Blogs from Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Europe - page 41

Well, I finally made it to Ravenna! It’s a really lovely town. I had a super early train that I was a tad too early for- so early that the subway wasn’t open yet and I had to walk to the train station- under a mile, so no problem. But, I made it just fine and made my train change on time and got here, to Ravenna around 10:30 AM. I asked a cabbie where my hotel was. Only 50 meters away, great! So, I headed towards the hotel, promptly passed the street and had to ask someone else. Luckily, my understanding of Italian is getting pretty good, and I found my hotel soon after. However, well, have you ever walked into somewhere, hotel or college or anywhere, really, and thought “Oh, this is not good” ... read more

Bologne, Italia, as Italians refer to it, is a beautiful city in northern Italy that I have fallen in love with. It is shadowed by the three famous cities that form a triangle around it - Milan, Florence and Venice. That means it isn’t over-invaded by tourists and remains a truly cultural centre of Europe. It has really kept a small town feel, but it certainly ain't small! After the meeting in Bertinoro, the conference shuttle bus dropped me at Bologna station on Saturday afternoon (at least I was able to make use of the free shuttle in one direction!). I find my hotel and open the room window to discover I am looking over a huge marketplace. Ah, this must be the Saturday market my Italian colleague was telling me about. Right, off we go ... read more

My New Home Hello from Bologna, home of the red (la rossa), the learned (la dotta), and the fat (la grassa). And the 196 students from the Johns Hopkins graduate program in advanced international studies. How has my new home been so far? Well, it’s made me homesick for my real home, especially since there is no fall better than a New York fall. It’s made me very Italian in how I greet passersby on motorbikes that decide they have right of way on the sidewalk: “Vaffanculo!!!!” It’s made me really miss the technology of the modern world considering they are still keeping records via carbon paper and typewriters to get a residence permit. It’s made me become part of the I-hate-really-big-scary-dogs-that-attack-you-on-the-street-and-crap-on-the-street-just-so-you-can-step-in-it fan club. The lack of a river or ocean in the vicinity is making ... read more

Yes, Varsha seems to have done a fantastic work in arranging our trip to Rajasthan for this summer. I am eager to leave...I cannot wait. I fell in love with India last year. Davide's dad is an old folk for the Indian subcontinent and has transmissed his fever to us. So last year we decided to try our first Indian experience. It was shocking, beautiful and terrible, colourful and dirty, hot and freezing cold, overwhelming and unforgettable. We stepped into Tamil Nadu's nature, people and beautiful remainings from the glorious past. I couldn't ever have imagined such a magnificence. India took me. I know I am not the only one. I am probably the last to be captured by this magic in this forum of travellers, but, you see, I am not a traveller, I wish ... read more

I have left the fog shrouded land of Scotland and headed for the sun filled vally of Bologna, Italy for the Gods of Metal festival. There was over 24 hours of music over 2 days playing for an audiance of over fourty thousand people. It was an great show with many great bands playing. On the Saturday the lineup was: Evergrey Mudvayne Mastadon Dragonforce Straping Young Lad Obituary Lacuna Coil Slayer Iron Maiden The lineup for Sunday was: Exilia Extrema Hammerfall Black Label Society Yngrey Malstein Accept Anthrax Megadeath Motley Crue Although the show was great, after the band ended, many people just started leaving so there wasn... read more