buzz

I'm sure this varies by region, but in Paris and other locales in which I have stayed, they think nothing of throwing open their windows, without screens. (And I like opening those windows over the flower boxes!) Come to think of it, I don't recall many bugs while hiking near the Rhine. Here in the US (at least in the midwest, where I live) every window has a screen. You leave a door open for a moment and a fly buzzes in.

g

It must vary by region. We lived in Germany for over 2 years and there were certainly flies there (although we lived in a small village and there were farms/horses not too far away, so maybe that was a factor?). There were also some of the biggest black spiders I have ever seen.

scdixon

<BR><BR>I too am from the Midwest. On one trip to London we noticed, while we were sitting on a park bench, that someone had thrown down a half-eaten sandwich. There were two big, lethargic “bottle” flies crawling around on it. Had it been where I’m from the thing would have had more flies than you could count on it within seconds or minutes. However, having never particularly noticed a fly in England before I nudged my wife and said, “look at the flies on that sandwich.”<BR><BR>A fellow who ran a vending booth overheard me and said, in a classic Cockney accent, “Oi, ain’t they terrible then? Never seen nothin’ like it, Oi haven’, bloody city is crawlin’ w’ flies this year!”<BR><BR>I have noticed a few flies crawling around on the ever-present dog crap in Paris, but nothing like the number of flies we see here in the central part of the States.<BR>

kate

It really depends on where you are and what time of year it is. Here in London (and this goes for most areas in England) flies, mosquitos etc are really not a problem so we're happy to throw open the windows. Paris has a climate not dissimilar to London, and therefore a similar bug situation.<BR><BR>However some areas suffer more. I was in Tuscany in August, for example, and had to be very careful about keeping the windows closed so the mozzies wouldn't eat me alive in the night.

Buzz

<BR><BR>Can anyone who lives in Munich answer this question? I was there about fifteen years ago, in late August, and it seemed like hornets were EVERYWHERE. I vividly remember them crawling all over sticky pastries in bakeries, but the women behind the counters picking out the pastries didn't seem bothered by them at all. <BR><BR>Was this a rare occurence in late summer, or is it commonplace?

Dori

I spent four nights in Florence and barely got any sleep. The bugs were either eating me alive or buzzing in my ear. I tried to keep the windows fully closed, but somehow they always got in.

Martine

We have only flies and mosquitos in Summer. At this moment they are already gone and they come back around June.<BR>We also have bugs, but fortunately they are not so big as your &quot;palmetto bugs&quot;, except for the cockchafer that you can only see in May (when you are lucky) but certainly not in Paris!

Sara

We were in Transylvania, Hungary, and Austria in August, and we were surprised at the lack of mosquitos. We had our windows, with no screens, open every night, and we were outside frequently at dusk, and never encountered a single mosquito - there were very few flies, as well. We thought that this was pretty amazing.

Martine

Yes Sara, that is strange. Here in Belgium there are lots of little mosquitos in summer. Especially in August you can be eaten alive at night. The only place where you can sleep without a sceen is at the coast.There are no mosquitos there.

Me2

Oh yes!<BR>The yellow jackets in Germany in September are horrific!<BR>