Russians shoot down a civilian airliner...

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by Ike Bana

I think the EU is pretty stable. Stable and exceedingly attractive at this time in history...considering the crap going on in what used to be this great nation.

Agreed for that portion of the EU north of the Alps. South of the Alps is a different story. Kind of a Mississippi vs. Massachusetts thing.

[bobabode]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...y.html?hpid=z2

EU appears to be inching closer towards swatting at the bear with the ugly stick, even so there's still a carrot attached.

[Ike Bana]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Agreed for that portion of the EU north of the Alps. South of the Alps is a different story. Kind of a Mississippi vs. Massachusetts thing.

I've spent some time in Florence and Rome in the past four years. Italy is fine with me. The only downside is the ugly river running through the middle of Rome, and...I know they invented graffiti...but it's too much and most of it is bad graffiti. There's this one idiot in Florence "yogurt". That's it, all over Florence, black paint..."yogurt".

https://yy1.staticflickr.com/2589/38...426ef8cc_z.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/...f29d65cc_m.jpg
http://i432.photobucket.com/albums/q...raffYogurt.jpg
http://riccio.zenfolio.com/img/s1/v6/p755290088-4.jpg
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6069/...999bb45d_m.jpg

OK...maybe it's a couple different yogurts...all of them are idiots.

The south of France works for me as well.

[nailer]

Originally Posted by finnbow

Agreed for that portion of the EU north of the Alps. South of the Alps is a different story. Kind of a Mississippi vs. Massachusetts thing.

Having spent some time TDY in all four states, for me Italy is a no-brainer over Mississippi and Massachusetts get's a slight nod over Germany.

[icenine]

Another GS...just what PC needs

[finnbow]

Originally Posted by nailer

Having spent some time TDY in all four states, for me Italy is a no-brainer over Mississippi and Massachusetts get's a slight nod over Germany.

Don't get me wrong. I love both Italy and the American South (I've been to Italy dozens of times and have only lived south of the Mason/Dixon Line), but am nonetheless capable of recognizing the inefficiencies endemic to both places, particularly when compared to their northern neighbors.

Actually, it's the laid back attitude/lifestyle that makes these places so appealing to visit. It can be frustrating to live there at times though. During my last 5 years in Germany (out of 11 years there), I was the Resident Engineer for all major DoD construction work in southern Bavaria and my best friend had the same job for northern Italy (he lived in Vicenza). Simple things like getting a minor car repair or oil change could be challenging in Italy (and could take days), whereas in Germany it was totally painless and always efficient to a fault. There is a lot to love about Italy, but efficiency ain't one of them.