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Crossing is supposed to be 19hrs long   For days of sailings [3/week]  see

"We have some friends who often park outside the house to use their laptop and make calls etc����...................... You can buy wi-fi detectors or try for it with your laptop and eventually you'll find a convenient place to park and surf." This may well be illegal in Italy - it appears that it is in the UK  In the UK, the Communications Act 2003 says a "person who (a) dishonestly obtains an electronic communications service, and (b) does so with intent to avoid payment of a charge applicable to the provision of that service, is guilty of an offence".

  My interpretation of the wording, in respect of property rentals, is;-   "No one is allowed to start a new thread or post with the sole reason of saying: I have a villa for rent or a flat to rent or anything else to sell or buy. You can respond to requests on the forum for help finding accommodation with something like “I have a property – PM me for details/costs etc”, but you cannot just start a thread to advertise your property          [Responding in this way to a request on the Forums is subtle advertising on your part, as you could PM the requester and not post anything - so its a 'bit of a fudge' in the Rules]. Also – the last bit of the Rule [about buying or selling] has been overtaken by the 2 [very underused] Groups that now cover these areas   Your community profile can be enhanced to include information about your business and that can also be tied to advertising in the rest of the website . You can put in your Profile that you have a property to rent, and if you take out paid advertising on the website you can put a link to it.   You cannot create profiles with the names of a company, villa or other commercial activities '- the community is about the people which can then advertise their business under appropriate clearly marked spaces in agreement with ITALY Magazine." You can choose any name for your postings/profile, [like Angie and Robert], as long as it isn’t an advert [like Angie and Robert’s Holiday Home Rentals]   The purpose of the Rules seem to be to protect the website's income from Advertising.  and this makes sense, [to me at least].   Hope this helps

Surely its pretty clear in the Rules "No one is allowed to start a new thread or post with the sole reason of saying: I have a villa for rent or a flat to rent or anything else to sell or buy. Your community profile can be enhanced to include information about your business and that can also be tied to advertising in the rest of the website - please . You cannot create profiles with the names of a company, villa or other commercial activities '- the community is about the people which can then advertise their business under appropriate clearly marked spaces in agreement with ITALY Magazine."   It seems simple - no overt advertising of accommodation etc  in the threads - otherwise 'Italy's' paying advertisers could get a bit umpty, and the forums could end up flooded with adverts

Google "Bagni di Lucca" and you'll find places like "Reliable access arrived with Jacquline's Internet point at via Vittorio Emanuele, 66 in Ponte a Serraglio. The eponymous, charming, and English-speaking owner offers a small number of Internet-connected PCs as well as a wi-fi link for those who want to connect their own computers."

"...........  cheddar is really good.  Ive now got 10 packs in the fridge to see me through the winter  ....." If you want to keep it beyond the sell by date - Cheddar freezes well - it may be a bit more crumbly when thawed out, but that's all   I used to use it as freezer packs in the cool box when driving down from the UK

"the Gottard tunnel can be a bugger on the way back..so timing is crucial" Totally agree - If you are in doubt about the queues for the tunnel   [from experience they can be particularly bad on Friday afternoons and Saturdays - but reasonably clear Sundays, up to about 1500hrs]  get off the autostrada at the Quinto junction [or even the one before] and take the 'old' road alongside the motorway and up and over the pass Similarly, if the queue from the Swiss side is bad - take the first available exit and [again] follow the 'old' road alongside the motorway and go up and over the pass   PS - buying/selling the vignette on ebay is of course against Swiss Law, [vignettes are not transferable] and anyway, what type of cheapskate would try to evade what is a pretty small charge to use the Swiss motorways for a year?

Blue and Mon said   "...... routes across Germany and missing Basel by going via Loerrach and Bad Saeckingen. " I don't go that far East - justtake the mainly dual carriageway passing Lorrach and Rheinfelden and straight on down [South] to the Swiss motorway, then a quick 'right - left' [West - South] and you're on the motorway to Lucerne

You'll find things like