Update

Sorry I've not been much of a blogger for a while. We spent the summer in Italy where there was no internet access and came home so pissed off with the whole thing that I haven't felt like setting finger to keyboard since.

To cut a very long story short - we were promised a house we could stay in and arrived to find a building site. Over the next week or so the builders worked incredibly hard to give us somewhere we could stay and almost managed it except for one small problem: the electricity connection hadn't been ordered in time. After some weeks of promises (and our good friend Luca personally calling the provincial director) we finally got a cable laid to the house. Sadly this proved to be a false dawn because it stopped at the top of our neighbour's pole a tantalising 6 inches short of the mains cable to which it needed to be hooked up. Everyday we looked and every day it remained resolutely unconnected. A state that only changed (wouldn't you know it) two days after we left.

Oh well - it will be finished for Christmas (or somebody's coglione will be hanging from the tree!)

It's all going wrong ....

.... or rather not going very much at all.

Two weeks till we are supposed to arrive to fit the house out and we have no doors and windows and, I've just found out, no electricity cable. It was ordered in October and nobody thought to tell me that it hadn't come until this week. they were supposed to phone the geometra today but, of course they haven't.

At least we can use candles - or a generator - bit if there's no doors and windows we are totally stuffed. You can't put a kitchen in or deliver furniture to a house that's wide open. They were supposed to be ready for painting today but it looks like we'll be lucky to get them by the end of next week.

So, at half past eight on a Wednesday night I'm booing a 6:30 flight to Rome tomorrow morning. Some things are better done in person and I think I need to get over there and try to sort things out. (The plan originally was to hire a van and go over at he start of July with a load stuff for the house but the delay on the windows knocked that on the head - in retrospect I should have gone for a quick visit anyway).

Speaking and writing Italian - a turning point

Somebody who lives in Italy recently complimented me on my good Italian (as seen in my emails). They didn't realise what a cheat I am. Well, perhaps not a cheat but I do have help. There are two absolutely vital websites that I rely on:

Firstly there is Free Translation. Type in a few words or a few hundred in one language, click a button and out it pops in another. Now let's be honest that, although it pops out in another language, it doesn't exactly come out in, say, perfect Italian. The grammar can be odd, it doesn't always handle colloquial expressions and it's not good at distinguishing synonyms or verbs from nouns so you need to understand enough of the target language to read it through and make corrections. But what it is good for is to make a quick, "gisted" translation as a basis for doing a final version. And, of course, the final version is still not going to be perfect but should, with a bit of effort, be enough to get your meaning across. And it also works the other way so you can at least get the idea of what somebody is saying. Here for example is an email from my geometra that I've just put through FT:


I send you the drawing of the local the washing machine we can put it in the bath, because the local boiler has been better that has the outside door.

Not perfect - but you do get what he's trying to say.

And I've just realised that I've taken a step forward in my use of the language without even being aware of it. Because I no longer write things out in English and put them through Free Translation. I now write in Italian then put it through the translator to check it. And that really is a big step, I think. What this process also does is act as a spell checker because what you get bundled into Office etc. is only English and Spanish.

An alternative to Free Translation is Google Translate which often seems to make a translation into English that sounds better and more fluent than FT does. Anyway, try them out and see which you prefer.

And both of these let you translate web pages too, just by entering the URL.

The second one is Word Reference which is an online dictionary - and much more. As well as word definitions it has heaps of expressions and you can put in a phrase ("in my opinion" for example) and get the correct colloquial Italian rendition(s). And if that isn't enough there are also forums for discussions on more complex points. You can also install the dictionary on your toolbar so the answer is always just a click away. If you are interested in other languages there are also dictionaries for French and Spanish with Portuguese promised soon.

One more thing: these sites are free! Wordreference is the work of an American called Mike Kellogg and financed by (non-intrusive) advertising. Freetranslation also offers a paid for platinum online tool as well as human translation. I've never needed the latter but do subscribe to the platinum service which doesn't cost much ($9.95 a year or about £5) and is worthwhile if you deal with large volumes of text - the free version has a word limit and I was dealing with some lengthy Spanish contracts at the time (I'm not sure if Google translate has any word limit). It also has options like formal or informal language that Google doesn't seem to have.

Heart in mouth time - how is the house getting on?

I Noci, clad in scaffolding, seen from the river Tenna - with Monte San Martino in the distance.

We decided not to visit the house on the way down yesterday on the grounds that if there was anything we didn't like, it would be better to see it with Gianluigi and Mariano who would probably be able to explain things and put our minds at rest.

