Bologna Weekend

Ok, trying to catch up again. This weekend was pretty chill. After the night out on Friday, I decided to just stick around Bologna for the day Saturday. I ended up doing some shopping (new pair of shoes) and then toured around some of the sights of the city. First stop was the Basilica di San Petronio. It's in the main square and was originally supposed to be bigger then St. Peter's in Rome, but after 300 years of building and a huge money problem, the Pope called it off and stopped building. It's still unfinished. Now, I don't know if I've told you, but my school (SAIS) is the number two terrorist target in the city according to the US government. The Basilica is the number one. Now, the reason for this is because of some art work on display inside. Apparently there is a painting of Mohammed in hell being 'devoured by demons'. It is a fresco by Giovanni da Modena and represents a scene from Dante's Infero. Ok, all this background, I couldn't find the painting and didn't want to pay somebody to tell me which it was. There was this other painting that was thoroughly disgusting involving some creature eating a body and then giving birth to another (it is not the aforementioned painting, although I thought it might be until I looked it up online). Ok, that was the Basilica. Here is a fact learned in Orientation to Law - Bologna was the first university law school in the western world (1088). So, seeing as how something I learned in OTL actually stuck, I decided to search out said university. Luckily, it was around the corner from the Basilica. Now, the law school part, not so interesting, the anatomy lab, very interesting. The anatomy lab was constructed in 1637 in the Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio. It is very cool with a special seat for a priest to sit to make sure that nothing was done to the body that would sacrifice the soul (note that the statues on either side are skin-less). Also, really liked that all over the halls there were the crests of both faculty and students that attended the University of Bologna, including Thomas Beckett and Dante. That was my adventuring in Bologna. On Sunday I went off to Ravenna with Kat (US/UK/Japan), Jacob (US/Aus), Ouriana (Cyprus) and Franchesca (Peru). We took the train to the city of mosaics and were definitely not disappointed. There is a little route of 5 places to go and see the famous mosaics dating to the 5th century when Ravenna was the Western seat of the Roman Empire. They were amazing, many sparkling with gold. We also stopped by Dante's tomb, which was most disappointing (we were expecting much more) and then hung out at a wine bar to watch the England/Germany game. We gave up on that once Germany scored their 4th and headed home.It was a great weekend and now back in class working on Negotiation stuff.

So I wrote this two days ago, but am just getting it posted now...

Life has been settling back into the school life, and I have to admit, I am out of practice. That being said, we are also in ‘class’ 6 hours a day, which is a lot of brain time. So far though, finding most of it quite interesting. This week our focus has been on conflict prevention. It has been a bit of a crash course for me in a few areas and have been getting back into the more poli sci oriented things, but some of it is definitely coming back, and with the added dimension of my legal studies. Lecturers have included William Zartman from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Terrance Hopmann also from SAIS, Joyce Neu who is a mediator from the Carter Center and David Francis from the University of Bradford. We’ve covered everything from the primary drivers of conflict, to inter-state organizations such as the OSCE, Women in conflict prevention and an analysis of peace and security architecture in Africa, focusing on the African Union. It’s been good. On Thursday morning, we took part in a simulation of an OSCE meeting taking place in 1993 where each participant took the role as either a country representative, an observing party or an individual member of the Troika (the administrative structure of the OSCE). I was Josef somebody-or-other, the past chair-in-office. It meant that I got to be an organizer and help the Current chair-in-office, some lady from Sweden (played by Jaroslav from Czech Republic) organize the meeting and facilitate the discussion between multiple parties. I thought it was pretty great how into it all people got and how they really did their research and sorted out the position of their country. The goal of the whole meeting was to step in and help create a peace agreement in the Bosnian crisis. It was interesting to put some of what we’ve learned into practice. Ok, now for the Italy side of it all. It’s been good, but busy. We have a lovely roof terrace at the hotel and it is not uncommon to have thirty of us up there having a dinner of bread, cheese and a variety of fruits and veg, which for me clearly involves avocado. It is a beautiful view of old Bologna and all the towers. Wednesday, I decided I wanted to walk up to St. Luca, which is this beautiful basilica overlooking the city. We can see it from the roof and decided it would be a great walk. We don’t have class Wednesday afternoon, but there was a screening of a documentary about reconciliation in Rwanda, so after that, around 5:30, Nick (from Oregon) and Michael (from Oz) and I started the walk. It was a cool walk through the city and I have to say, I really love the porticos all over the city. Well, although the walk seemed like a good idea, it was the walk that never seemed to end. We finally got to the base of the hill on which St. Luca is, and I have to admit, the stairs looked very daunting. We finally made it to the top, after a million stairs (note: everything in Italy apparently involves a lot of stairs), only to find the gate closed. I knew that it was supposed to close at 7, but we still had 10 minutes according to my watch. I was not impressed. Anyways, we ended up having dinner up at the top. Elisa (my roommate from Italy), Matt (from Washington DC) and Thiago (from Brazil) met us there. After dinner we had the joy of the walk down, which I have to say was way better then up. We stopped for amazing gelato on the way back. I was so glad to see my bed when we finally arrived at the hotel. Yesterday, we mixed up the food a bit and 10 of us went out for Indian. It was wonderful. I have to admit, I am getting a bit tired of pasta, paninis and pizza (which is quite shocking). Afterwards, we went out to celebrate Thiago’s birthday. Going dancing in Italy is always quite amusing – first I swear half the people there are 10. Anyways, it was a great night out. One of my favourite points was having James (from Oz) teach his roommate Usman (from Pakistan) to dance. Jacob (US) and I stepped in and helped out as well. However, allowing Jacob and I to help may have been a bad idea as we both love the dorky dancing. Anyways, we taught him how to do the sprinkler. I think I am going to stick around Bologna today and maybe head out towards the Adriatic coast tomorrow – oh decisions.

