It’s 17 days ’til Christmas!

 

Here’s another picture of a market in Bologna. I know, I know, another market??? But there are lots of markets in Bologna, Christmas and otherwise. This is actually not a Christmas market, but I have bought a Christmas present from here. It’s a sort of jumble sale, but it’s full of antiques and vintage jewellery. I spent an awful lot of time at a second hand bookshop, where I eventually found a piece of literary criticism on Dante… from 1900. 1900. I am ridiculously excited about that.

Anyway, this picture is Christmas-y because there are Christmas lights, and I bought a Christmas present here.

 

Merry Christmas.

 

It’s 18 days ’til Christmas!

Another catch up post. While Rachel was visiting we went to a lovely Christmas market in the centre of Piazza Maggiore, and there were some pretty lights, so I took pictures of them.

Here you go.

It’s 19 days ’til Christmas!

I know, I know, this is being posted a few days late. I am at university, I do not always have free time. I’ve also had a friend staying, and so I’ve been a bit busier than normal. Anyway.

Just a brief post, and to be honest, these posts will be brief for the next week or so, as I have had exams unexpectedly thrust upon me.

So, have a couple of almost identical pictures of a strange rickshaw, made christmas-y by the addition of fairy lights.

 

Go on. Treat yourself. It’s Christmas (almost).

It’s 20 days ’til Christmas (and it’s the last day of Hanukkah)!

Sorry, just a small post again today.

There’s a fairly big Jewish community here in Bologna, and it seems rude not to acknowledge the other big religious festival around this time of year. So first, two random, giant stars of David (and if these aren’t Jewish, I’m very sorry):

And the very definitely Jewish, Hanukkah Menorah that’s currently in the centre of town.

(This picture is from a few days ago, which is why only a few of the candles are lit.)

Happy Hanukkah!

It’s 21 days ’til Christmas! (and nothing says ‘Merry Christmas’ like elderly men in lederhosen)

No, you read the title right. the other day there was a Christmas market in Piazza Maggiore.

And along with all the usual stuff, food stalls, Christmas trees, etc…

 

There were two men playing away to their hearts’ content. And one of them, as you can just about see, was wearing lederhosen.

Merry Christmas (in 21 days time).

It’s 22 days ’til Christmas! (and United Colours of Benetton are VERY excited about it.)

Hello all!

Bologna is getting well and truly into Christmas, and decorations are appearing all over the city. But more than anyone else, United Colours of Benetton (I know they spell ‘colours’ the American way, but I point blank refuse to – America is wrong, it’s as simple as that.) are getting well and truly into the holiday spirit. As it turns out there are three shops on the main street alone (I mean really, who needs three United Colours of Benetton shops? Really?) and they are all festively decorated. So, here today, I share United Colours of Benetton’s enthusiasm for the little Baby Jesus’ birthday.

(Just in case it seems like I’m overreacting, the only other building to do this is the Due Torre.)

(Christmas trees on top of the shop. Just casual-like.)

(Even the underwear dummies are getting into the Christmas spirit.)

It’s 23 days ’til Christmas!

Ciao a tutti!

Don’t have time to write much today, as I have lots of studying to do. However, before I leave you I will give you a picture of:

A CHRISTMAS TREE!!!! (or UN’ALBERO DI NATALE, if you’re Italian – don’t say I never taught you anything!)

 

(The little girl in the middle picture was chasing a pigeon around the square. She was adorable!)

Bolognese Graffiti (and it’s 24 days ’til Christmas!)

Ciao a tutti!

The weather has well and truly turned in Bologna now, and it is slowly dawning on me that in about 6 weeks I’m going to have exams, which is why I haven’t been posting much recently.

But as of today it’s been 3 months since I got here, and I want to start posting properly again, so I’m going to try my best to post everyday on the countdown to Christmas, and spread a little bit of Bolognese Christmas spirit.

But first of all: GRAFFITI!

The graffiti in Bologna is amazing – I mean, of course there’s all the usual tagging crap, but there’s some amazing stuff too. My Italian professor told me that Bologna was an artistic city, but I never expected to find art on the streets!

And so without further gilding the lily and with no more ado…

Via Pratello is much more interesting at night – which is why some of the locals call it a ‘city inside a city’. But during the daytime there’s some fantastic artwork. It’s also my walk home.