The funny thing with building is that it really does seem to go in fits and starts. So one time you'll arrive and be amazed by how much has happened and another time by how little. This time unfortunately was more of the latter. It was almost two months after all and, apart from the fact that the roof was finally off, progress seemed to have been pretty slow. In fact there was a lot of detail work (e.g. all the door and window frames) and most of the internal walls were in but it all felt a bit disappointing. Having said that it was, in contrast to previous visits, all hands to the pump with half a dozen guys all working away rather than the unusual two. We also had the sparks and plumber on hand and were able to go through all the detailed planing of where every bath, shower, toilet, light and electrical supply would go. The sparks is particularly good with suggestions, not only to do with electrics and sound general advice too.

There's some really thoughtful stuff going on too. For example in the the window sill of the small downstairs sitting room, Mariano has cut in two holes. Mystified, we ask what they are for. Gianluigi explains it is a traditional thing for cooking - you put embers from the fire in the bottom and the pot on the top. Mariano thought we ought to have one. Great!

After a while it gets a bit overwhelming with having to make so many decisions in such a short time and we are reeling by the time we leave to meet our lawyer Luca - he's offered to buy us lunch. As we drove up the lane to leave we stop to enjoy the view. At this time of year there are poppies everywhere and it reminds us of why we chose this wonderful spot:


Lunch at the Hotel Roverino in Comunanza with Luca, his assistant Beatrice and several of Luca's cronies (including Bea's dad). This is where all the business people of this little town go for their long, liquid lunches. On the next table are the entire staff of my bank and not far away is the President of the Province. It's Friday which means fantastic fish. Afterwards Luca takes us all to see a fantastic old palazzo in the old town which he is doing up into holiday apartments - heavily assisted by government grants. Luca is an ultra-modernist so it's all going to be glass floors and hi-tech although he will keep the frescoes with his family's coat of arms (which he also has as a tattoo.) After that, we do the mundane business of taking out insurance. And then off to Elettro Idea to buy kitchen appliances. Turns out they are a client of Luca's so he insists on coming with us to make sure we get the best price and leaving Beat to help interpret while he gos off to a meeting. We get top quality / top name appliances (Smeg range cooker, AEG fridge freezer, Siemens dishwasher - really important for marketing and to differentiate our property from the competition) and the prices are very good - although the extra discount we get from being friends of Luca doesn't amount to much.

Dinner at Contrada Durano again (and we notice they have window sills with those cooking holes). The only other guests are a pair of American veggies so most of the food is veggie (apart from our main) which is very accommodating of them but not very appetising for us. And too much alcohol again - so decide to give it a miss tomorrow. We'll probably be going for a pizza with friends anyway.

Chris had been in touch with Jimmy before we even booked to stay there, via the Italymag forum, and he had recommended a furniture shop in Servigliano which they had used extensively. Nice people (brother and sister Enrico & Forestina Marini), good prices for good quality stuff. And they also do kitchens. Concetta said they would ring Forestina in the morning and let her know we would be coming.

Thursday - Stansted to the Marche

How civilised is Stansted? So spacious and with enough lines for security that there’s no queuing at all and then at the other end Ancona is always a pleasure. We were originally going to hurry down to the house for a meeting with geometra, builder etc. at 4:30. But we found out that there is a very cheap furniture shop in Tolentino which is on the way, about half way between Ancona and Monte San Martino. Unfortunately, all we know is that it is in the industrial estate near an orange supermarket (presumably a big orange shop, not a big shop that sells oranges.)

Having been up since six with only Starbucks for breakfast, we need lunch and, since we don’t need to rush down to the house, we have time to enjoy it. The airport is actually at Falconara so we decide to head down to the coast to Falconara Marittima and see what there is. It has to be said that this is not the most attractive town on the Adriatic coast. In fact the opposite could be true because it’s where all the oil storage etc seems to be. In addition we can’t find a town centre and when we do see somewhere it’s up a one way street and we cannot get to it. So we park up beside a building site on a busy road with the oil terminal on the other side and go into a lttle café, the Trattoria da Enzo. Typcila basic café but the food is just brilliant – simple stuff: pasta fritto misto di mare but lovely fresh ingredients cooked just right. Why can’t we do this back home? (Probably because most of the people who eat here would, in the UK, want pie and chips.)

Then a pleasant drive over the back roads to Tolentino. We pass through the beautiful little town on Cingoli – a quick stroll around the pizza but definitely worth a longer visit some time. Tolentino sits on the superstrada that runs inland from Civitanova Marche and ultimately (like all roads) to Rome. We decide to follow it west out of the town and find an industrial estate but no orange supermarket and no furniture shop. So back through town the other way. We think we’ll probably have to phone Mirella at La Conca who originally told us about this place when we come across another industrial estate. Again no supermarket but there is a sign that says Fallmenti which is the name of the cheap furniture place in Amandola (see 24 March entry) so we follow the road round and, oh my god! It’s huge! There is just so much and really low prices. We have good look round and see some of it is pretty knackered so you have to be careful but we’ll definitely come back.

