The G-reg on ICAO license has been done ad nauseam here and I'm sure IO540 or BOSE-X will be along any minute to tell you you can fly it worldwide, not only in the UK.
Great. So you're in Italy with your G-reg aircraft and SA PPL & Medical, and you're being ramp-checked by an official who barely speaks English. Not my type of fun, even though technically the combo is indeed legal.
once you have over 100hrs the process is much easier I seem to recall.
It is not much easier. After 100 hours (I actually thought it was 150, but oh well) you only get waivers for, I believe, three out of the seven ground exams. That's all. (Details are in LASORS but can't be bothered to check right now.)
I did a JAA PPL in the USA, but had I known then what I know now, I'd have just done the FAA PPL.
I did a JAA PPL in the USA too and in hindsight I would have done an FAA PPL in addition to the JAA PPL.
By the way, I don't know of a JAA school in Canada. Can anyone tell me where it is?
Just checked. The school that did JAA training in Canada was Moncton Flight College, but they suspended their JAA operations in Sept. 2008.
Welcome to Moncton Flight College