     

 (I honestly have no idea. Let’s just hope it’s positive, and move on.)  

(Yeah, they don’t like the police much here…)

 (Surrealism meets Potter Puppet Pals?)   

(I have no idea what that one’s about, but I see it all over the place.)

 (I found a gnome.)

 

 

 

These are from Via Santo Stefano, which also has a lot of great stuff.

These are my absolute favourites. They’re all from the university district, my favourite part of the city. It’s all student-y and political – it’s everything you might want from a university sector.

(Solidarity with those arrested on the 20th July in ‘Val Susa’. The valley does not stop them. Freedom for all! [I think this has something to do with no TAV {or VAT, for those of you in the UK}. If anyone has a better translation, please let me know, I know mine’s not perfect.]) (E chiusi parentesi.)

(The law is illegal.)

(Rise up, Organise, Occupy)

(Who’s afraid of a painted wall?)

And these are all from the building of one of my old classes. Apparently they just let students decorate the walls here…

And finally, as it’s only 24 days until Christmas…

Have an advent calendar, painted onto a cafe window. (I love this city.)

I’d like to be, in Rimini…

So several Sundays ago I got to go to Rimini with Giulia and her family, to see some turtles being released back into the wild.

(Just in case any of you were wondering where Rimini is…)

So we had to get up early (as Rimini is a little way away) but before we’d even left Bologna we saw this:

There was some kind of marathon going on around the city walls, so obviously I took a photo out of the car window.

Something I love about travelling in Italy is the countryside always looks completely different. One look out of the window is all you need to know that you are definitely not in Kansas anymore.

When we got to Rimini we went to the Turtle sanctuary:

“I’d like to be under the sea in an octupus’ garden, in the shade.”

We found this sculpture, which I think is fantastic. It’s made out of recycled rubbish.

And, finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…..

*drumroll*

THE TURTLES!

I’m afraid I can’t remember this one’s name, sorry.

The turtle below was called Lucia, and she was the one who was due to be released back into the wild. One of the girls who worked at the turtle sanctuary was kind enough to take my camera to the other side of the enclosure, and take these great photos of her.

After we’d seen the turtles we had a bit of a wait before the release that afternoon, so we went to lunch, and then spent an hour on the beach.

 

These guys were either side of where she was going to be released, presumably to stop any boats from hitting her, and to make sure that she didn’t end up back on the beach again.

Then they brought Lucia out. Everyone had to be really quiet, in case we spooked her (of course some stupid people still carried on shouting). They brought her out in this big white tarpaulin, pointed her at the ocean, and off she went!

   

So that was our day in Rimini! Sorry it’s taken me so long to update this blog – it’s been a bit hectic with university and whatnot. Now I’m a bit more settled in I will hopefully be able to update much more regularly.

Ta ta for now!

Bologna, Ti Amo

And finally, we arrive at the point of my blog. The moment you’ve all been waiting for (unless you just wanted to read about my summer, in which case… sorry…). It’s taken me three months of fraught planning, and the occasional sleepless night… But I’m here.

BOLOGNA.

It’s amazing, and terrifying in equal measure, so lets get on with the pictures, while I collect my thoughts.

This is (I think) one of the first surgical schools in the world, where some of the first surgeries were performed. I didn’t have time to get Paddington, as this was part of my tour with other Erasmus students, but he was there. All of the statues and all the carvings are made out of wood. (Just googled it – it’s the anatomical theatre of the Archiginnasio, dating from 1637 [thank you, Wikipedia]).

The next is a fantastic wall, that I want to come back to when I have more time, but for now…

I found Richard Burton’s head on a wall…. (second photo not mine)

And Brian Blessed… (again, I think it’s fairly obvious I don’t go round taking photos of Brian Blessed laughing… or do I…)

Think these two are Mars and Athena (unfortunately couldn’t find any resemblance to celebrities – suggestions welcome).

Here ‘The Smurfs’ are called ‘I Puffi’, which I love. Want to go back an get a proper photo with Paddington.