Then it’s off to our home for the next three nights, an agriturismo called Contrada Durano which is near to Monte San Martino, just on the other side of the Amandola –Fermo road. It’s a little borgo (hamlet / collection of buildings) on the side of a hill with great views back across the valley of the Tenna. The owners are Jimmy (English but with a family who were expat traders in Sicily for many years so is practically Italian) and Concetta, a real Sicilian.

W have about 10 minutes for a quick wash and to change and then it’s down to pre-dinner drinks. Concetta cooks everything using a lots of home grown produce and Jimmy is mine host, getting the evening going with bubbly (Prosecco) followed by a good Umani Ronchi Rosso Conero with the food and then something fruity with pudding and finishing off (and finishing me off!) mistral with the coffee. A convivial evening with other guests and some locals (though I could have done without the patronising old bag from Brighton – “oh I never go to Caffe Belli, it’s full of Brits” like you presumably dear and “do you have Waitrose up north” yes, and some of us have whippets and coal in the bath.) To bed very relaxed and ready for an early start at the house in the morning.

April – May: Operating by remote control

It’s quite hard when the biggest investment you’ve ever made is happening 1000 miles away and you rely on emails to know what’s going on. Even harder when your email isn’t working! Since we returned from Italy there were continuous problems and I spent hours on the phone to BT trying to sort them. One guy insisted that the problem must be in Outlook and so I should get on to whoever supplied the software (told him it was bought from BT). I had to be very assertive to get put through to a supervisor (“I have already spoken to supervisor and he agrees with me it is a Microsoft problem”) but I stand my ground and eventually am put through to the second tier support (i.e. the people who actually know what they are talking about.) They still don’t solve the problem but, by doing it using two different mail clients (Outlook and Outlook Express), under two different operating systems (XP and Vista) on two different machines, I am able to prove that the problem is nothing to do with any software or configuration on my PC. The conclusion is that it must be an ISP problem but as it is an intermittent fault and is not manifesting right now they can’t take it further. I suggest the other explanation is that the problem could be in the router and am told this cannot be the case – I should call back when the problem occurs again (which it does every few hours). Even if it can’t possibly be in the router my experience, going back to programming on Cobol in the seventies, tells me to try the impossible so I power down the router and leave it off overnight. Switch everything on again in the morning and it all works and hasn’t missed a beat since. I phone BT to tell them and they still insist it can’t have been in the router but, if it wasn’t, it’s one hell of a coincidence isn’t it?

The result of all this (apart from a huge amount of wasted time) is that I don’t see an email from Gianluigi with the preventivo (quotation) from Il Mobile, the company who will manufacture the windows and doors. That puts a 2 week delay in the process which could give us problems later.

Apart from that, we’ve arranged to pay the contractors and other suppliers - Luca the lawyer is doing that one our behalf - and exchanged loads of emails with Gianluigi on exact specifications. It’s not easy explaining how you want a room wired so I’ve drawn a diagram which I hope he understands.

We’ve also had to work out how we want the kitchen laid out (so the plumber and electrician can get on). The kitchen people we saw in Sarnano never got back to us despite several reminders. So we still have to sort all that out. We visit our local Ikea, in England, to have a look at what they have to offer. We really don’t want an Ikea kitchen because that’s what everybody does and out house has to have an edge over the competition. But, anyway, we should have a look. To be honest we find it rather disappointing and the quality doesn’t seem as high as we would have expected. We’ve also heard bad things about installation problems. We’ve been very decisive about most things but we really don’t know what we want in the kitchen. Should it be traditional or modern? Fully fitted or freestanding?

We arrange a visit for the middle of May to check on progress and sort out kitchens and, hopefully get some furniture too. Flights to Rome are hideously expensive at the moment so we book Stansted-Ancona and, since Stansted is a good 3 hours from home, arrange to stay in a Travelodge just off the M11.

How to buy five bathrooms in one morning

We're driving down to Rome today for a few days holiday. We need it and the children deserve it after being incredibly good about sitting in the car watching DVDs for hours on end while we talk to builders etc.

But first we have to buy five bathrooms worth of stuff so I drop Chris off at Stefano's shop at 8:30 while I go down to Comunanza to see Gianluigi to sort out his and the various contractors' bills. Unfortunately I can't actually pay them yet because the money hasn't arrived but we do agree everything and I drop off copies of the invoices for Luca to pay when the money goes through.

