Bologna

This will be just a quick blog to post some pics and tell some stories of our visit to Bologna - the medieval city that actually looks like a medieval city! Lots of crazy brickwork and towers everywhere. Beautiful, in a kind of dark way...

There was also lots of covered walkways...about 40kms worth actually! And thank god there was since once again it poured with rain for almost our entire visit!
J and I stayed in a bed and breakfast that was in a fabulous garden rooftop apartement, with a super eccentric owner and who knew the history of Bologna like the back of her hand and was more than happy to spend hours telling us about it and about how she was, well, a witch. She was very sweet, crazy, but sweet. The offer to drink her wine at any time sent J a little crazy!

One of the highlights for me was being able to visit the University of Bologna - the oldest in Europe - so old that Copernicus was a student there! Now that is old! Established in 1044...if you can believe that. Around the library are university crests from around the world, very beautiful!
Of course the real reason we were in Bologna was because of the birthday present I gave J this year - a trip to visit the Ducati factory and museum. J said that his life long dream was fulfilled that day....awww....
I actually found the factory very interesting but I think the opportunity to see, smell and sit beside Casey Stoner's world championship winning bike from last year was J's highlight...
So that was the trip to Italy! Well actually, after Bologna I went to a conference in Rovigo for a couple of days but all I saw there was the inside of a conference room. Although as it turned out, I knew a bunch of people there and actually had a really fun time! I am actually starting to feel like a part of a research community, especially when I go to an international conference and know at least half of the scholars there...some of whom are actually really great people! Surprise Surprise!

I had to blog about Bologna today because tomorrow my sister and I will take off for our three week European adventure - Paris, Rome, Sorrento, Capri and sailing the Adriatic. So can't wait! And I really can't wait to see her at the airport today and show her my home here in Bergen! So I guess this will be all for a few weeks until I return home and can tell something about all these wonderful new places we will see! xxx til then...

Venezia

After visiting the JRC and Lago Maggiore, I took a commission bus for commuters back to Milan on Friday afternoon. It was lovely to drive through the countryside and have a small but impressive bus tour of Milan before I arrived at central station around 6pm. A short stroll to a hotel room and I must admit, I totally collapsed. It was the first time, day or night, that I did not have an activity arranged for me for over a week (even though it was arranged that I would be on a train at 8am the next morning). When I found an english movie on TV, I ordered room service and lay back to do absolutely nothing. I was constantly nagged by guilt for not going out and exploring Milan, but I was also exhausted enough to ignore it. The justification was that if I move to the area next year, I will have plenty of opportunities to explore Milan. So sorry, no pics from Milan...yet!

The train I was on the next morning though was to Venice, and I do have a few pics from there!

J and I had said we would meet at the Vaparetto (Water Bus) stop outside the railway station. I got there no problem. J got there with lots of problems. His problems began with a strike at Bergen airport, which meant that to even start the journey he had to take a 9 hour overnight busride to Oslo. When he got to Oslo they told him the flight was closed. When we finally got to Venice, the airport bus did not show up. When one finally did arrive, he got off at the wrong stop. When he took another train and arrived at the main stop, I could not see him. Poor guy. Thank god for mobile phones. It hurts me to say that. When we finally found each other, we both spun out at the beauty of Venice.

In a way it was exactly as I imagined it would be. My imagination did of course include it being packed with tourists and having the unfortunate accompanying cheesy side! The real delight for me though was that it was not all like that. In fact, it was incredibly easy to escape the crowds and get a sense of Venice as you think it should be, as it must once have been, as parts of it still are. Just a couple of streets off the main drag and away from the 'must see' sights, you just become lost in tiny, quiet, gorgeous, little canalways with window boxes full of flowers, hidden court yards and runabout boats tied to steps down into the water. I think our experience was greatly helped by the fabulous place in which we stayed. It was a guesthouse, so a private house, just a few narrow winding streets and bridges from the action, but in an area that felt completely quiet and local. The owner served us breakfast in their large garden courtyard and told us wonderful places to eat that were also frequented my locals, and directed us to some of the special sites that were not on everybody's radar. The best thing about our accommodation though was undoubtedly the view from the room.
Here is how it looked straight ahead through our swinging shuttered windows...

To the left...

And to the right...

For me it was classic Venice. I just loved seeing and hearing the whistling gondoliers paddle under the window and when I woke up at night I loved to sit up and see the footpaths and canals all glowing under streetlamps. It was really very very beautiful. Even though it rained, and I mean completely poured, torrentially rained, for a lot of the time we were there, that is not what I remember. J and I killed ourselves laughing at how crazy it was when thousands of tourists, all with umbrellas, were inching their way through the couple of popular narrow streets and at how hilarious it was that the covered footpaths around St Marks square were packed like a rock concert moshpit while the enormous square lay empty and under about a foot of water. The rain did not dampen our mood or our enjoyment of this wonderful city though. In fact, J enjoyed it so much he shared the joy by dolling out cigarettes to the bums. Awwww... the kindness that kills slowly...

At just a couple of hours by train away from where I could be living next year, anyone who comes to visit me would be mad not to see Venice! xxx