So I am a bit behind, mainly because internet access has been limited since arriving in Bologna, which is quite annoying considering we are studying at a very large university. Anyways, back up to Friday…I was in Positano then, on the Amalfi Coast. I was supposed to be heading to Salerno on Friday, but had heard that there wasn’t a whole lot to do there, so when Michelle suggested that I join her for a day trip to Capri, I decided I would flip and coin and make the decision that way. Coin said yes, so we quickly got ready and headed down to the ferries at the very bottom of Positano. A million steps later and slightly sweaty, we made the ferry. It was a beautiful day to be out on a boat and I quite enjoyed the Mediterranean air. We arrived at the island of Capri and I have to admit, first impression, not so great. The marina area isn’t nearly as beautiful as the Positano marina and I had fairly high expectations from the reputation of Capri around the world. So we dropped my luggage at a storage place and then headed to the bus stop to go to Anacapri, the town where Michelle had a place for the night. We waited and waited and were starting to think it would be another bus adventure like the day before. So we decided that we would take the Funicular up to Capri town and bus from there. Well, lesson in patience, the bus arrived right then. So we ran back and hopped on. The drive to Anacapri is a little crazy – busy, skinny roads perched on the edges of sheer cliffs. When we made it to Anacapri, I was delighted to see how cute the place was. Michelle phones the place where she was staying to come pick us up and we sat down to wait. After waiting awhile, and having not learned our lesson, we decided we would take one of the really cool roofless taxis to the place, well, just as we pulled away in the taxi, the guy from the villa place showed up. We got the taxi to stop and switched vehicles. Many lessons in patience for me. After we got Michelle all settled in, we caught the bus down to one of Capri’s more famous sights – the Blue Grotto. Apparently it is amazing and shines this crazy blue, however, I wasn’t going to spend €11 for a 4 minute boat ride in and out. The real reason we were there was to go for a swim at the public swimming spot. When we got there, we realized that it wasn’t the glorious beach we were really expecting, rather a sharp cliff area where the local kids were doing crazy flips and dives off the rocks into the water. We finally got the courage to get in (the waves were crashing quite hard against the rocks) and I have to admit, I wasn’t totally comfortable in the very dark and what appeared to be very deep water. Even Michelle, from Australia, admitted she was a little uncomfortable. However, we floated around for a bit, and were becoming a bit more comfortable. Then I felt something on my leg, right above my knee. It was a prickly sensation, but I wasn’t really sure what it was and I wasn’t about to be a wimp. About 3 minutes later, Michelle yelped that she had been stung by a jelly. Well, we were out of the water pretty fast after that. When we got out, I went over to one of the Italian moms and asked if there were jellyfish in the water and she said not usually, but then looked at my leg and said yeah, that was a medusa (which is now my second favourite Italian word). She said something to the boys and I’ve never seen an exodus from the water occur so fast. So, while we were feeling sorry for ourselves, this poor Finnish guy showed us his injury – sting marks all the way down the side of his body – obviously from when he jumped in with his hands over his head. Anyways, it stung for quite some time and was radiating heat, but after and hour and a bit, the swelling was down and it wasn’t bothering me so much. caught the bus back to Anacapri and grabbed some lunch. We then took a little one seater chairlift up to the top of Monte Solaro, the highest point on Capri at a whopping 589m. The view was amazing, looking down on both Capri Town and Anacapri. The clouds were rolling beneath us and we took the opportunity for a number of photos. A trip back down the chairlift, a gelato and then a quick goodbye. I waited for the bus, but, again, was getting impatient and concerned that I wouldn’t make the ferry to Salerno. I convinced 3 others to get a taxi with me and I have to say, my impatience paid off this time as I still had to run to catch the ferry. I made it and then had a long, wonderful ride to Salerno. The night in Salerno was uneventful and the next morning was a little rushed to get to the train to head to Bologna to start my IR program there. Upon arriving in Bologna, I put everything in my room – so nice to not be in a dorm – and then decided I would explore the city a bit. When I went downstairs, there were two guys from the program who were heading into the centre of town, so I joined them. Ben is a military officer from North Carolina and Bimal is a human rights worker from Nepal working in Bangkok. We wandered into town and decided to head up the Torre degli Asinelli, the tallest of Bologna’s many, many towers. It was built between 1109 and 1119 and currently leans 1.3 m off vertical. There are 498 steps to the top and I have to admit, there were moments that the vertigo was kicking in. I eventually made it to the top and was awarded with amazing views of the city and the famous red-tiled roofs. It also allowed me to orient myself in the city and get a little better grasp on where things are. After returning to solid ground, we wandered around the Piazza Maggiore, including losing Bimal for a bit, which was a little unnerving when he speaks no Italian and his English is really only passable to a native English speaker. Anyways, while having a quick bite to eat, we watched this (what I think) cool thing. There is this man who brings a stool to the Piazza. He will make a little speech about the politics or whatever of the area, or the country. Then other people can take turns to respond to his speech. I really liked the civic engagement of it all and that people were talking about the ideas and such. Ben speaks Italian, so he could help me with some of what they were talking about. It was entertaining. When we got back to the hotel, I got to meet my roommate Elisa, who is from Italy. She went to Bologna for her undergraduate and is now doing graduate work at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