I'd previously used Barclays to move money but this time have gone with HiFX (basically because Barclays tried to give me tourist rates for a big transaction and then, their dealers don't even start work till 9AM), who other people have told me are good. Their rates seem OK (or as OK a they can be given that the pound has tanked against the euro and we're barely getting 1.25) and there are no charges for actually making the transfer etc - and also it's supposed to be instantaneous. In reality, it doesn't quite work like that. Having done the deal on the phone, I then had to fill in the details of where the money was to go via their website and apparently (I found out several days later when they phoned me) they couldn't make the transfer because the International Bank Account Number (the IBAN) had some digits missing. I have not found out why they didn't pick this up either when I tried to enter an incorrect number (if it was, in fact my error) or when they originally tried to make the transfer. If it comes to that, they already had the account number (which is the last part of the IBAN so they could have worked it out with half a brain). Anyway it's a bit embarrassing and I think Mariano is a little pissed off, having worked since January and not yet had a penny. (Luca says not to worry - Mariano has got loads of money).

So back to Stefano's where Chris is looking at a luxury shower unit with steam and chromotherapy (no, I didn't know either - some mumbo jumbo about coloured lights improving your mood apparently.) A few days ago we were wanting to cut costs left, right and centre as we started panicking about the total amount we were going to have to spend but now we've relaxed a bit and, having seen Stefano's prices, are becoming a bit more expansive. You can give people the feeling they are getting something really special for not much extra. So we will have 5 en suites for the 5 bedrooms: one with steam shower, two with hydromassage baths (like a Jacuzzi) and two with thermostatic showers. And the total cost of all the fittings comes to about €8,000. At that price, it's worth thinking about getting some back to the UK if we take a van down some time.

Then it's off to Rome and on holiday.

Back on site

After a quiet weekend (Easter Sunday Mass at Monte San Martino and a lot of measuring up and planning layouts at the house) it's a tight schedule today. First we have to see Stefano at 8:30 to look at bathroom fittings then meet Gianluigi and the various contractors (Mariano, Leonello the plumber and Vincenzo the electrician). Then we are supposed to be with Luca to sort out our wills around noon. Looks like something will have to give.

By 9:45 we have just about agreed the first bathroom. We'll have to come again tomorrow morning before setting off for Rome.


UP ON THE SCAFFOLDING - probably the only chance I'll get to see the roof at such close quarters.

As well as the builders, Delio Mancini was supposed to be meeting us at the house at 10:00. I'm not sure why exactly except that he obviously wants to see how things are going and retains a personal interest in the place. Apart from the fact that he is a lovely old man, it is very good because not only is he our neighbour and owner of all the surrounding land as well as the next house, he is also very well know and connected in the area. So keeping in with Delio is a good thing and falling out with him probably not. People tell us we have been very lucky with our vendor and we definitely agree. Unfortunately, as we are on our way to Monte San Martino the phone goes and a deep, sonorous voice says: "Sono Mancini". He won't be able to make it as he has to take his wife to the hospital - nothing serious fortunately. We'll make sure to let him know next time we are here.

The original design had 5 bedrooms with the largest two being en suite. However after much thought and especially advice about the North American market we have decided to make all five en-suite. Of course it's this sort of thing (when you're spending hundreds of thousands, what's another few k?) that sends costs spiralling out of control and we've certainly had some worrying moments about that. The basic contract is fixed price, which is great but, of course, there are variations plus a lot of things (e.g. the bathroom fittings) aren't included in the fixed price*. We've also worked out where we want all the internal walls. We just have to explain it all in Italian!

We manage with the help of my trusty Berlitz pocket dictionary and a fair bit of pointing and miming. We particularly enjoyed squatting side by side to show how close together you can actually fit a loo and a bidet - we weren't going to have bidets because we don't like them ourselves but everybody else seems to think they are a good thing and the Italians are horrified at the idea of not having them. Anyway, they only work out at a couple of hundred euro each. Besides we've saved a bit by not having a downstairs shower - we'll have a solar shower next to the pool instead. By the end of the morning we have decided where every bed will go (for sockets and lighting) as well as all the bathroom fittings and the TV. Vincenzo, the electrician, is especially helpful with lots of good practical ideas (and not just about the electrics either).

Then, after lunch, it's off to the lawyer's. We need to do simple wills to ensure that our property can be inherited according to our wishes (in our English wills) instead of the Italian way that does it automatically according to a formula. What we didn't realise is that, since they aren't being notarised, (at least I think this is the reason) we need to write them out by hand. Two copies each one in English and one Italian. Apart from the sheer wrist ache, it's really hard doing the Italian ones because we have to check the spelling of every word (and worse for Chris as she has less Italian then me.)

