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Guten tag.
I am here! The games start in less than 12 hours! I am a very overpriced hostel and about to go to the airport to collect my brother and friends Jeff and Cory. As a result, this entry is going to be quite short, and I just know I'm going to forget something. Still, you'll get the picture.
Travel update:
The past days I've been in Bologna, Italy except yesterday I trained to Venice then bussed to the airport then flew to near Frankfurt then bussed to Frankfurt proper. I will be running around with my brother and friends in a matter of hours!
Tales:
After Venice, I to a train with Laura to Bologna. The town houses the oldest university in Europe dating back to the 11th century. It is well known for its food, so I made sure to test the cuisine as much as I can despite the fact that all the Europeans around me eat like birds and only once every three days. We made it to Trattoria Fantoni. The house wine was alright and afterwards we made it to a wine bar. It was my first time ever drinking only
wine an entire evening. I felt like such a Euro wino, and indeed I was. While drinking, I learned about Laura and Martina's invented religion Pimpanesimo. The manifesto is written in my journal for those interested, but generally the theory involves red dots (pallini rossi). It is quite complicated to concisely explain in brief.
During the days we wondered around Bologna doing various meetings and errands. I learned that men in Europe suffer tremendously because the community doesn't support them by offering them inexpensive underwear. I also learned the art of apartment advertisement in an Italian student town; we hung flyers all over the city. Generally, I never really got into the tourist swing of things in Bologna. It was quite funny because I never looked at a map and never really concentrated on where things were and what the layout was.
The second day we met more of Laura's friends. One friend is a nice guy from Senegal named Pap. Laura speaks perfect French, Italian and English, so at the table she spoke one language to each of the others present, a juggling act that was quite entertaining. As the day went on, we met more and
more friends and eventually gathered in this square filled with revolutionary students drinking sangria and playing basketball on a makeshift court created with some plastic hooks and a hoop.
Wondering about, I ran into a guy from my hostel in Dubrovnik! It was quite random. I am not sure if the story stuck out in your heads as much as mine (or if you could tell if I was lying or not), but this guy Luke and his Scotish friend Mark were GIVEN a car from these two British mechanics in Dubrovnik. They then took the car ferry to Bari with it and that was the last we heard from them. Until this instant... In general, it was simply hilarious to compare stories of our respective car trips. It was also funny to hear his tale of ditching the car; it is parked on a sidestreet in Florence to this day and no owner has any intent on retrieving it mostly because it lacks insurance. Still, if you know anyone in the area in need of a driving-on-the-left car in the greater Florence area, contact me.
It was great fun running around Bologna acting as an Italian student.
ballin in Bologna
makeshift bball court in Italian student square It was also great fun in Trieste running around. Generally, I will remember this visit to Italy for the unprecidented openness Massimo and Laura gave me. It made the time spent there unique and invaluable, and something I'll never forget.
Arriving in Frankfurt, I walked by the main train station to the hostel and witnessed people wearing their jerseys from every country under the sun. It was awesome to see how excited people were! I went together with my British friends to the riverside where all sorts of food stands and beer venues were setup. Also setup was a floating football-field sized screen in the middle of the river specifically for those wanting to watch games who lack tickets. I am going to try to convince my friends at the airport that we are at this riverfront for the opening matches! But nonetheless, I'm excited about all the games! The sucky thing is I'm a bit hessitant to sport my US jersey since it is so "uncool" to be American politically now but I might have to make some exceptions for this once in a lifetime occassion!
So please enjoy the games and continue the comments and emails!
Thanks to everyone!
brad
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Michael
non-member comment
US jersey
I doubt that you run into trouble because of a US jersey at the world cup. I think people can distinguish between politics and soccer. ;-) And btw: not too many people would even recognize a US jersey, I guess.. :-P -- Michael (Germany) P.S.: I'm gonna watch the game at a big screen at my university, I think