Salemi Castle

Remember Salemi ? and the 1 Euro property regeneration project…

Follow here for a Salemi 2012 update further to recent Salemi news.

Italian TV licence annual renewal is due by 31st January 2010 for any of you that own a house in Italy with a TV in the italian property. This is know by the Italian state TV the RAI as a subscription. Visit RAI for further details and how to pay (click relevant language flag in bottom left corner). This also applies to you italian abroad still owning your house in Italy. Annual subscription 109 euros for 12 months.

ps Some of you may have searched italy TV license not Italian TV licence.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Apart from the obvious pun of the cruise ship Costa Concordia which crashed last Friday off the Tuscan coast near the island of Giglio near Grosetto, Tuscany, one wonders economically and socially is Italy sinking ?

Is it time to jump the boat before been left last man onboard to turn the lights out like captain Schettino did ?

Not covered by the international media but last week Sicily came to a grinding holt. A strike by lorry drivers blocking motorways and principal transport routes started last weekend, by Thursday the supermarket shelves were empty, petrol stations dried up, stores without supplies and okay life is slow here, but last week it was scary. It felt if though Sicily had literally stopped functioning.

Amazingly seasonal, zero mile supplies became popular like once upon a time. Prices though shot throw the roof, even the black economy benefitted with under the counter sales of scare products. There was even rumours the mafia was starting to get involved (if not already) controlling market prices.

Personally i was without petrol, not even enough to get to the airport in case of an emergency departure. I felt trapped. At least the cash machines worked in case a shop had some supplies. Ok it only lasted till Saturday, probably because the mums told their lorry driver sons to get back to work as their food supplies dried up for Sunday lunch…but even now Tuesday shops, stores, supermarkets are only just starting to stock up. With people now panic buying in case of a repeat strike, those few supplies arriving are quickly disappearing. Fortunately today i managed to find a petrol station with petrol, so i feel safer.

But worse the strike is now rolling out across the mainland. From north to south from Milan to Puglia roads blocked, lorries not delivery, live & fresh stock reaching sell by date, queues at petrol stations starting to form and some gas stations already dry. Even a protestor has been killed by a German lorry driver.

This is the people’s revolution against Mario Monti austerity reforms. Monti euro technocrat probably appointed by world banks to control their interests. With property tax on owner’s primary residence been reintroduced after 5 years, increases of VAT, redundancy growing, tax evasion been stamped on, from liberation of Chinese walled markets like taxis, chemists, notarys and more….the population have had enough and the Italian revolution has started and is Italy sinking ?

Free Ski week at Brembo Ski

FreeSki for 6 days at Brembo Ski in Val Brembana, 1 hour north of Bergamo BGY airport, Italy. Book a ski apartment or ski chalet from the participating ski accomodation in Foppolo for 1 week and get a 6 day free ski pass.

Brembo ski pass daily price is 21euros, saving you 126 euros.

Offer is available during the following dates :

7-15 January 2012 / 14-22 January 2012 / 17-25 March 2012 / 24 March – 1 April 2012 /.

You must stay in either :

3 star 7 day half pension ski hotel/chalet (costs 355euros/person/week) or a 2 star 7 day half pension ski apartment costing 306 euros/person/week. Get your voucher at the ski hotel and present at the Brembo ski lifts and pick up the 6 day free ski pass.

Just over 1 hours drive north from Bergamo airport BGY (ryanair call it Milan-Bergamo or as it is known locally “Orio al Serio” airport), you can be in the Brembana Valley ski resorts of Foppolo – Carona – San Simone, collectively known as the ski resort “Brembo Ski”.

We have many Italian ski chalets, ski apartments for sale In Italy on our books. Contact for more details.

Why Brembo Ski ? Its just over an hours drive from BGY. That is it’s the nearest skiing to any Italian airport. It’s already popular with English school trips. Many small apartments ideal for kids groups. A 1970’s resort a bit like Marilleva, was popular but as skiing became more of a lifestyle event rather than intensive skiing they lost their market share to other smarter resorts. There were political problems between the 3 local resorts and they never got it together. Now the local mayors of each town are on the same side and they are re-investing into the infrastructure and have brought serious international investors in to the area.

The Italian group De Benedetti has recently bought out the whole old ski infrastructure and is now committed with local partners to spend over 100million euros in the redevelopment of the area, creating new hotels, new parking, new ski lifts  and new property developments.