We also visit a few more shops:
* Elletrodomestici in Comunanza has a great range of cookers and white goods at what look like good prices. We particularly like a range cooker that feels like it's been hewn from the solid - for less than €1,000.
* Fallimenti in Amandola looks like a really naff garden place from the outside (including a six foot Statue of Liberty) but inside there are interestibng and cheap metal beds - which is what we had been sent there to see - but also a lot of other furniture like wardrobes and chests of drawers all made out of solid wood (no MDF, ply or veneer to be found) in a variety of styles that would suit out ideas for the house. Fallimenti means failures or, more colloquially, cock-ups. I don't know how it got the name - from bankrupt stock perhaps?
* Gibas is the factory shop of an upmarket lamp manufacturer, also in Amandola. Some of the stuff is nice but some (to my eyes) bloody bizarre. We heard that somebody got something like 17 lamps for €200 but at the moment the prices look pretty high. Maybe they have clearouts with low prices some time. Maybe we'll get one or two signature pieces here when we have some spare cash.
* Finally to Rossi in Sarnano - we are looking at kitchens here. Some are very nice but, we suspect, probably too pricey. They will do us a design and estimate and email it to us. [Update 11 April - still waiting. Must find their email address & chase them up. Update 7 May - still nothing. Write them off]

A day off - almost

A bright and early start again. Well early anyway because we have to meet Andrea from the pool company at the house at 9:00.

In terms of dress and general appearance, Italians tend to fall into two camps: the peasant / anorak look (think Dolmio adverts)or the very trendy, perhaps verging on the slightly camp. Builders (and geometras) decidedly fall into the former group but Andrea is the exception. Very stylish (but with somewhat OTT trainers), perfect tan and immaculately cropped grey hair and driving a huge VW Touareg 4x4 (as oppposed to the standard clapped out old van or 4x4). He knows his stuff though and we agree the design, size and location of the pool - all of which we have been wrestling with for ages. It will be a simple rectangular shape, 11mx4m with a shallow area for small children, as well as steps, at one end.

Here's a picture of a similar pool from the same company:The extra length (9 or 10 metres is more usual) gives a decent distance for swimming lengths even with the toddler end. People with pre-school children tend to go away in May / June and September / October which gives us a good opportunity to extend our season if we think about them at the planning stage. We'll also need to think about an enclosed play area at a later stage.

After spending a good hour on site we drive over to Andrea's office at Grottazzolina, near Fermo, to finalise the design and do the paper work. It's easy to spend a lot of money if you know how!

after a visit to the big supermarket on the edge of town, we go into the old city which is lovely but incredibly quiet. It's quite late for lunch now but we find a trattoria tucked away opposite some municipal buildings which does great food. Dominic has rabbit stew which he absolutely loves.

We finally own the house!!!!!!

Finally, after 9 months, we own the house! Which is kind of scary given how much there is to do and how much money is involved. Still, no backing out now! We need to get the job done and get the rentals coming in!

First thing, I didn’t think the car was even going to make it up the drive but by going back and forth on the dry tarmac under the car, I manage to find enough traction to get it going and we just about make it out. Once on the road it’s fine. Everywhere looks beautiful and still covered in snow but the road surface itself is clear. At Luca’s office, Beatrice brings out Easter eggs for Dominic and Kitty and then we set off following Luca in his Kangoo.

It’s so much more personal doing this sort of thing in Italy. At home you need never see the other party, or even your lawyer. Here, we sit around the table with the vendor, Delio Mancini and his geometra, Lorenzo Anselmi while the notaio reads everything out in Italian and then Beatrice reads the English version. There’s a slight hiccup while we assure ourselves that it doesn’t force us to follow Italian inheritance law (and which prompts us to arrange to do Italian wills next week) and then we all sign and Luca hands Mancini a cheque for the balance. Then it’s off to the pub! Or rather the bar. Or rather not because it’s shut. But Delio has asked us all to lunch (bang go our plans for the day!) Originally he says it’s in Pedaso but as our 3-car convoy heads north, we go through Pedaso and on to Ristorante Campanelli in Porto San Giorgio where we are the first customers of the day (it’s not quite noon yet). Soon after Sra Mancini arrives, driven there by their son in his lunch break (which presumably explains why we are eating nearer to the Mancini’s home in Fermo). The food is sensational from fish and shellfish antipasti through two pastas and on to great plates of grilled fish (fantastic monkfish tails) and then an extra bowl of mussels (we’ve now had them cooked 3 different ways) specially for Delio whose favourite they seem to be. The kids are brilliant and spend a lot of the meal watching Ready, Steady, Cook (Italian version of course) on the obligatory telly. I’ve no idea what the price was but we’ll definitely be back.

