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The €200 'deduction' for prima casa is termed a 'franchigia' - (a bit like an insurance 'excess' for which the same word is used) - but it means that prima casa enjoys a 'discount' of €200 (we think...) on the calculated value.

Yes indeed, the UK 'guarantee' is now £85,000 (per person per bank) since December 2010 (forced into it because of the evil EU rules!) However, Mr Brown, at the time of the Northern Rock collapse, (in 2008) announced an increase from the £50,000 limit - and it sounded (and was meant to be interpreted as) 'from today'. Like many of his statements it came true after a couple  of years - like the bust which he didn't forsee!

The theory goes that an individual depositor in an ½ûÂþÌìÌà bank is covered by the government to the tune of €100K. This goes for all EZ countries, though I'd prefer not to test this promise...('Better' than the UK, since tho' Brown promised to up it to £100K he never did, and it is still £50K.) If the whole Euro concept collapses, one widely credible 'opinion' (voiced by lawyers, wouldn't you guess!) suggests that any resident ½ûÂþÌìÌà bank account will be frozen, although non-resident accounts won't be. I'm no more informed on this option than Bloomberg or the ft. There is clearly (in the event of an EZ collapse, or Italy abandoning the Euro) an exchange rate risk, which for anyone with an account not in the EZ should be easy enough to 'avoid'. Though of course, one might bet on the wrong 'safe haven'. There was a very nice chart up yesterday (can't remember who posted it, but it was an attendable source) considering the 'real adjusted €' value of the currencies of various countries in the EZ. It was pretty optimistic re Italy - suggesting that 'an ½ûÂþÌìÌà €' was worth about 96€cents (a German € was about 1.34, a French one about 1.25, but a Greek one less than 0.40) - a bit of burgernomics really, but it did seem to put some of the current hysteria into perspective.

This issue (about whether 'snow socks' are legal in terms of the directives) is still a bit obscure: heck, this is unacceptable after five years...but as yet, they are not approved (as far as I can determine anywhere in Italy.) However, the requirements, under the directive, are to carry snow chains, or to run a car with winter tyres capable of transiting in conditions of snow or ice. Now, in my understanding, this means 'studded' tyres - not simply 'winter tyres'. And then you get the the San Gottardo tunnel, where they wish to protect their tarmac, and don't approve of studded tyres (quite reasonably as far as I'm concerned). So - (I do agree that it is silly to organise your life just to comply with badly written requirements) - if you are incapable of avoiding a potentially snow impacted journey, equip yourself with chains which you hope will remain utouched in the boot, and trust to luck. Of course, if you live in Piemonte or another northern region where 'winter tyres' are the norm, the 'legge' is not going to interest you - everyday practicalities will be what govern your choice.

I must admit I was surprised you could get Tooway for 'as little as' €60 per month - but it sounds as if they are playing the same game as Italia wifi - even on their 'Gold Standard' which they promise a great Mb speed, they restrict downloads to 10 Gb a month. Well, I'm sorry, that isn't enough to watch half of Wimbledon! If you do decide to try Tooway, consider first if the traffic limit is going to be impossible for you. Have you tried dongles from other suppliers? Like Penny (I think it was who said) I've managed (once!) to stream live BBC through a dongle, even tho it is Vod and my signal is dreadful: checking the speed on a neighbour's '3' dongle they were getting a solid 3.4Mbps (better than TI ever do for me). There are millions of different tarriffs for these dongles - either fixed price and unlimited, or more tailored subscriptions. Find out if any of the cell networks give you good coverage, and try one of theirs - you can make the test for less than €20. (There is nothing better than 'sucking it and seeing!'). Other things - you might like to find a helpful local computer shop and ask them what the crack is on landline ADSL availability; there is a lot of stuff going on in Italy patching in wireless networks into the fixed infrastructure (in places where fibre optic lines are not an economic possibility) and ADSL coverage is generally improving. Usually the chaps in computer shops speak router English and are delighted to assist. Any chance of something useful on ?

This satellite internet stuff is absurdly expensive - have you researched every other possible avenue? Perhaps you have a wide area wireless network available in your area - they tend to be relatively small local outfits which run these networks, and they are bad about publicity. Try a search on ADSL and your local town or village and if there is anything, it should come up.

You have (in the blue corner) advocates of malus sikkinensis (which at least has the potential to smell like an apple) or in the red corner, the acknowledgley unlikely wampee. I know (from previous forum experience) that Penny is a nicely 'serious' person, and I'm sure she is more than willing to hike up into her mountain and take a reaaly high res snap of the fruit upon which she has stumbled. Seriously - we need a pic! I was thining of suggesting underripe arbutos unedo - or (do not slap me down here) the possibility that the fuit belonged to a neighbouring tree and was hanging about looking as if it 'belonged'! 

I wouldn't say the leaves were like birch, and it isn't likely to smell like an apple, but the fruiting time and grape like bunches sound okay, and it would just about survive (hardy to about minus 6degC). It's evergreen, and there is a b+w illustration on ths page.

Try looking at Malus sikkimensis - I found various snaps of this (on google) which seem promising, but haven't looked further to see if maturation time, leaves, etc. are correct. I tend to go along with Gala that if it smells like an apple it probably bears a close relationship to an apple!

ENI is a big company, and pretty well organised, they were brilliantly quick sending me a cheque for an overpayment. I was with ENI for gas (well, it started as Italgas and then changed its name to Eni) but recently I've gone over to Enelenergia. Cannot say yet whether they are any cheaper, and I've no experience of Eni prices for electricity. It's a bit of a minefield - I assume there are some comparison sites on energy prices for the ½ûÂþÌìÌà market, but tarriffs seem to change on a daily basis, and then there are special deals like the boiler offer which might tip the balance. It is wise to read all the small print carefully, and see if any new contract is for a fixed term, or how much it costs to escape from it if it turns out not to be suitable.