Blogs from Turin, Piedmont, Italy, Europe - page 13

An extract from the International Herald Tribune, Commentary by Roger Cohen. "...Its now clear that our credit system the world over was rotten all the way through, a giant house of cards maintained by the ingenious connivance of banks, rating agencies and insurance companies in a monumental heist. The only buyers anyone trusts any more are governments. No wonder Alan Greenspan says hes in a state of 'shocked disbelief'. Hes not the only one... ...its really no wonder, when you think about it that there are still tow guys in the race to become US president, pulling out all the stops in these last days to campaigning to be chosen as the one to face the nightmare. Lets fast forward a year to October 2009. the US unemployment rate stands at 10 percent. Crime is ... read more

so yesterday i did some serious traveling.. at 5.35am i caught a local bus in Ljubljana (Slovenia) to get to the main bus station where i waited in the dark and 5 degrees C for a coach that took me to Trieste on the Italian coast. i got there at 9am (after a bit of a struggle in Italian "yes i would like a window seat") bought a ticket and immediatly jumped straight on a train for Venice. i had 1/2hour there where i managed to push my way through the tourists and get my first Italian coffee in 3 years (which restored some much needed motivation) before jumping on a train for Milan. Milan Central station has to be seen to be believed, is was so much bigger that i remember,just awe inspiring. then after ... read more

Hi everybody! I guess I should start off with a little bit about my program. It's called USAC and is based out of Las Vegas. Where I study in Torino is a a branch of the Universita di Torino but it's part of the business school. I live 2 blocks away from school and all classes are in one building. The USAC program consists of a lot of americanos/as and some other countries as well. So far I have met a lot of people and have to frequently ask what their name is. There are about 70 people in our program, not including the Italians that will be in some of our classes. I made the almost 10 hour flight (special thanks to O'HARE and their contribution of a 1 and 1/2 hour delay). We got ... read more

(Alternate titles: Como-ver it, and Our time went Shitaly). Note: Any complaints about the infrequency of blog entries should be filed directly to the members of state representing the European Union and the affiliates of the European Economic Area. 10 euro an hour for internet is such an injustice that there exists no word to describe it, so i must make them up. Internet in Europe is absolutely blaspotent. That said, keyboard al gratis has found its way under my fingers so the chronicle can continue. Last report had us bouncing through Europe with a variety of at home contacts to accompany us on our travels. After a week with the Childers clan and a few days in Paris with my sister, we settled into Barbarino for a couple of days of sitting on our respective ... read more

E così il giorno della partenza arrivò. Lascio una città (e un Paese) in pieno inverno, con temperature che spaventerebbero un Eschimese, per il dolce sole dei Caraibi. Conto di star via sei mesi, forse più, e rientrare in Italia da Oriente, dall'Asia, un vecchio sogno. Ero anni che aspettavo, sognavo questo viaggio. Lo sapete tutti. Cercherò di tenervi aggiornati settimanalmente su nuovi spostamenti e avventure. Per ora, auguratemi solo "in .... alla balena". A presto. ... read more