Early in the sale we were told that Delio was selling because he needed money to complete doing up his house. And now the convoy heads off to Fermo so we can all see it. Seems it’s not a house. In fact it’s a big block of flats that are up for rent, next to another block that he already owns. Obviously a man of some substance! Then it’s off to casa Mancini for coffee before we all say goodbye – and arrange to meet Delio at our (repeat “our”) house on Tuesday morning.

We were supposed to be seeing Lucozzi today about bathrooms but he’s only in Amandola in the mornings so we rearrange for 8:30 on Tuesday before the site visit at 10:00.

Site meeting

ESSENTIAL BUILDERS' SUPPLIES (Italian style - don't let the water bottles fool you; they may not all be water and there's a huge jug of vino cotto behind them)

Today was supposed to be the day we finally take ownership of the house but we have had a message that the notary has to go to a funeral so instead of being in Comunanza this afternoon, it will be at the notary’s main office down on the coast at San Benedetto del Tronto tomorrow morning (Good Friday) and we have to meet outside our lawyer, Luca’s office at 8:15AM (which is 7:15 according to our bodies) so means another early start for the kids. On the bright side, this is the only day we have a translator available as she is going to Rome with her family and it means we can talk to some suppliers more easily.

When we wake up we look out to see everything is covered with snow and, as we set off for the house it starts snowing again and getting heavier till we can hardly see. When we get down to the level of our house in the valley (about 200m compared to 600 at La Conca) it’s still heavy but is not settling. We arrive a bit late (no snow tyres on the car) to find the man from the gas company is waiting to sign us up. They have found a good site for the tank behind an outbuilding and it will be buried so should not be visible although, unfortunately, Italian regulations mean that it still has to have a high fence all around it and, apparently, you aren’t even allowed to grow creepers up it to disguise the thing. (We tend to think of southern Europeans as being very lax on safety and it’s certainly true if you look at the way they drive. However on things like this they are the opposite. My neighbour’s gas tank at home sits completely unprotected by anything except a hedge. Perhaps they are more dangerous because of the heat – I was told the European regs. on LPG tanks in cars are due to the temperatures in Italy.)

The main thing about the house is that we have now confirmed that most of the internal walls are not structural and so we can reorganise the layout which we originally thought was constrained by the location of the original walls (even though most of them need replacing.) So, especially on the top floor, we have almost a blank canvas and need to start again - quickly. Because of this, we can’t decide with the plumber and electrician where everything will go and so will have to meet them again on Tuesday.

We still have quite a few decisions to make. (Like do we want to line up the two French windows at opposite ends of the house exactly, which means losing another window. Or do we live with them not being quite aligned. We opt for the latter.) Then it’s time for the obligatory, and warming, glass of Mariano’s vino cotto. (See the picture at the top of today's blog) We could have had mistrà instead which is, I think, a spirit made from distilling vino cotto and is absolute firewater. Gianluigi tells us that he was hospitalised as a baby when his nonna mistook a bottle of mistrà for water and made up his formula with it!

We then go off to look at windows and agree details like whether and where we will have shutters (we opt for traditional ones inside the windows) and how they will open (some will just tilt, most will tilt and also open normally).

In the evening we have a very enjoyable dinner with friends at the Hotel Paradiso which is at the top of the old town in Amandola. So we don’t get home till gone 11 with that early start tomorrow and the very steep drive from La Conca looking like it will ice up.

To Rome and on to the Marche

Although Ryanair’s cancellation of the Liverpool to Ancona route is a real nuisance more than doubling the driving time after landing in Italy, it does have its compensations. The first of these is the view of Rome as you come into Ciampino – remember to get a window seat on the right hand side and you get to see all the sights (Colliseum, Vatican, Circus Maximus, sinuously winding Tiber and, Dominic is always keen to spot, the Stadio Olimpico). Landing at Rome we were very pleasantly surprised to find it was sunny and 18°.

Apart from the extra distance, the drive isn’t bad either as you pass through the Apennines with spectacular viaducts and long tunnels. The motorway route past L’Aquila all the way to the Adriatic is simply stunning with amazing views and a tunnel that cuts through more than 10 kilometres below the Corno Grande (and has, on the westbound carriageway, an entrance into the National Institue of Nuclear Physics buried deep beneath the mountain) the highest peak in the entire range. This time, however, I decided to take the SS4, the Roman Via Salaria, which skirts Rieti and follows he valley of the Tronto towards Ascoli Piceno. The journey is much shorter, almost toll-free and, even with the odd slow wagon, usually a bit quicker than Mussolini’s Autostrada. It also gives you the chance to stop at a proper restaurant for lunch instead of an Autogrill service area. We kept going till we saw one which, judging from the number of cars outside was OK but not full. It was called La Valle and was at Km128 just before Amatricia so we had, of course, spaghetti amatriciana. It was wonderfully rich with a hint of spice which built up the more you eat, leaving you with as tingling mouth at the end. This was followed by perfectly fine meat alla bracia and accompanied by a half litre of house red which was better than usual – we only had a glass each with being tired and me driving.