Love love love the Amalfi Coast

I am a bit behind, but there is a very legitimate reason... the Amalfi Coast is one of the best places ever. I arrived in Positano on Wednesday and after checking into the hostel made my way down the million steps (and I'm not entirely exaggerating) to the "Little beach". I rented a beach chair and umbrella for the afternoon and Andre and I chilled. It was nice to not be on the move for a bit and to just sit and read my book. I really enjoyed it. The Mediterranean is a beautiful place. When I got back to the hostel, I got to meet a bunch of people. I ended up having dinner with two Aussies and an American and then had another American and an Indian join us. It was a fantastic night. It was an interesting start to yesterday with a girl in our room waking up around 4 complaining that she was cold and asking her friend to put more blankets or clothes or anything on her. The friend (who was sleeping above me), didn't seem all that concerned (and I can understand why as it was bloody hot). Anyways, the first girl kept saying "I'm so cold, put clothes on me." When the other did, the first was like "Ow, you're hurting me!" Then she told her friend that she was a bitch and that she didn't even care about her. The friend responded, "no, you're just being a princess". I was very close to laughing, but held it in. Then at about 5:30, girl one starts spewing on the window sill (she's on the top bunk). I made sure that Michelle (from Oz), who was below her, was awake before pulling my pillow tight over my head. Again, had to laugh when she kept saying, "It's not the drink, it's not the drink" I call B-S! Anyways, it was a pretty gross night and reminded me of some of the downfalls of hostel dorm sleeping. Once we got up, after much debate, Michelle (Sydney), Hew (Melbourne) and I decided to do some hiking. We asked for instructions on how to get to the Sentiero degli Dei (Path of the Gods) that goes from Positano to Priana, and were instructed to take the bus to Nocelle to start (this meant skipping the first very significant up hill, which I was ok with in the 32 degree weather). Anyways, we went outside to catch the bus. Well, somehow our instructions apparently didn't make all that much sense to us and we were standing in the wrong spot when the first bus to Nocelle went by. Although we didn't know it at the time, this meant that we would be waiting for another hour for the next bus. During this hour, we were extremely entertained people watching. The road that the hostel is on is a 'highway'. However, at home, it would be a one way residential street. It is super skinny, but people are traveling quite quickly along it. So watching everything go by was great. The favourite was the car with a box of potatoes and a weed-wacker tied to the roof. I also enjoyed the man on the scooter who randomly said "Hello" as he drove by. Oh people. Once catching the bus, and a very harrowing ride around the cliffs above Positano, we made it to Nocelle. An little old Italian man gave us directions to the start of the path and gave Michelle a stern warning about her footwear (flip flops) before leaving us. We started the hike and Michelle was a trooper with her flip flops on as parts were quite rocky. She received another warning from a concerned German who came running after us saying "You must not go any further!" She listened to the advice, but we all kept going. I have to admit, there were parts I was concerned, but when you don't have sneakers with you, you can't let it stop you. The hike was full of beautiful views and lots of warm sun (I have developed quite the tan on my arms and shoulders). After a ridiculous amount of down hill and very sore calves, we ended up in Priana at their little 'beach' which is more of an rock outcropping then anything, but there was a cold coke there to meet us. We ended up just chilling there for a bit - taking in the wide array of bathing wear currently in use in Italy. Our favourites tended to be pink garments wore by men. One was a speedo that was a lovely bright