Went to see this with my housemate Giulia the other night. Loved the first half, didn’t like the second. My advice, as soon as the colours get bleaker, leave. the film won’t get any happier. Still loved it, and probably going to get the DVD when it comes out… I mean, it’s Audrey Tautou and Roman Duris…

These are the famous Due Torre (or Two Towers – unfortunate names nowadays, but these are the originals – they’re almost 900 years old!) they both lean, but Garisenda (the closer one) leans 3.2 metres off vertical. In England I’m pretty sure we’d have health and safety precautions, but this is Italy. I think everyone is on some kind of weed, because they are all so bloody chilled. The towers are also useful, because it you get lost, just look up and wander until you see a tower – it’s better than any map! (If you don’t walk into anyone.)

This is all part of Piazza Maggiore, the centre of Bologna. This bit has been turned into bars (Italian bars, not English bars. Italian bars are coffee shops, essentially) and tabaccherie (sort of newsagents that don’t sell newspapers. They have everything else you’d expect from newsagents and a few things besides – you buy bus tickets from them! You buy newspapers from stalls in the street.)

This is the Basilica di San Petronio. It’s the fifteenth largest church in the world. I haven’t been in yet, as the weather hasn’t been cold enough for me to go around with legs covered, but come October I’m sure it will have a post of its own. It is also in Piazza Maggiore, and the large area infront of it is the true Piazza. It’s my favourite place to meet people, as it’s in the centre, and everyone knows where it is.

This is another part of Piazza Maggiore. I think this is the town hall, or the Italian equivalent. The statue, unless I’m mistaken, is of the Pope. (Which Pope? God knows.)

This the Fontana del Nettuno (which is technically in Piazza Nettuno, but it’s adjacent to Piazza Maggiore). Nettuno previously had a larger *ahem* manhood, but the Pope disapproved (apparently the Papal system has changed a bit, I’m sure most of the Vatican nowadays wouldn’t be so disapproving… Mind, Neptune might be a bit too old…) and had it reduced.

However, if you stand on this square behind Neptune….

You get a rather interesting view… (You may have to zoom in and stare at Neptune’s crotch…)

Still can’t see it?

And here we have the final proof that I am absolutely not mature enough to move to another country, because I just don’t know when to stop.

Seriously though, it isn’t actually Neptune’s *ahem* manhood, (and why I’ve got so shy about writing *whispers* penis now, I don’t know). But anyway, it’s not. It’s his hand. But of course, as it’s Italy, they know the exact square you have to stand on in order to see a penis.

Moving swiftly on…

This is Piazza Nettuno from a distance.

On Saturdays, the main shopping streets are closed to cars, so everyone can just walk around freely. Not that everyone doesn’t anyway, honestly, how there are any pedestrians left in Italy, I don’t know…

This is a statue of a man pointing that I found on my walk home. That’s it really. Don’t have a clue who he is…

What’s that, you ask? Is that Paddington sat on a condom dispenser? Why yes. Yes it is. Because they have these in the streets. Condom dispensers. Dispensers of condoms. In. The. Street. Maybe it’s just because I’m from a small city, but this struck me as quite novel. I am, however, very pleased that the Bolognese are such fervent advocates of safe sex. (My housemate says that they don’t work. There was a very Italian shrug attached to this statement. Whether she means that no one uses them, that the machines have technical problems, or the condoms themselves are faulty, I didn’t ask…

This is the view from my bedroom window.

The view from my balcony.

A Bolognese sunset…

Il Santuario della Madonna di San Luca, which I can see from my bedroom window and balcony. (Sorry for the bad quality.)

I made my first coffee with the house’s new Moka pot…

Four postcards and two sides of a letter later, no wonder I had hand ache!

Joking aside, it’s tough being this far away from home sometimes. To use an old cliche, it’s a sort of roller coaster ride of emotions. One day I can be having the best time of my life, and never wanting to leave Bologna, the next all I want to do is go home. Caledonia by Dougie Maclean (which is a fantastic song, for anyone who hasn’t heard it) can reduce me to tears in seconds now. But overall I’m happy, and my friends and housemates are playing a huge part in that. For anyone else on a year abroad, let me recommend that the days you feel homesick are the days you should try to do as much as possible.

However, for every bad day there’s two good days, where I just can’t believe how lucky I am to be studying in this amazing city. I’m having the time of my life, and every day I feel more and more at home.

Ciao for now, ragazzi!

(Because it wouldn’t be a true blog without at least one awful selfie.)