½ûÂþÌìÌÃ

Neal, can't help with your area, but, as a general point, look out for your local agricolo... the farm supplier, they normally carry a range of basic tools, might just save you the trip to Bari.

georges is right .....

yes if you have to make the trip the castorama type outlets are good.....selection very good and i would say for things such as light fittings doors etc etc are about the best you can find as regards price....eg internal door...normal italian price around e250 euro...thats with all fittings and frame...castorama price euro 130... makes it worth the trip...

however tools and fixings are a different story... as is paint cement .. etc etc ...... power tools ...you might saveneuro five either way....your local shop will often give you a deal...as long as you avoid best names...there are always specials on the korean types of things.... they generally outlast the guarantee and do the job with lots of abuse thrown in...when they dont work anymore buy another.... screws and nails are a dream... i know according to this forum fighting and fittings are a mans providence.... but say yesterday i bought 2 boxes of wood screws for a power driver from the local shop ...e2.50 each... 500 screws per box... paint... if you want to paint your whole house there will be deals to be made....

apart from the fact that you might well save yourself a bit of money shoppping locally there is also the unpriceable local contact you will make.....sometimes if not cheaper the good will you generate by supporting your local supplier will out weigh any savings ............ eg we use a local timber merchant.... he doesnt need us particularily.... he is into big construction work.... 50 metre long beams ...that sort of thing....

but if i go there i sometimes get offered lunch...the workers have a sort of private restaurant.... he gives me masses of formed offcuts.... and his advise on types and use of woods is excellent .... al deals are made by the sq m. and i always get over the amount.... why do i keep going back... because he is helpful ... a good friend now.... and his wood is good value.... if i go to castorama.. and i do for somehings its just a trade transaction

... i will say that there is nothing here that you will source in england for much less... i will also disagree with some postings that seem to reflect the quality of tradesmen and suppliers here in italy... much like anywhere in europe there are good and bad to be found ... apart from one i would say i have found good... out of ten different tradresmen thats not a bad average....

Thank you for your reply John.

I liked you tale about the timber merchant. When we were in Ostuni in March, Neal used to call at the same tobaconist every morning for 20 cigies. By the end of the week the man who ran the shop was coming out and giving my two small children a lolly pop each. He thought all his xmas' had come all at once on the last day when Neal bought 2000 cigs to bring home. When we went back 4 weeks ago he remembered Neal straight away and gave him a welcoming smile. Can't wait to go back.

Paula

Paula, you've cracked it, thats what LIVING here is all about, even if you visit regularly as opposed to being permanent, it is very similar to what we used to have in Britain in the 50's (I was younger then) when shopkeepers were pleased to see you, and people knew the meaning of the word "service".
I was sitting in the bar yesterday just watching the young lady working (It's not difficult) she was cleaning, restocking shelves, tidying serving everyone dealing with the old cups etc., taking an obvious pride in her work (and the boss was nowhere about) and I couldn't help comparing that to my last visit to a coffee place in Atkinsons in Sheffield on my last visit, dirty tables staff nowhere to be seen, and don't start me on the Coffee.

Much as I love Italy, I would say "service" is the one word no one understands. The concept of service in the parts of Italy I know (from Como down to Latina on both sides of the country) is umm well mostly arranged for the convenience of the person doing the serving.

OTOH personal relationships are much nicer and infinitely easier to strike up than the repressed South of England.

The ½ûÂþÌìÌà attitudes remind me much more of life in the 1950s in northern England, as they remind you. However standards of service also remind me of the 1950s. If you want what someone wants to sell you, at the time they want to sell it, if you are unfailingly polite in your interaction with the person selling, you may get what you want at some time in the not too distant future.

As you say though the notion of service and cleanliness in England is a shock. Every shop I enter in England appears to be filthy, and the staff slovenly and don't give a hoot. Last week I had to visit the bank in Winchester and I found myself behind a group of ½ûÂþÌìÌà children on tour with an english tour guide. It seemed she was under instruction to teach them English as well as to act as a guide and was not only showing off the old stuff but was marching them up to shops and asking them to name the type of shop and the goods on sale.