raspberry colour and the other a very bright barbie-pink with black graffiti writing and a grey waste band. Neither of which left anything to the imagination. What was slightly shocking is that these were men who were probably my age or a little younger. Yikes! We took a little water taxi back to Positano and when faced with the steps up to the hostel, we decided to save our legs and take the little bus instead. We had a wonderful snack of wine, cheese, bread and prosciutto. As avocados are not readily available currently in Italy, this is my new favourite meal. We then went to dinner and had a wonderful meal overlooking Positano - I had probably the best Manicotti I have ever had. Yumm. All in all, it was one of the best days I've had in a very long time. Very enjoyable. I am writing this entry in Salerno, almost ready for bed. I have a lot to tell about today...here are the basics - I went to Capri and got stung by a jellyfish. This allowed me to discover my second favourite Italian word - Medusa. Next to Andiamo.

A trip back in time

Off adventuring in the southern half of Italy, I took a day trip to the site of Pompeii. Pompeii is this crazy place where you can literally go back in time 1931 years ago to 79 AD when Mt. Vesuveus buried the town in ash. Unlike most volcanic disasters, the lava never hit Pompeii, rather between 4 and 7 meters of ash and pumice fell on the city killing the inhabitants and preserving the city. It was rediscovered first in the 11th century and real excavation started in the 18th century. Pompeii is a bit of a crazy place and it really makes you realize that human existence hasn't changed all that much in the past two thousand years. They had many of the same types of buildings - churches, law courts, bakery's, residential areas, theaters and the inevitable brothel. It amazed me that many of the frescos and floor mosaics are still well in place. Many of the statues and such have been removed to preserve them at the national museum in Naples, but the mosaics and the frescos are still in place. One of the things I thought was really cool were the casts of people who had died during the eruption. In one home alone, there was 13 bodies, children, adults, babies. When they were doing the digs, if they found the remains, they would pour plaster cast before completing the dig resulting in perfect casts of the people who were buried by the ash and pumice. I quite enjoyed the whole thing. As a side note, Robin I looked for the urn that went missing, but no luck. There were too many to pick it out. When I got back to Sorrento, I had the wonderful Italian experience of learning to make gelato. Unfortunately, it involved a special machine, so I will not be able to replicate at home, but I did find it interesting and enjoyed the samples at the end. Off to the Amalfi Coast today!

Pretty sure I found paradise...

After a late night, and an early morning, I caught the train out of Rome today. It's funny how in three days you end up making good friends with the people in your hostel. There are plans to see some of them again who will be through Bologna while I am there, but with others, it was a quick goodbye. I grabbed a train from Rome to Naples and then switched to get to Sorrento on the Southwestern coast of Italy. The train took us past Mt. Vesuvius and Pompei (both of which are still on the list to visit). I have to say, when we pulled into the Sorrento train station, I was shocked at the beauty of the place - it is beyond words. Perched on a cliff over the Bay of Naples in the Mediterranean, it is one idyllic setting. I don't have a whole lot to share as really I have just been wandering around.However, I have to say I'm excited for tonight. This country is a little football crazy and at 8:30 tonight is the first game in the World Cup for Italy. Although the country is very excited for their own team, they do try to include some of their visitor's home nations in the celebrations - I just wouldn't want to be from Paraguay tonight. So that's the plan for tonight - enjoy the chaos.

