alan h's activity

Questions Asked

My place is between Lakes Orta and Maggiore, and I have used Flybe in the past to fly from Birmingham to Milan Malpensa.Looking for flights in Sept/Oct, I was disappointed at the high costs - so went to the Easyjet site to look at the Luton to Tur

Thu, 08/20/2009 - 04:27

I have often advocated swinging up through Belgium when travelling from UK to Italy, on the grounds of the cheap petrol in Luxembourg and toll free motorways.聽I did this route again a couple of weeks ago, but found the roadworks on the Dunkirk-Lil

Tue, 07/28/2009 - 09:32

聽I thought it might help people not break the law [or get caught breaking it] to some info on speed cameras they might come across in driving down to Italy.聽[This really applies to people like me who don鈥檛 have a sat-nav that tells them all the in

Sat, 07/04/2009 - 11:03

When driving to Italy, [Lake Maggiore area],聽from Calais, I almost always drive up towards Dunkirk and then head East towards Luxembourg.聽聽聽The reasons for doing so is simple:-

    Fri, 07/03/2009 - 12:52

    If you are driving down to Italy, this regularly updated AA site gives you the latest info on fuel prices across Europe.聽 Its useful for deciding where to fill up.聽Note - in Luxembourg, [where I always fill up - its worth the minor detour from Cal

    Thu, 07/02/2009 - 05:32

    Terrible accident in Viareggio.聽

    Tue, 06/30/2009 - 04:50

    .聽聽聽聽聽I heard this today on Radio 4.聽聽I take it you already know of tough and bough and cough and dough?Others may stumble, but not you,On hiccough, thorough, lough** and through.Well done!

    Sat, 06/20/2009 - 16:58

    .聽聽聽I'm considering handing over ownership of my 禁漫天堂 Holiday Home to my kids.聽Does anyone know

    • How easy this is to do, and how costly?
    • Whether this can be done in the UK - or do I have to do it in Italy?
    Fri, 06/19/2009 - 04:54

    Egypt 1 - Italy 0聽聽听听.

    Thu, 06/18/2009 - 18:08

    Comments posted

    Mon, 06/27/2011 - 17:27

    "We met a Swiss/German couple when we were 鈥榠n residence鈥 last month. 聽They told us that the proposed cost of the vignette from 2013 will be between 120-160 Swiss Franc" I can't find anything about this on the web - anyone have any details/links etc?

    Fri, 06/17/2011 - 11:43

    I got fined for not paying on time [in June]聽a couple of years ago - so [like in most things 禁漫天堂] it depends on your Comune. My Communes website states [please excuse the Google auto translation] "- 1st installment - Deposit: payable by 16 June.The payment must be equal to 50% of tax payable calculated on the basis of existing rates and deductions in the previous year. - 2nd installment - Balance: payable by 16 December.A balance due for the whole year dell'aliquota calculated based on current rates and deductions this year, with possible adjustment on the first installment. In any case, the taxpayer may make payment of tax in one installment to be paid by June 16." I paid mine on line this year at聽 聽 but it doesn't cover the whole country Good Luck Alan

    Tue, 06/14/2011 - 14:16

    and more useful -聽聽

    Sat, 06/11/2011 - 08:28

    "Limited traffic reopens in Simplon tunnel The key Simplon rail tunnel linking Switzerland and Italy has been reopened to traffic, more than two days after a devastating fire in a freight train. The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) said at midday on Saturday that one shuttle train an hour in each direction would use the undamaged second tunnel which runs parallel to the one in which a goods train caught fire on Thursday morning. It issued a provisional timetable valid until Monday evening. Passengers for Milan, who would normally travel straight through, will have to change twice, adding about 20 minutes to their journey time. 聽 A limited freight service will also be operated. 聽 The second tunnel had been put out of operation by smoke penetrating through the transverse safety tunnels that link the two lines.聽聽聽聽 聽 聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 .............. 聽 The cause of the fire, in which no-one was injured,聽is still being investigated. 聽 It聽occurred just before the beginning of the long Whitsun weekend, when many people travel south to Italy. While the Simplon was blocked, passengers were taken over the pass by bus, and many others heeded recommendations to use the Gotthard route instead. An SBB spokesmen said trains going that way were 鈥渇ull but not overcrowded鈥. 聽 Meanwhile, those travelling south by road also had to be patient. At eight o鈥檆lock聽on Saturday聽morning there was already an 11 kilometre queue at the northern entrance to the Gotthard road tunnel, entailing a wait of nearly three hours. By midday this had dropped to two hours. 聽 However, the longest holdups were in the southern canton of Graub眉nden, where vehicles were apparently heading south via the San Bernardino pass." swissinfo.ch and agencies

    Wed, 06/08/2011 - 11:29

    If you are totally stuck - these hotels have free Internet in their public places聽 [2 wifi, and one with modem] 聽鈥 drink some coffee while you work, have a snack, chill out;- 聽

    Tue, 06/07/2011 - 09:54

    The air vent isn't a dehumidifier, but what it will do is help the air in the building to let it dry out naturally - after all - it should get pretty warm over the next few weeks/months.聽 You would probably need a few of them to have a proper effect

    Sat, 06/04/2011 - 09:53

    Dehumidifier - do you need one? If the place is empty for a few months - can you not 'let it air' and dry out naturally?聽 The property management company could 'manage' the airing [Opening/closing windows when the weather changes] Or -聽you could go to a yacht chandlers and get some solar powered air vents to keep the air circulating Example on Amazon聽

    Fri, 06/03/2011 - 17:38

    "The problem is that there is no guarantee the electricity ..... will be in place, so we are not planning to stay in our new house, we will just set up the humidifier and come back in September" 聽 Humidifier? How, with no electricity?聽 [or will you run a lead from your neighbours?

    Thu, 06/02/2011 - 10:51

    Norfolkline is a great ferry service, but could use more ships, and Dunkirk is no farther from Italy than Calais.聽 Its better placed for the route via Luxembourg [cheap petrol and no autoroute charges] We always pay the extra for priority loading and 'exec lounge' - all in all a very civilised way to cross the Channel.聽聽 [helped by the lack of coach parties]

    Thu, 06/02/2011 - 07:03

    "If you're going to be in daylight, use the pass instead of the tunnel. May cost you an hour, but worth it." Its well worth 'going over the top' - and if traffic is bad you can get off the motorway well before the tunnel/pass and parallel it on local roads