That was good....Hey Bud.....sorry I've fallen back a little in reading your postings,LIFE !.......have you had any luck? those old Italians spend a lot of time in church...check out the churchs...plus, I heard Italian nuns are hot( well thats what I heard !)

Having been a chronic phantom lurker of the site, I was encouraged to contribute to it and so I thought I could give a quick weather update :) Hurricane Alex, although a bit stronger than expected, is said to have spared the hit North Carolina community still recovering from last year's Hurricane Isabel. Thankfully, Alex has not hurt anyone as no injuries have been reported. However, the hurricane did give vacationers a bit of a scare including Leroy Gosser of Somerset Ky and his family, who did not know until they were close to the shore that Alex would disrupt their vacation. Gosser's eldest child, 4 year old John Paul, was a bit nervous. "He got a little scared," Gosser said, "A couple of times, he'd say, 'Mommy, I want to go home.'" So, from what I have concluded, even though Hurricane Alex could have exacted more bodily harm, she is no ride in the park.
(Exerpts taken from the Associated Press)
Hope everyone's summer is going well!

Benner! Major posting!! Hey - let me know if you want connection for Norway - I definately think I can help you there!! Safe travels - Love you!

well this site has had some issue with the pics and the updates and all that but i think the little hickup is over.....i wanted to keep the countries sorta together so i did two postings, one in milan italy and another for munich....well i am sure you can figure it out.....though they are a bit lengthy....kinda got backedup for a while.....anywho after all that typing i dont so much have anything else to say except i am missing home still very much but it has been a nice recoup time here in munich.....3 weeks left and this whirlwind tour of europe will be over.....a grand thing and depressing all at the same time......anywho i am out....ben

Hi Benjamin! So sorry to have missed your phone call yesterday. Glad to hear you are comfortably at Helga's. Thank you, Helga, for feeding and housing him!! Sounds like you fed him the best meal of the trip! Ben - Laurie tells me that Helga's mountains are rather large . . . you won't get lost on them right??!! Looking forward to your next post. Love you!

Hi, Ben! Hope you enjoy Bavaria a little before pushing on....I got the article in today's Globe about the Dispatch concert. But look, more tragedy----the Red Sox traded Nomar to the Cubs......New England is in mourning. Remains to be seen whether that was a good move or not. Hey, the first tropical storm of the season has popped up off NC and guess what it's called? Yup......Alex! How's Felix? Give Helga a big hug for me, okay? Love, Laurie

Dom was near the last dispatch concert and didnt go.....i think we should all take a momment of silence to thank and remember dispatch for what they have given tot he world....haha....yeh i almost stayed home from europe due tot he timing of their last concert.....not really but i really wanted to go....so anyway i am here in the south of germany in the sect known as bovaria.....beautiful lil place.....helga is here and i have been fed absolutly well....all the weight lost was replaced tonight....tom i am gonna bike it in the mountains.....then i am gonna finally update on milan and the travels to here.....and yeh.....then i must keep on treking as i have much to see.....til tom night...ben

Ahhh craziness!! I wish I could be there to translate (and eat) some Italian for ya, but it seems you are doing well enough on your own :o) I spent the weekend in Massachusettes and visited the Cape, but of course you out-do me by being in Italy. Point being I missed your arrival in Italy which is probably the point of all points at which I should chime in on this online journal thingy of yours. So what have you eaten??? Take pictures of everything you eat. EVERYTHING. Even the stuff you have already eaten, I DO work in a lab and I can figure it out. Food food food. And wine! Drink some wine. Got it? Food and wine. SO yea, I was near Boston, but I did not catch the possibly 10 hours of dispatch concert (forgot about that, didn't ya), though I did hear it was crazy packed. I'm sorry, wicked packed. I could go on, but I won't write endless paragraphs like SOME people like to... Kidding! I appreciate your in-depth descriptions... keep them coming!! Ciao, amico!

Well i have 5 minutes of internet left and there is this highly anoying thing at the bottom of the screen blinking and telling me i have only 5 minutes remaining and i should go buy more but for 4 bucks an hr i think i will hold off....yesterday was amazing i will write all about it as soon as i get a chance but consideringi thought there was nothing to do here i was so wrong.....well the plans seem to be going through well and i am about to go call rays contact in postaria (sp?) then to book a train and depending on when the train leaves it will decide the schedual of the day....25 days remaining.....so much to see....til later....ben

Hi Ben, if you travel from Milan to Munich, you will pass Bolzano. There is the man out of the ice, we call him Oetzi. The museum is quite close to the station and fun to go through , it takes about 2 to 3 hours.
See you soon,
Helga

Hi Ben,
We are waiting for you - come any time and stay as long as you want! David will be home from work Aug 4th or 5th. Call (from Germany): 08021-8689 or 0178 455 2229 or Sebastian 0179 1101417
See you soon,
Helga and Herbert

so....italy is hot.....this town is expensive...but nice....not much to do except eat and shop....but it is fun to watch people eat and shop right....haha....well my plan has changed or maybe become formulated......i am going to call one of ray's contacts tomarrow who is the only one that knows i might pop in and thank her and try to give her a solid date a little later in the month as italy is the only free route for me to get to athens with the eurail pass.....so for now it makes sense to go north and see as much as i can for 2 weeksish and then head back through italy and see it then.....northward i believe if all works out i will stay with helga and company for a few days and possibly get some hiking in as these cities are draining the life from me....i might possibly give an update if i get too bored today but the net is expensive here....this city is really ritzy...supposed to be some of the best shopping in italy......so i will clearly be touring their one landmark in town and then spend the day reading and relaxing and eating a bit.....aight i am off....until later....ben