Ek, I think you've made the wise decision to bite the bullet and pay the *&%$@ ticket...

And I'm rather glad you will not be renting in Rome. (Why would you want to in any case?)

I shall keep my metaphysical fingers crossed that you can at least have the Dordogne damages reduced...

Thanks, Eloise!

On the ticket, it says you can appeal the fine but if you are denied, the fine will be automatically doubled!

I think I will just pay it...I can do this with a credit card on the internet..imagine!

Just back after ordering a pile of books from amazon.ca - it will be lovely to have the books, but the bill - groan!

The Internet is indeed wonderful; I just learned today of some of the weird and wondrous things I can do
banking on line. I've banked on line for a while, but today opened my eyes to new and unexpected possibilities.

Frankly, I don't know how I managed to travel for 30 years <b>without</b> the Internet. On the other hand, back in the 60s, even the 70s and 80s, it was totally different. Mass tourism was not what it is today; one never had to reserve in advance for museums - and one never stood in line; one did not have to reserve a hotel, agriturismo or convent eight months in advance; and I remember spending 100 lire (what was it then? maybe 10 or 20 cents...) a night in convents in Rome and Florence. In retrospect - even if I'm giving my age away - I'm delighted that I was able to and did travel as much as I did in the 60s and 70s. Oh, for the snows of yesteryear...

And I'm grateful that, despite everything that has changed, I can still travel today.

Please don't forget the rigatoni alla pajata report!

Eloise, I will not forget the pajata report!

I certainly know what you mean about traveling. The days when one did not fret about a traffic ticket generated by a strobe-light-flashing-hidden camera and traced to you via your credit card! I remember actually writing letters(!!) to hotels for reservations! And being in Paris when the US dollar brought almost 10 francs! When you actually could travel for, if not $5 a day, not all that much more! And you did not really need reservations for hotels in most places! Imagine that there actually were books with those $5 titles! Travel was really exotic back then...I know I am also giving away my age..let's just say I started young (!!)

Well the internet is certainly handy, I will grant that...although I do not seem to read as many books as I used to..always nosing about Fodor's, for example...

Eloise and ek,

You echo my thoughts exactly. We are just back from five weeks of travel through France and Italy...we make this yearly trip in October and November mainly to avoid crowds, but there was no avoiding this year. People were everywhere..sidewalks shoulder to shoulder, streets at a standstill, hotels filled. We were told by several desk people that they already had taken many reservations for fall 2007. I, too, miss the days you describe......it is not possible for us to make reservations a year out, but, the pressure is on to do so if you want a particular place at a particular time!

And imagine if someone had told us that one day we would be making restaurant reservations weeks in advance!

So here is the web site link for paying a traffic ticket on-line..imagine!

http://www.servizi.infogroup.it/mult...me?comune=D612

I had a similar situation with a rental car in Austria last year. Hubby was driving through Salzburg last May while we were on vacation and must have been speeding. About four months after we returned we received a ticket that was mailed to us by Avis. We weren't sure what to do, so we called the Avis customer service number here in the US. The guy told my husband not to worry about it and to just throw it away. He said that they send those out quite often but since we are oversees it wouldn't be a problem. I was concerned that we would have trouble renting cars in Europe in the future but we went ahead and ignored it.

Its now been a year and a half and we've rented Avis while in Italy this past March and had absolutely no problems at all. It was never even brought up. We never even received another piece of correspondence about the ticket.

Tracy

Tracy that is very interesting. Perhaps I should call Avis as well..I THINK we got our car from them; I rented through Autoeurope but I think Avis was their contact at Florence airport, which is where we rented the car. We rented it to drive to Montepulciano and received the ticket when we were driving back to the city in order to return the car and spend some time there...I remember clutching the map for dear life and peering at the tiny print, trying to guide the driver through the (many one-way) streets from the highway to the rental car office. And I actually remember passing Piazza Tasso and pointing with great excitement at one of my favorite restaurants that is located there.....maybe his (driver's) glance left the road as he tried to catch a glimpse of the restaurant, causing him to commit his alleged driving error!!!

I'm going to start by saying If I'm guilty of an infraction I will certainly pay the ticket, just to get that out of the way. But this could also be a giant scam.

