Garbatellamike

I think all your other questions have been well answered.

for New Year's eve you might want to think of Piazza del Popolo. If you want a pub type environment then one of the Irish Pubs might be good (Scholars Lounge usually has a rowdy younger crowd of predominantly English speakers).

OH and I are off to south Africa for New Year this time round but have spent the last couple of new years with friends who have a rooftop terrace which is great place to see the fireworks.

enjoy

duffer

Oh that's nice, I'm quite envious, it's someplace I'd like to go one day.
Say hello to Nelson for me!

HADENOUGHPIZZA

You mean Goodbye don't you ?

duffer

Sometimes I don't know if I'm going or coming.

Giacomo

Well theres an update for you.. and not really one I'd hoped...

Firstly I had an accident in England in my beautiful Fiat Barchetta on the morning before I was meant to leave.. I decided to catch the next flight to Rome admittedly was in Rome earlier than anticipating but wasn't quite the start of the new adventure that I hoping for..


Then on the 31st December at around 1 am walking home from Basilica San Paolo I was attacked and mugged by two (non Italian) men.. they stole my wallet containing my house keys and stole my iPhone.

I've reported it to the police.. Remotely wiped my iPhone via the iCloud and phoned o2 to report my English iPhone is stolen so they can disable the phone using the IMEI..

I've cancelled my cards from my bank but its going to take an age for them to arrive in Italy!

Need to get set up so I can get an Italian bank account..


anyway hope your all well and Tanto Auguri :--)

Mike when we meeting up??

ononno

Oh dear, not a good start is it?? I suppose it's a waste of time wishing you 'HappyNew Year' now; but at least let me wish you the best of luck, and hope you get sorted soon.
'o nonno

Mick_P

Giacomo - welcome to Rome (and I don't mean that ironically, given your terrible introduction to the place). Can I just say that I've been here for almost 11 years and have never had any problems with mugging etc, so please don't think that it's especially high risk. I've always felt safer in most areas of Rome than in UK cities.

Not sure if anyone answered your query about scooters. Basically, you can ride a 125 using a car licence with no extra tests or checks necessary, and there's no road tax (bollo auto) to pay. The only drawback is that you cannot use it on motorways, which means you can't use Rome's M25 equivalent, the Grande Raccordo Anulare (aka Gra or raccordo). Also, I'd add that a scoot with a flat footbed, such as Honda's ubiquitous SH125/150/300, is extremely useful for carrying stuff.
Hope that helps.

Giacomo

So residency... I am waiting on my sub let land lord friend to write me a letter as proof of my address..

I've applied for health insurance from CIGNA...

On this blog I read it mentions about partita IVA... ??? what is this?
http://m.expatslivinginrome.com/GETTING-LEGAL.html

It also mentions that some Municipo might ask me to prove I am single?! how the hell am I supposed to do that??

Garbatellamike

Sorry to hear about your misfortunes mate, just back in country yesterday.

As i understand it, the Partita IVA is pretty much the same as a VAT number in the UK. Therefore, if you are self-employed or running an enterprise you need one but if you are employed with a contract probably not but others will be more knowledgeable on this.

Giacomo

I currently do not have a job... so I don't need a Partita IVA?

8. Now, at this point you need either your job contract, with your last paycheck, or the dreaded partita IVA, the service tax code for independent taxable entities. The IVA is rather like the VAT in Britain or the goods and services tax in Canada, and having the partita IVA means the government expects you to pay it yourself out of your earnings. It has been raised to 21%, which is on top of your income tax of course. Since I have no contract, I had to get the partita IVA. Getting the partita IVA is super easy, rather like getting the codice fiscale which is another tax code. You just have to go to a commercialista or business manager (there are tons all over Rome and they can all do it for you), or ask the CGIL's commercialista to do it for you, for a fee of €50. You present your passport, ask for a partita IVA, and the commercialista will ask in what sector you work. I said I worked as a translator and in cultural events, and the relevant code was soon found and entered. After about a week, the commercialista will email you your partita IVA. Everyone complains about the partita IVA. It has been described as “like having a child, but without the joy”. Apparently you have to pay an estimate on the tax that you expect to make in the next quarter, but you have to pay it this quarter. I haven't quite figured it out. The system that was in place until January 1 of this year was called, somewhat slightingly, “per contribuenti minimi”, for minimal contributors, and it meant that if you made less than €30,000 a year (ha! I dream of €30,000 a year!) you didn't have to go through all that rigmarole, and in fact you didn't pay the IVA on your services at all, but the body paying you just made a “ritenuta d'acconto” or kept back 20% of what they were paying you, so they were paying the IVA and all you had to do was pay your income tax without worrying about it. Anyway it would seem that Monti's new tax scheme has eliminated that tax program for “contribuenti minimi”, so I am in breathless anticipation to find out what is to become of me, taxwise. But. For our purposes, all you need is the partita IVA, and you can get it without much trouble.

NicoleLondon

Hello James!
I am feeling excited for you reading about your new adventure.
I am half Roman (the other half is British) and been living in Rome on-and-off my whole life. Drop me a shout in case you need anything x

NicoleLondon

Hi James
Sorry to hear what happened. This is not the best way to start your new adventure but I can say I feel safer almost anywhere in Rome than in South West London where I live.... Just be aware of 'extracomunitari'.

Remember if you ring the carrier in UK to block the IMEI your iPhone will continue to work in Italy. Just ring your carrier in Italy to get the IMEI blocked in Italy as well, so that phone will be an expensive paperweight (even if I am pretty sure they are going to send it abroad, but just in case).

Welcome to Caput Mundi

duffer

Do you mean Americans, Canadians and Australians??

Mick_P

Or perhaps French, Dutch, Germans? Who could you mean, in fact?

NicoleLondon

Extracomunitario refers to anybody who is illegal immigrant whom, for this reason, can't get a job and live of criminal activity. The term is often used in media and it is part of common language.