Edinburgh - need some help/hints on moving there
 

HI There

I'm from Italy and I work as an hotel night porter with duties of a receptionist aswell for seven years, but never like this year have felt that the hotel is going down pretty bad, the owner is paying us even more later than last years, (some times he even doubles the month paytime) he fired some of my colleagues so I have to do some of the work they did, there are less guests coming then the last year, and we are not living so good here I had to put in sale my car and had to pull out the plug of my refrigerator to save some money, I go to work by foot every evening from home wich is 2 km, for working eleven hours and a half with one day off for 1000 euros per month, it's not right, I got rent to pay too we are not living well.
Me and my wife are going to stay for 2 weeks in a bed and breakfast in Edinburgh with a one way flight, in this time we'll be looking for a permanent job, I got my curriculum vitae ready, and I can do anything is available, we would love to live there, we love the weather, people, places, everything. We are departing on this November 26th one way flight for 2 weeks and hoping to not come back, I take a look on Gumtree site and Directgov every day, and I see that there is work there.
I know that to work there I need the NIN but not being a resident yet I can only have the temporary NIN to be able to get paid then as soon as I find a job I'll rent a house and open a bank account start the request for the permanent NIN, then subscribe to the AIRE.

Any suggestion, hint or help would be everything for us
Thanks in advance
take care

My only caution is the weather. Have you been there other than is summer? It is WAY colder than Italy - completely different wardrobe - and heating costs can be very high - esp if you want it warm indoors.

Is the situation the same all over Italy? Would not another city there be an easier move?

Whichever you decide - good luck.

Welcome to Scotland. There is a well established Italian community here. They may be able to help.

Thank you very much zippo, I really hope they will :D

An Edinburgh winter is warmer than a winter in Milan or Venice - and never gets as cold as Florence does. Edinburgh's rainfall is a lot less as well (Edinburgh gets its reputation among the ignorant from the fact that it rains more frequently, so you get a lot of very light rain). Unless you're currently living in the Mezzogiorno, you'll merely find the summers less oppressive than at home - and no need for air conditioning.

Anyone who's ever actually looked at people on the streets of Milan and Edinburgh will notice immediately that it's the Milanese, not the Edinbughers, who have a special winter wardrobe. Extreme cold is much rarer than in Northern Italy, so British cities don't handle it as well when they get it. A midwinter day or two when public transport doesn't work isn't a sign that the country's going to collapse.

Some people from more southerly latitudes find Edinburgh's long winter nights difficult to deal with, and there's no doubt that many can get depressed more easily in the dark season than in midsummer. Since after about a week, you'll start finding things in Edinburgh you don't love (no idea what that will be: but people moving countries almost always find something), and that will roughly coincide for you with the shortest day, do bear in mind that your reaction might be partly induced by the dark. Little you can do about it, except be aware of it, spend as much time as you can outdoors (it may not look very sunny outside, but depression can be reduced by exposure even to our feeble winter sun), and don't storm back to Italy immediately.

Thank you flanneruk, but weather is not the problem I prefer when it's dark, my eyes burn when there is too much sun, and as I can see from the temperature on any forecast site it's great: not too hot in the summer and not too cold in the winter, it's perfect, for us.
I would like some help/hints on working there and on finding a job, getting started to live there, are those that I mentioned all the steps to make for us to start living there? did I miss something? is it easy to find the job I did for seven years? what's the most easy to find job? has anyone ever worked/lived there?
thanks in advance
:D

Welcome to Scotland Ald8gio. As you already have a right to work in UK and experience in the hospitality industry I think you'll have a decent chance at gaining employment reasonably quickly. It has a year round tourist season and demand experienced staff is decent. For house rental try

http://www.citylets.co.uk/

http://www.s1rental.com/

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-...A8BF8823559E3F

As Zippo mentions there is large Italian population in Scotland, nearly all our fish and chip shops and cafe's used to be Italian owned, and there are some decent expat forums where you can speak to those who have made the move recently.

http://www.internations.org/edinburgh-expats/italians

Good luck with your move.

Thanks a lot Weegie, that was very useful information, I'll take the best out of it.
Thanks for the help :D

take care
cheers

A couple of links for hospitality jobs and recruiters in Edinburgh.

http://www.aeahospitality.com/

http://www.reed.co.uk/jobs/hospitali...ring/edinburgh

http://www.indeed.co.uk/jobs?q=hospi...l=West+Lothian