That &quot;the ticket seems legitimate&quot;is questionable, Most municipalities get their payments from the rental companies because agencies are guaranteed to pay without dispute, since they will just automatically charge the customer with not only the fine but a large fee as well. Quick, easy for the municipalities to get their money without hassle.

I'd certainly check with the car rental company to see what their proceedure is when they are notified of an infraction and a request is made for the renter's personal information. The rental company would surely have on file a request from a police department for info on a customer. I'd want something from the rental company to assure me that they gave my personal info to the police.

Now with all these reservations about the whole thing I'm not sure I would pay this ticket with anything other than a check drawn on a US bank. If they want the funds from an American out of Italy and now home in America they can take the funds in US currency and they pay any transaction fees. The whole pay with a credit card online seems just to &quot;phisy&quot; for me. I know that's how things are done now, but that's also how we get fleeced every day by crooks.

Sorry if that sounds like the snooty Stereotypical &quot;American arrogance&quot; but
I'm the suspicious type, I'm not paranoid, just careful, there are so many scammers out there, cautious is safest.

&gt;The whole pay with a credit card online seems just to &quot;phisy&quot; for me. I know that's how things are done now, but that's also how we get fleeced every day by crooks.

Maybe - but checks drawn on any banks are not the usual way of paying in many European countries. Usually it is done by a bank to bank transfer, which is free of charge within the common currency area.
If you send them a check it will cost you more. But I agree, it absolutely makes sense to request additional proof (photo) as well as call the municipality before paying.

There is no option to pay with a check; they write that one can either pay with a credit card or via an international postal order, with &quot;Polizia Municipale di Firenze&quot; as the recipient. Beacuse of this, and because of the information on the web site (see below) I am quite sure that this ticket is legitimate; how else would they have found us and had the information as to where we were driving and when?

Even if Avis assures me that I can safely ignore this, the police may still increase the fine..there is a section about how failure to pay will result in an increaed fine. Interesting that the letter I received is in English only! And there is a(n poor) English translation on the web site: (see online payment section..)

http://www.poliziamunicipale.fi.it/

Eloise,
You can save 10% off Amazon at www.buy.com with free shipping over $25.
Additionally, they have a $10. on $30. and $20. on $50. savings with &quot;Google check out&quot; and 3% rebate using the Chase Buy.Com CC.
Feliz Navidad.
M

Mikemo,

I appreciate the information, but I live in the far frozen North (a.k.a Canada), and everytime I go to amazon.com (in the U.S.), I'm sternly redirected to amazon.ca. Amd everything I buy from the U.S., I have to pay duty on here in Canada.

There was one item (not a book) at amazon.com that I dearly wanted to give as a gift to a friend, duty or no duty. &quot;This item is not shipped to Canada.&quot; Grrr!

But thanks anyway for the thought.

On Slow Trav: the discussion began on 8/4/06. I just did a search on their message board (use &quot;find&quot; at the top of the page). I typed in 'traffic ticket'; it was down several conversations on the list.

Rip it up - the Italians are too darn disorganized to ever catch you!

Be aware in France if you get caught speeding, you must pay on the spot, $100!

Pay off your credit card and make 100% sure its cancelled (3x), then toss your ticket.

Eloise,
I live in the mountains of central Mexico.
Always ship to a US addy and have many mules bringing stuff here.
M (SMdA, Gto.)

Claro, on the French autobahnen, they stamp your ticket entering and exiting, so always take a potty break to avoid a paper speeding violation.
M

Ek,

Msybe it's not a bad idea to check with Avis whether the Florentine municipal police did get your address from them, but the on-line Pagamento site is legit. If you Google &quot;Comune di Firenze&quot;, click on &quot;Il Comune&quot;, find &quot;Polizia Municipale&quot; and click on it, on that page you will find the same &quot;Pagamento Online dei verbali&quot; site that you linked to. This might, of course, be the second time that they're getting the money, but if they had really gotten it already from Avis, surely a debit from Avis would have appeared on your credit card statements.

Just call me a naive, law-abiding citizen...

Mikemo,

Unfortunately, I don't know anyone willing to smuggle to me from the U.S., unless someone here cares to volunteer...?