Blogs from Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, Europe - page 8

Monday 1.2.210 day 110 Bologna - Ferrari factory We had tried to book in to the Ducati factory on line but is was not working so we went to the factory and tried to get in but they told us we had to book so we went to the Ferrari factory and booked to go to the Ducati factory for tomorrow it meant that we need to stay the night in Balogna but as we really wanted to see the Ducati factory it was worth it. The town was full of Ferrari stuff and they had deals where you can test drive a Ferrari for €60 an hour we if the roads were not full of snow we would have taken one for a spin but it not so much fun in the snow. ... read more

So I don't know how many of you have heard of the Flashmob phenomena. Basically it's a group of people who gather in public places and do this "spontaneous" coordinated dances. We saw one today. Except in Bologna it cannot be called anything synonomous to spontaneous. Walking through the market, Greg called us to tell us that there was a flash mob happening a few blocks down. We quickly head over to see where it was because, really, how often do you see a flashmob? by the time we get there though the flash mob had ended but a cop told us another one would be starting in 15 minutes. well. 15 minutes was more like 1 hour. but at 2:05 the flashmob once again started. they danced to a bunch of songs, all synchronized with ... read more

So Bologna has this great things all over the place. i believe they are called porticos. but they're basically ceilings over the sidewalks. I guess it rains here often, so this was brilliant idea of the engineers of Bologna back in the day. Apparently it was too hard of a concept in the United States...but i feel like Bucknell could seriously benefit from these. Not only are they useful, but a large majority of them are absolutely beautiful. They ceilings are all decorated, and the majority of the sidewalks themselves are mosaics. When I get home and go to New York it is going to be sad to see plain concrete sidewalks. But this is a charming aspect of Bologna that I greatly appreciate. Good thinking.... read more

So I'm told that Europe is currently undergoing an unusual cold snap and I am taking advantage of the snow in Bologna, the snow has been quite fun actually. As it happens, the last time I was in Bologna it also snowed, I haven't been as cold as I was last time, but then again I actually have a coat this time. I happened to miss the snow in London, which would have been really awesome. Before I left the UK I went to May's (A friend of Alan my cousin) murder mystery birthday party. I hadn't actually been to a murder mystery party before and I hadn't met May before either but it was a pretty rad night. The majority of people there happened to be Chinese-British, which funnily enough happens to be a category ... read more

Ciao! Wow, nearly time for exams for you guys, and we all know what that means... PROCRASTINATION! So sit back and relax, comfortable in the knowledge you are wasting valuable study time reading this. (I hope it turns out to be more interesting than youtubing Charlie the Unicorn, watching season 3 of Dexter or whatever tickles your fancy to avoid homework...) First of all, I have the sad news that uni finally started for me... For someone with an attention span of an ADHD goldfish, I find normal lectures hard enough. Add in the Italian language aspect and I become like that kid who doesn't have enough vegemite or sultuna bran or something for breakfast and starts seeing scribbles and blobs on the blackboard. So I've been nerding it up (Almost to a Lucas level) reading ... read more