We had been told that Mariano,the builder, had some questions and would like us to come to the house. We were already scheduled to meet there with Gianluigi, the geometra, at 10 the next morning and, as it turned out they were little things (like whether to reuse certain old tiles for the window sills) which could easily have waited but it’s no bad thing to be accommodating to your builder. I made the mistake of trying to take the short cut via the ford across the river (which had been passable on my visit earlier in the winter) but the river was now in spate following the recent snows and subsequent thaw and there was no way I was going to drive through that torrent.

It was the first time Chris had seen the place since work started and, after a spectacular rate of work in the first few weeks up to my initial visit, progress seemed to have been disappointingly slow. When we looked closer, it was obvious that a lot had been done but, in contrast to the earlier part of the job, much of it was painstaking (cleaning out the mortar on the walls ready for re-pointing) or not very visible (ducting for utilities).

We had passed La Conca at Ceresola, where we would be staying and now returned. The owner, Mirella gave us the warmest of welcomes, including a wonderful home made apple tart made from their own apples. La Conca is an organic apple farm with some 2000 trees. The apartment in a cantina below the main house with beautiful, vaulted ceilings, was basic but perfectly adequate apart from the heating which was really far too low.

TV Show on buying in Le Marche

I've just found out that there was a programme about buying a house in the Marche on BBC this morning. I've missed it but am downloading from BBC iPlayer and will post a report once I've seen it. Apparently the basic idea of the show is to take daytime TV "experts" and get them to invest their own money in antiques, property, art or whatever they purport to know about. In this case it's a property expert who wants a property hotspot outside the UK with good potential for making gains and he has identified the Marche as the best place to do that. I'll write more when I know more.

Update: I've watched the film. A bit cheesy but says lots of good things about the area (not sure exactly where he has bought but it isn't far from us. I'll try to grab a couple of clips to post.

Meanwhile it's back to preparing for our trip to Italy on Wednesday. Really looking forward to seeing how the house is doing - but a bit nervous as well.

More money stuff

Luca is back from holiday and Domenico has resurfaced full of apologies. Apparently, I have to pay all the building costs by transfer from my Italian bank account (so the bank can tell the tax office). Now I just need to check with Gianluigi exactly how much I need to pay.

Parting with the money

I've just sent the final part of the purchase price of the house over to Luca, my Italian lawyer and next Thursday we shall sign the final contract and take ownership of the house. barring any further hiccups of course!

I should also have sent the money for the interim payment to Gianlugi, the geometra, and Mariano the builder but I am still waiting for Domenico the commercialista (sort of accountant / tax adviser) to tell me how to do it so as to avoid paying more tax than I need to. I've been chasing him and Luca for weeks (but I think Luca is on holiday).

Some good news though: another Barclays call centre guy has phoned to say the mortgage has been approved after all and there's be a letter in the post.

Banks

I got a phone call yesterday that nearly gave me a heart attack. On Monday the surveyor came round to value our house in England as we are using that as security to borrow the money for doing up I Noci. When he left he told me that there would be no problem. [The house is worth several times what we need to borrow.)

Then out of the blue I get a phone call from a guy with a very thick Indian accent. "Mr Grant, you applied for a mortgage with the Woolwich but the surveyor's report says the property does not meet the Woolwich's lending criteria." That's it, no explanation, nothing. WTF????? When I manage to drag my thumping heart out of my boots, I say: "so what does that mean?". "Mr Grant, it means that the property does not meet the Woolwich's lending criteria." FFS! I know that but what does that mean? "So", I say, "does that mean you are not prepared to lend the money?" "That's right." So, big pause, I ask: "So why does it not meet the criteria?" Reply: "I'm sorry Mr Grant but you will have to speak to the surveyor" and gives me the company name and a phone number in Newcastle. Hang on, I've applied for a, not inconsiderable, mortgage with Barclays [who own the Woolwich] with whom I have been a customer for over 40 years. And I get some halfwit in a call centre in Chennai [or wherever] telling me I've been turned down and he can't tell me why or what I should do about it except to pass me on to the surveyor.

