Any trader From Italy?

kianti · Mar 22, 2005

San Gimignano: towers and Vernaccia

Perched on a hill with its towers thrown into sharp relief by the deep green mountains behind it, San Gimignano looks like a town plucked from a fairy tale and set into the Tuscan countryside.

Of course, it's not. Nor has it always been the sleepy little town it is today: In the late middle ages it was one of Central Tuscany's most important trading centers, strategically perched astride the intersection between the main highway from Rome to the Alpine passes, and the road connecting the Tuscan heartland to the maritime republic of Pisa and the coast.

Towers collapsed unmourned, and the only resurgence of pride occurred in 1674, when the PodestÃ , or governor, ordered the owners of the remaining towers to restore them "for the grandeur of the Earth." Of the 72 standing when San Gimignano was at its apex, 14 remained.
More...

It was like NY in the 1300

kianti · Mar 22, 2005

Quote from spect8or:

I wish I could be cool and post smug comments, replete with not so subtle hints about how much better than everyone else I am, like Lefty. What a trader. What a man.
More...

probably is descended from Folgore da San Gimignano

Yelping of Dogs, and Huntersâ Rousing Shout

Yelping of dogs, and huntersâ rousing shout,
starting of hares, and yelling men around,
dashing of many a hound from leash unbound,
running on lovely meadows in and outâ

immensely all these things delight, no doubt, 5
a heart that free of somber cares is found.
In all my thoughts of love enmeshed and bound,
from one of them I hear this taunting flout.

It tells me, as it told me once before:
âHow charmingâlook!âa gentle heart can be: 10
in such barbaric bliss it can ignore

all women and their facesâ gaiety!â
In terror, then, that Love may overhear,
I feel a weight of shame fall over me.
More...

Baruch · Mar 22, 2005

Quote from Lefty62151:

Thank you Baruch for your concern. I feel much better now that I have visited my bathroom.
More...

Ha-ha-ha.

Baruch · Mar 23, 2005

Quote from Kicking:

I thought about San Remo myself, it's close to the French border and the French riviera. I wasn't too excited by the pics I saw on the web though . The place looks old, almost run down compared to pictures of Nice or other French coastal towns. Maybe it 's a wrong impression i have. I'd rather be in France , except for the French sometimes maybe.... well in the South they are different I think.

The only reason I would consider moving to the Italian Riviera though besides the weather is the tax rate. I read on ET it's 12 % or so, and the fiscus doesn't treat you differently or doesn't care if you derive all your income from trading . Does this still hold true- if it ever was?
More...

Why not Sardinia? It's cheaper - and a lot more nice and pretty.

science_trader · Mar 23, 2005

Quote from Baruch:

Why not Sardinia? It's cheaper - and a lot more nice and pretty.
More...

Why not Sicily ? It's a lot cheaper and as nice and pretty as Sardinia.

stevet · Mar 23, 2005

hard to beat palermo/sicily

Baruch · Mar 23, 2005

Quote from science_trader:

Why not Sicily ? It's a lot cheaper and as nice and pretty as Sardinia.

More...

A lot cheaper? Sure? And if yes, why?

email · Mar 23, 2005

Quote from stevet:

hard to beat palermo/sicily
More...

I have heard that Corleone is a very nice little town.

science_trader · Mar 23, 2005

Quote from Baruch:

A lot cheaper? Sure? And if yes, why?
More...

Sardegna is the typical hot place where people are ready to spend fortune to buy land. Sicily (OK, let's forget about Taormina...) is not.

Baruch · Mar 23, 2005

Quote from science_trader:

Sardegna is the typical hot place where people are ready to spend fortune to buy land. Sicily (OK, let's forget about Taormina...) is not.
More...

OK, but why not?