Day 2 and 3 - I'm exhausted.

So, it's probably good I will be sitting on a train tomorrow as my feet are exhausted. Between yesterday and today, I've pretty much covered every major site in Rome. My feet are a little mad at me, but will recover I'm sure. So yesterday's highlights included the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain, the Italian Parliament, the Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, the Piazza Venezia, the Vittoriano (a massive monument to Victor Emmanuel II), the Circus Massimo and the Villa Bourgehsie. And of those highlights, there are stories. Some of the favourites... 1. I love the Trevi Fountain. It's an amazing, amazing place. It makes me happy being there, all the languages, all the people. Included amongst the people, how long do you think it takes to find a Canadian? And how is it easy to pick a Canadian out? Well, hint one, there are certain items of clothing that give Canadians away. For example, MEC backpacks, dead give away. Another easy give away is an X ring, and a group of them, even more so. I met a family from NB, with 3 X rings in the crowd. Oh St. F.X. There is a tradition that if you throw a coin over your shoulder into the fountain, you will come back to Rome. I did it 10 years ago, so after a bit of a debate, I did it again. 2. I ran into some girls from my hostel at the Vittoriano, so we wandered a bit together. We ended up at the Circus Massimo and there was some beach soccer tournament on. It was enjoyable as it included lots of free things being given away including cold water, cold iced tea and shade. 3. Finally, I ended up going out with my 3 hostel roommates (all American) to watch the World Cup with England playing the US. We headed to the Villa Bourghesie, where they had a huge event set up. We had beer and pizza and sat on the grass watching the 'football match'. Now, soccer not really my thing, but even worse is that these games can end up in a tie. A good game always needs and winner and a loser, so I was disappointed with the 1-1 draw. We then headed back to the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain for an evening view - amazing. Today was all about ancient Rome. Found a girl from Alberta in my hostel, so we ventured out and headed to the Coliseum, the Roman Forum, Palentine Hill, the Imperial Palace and the Imperial Forum. It was good. Very hot and my feet are even more exhausted. No really good stories to report, but a good day and only a mild sun burn.

On the way again!

Ten years ago I spent the summer venturing around Italy as a 17 year old. This summer, I've been lucky enough to hit the road back to Italy for another summer. I'll be studying in Bologna for a month, but am taking the opportunity to adventure and see some of the sights I missed the first time around and revisit some of the amazing ones.I arrived in Rome yesterday after a dreadful flight, but did the quick drop off and change at the hostel before heading down to St. Peter's Square and the Basilica, and, as remembered, it is quite the impressive location. I got in line (a continuing process while in Rome) and made friends with the group of French tourists in line behind me - even though our ability to communicate was minimal. After finally making it through security and all, I headed straight for the Dome. Five hundred and some odd steps later, Andre and I were at the top. As per usual, Andre let me do all the work, and took advantage of the views at the end.

Of course we then headed into the actual Basilica and

wandered. I was reprimanded for asking where the statue of St. Peter is that is supposed to be good luck. Apparently saying 'good luck' was wrong - it's supposed to be a blessing. Meh. An early dinner of pizza and wine was had (oh yum) and then I was off to the Vatican Museums. Now, normally the Vatican line-up is crazy and you are hearded through the museum like elephants. I, however, was lucky enough to have looked online before hand and booked a spot for a "Night at the Museums" (made me laugh). Anyways, what a great experience. For any of you who have been to the Vatican and, more importantly, to the Sistine Chapel, you will know the craziness. However, when I walked in this time, there were maybe 30 people in the Chapel - it was amazing. I think I was able to appreciate the spectacle so much more then 10 years ago when all I remember is being sh-ed by the guards. Of the rest of the museum, and being the geek that I am - and the clear product of my father - I loved the maps room especially. Anyways, it was all wonderful/amazing/spectacular. I also absolutely loved seeing St. Peter's from inside the Vatican walls, especially all lit up.

After a bit of an adventure with Rome transportation, I made it back to the hostel to meet a few people and hang out for a bit. Haven't fully decided today's plans, but you'll know soon enough. Welcome back!