Yup Chris .. go down and find out for yourself and if necessary RAISE YOUR VOICE! It's often the case here that he who speaks with voce grossa will be the one who gets his/her way.

The best thing of course would be to have a friend in the comune who could 'help things along' ... It's not what you know, etc. etc.

But heck don't you just hate Italy when this kind of thing happens?

One angry phone call later, and the details have been sent, insurance has been paid and I start this afternoon at 4. Why is it we have to start shouting our heads off to get anything done around here?

Ha! told you so...
Welcome to Italy.

Still shaking after the car crash this morning.
The whole of the passenger side needs doing, one new door. I was hit by a Punto driven by a young boy who hit me laterally not stopping at a stop sign + white line from a side road.
We both sat for a minute in our cars under schock and when I came out I said-'you know it is your fault 100 % don't you' and he said-'yes, I know'.
The police came and his father, both agreed that it was black and white. The Police and his father were on friendly terms, everyone knows each other here.
The Police asked me if I wanted them to do a verbale, to which I said I preferred the CID to be filled in as I do not want to wait for 30 days for the verbale before an insurance policy can cover the damage.
We did the CID and left. Noone was hurt, that was the main thing, but I feel sorry for the boy as his car was a write off and the caratrezzi picked it up. He did say sorry and shook my hand, I said not to worry, the main thing is we are all OK and things happen.
I dropped the car at the mechanic to remove a plastic arch that had fallen on the tyre and was rubbing on it, then when returned home I had a message on my phone telling me that the Unibox received a signal that my car was involved in an accident and they were sending the caratrezzi.
DD nearly cried after the accident, she is OK now. Need to call the school to let them know why she is absent.

Oh, and OH had almost an identical damage on his car 3 weeks ago. The woman did not want to do the CID, they waited 4 hours for the Polizia Stradale to come and do the verbale and now he is facing 1600 euro damage which he must repair before he gives his car as part exchange for his new car that is already with a number plate waiting in Fiat in Rome.
And he is not willing to spend 1600 before the insurance says go and do it, and they will not do it before they see the verbale, which takes up to 30 days. I want to scream....

Thank goodness you weren't hurt! Terribly upsetting though.
Deep breaths - and the good old English remedy to all ills - a cup of tea.

you poor thing Isakat - hope you and DD are OK.

sorry about this Isakat , I'm glad no one was hurt but of course you were shaken , I a similar accident a few years ago and it does take a bit of getting over.

How was your first day ? where is thisbutchers I might come and see you !

Thanks, I feel like a glass of whiskey.
The school bus driver just called me to see what happened, apparently they were waiting for my daughter. I tried calling him, but there was no signal.
Also waiting for a list of approved carozerieri from the insurance.

Hi Isakat,

Sorry about your bad news. At least it is cut and dry and you won't have to argue whos fault it was.

Touch wood (he says touching his head) I have only had one accident in the past 6 years. Within 20 days of arriving in Italy, I stupidly stopped at a zebra crossing. The guy behind me didn't... My boot was nicely remodelled by his Ford transit.

And the guy who was supposed to be crossing the Zebra crossing??? He walked further down the road and then crossed the road without the aid of a dangerous zebra crossing.

Lol.. I started to gather witnesses, so that I could take names and addresses. Mrs Sensible stopped me.

Sorry to hear about that Isakat ...these things always are such a shock. Main thing is that nobody was hurt.
I had a frontale some years ago and never really got over it ..

Sorry to hear the news Isakat, but good to hear that you're ok!

I'm at La Beccheria on via Carducci, hadenough! I'm loving it, though it's tough work, we start from 6:30-7 until 1:30 (though more often 2), then start again from 3:30 until around 8 usually.. In fact one of the most difficult things is changing languages when there's English speakers, there was a group of Americans yesterday who suddenly spoke English at me and I was a bit shocked!

In other news I'm going to be back in England for a couple of days, as unfortunately my granddad died yesterday after a long illness. I heard through the phone when I was at work, which is probably the worst way. It was so sad to hear, but when I saw him before I left he was suffering badly, so in one sense I feel relief for him.

Sorry to hear about your Grandad, Chris.
Let us know when you are back and I will come be a difficult to please English customer so you can earn Kudos!

I am sorry for your loss Chris.

I wanted to ask you what is the equivalent to roast beef here Chris, I can never find a decent piece for roasting here that remains soft inside.

Thanks Isakat, it was expected for a long time but still shocking.

Try to ask for le costate (the ribs), and get a good look at the piece first to see if it has a nice marbling of fat through the meat, that'll keep it nice and tender inside. What other cuts did you try before? Here everyone is so crazy over the fat that the tendency is always to put the leanest cuts for sale, while I think it's better with more fat!