Life is so uncertain take it in a stride

we spent 4 nights in rome at the holiday inn then off to assisi......i loved assisi...we also attended mass in assisi...awesome...i would love to return there...we tried to extend our stay there but all hotels were booked so we continued as planned to florence......i got us a two bedroom apartment to spread out in and it worked out well....florence was not as big as i had invisioned....we pretty much walked everywhere....it is amazing how mom and dad are in such great shape.......florence was hot hot hot....mom was able to contact myriam in florence and she gave us a beautiful full day tour of tuscany......myriam will also meet us in paris for a couple of days at the end of our trip....we actually broke off bundles ogf grapes fro, the vineyards and ate them......faboulous....lines were huge in florence so it stopped us from seeing any museums etc....

after dad was robbed it put a damper on his mood....however it did make him now listen to me when i suggested something....it appears that the more he says i am lmeading the more he leads...then there is mom who leadsq according to her own drum....she tends to wander off and she thinks we are following....this has truly been a get to know my parent trip....we did enjoy the colesium and all of the ruins in rome....we attended mass at st pauls basilica front pew...awesome....and mom has been diligent on praying for all of her friends......more on next page

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ok...i think we are on a roll here...i think the last entry was entered so now i can give you all some details of our incredible journey....rome was not that great...the metro was not good and full of creepy people....dad was dad and while he was observing the beautiful women some men were observing him...just before a metro stop two men cornered dad and robbed him...he did not realize it until it was well over....i saw it happen and pushed one of thme away and grabbed the other ones arm...in the meantime the doors closed on one of my arms and one of moms arms and dad was superman and forced open the doors...dad wanted to know why was i making such a big fuss and thatr i need to settle down...i told him to check his pockets and...he then realized what had just happened....it was very fast...more to come

hi there....please forgive me...i am using a european typewriter and the letters are not where im use to and all caps and commas etc. are a mystery to me.......i have just realized that my last several entries have not made it to this site....i am so dissappointed...i am not sure if this will go through.....after a long week in rome florence assisi and venice we are at the boarder of switz and france....just beautiful here.....i saw pictures of relatives in frount of houses that were taken over a hundred years ago....i took a picture of myself in the same spot....everyone here is awesome...the celebrate food children and family....tonight they are having a huge family reunion in our honor so that we could visit and meet everyone...everyone has welcomed us with open arms and open hearts....everyone has cried when they first lay eyes on mom and dad...very touching......

It honestly was an extremely hard day! Everything that could have gone wrong, did! We were late leaving Lafayette, as you know.......the bad weather made the flight out of Houston late, but we got on..........BUT, once we got to Paris, Alitalia said we didn't pay for our flights! They said we didn't have valid tickets............It was more than a 3 hour mess.....this made us miss 3 connections to Rome...........My parents didn't know the half of it, but they were very anxious! We finally arrived ROme.............they lost 3 of the 4 bags........My dad refused to leave the airport without our bags.....after a LONG time watching the carousel going around and around (because he didn't want to "give up"....I finally asked the lost and found luggage and they said it was still in Paris and would be in at 8:30pm.....so, of course we waited at the airport....the luggage arrived after 9:00pm........then, we took a train from the airport to the subway "Termini" station...............by this time it was getting really dark and it was really sleazy............then...........I was NEVER so scared in my whole life.........by the time we found the right metro to the Holiday Inn shuttle, it was 11:00pm........the shuttle stopped at 10:00pm and so we caught a city bus, because there were no taxi's........it was awful and VERY scary.....we met up with a family at the metro who happened to be going to the HOliday inn too and they showed us the bus............the bus actually took us on an over hour ride, then dropped us off a half mile from the holiday inn in an area with prostitutes.....more to come.............in looking back...........I should have left the airport when it was daylight and went back tomorrow for the bags.....I will not go against my better judgement next time..........you have no idea how incredibly dangerous that was for us!......Tomorrow has to be a better day

I just purchased a laptop to take along on our trip! Just talked to Mom who is already worried that I'll be taking too much "stuff" to carry.....She's probably right! This first blog is a TEST.....just wanted to make sure it goes through fine...Our departure date from Lafayette is on August 8th..Alex's birthday! One day, I hope to travel this same route with all the kids! Chow! st