referendum in Switzerland went AGAINST the planned rise.
I'm planning a trip from Lucca to Venice in the summer ( I know, Venice in summer!). Does anyone have any views on the best way to get there? Road would be approx 3.5 hours, not sure about rail?
For all those lovers of Italy and all things Italian I can heartily recommend Italy Unpacked, which is being broadcast on BBC 2 at 9pm on Friday evenings in the UK.
We're being chrged €19 per hour for garden work, which consists almost entirely of strimming our grass around the house near Lucca. It seems very expensive to me, and takes place between April - August.
In Italy we've got a SKY TV package for which we pay approx €50 per month.
If we go over at Christmas and then might not go back until June.
Is it just me or does everyone else enjoy the drive to Italy - if so what are your highlights?
I'm driving over to Italy later this month. When we get through the Gottard Tunnel and eventually enter Italy we're heading towards Pisa.
Comments posted
Well, maybe its not as bad as it first looks.
Italy has introduced the quarantine measure to deal with the outbreak of the Delta variant in UK. Fair enough.
This evening on BBC Radio 4 news, most of the covid experts seemed to agree that we are just below the peak for the Delta variant outbreak. They expect the numbers to peak in the next 14 days. I think 7 days after that 14 day lead-in to the peak, if the figures are by then on a downward trajectory, the Italian government will take note and act accordingly.
So..... in 21 days from Monday 21 June, (say around 12 July) you may read that the quarantine rule is being relaxed. Then you can travel to Italy. I think you take the same route we do, as you mention in a previous post that wonderful Proscutteria at the AGIP on the Italian side of the Great St Bernard Tunnel.
I see a 5 day quarantine rule has been announced in respect of British tourists, effective from tomorrow.
I remember the run up to the referendum vote in 2016. As we approached the day of the vote I remember asking family friends contacts if they were going to vote and if so which way. I was struck by how many were intending to vote leave. There is'nt a 'type' of vote leave voter, people from all backgrounds voted leave. I knew on the morning of the vote that the decision to leave was going to be considerably closer than most of the voting pundits predicted. Lo and behold at 4.00 am on Friday 24 June 2016, David Dimbleby, hosting BBC referendum coverage through the night announced that Britain had voted to leave the EU after 43 years membership. A full 4 years after the vote the EU still cannot understand why the British voted to leave. Therein lies the answer.
Thank you Ugo and Steve. We are not at retirement age.
Sounds like i'm heading to Generali to buy a couple of policies!
Thank you anyway for your kind consideration of our question.
Hi Ugo,
Thank you very much for your reply.
So I take it that a policy is definitely required BEFORE a commune will grant any form of resideza?
regards
Chris
Hi Ugo,
We saw your answer to this question. May we ask you a separate but related question please?
My wife and I are in the process of applying for Residenza Elittiva at our commune. The commune have advised us that we will need a valid health insurance policy before we can go ahead with our application. We have our passports, and our Italian codice fiscale, but we have been advised to visit the office of the insurance company Generali, and buy a healthcare policy for a 12 month period. We visited Generali today and were advised that the policy will cost €400 each. We have made an appointment for next week but just thought we'd run this by you.
Is it the case that UK citizens applying for Residenza Elittiva are required to take out a private healthcare insurance policy?
And, do any other Italian insurance companies offer this service at a price less than €400 per person?
Just by way of background information we have the UK issued EHIC card which is now only valid until 31 December (which is the end of the UK/EU exit transition period) but I take it this has no bearing on the application for this type of resideza?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Modicasa I wondered if you might have read my post and question in relation to Gaia, posted about a week ago. Sorry I don't have your email so I've had to use this post to make contact with you.
My apologies to Helen.
Hi Ugo - I wondered if you might have seen my question posted about a week ago regarding Gaia, sorry I don't have your email so I've had to use this post to contact you. My apologies to Helen!
Tony, spot on. We'd been staying a couple of nights in Lausanne. When we drove through the GSB tunnel and spotted that little trattoria it was a bit of a revelation - 2 paninis 2 coffees and change from a €10 note! And yes, the toll is payable each way. Currently €27.90. The drive down towards Aosta is as you know very easy on the eye. I must admit I'm quite envious of the people who live in that area as Turin Geneva and Milan are all within a reasonable distance. Switzerland whilst it is expensive is such a beautiful country, and Italy around the Swiss border equally so.
Yes, very good advice from Alan. If you decide to use Great St Bernard tunnel (free with vignette or otherwise €27 euros one way), there is a cracking trattoria on your left just as you emerge from the tunnel heading in to Italy. A couple of years ago we stopped in Lausanne for a couple of nights. Very nice, but prices are very Swiss! As soon as we got through the tunnel we spotted the trattoria. We could'nt believe the difference in prices from Swiss side of the tunnel to the Italian side. I suspect there is a very good cross border trade in wine cigarettes etc from Italy in to Swiss.