01 March 2007 - 15 March 2007
Well, we finally managed to get our Fiat Punto. Its not the most powerful or luxurious car in the world but it will do us until we manage to register the van. Insurance was pricey; €506 (£350) for six months but car insurance in Italy is expensive - if you've seen the way the Italians drive, you'll have some idea why.
We've finally succumbed to the lure of English TV and radio and ordered ourselves a satellite dish. According to magazine and internet articles, we need a 120cm dish here so thats what we've gone for. We've installed it ourselves and we brought our UK decoder and card with us and they both work ok although we're out of range for all the BBC and ITV channels - but the best thing, says Fliss, is that she can listen to Wogan again. A website which we found very useful here is www.satelliteforcaravans.co.uk which gives details of how to align your dish, what satellites you can receive and where within Europe and lots of useful links.
Daily high temperatures are now in the high teens to low twenties (in the shade) and though we've had a few very windy days we've had very little rain. All the peach and almond trees are now covered in pink and white blossom and its starting to look like Spring. Our heating has not been on much over the last week or so and we've not bothered lighting the stuffa either.
We had a total lunar eclipse the other night (3rd March) which, with clear skies, was really nice to see.
An Italian friend has a eighteen year-old son who speaks some English. He wants to go to the UK for up to three months in the summer to work and to learn more English. Anyone any ideas for a seasonal job and accommodation?
Our residency certificate has arrived from the local Comune so at last we're officially resident. We never did see the Policeman who was supposed to visit us to confirm that we live here. We can now crack-on with getting planning permission though our Geometra thinks that we are unlikely to receive this until the end of June. We're off to Pesaro tomorrow to visit La Questore to get our Carte Di Soggiorno. This will enable us to register the van although we expect to have to wait for one to three months until the cards arrive.
We went to La Questore and..............it was shut; doesn't open on Wednesdays. Still, it was a nice day and Pesaro is a pleasant sea-side town so we had a stroll around, checked-out the beach and the Tourist Information Office, had a coffee and then came back home. We'll have to go back on Monday or Tuesday next week.
16 March 2007 - 31 March 2007
Winter returned and we got what you had in the UK; snow, high winds and freezing temperatures. The snow didn't settle where we are (at around 1000 feet) - I guess the ground was too warm.
We went back to La Questore and this time it was open. We didn't have all the necessary documents with us so they gave us a full list of what we need (about as long as your arm) and also which one need to be translated into Italian. We'll get this done and go back as soon as possible. As we've said previously, we only need the Carte Di Soggiorno to enable us to register the van. We hear tale that the EU is about to implement a new law which appears to allow any vehicle to be registered and insured anywhere within the EU so it could be that we don't need the Carte Di Soggiorno at all. Until we can find out more about this law, we'll press ahead. Things were never this complicated in the UK - I don't suppose we ever much thought about new EU laws!!!
The swallows which live in and around our barns have returned - summer must be just around the corner........
Some progress at last on the telephone front; we have a phone number but the phone doesn't work. We're now waiting for a Telecom Italia engineer to visit us to check our installation - we're not holding our breath.
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