It's effing freezing up here in Veneto. It suddenly got so cold that the Regione had to give permission for public offices and schools and condominio with centralised heating etc to turn it back on again. People think it's a British thing to always talk about about the weather but my God, the Veneti aren't half complaining and loudly too. But I know in a couple of weeks (hopefully) they'll be complaining about the heat. I do have some friends in other parts of Italy though covered in snow ..read more

Hi, I'm new to this and hope I have the right section! I lived and worked in Italy for 15 hears but moved back to UK 18 years ago (!) . Last Sept I claimed by Italian state pension having retired from teaching in UK I was informed that it will take average of a year for the first payment to be made and in the meantime I am not able to undertake any paid work. Has anyone else had to wait this long under the same conditions? They said INPS checks with HMRC that people are no longer working. Is this likely? I ask because i would like to do some casual work in June and, though not an employee, pay ..read more

We were advised we needed a translation - English to Italian - of our daughter's birth certificate to be legalised at the consulate in Manchester. Trying to do this is difficult. Can anyone advise how to get this done? It seems it is not possible to get an appointment at the consulate as we are not Italian citizens. We are going round in circles so any help would be appreciated ..read more

Hello fellow Expats, I am renovating a house in Argegno on the West shore of Lake Como. I have had no luck with sourcing an English speaking Electrician anywhere, and was hoping to dip into you wealth of experience. If you can suggest any English speaking tradesman, I would be very appreciative ..read more

This dust is blocking out the sun and coating everything in brown sand. . Looking at Ilmeteo it is over most of Italy and southern Spain. We have had dust before but not like this ..read more

Well am I confused !!!??? Having been resident here in Italy for 10 + years, I have on occasion (as has my wife) needed to experience the Italian Healthcare and hospital system, all superb. All is going swimmingly until a friend told me about their 'S1' card which apparently covers them for healthcare in the UK when they travel there. This is all new to me (!). Do I need to have this card as a resident of Italy ? Is it new ? If I was to get one, would it affect my Italian Healthcare ? PSG ..read more

We currently insure our house in Italy in the UK as it is our holiday home, admittedly we are in Italy for 180 days per year!. However insurance is getting more difficult and expensive. Do any of you good people know if it would be possible to insure with an Italian company even though we are not resident ..read more

I worked 3 years in Italy from 1990 to 1993 I have all my documentation (letters, contract, pay slips, tax returns, annual INPS contributions form etc) from a legitimate company I went on the INPS site with my tax code and PIN to see my pension contributions and my work history. The INPS site says it has no record of contributions for my pension or a work record What should I do next? Thanks for your help ..read more

Hello All, Can anyone recommend a building company or individual tradesman in Salento, south of Lecce? We've just bought a house in Marittima, a hamlet near Diso / Castro. The house is a fixer-upper so we'll need most trades involved including a metal worker. The local immobiliare put us in touch with a few builders, but we're not convinced they are quite right... Recommendations are everything, so if anyone reading this has had an overall positive experience with a building company or individual tradesman in southern Salento I would love to hear from you. Thanks in advance. Cheers, Rob ..read more

There's a story in today's The Times indicating that the famous mosaics have been allowed to deteriorate as a result of poor maintenance and suggesting that the Sicilian authorities have been guilty of neglect or worse. Anyone know if that's fair comment? It would be very sad if so. I remember that a few years ago there was a scandal about the alleged misuse of funds at Pompeii ..read more