Skiing : these slopes are great for beginners & intermediate skiers.

Follows relevant ski local website information for documenting :

Brembo Ski

http://www.brembanaski.com/ (English links in bottom right hand corner)

http://www.brembanaski.com/ingleseski/index.html

http://www.piazzatorreskiarea.com/impianti.html

http://www.valbrembanaweb.it/valtortaski.html

http://www.brembanaski.com/ingleseski/alberghi.html

http://www.orobievive.net/10_demanio_foppolo/rs_foppolo/record%20su%20piste%20sci_%2004%20gennaio%202011.pdf

Would you like to buy italian ski property in Canazei, Corvara, Val di Zoldo or Alleghe in the Italian Dolomites then contact MIPC to view some ski investment properties in Italy.

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As from 8th August 2011 there is now a bus connecting Trapani TPS airport directly to downtown Mazara del Vallo (via Guido Dorso).

Departure times from Trapani airport to Mazara (journey 60 minutes) are : 5:45  7:40  13:40  14:55  16:45  20:30  23:30

Departure times from Mazara (via Guido Dorso) to TPS airport are: 4:45  6:20  7:45  13:50  15:15  19:15  22:00

Service ran by local “AST” bus. Tickets cost 3.6 euros.

Follow here for more info on Trapani TPS airport

I have stayed or visited these proposed rental accommodations and recommend them. When you contact them directly and book mention “MIPC” you will probably get a better rate than you can get through rental websites like booking.com hotels.com laterooms.com.
You have probably landed here as you have booked a cheap flight with Ryanair into Trapani airport, Sicily and need somewhere to stay. Firstly you need to consider onwards travel to your accommodation from the airport otherwise you will be stuck in the middle of nowhere.
Jump to each section of this article.

• Onwards travel from Trapani Airport
• Trapani city centre rental

Onwards travel from Trapani Airport:

Firstly it is important that you know that Trapani airport is 20 minutes from Trapani city centre and public transport is not the best. Your options of onward travel are bus, taxi and car hire.

Bus : The only bus routes running to/from Trapani airport are to the following destinations : Trapani city centre, Marsala centre and Palermo train station. Buses are not regular (see here for Trapani airport bus timetable and how/where to buy tickets) so do some research depending on your arrival time.

Taxi : Taxis operate around the Ryanair arrivals times schedule and generally hang around for 30 minutes after a plane arrives, after which they leave the airport as there is not a continuous arrival of flights/business. So move quickly to the taxi rank, don’t hang around having a snack in arrivals lounge or you may find the taxi rank empty. Negotiate your price with driver before setting off. Taxi to Trapani town centre is 30euros.

Car hire : Best option for mobility if you are NOT staying in Trapani city centre. Bring your sat nav you’ll need it if you are staying in some country agroturismo. NB. I have known people to queue for over an hour to get the hire car. Tip: On arrival send 1 of your group upfront to the car hire queue whilst others wait for luggage.


Trapani city centre rental:
Weekend or short stay in Trapani centre then I would advise you take the bus from Trapani airport (see here for Trapani airport bus timetable and how/where to buy tickets) rather than car hire, it just makes life easy. The rental accommodations in Trapani listed below are all within a 5 minute walk of the bus stop. Get off the bus at Trapani port bustop also known as Piazza Garibaldi, DO NOT stay on the bus to Trapani Bus Station (last stop) unless the accommodation listed recommends that stop.

If you have any problems booking just email MIPC and we will try to help

Highly recommended : “Residence Rosa dei Venti” : 3 star. Self catering apartments. great value quote “MIPC” when booking.

A: name “Tra Le Mura Le case di Hilde” : various apartments in Trapani historic town centre. MIPC rating 3 star

B: name “Residence Cortile Merce” : various services hotel, B&B or apartments. MIPC rating 2star

C: name “La Gancia” : 4 star accommodation

D: name “Al 10 B&B” : Opens summer 2011 : Looks good MIPC 3 star rating

E: name “Le Chiavi di San Francesco Residence” : website not in English. MIPC 3 star rating

F: name “B&B Le Vele” : 10 minute walk from port. MIPC 2 star rating

G: name “Casa Vacanza San Pietro” : MIPC rating 2 star, though nice historic building.

Trapani rent sicily.