So I phone the surveyor and, guess what, the number is unobtainable. So I phone my Relationship Manager at Barclays who, guess what again, is not answering but I leave a message for him to call me urgently. Then I remember the surveyors wrote to me with the appointment details so I dig out the letter and find their number which is completely different and in Manchester. The office gives me the surveyor's mobile and as soon as I speak to him, I realise what the problem is. Their lending criteria include one that they don't lend on properties with more than 10 acres of land and we have got 20 acres of grazing land (worth bugger all of course). They mentioned this in their report but said that, in view of the fact that we already had a mortgage with them on this property there was no reason not to lend and they could go ahead - the valuation itself was fine. How dumb can these people be? Not only do they already lend on the property but they have the deeds which clearly show that actually there are three properties: the house and garden and two fields so as it's the house that is worth the money it isn't even over 10 acres anyway.

How stupid are these people and how bad is their customer service that, when they [incorrectly] turn down a very longstanding customer they do it with a phone call from somebody who knows absolutely nothing except what's in his script?

Then my relationship manager, Tim, calls back and gets a right earful. He apologises profusely and says he'll sort it out. I'd have been off to another bank ages ago except that it's just so hard to change banks and anyway my experience with NatWest (hopeless) and my wife's with the Abbey (forgot to stop the cheques when she reported her cheque book stolen and then bounced her direct debits and charged her for an unauthorised overdraft when they paid out on the cheques) tells me that they are all as bad.

In other news, we have found another pool company who looks pretty good - we are meeting them in a couple of weeks at the house. If you are going for the high end rental market a good pool is a necessity and, based on our experience in Spain, you really need some way of making / keeping it warm if it's to be usable before July (i.e. for clients with no kinds or very young ones.)

House hunting in Le Marche - what we learnt [Updated]

Some of this is pretty obvious stuff that we worked out in advance but some of it we learnt by experience. I hope it will help you if you are looking for a place to buy somewhere in Italy.

• Just because it's on the web, it doesn't mean it's for sale (or for sale through that agent). This is probably the biggest single thing we learnt. We trawled diligently through loads of websites, carefully selecting the properties that we thought would meet our needs. And in the end, I don't think we saw one of them. Why? Because as far as I can tell, loads of agents will have the same house (it's not clear whether they have a contract with the owner) and when one sells it (or it comes off the market) nobody tells the other agents. Some 9 months after we agreed to buy it, a quick Google search shows that our house is still on at least three websites. In our experience, all the websites are good for is to give you an idea of the sort of places the agent might have available.


• Choose an agent that will help you to find what you want. How do you know which these are? Well, I think the best thing to do is to tell them what you want and get them to send you details of properties that they have available for you to view. You will soon get a feel of whether they are listening or not (and whether they do have anything suitable). If any of them say they can't tell you in advance (maybe only a few days, but in advance nevertheless), don't waste your time - find somebody else.


• The quality of service provided by an agent is not proportional to the amount they spend on advertising.


• Negotiate on price and other things that matter to you. Make sure you know which things are vital to you and which you are prepared to give away in the negotiation.


• Don't buy a ruin if you want an old house. What you'll get is a pile of stones and a plot on which to build a new house from them. Which is absolutely fine, and probably a lot easier than a restoration, but you won't be buying a piece of history or somewhere with "soul". It's your choice; make it with your eyes open.


• Try and build a rapport with the seller. Chances are if you're buying a ruin or a restoration project that the owner will be local and can help (or hinder) you building successful relationships with the local authorities and community. Remember many of the Comuni where people are buying houses are really small (maybe 1000 people or less)and everybody knows everybody else. If you hack off your vendor, be sure the neighbours and everybody up to the mayor will know about it. In our case, our vendor has proved to be a real gent but that isn't always the case and if it looks like they are going to be a pain to deal with you need to ask yourself if it's worth the hassle (which of course it may be, but at least think about it.)


• Learn some Italian; it really will help relationships with your vendor and many other things and if you have any aptitude for languages it is definitely worth the effort - especially since very few people, even professional people, have more than a few words of English. Learning some Italian will give the practical benefit of not having to go through a translator for every little thing but will also help you build up the personal relationships and trust that are so important to doing business here.[Language will be the subject of a future post]


• Know what you can afford and what your budget is (not necessarily the same thing.) Think about how flexible you can be if something comes up that isn't exactly what you were looking for.


• Take your time. We got lucky (touch wood!) but we were definitely prepared to go home empty handed if we didn't find the right house. It's one of the biggest decisions (at least in financial terms) that most of us will make, so getting it right is more important than getting it done quickly.

There are lots more things but they relate to the subsequent stages and will be covered in later postings.