They stopped by the butcher next door to my bank and she repeated the performance. "Now then children what do we call this shop?"

Now this is a shop I never use because the meat is cut and presented in filthy conditions often with flies sitting on the meat. So I was paying a lot of interest to the faces of the kids. They looked horrified. Eventually a young girl answered the question. "Sporco."

I haven't found this to be the case at all, and I'm pretty sure I removed the rose coloured glasses some time ago, or, maybe I have lower expectations, I don't know, but I have frequently, almost always had good service in spite (or maybe because) of my ½ûÂþÌìÌà being awful, or maybe it's just the water hereabouts... :confused:

When we were doing the shuttling back and forth a few years ago, we always stopped at the last service area before Ancona to grab a bite to eat, then the first service area outside of Stansted to remind us why we were moving, we never actually ate there, just looked around, as your young lady said, Sporco.

HI Neil and paula,

there is a store just off the superstrata ss379 just north of Ostuni at Fasano called Emezzeta, they have quite a lot of tools etc. ( not sure what you need tho' as we know nothing about building !!)
Not sure if price comparable to the store in Bari which has been mentioned , but would save you a long trip to Bari.

[QUOTE=GeorgeS]When we were doing the shuttling back and forth a few years ago, we always stopped at the last service area before Ancona to grab a bite to eat, then the first service area outside of Stansted to remind us why we were moving, we never actually ate there, just looked around, as your young lady said, Sporco.[/QUOTE]
Heh, been there, done that. I made the mistake of getting a coffee at the service area Stansted. I had to leave it and I nearly heaved it over the table when I sipped it. Truly horrible.

You actually DRANK a coffee there............................Ahhhh, that explains a lot :D ............................Hugs G.

Hi Neal

Looks like we may be in the same situation. We are arriving in Ostuni to start renovating our place on 20th Aug. We are driving over so are taking some tools from UK but car space is limited.
The problem we have is the tools we need just for some 1 off jobs (ie disc cutter) so cant really justify buying. In the UK we would just hire locally but there dont seem to be any hire shops around Ostuni. Secondly, and only from my limited experiance, tools seem to be more expensive in Italy. Depending on what tools you need, maybe we could work something out between us?

Neal will have been and gone by the time you get there. Let us know how the drive goes though. Where have you bought and what sort of work are you doing to the place? Isn't Ostuni fab. We love it to bits. Neal is staying in Ostuni itself next week, renting an apartment from the owner of a resteraunt we eat in when we are there.. Its quite cheap and he only charges 25euro per person per night but in October it would cost us a fortune as we are taking kids with us too so we are looking to rent somewhere elso then.

Ciao for now

Will let you know how the drive goes - we plan to take a week, stopping off with some friends in France on the way. We plan to be in Italy for the next few years. We have bought a Casale just outside Ostuni towards Cisternino, very basic, in fact just a building so it needs plumbing, wiring, drains etc. We will be "camping" in the Casale during build and doing most of the work ourselves, outsourcing as a last resort. We love the place to bits, have made some great friends and just can’t wait to be out there full time to enjoy the food and weather.
As for the Coffee and the service - I can’t believe how good it is and how friendly the people are.
We have only just found this site - it’s a great source of information -good to be able review and share.

What a shame, floggings too good for 'em. Happy that I don't go up there too often nowadays, although a mate did ask if I could pop up to Pisa to pick them up later this summer, LOL, they'll love Trenitalia, I'm sure... :D

What you on about?

Hope your not being sarcastic George.......I love where I am.....

Please read Will's post higher up the list, someone tried to rip him off by Ancona, I'm sure it's lovely where you are, wouldn't dream of criticising.

Sorry George, read wills message 5 days ago and slept quite a bit since. Thought you were replying to mine and KitCats chit chat and have to be honest never read the subject box.

Paula

Phew, pleased about that, hate upsetting people these days, used to do it for a living. No Problem Paula.