Bologna

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With a couple of days before the conference it was time to find some accommodation and explore the old city. I found a great little B&B between the conference venue and town centre owned by Herman an Italian guy whose mum is german. We communicate in deutsch as his English is as good as my Italian. Bologna old town is stunning with narrow streets of traditional shopping, remnants of the old Roman roads, cathedrals, palaces and monuments. Its fascinating to sit at a cafe in the Piazza Maggiore and watch the world go by. After a day in the city heat I did the kiwi thing of headed for the beach. Rimini 1 hour by train though is definitely not a kiwi beach. Seemed like the whole of Italy was there and mostly just walking up and down - not a lot of swmming going on. There are some amazing sights - I saw a woman in a skimpy bikini (which I'm sure never got wet) and high healed shoes! I could stay all day in the sun without sun screen and not get burnt. I now feel quite orientated to this city after several days - have tried various restaraunts .... I'm still not used to the rich brioche for breakfast. The conference is now over and my paper well received. Although the conference was in english it was difficult to know sometimes as for the majority of presenters it was at least their second language. Checked out the Bologna marathon in which the first dozen or so were all african. Also did the obligatory walking tour to bestow some culture on this southerner. One cool thing was climbing the Torre degli Asinelli for virtually an aerial view of town. Its been fun but time to head for Luzern tomorrow to catch up with Stef.

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