Bologna

Despite the fact that I had to spend an entire weekend in a small town working in a building with no air conditioning.... or people.... the drive to the train station made it worthwhile. The train I was 'catching' was based in a city called Bologna. This city was the perfect ending to a very long and exhausting weekend.

So first point of clarification I need to make is that I was in Bologna for approximately 15 minutes and secondly, I experienced Bologna from the passenger seat of a Mercedes van (Mercedes are VERY common out here- so are BMWs - equivalent to Toyota, Honda, etc in the US).

To that end, I loved it.

Here are a few pics that I was able to catch during my 'drive through'. Remember - I was taking them while sitting in a moving vehicle - bare with my photography.


This is a picture of what used to be considered the entrance into the city of Bologna. Pretty cool.













I love this picture. Aside from the fact that it looks like we are chasing down a couple people on bicycles, it is a good example of what a traditional Italian neighborhood street looks like. Roads made from stone, cars, pedestrians and bicycles sharing a very narrow road and very old buildings shooting straight up into the sky. It makes you feel like you're walking/driving/ riding through a maze. Where will this street lead me? You won't know its a dead end till you get there! In all honestly its a bit annoying if you're lost - but neat to look at.








This is a picture of an old castle.

Thats all I got.

The driver said the name a couple times for me but it sounded like gibberish to me.








This was very interesting... I hadn't seen anything like this in Milan or Mirandola. Its a city (public) bus that has two long, thick, metal 'arms' coming from the roof of the bus and attaching to two parallel cables above it. We were behind this bus for awhile. Sometimes parked cars, people or obstacles (i.e. construction) were in its path, so when it had to pull away from the curb, the 'arms' allowed it to move maneuver around these obstacles.

So, I think to myself, that's interesting.

I stare a little longer and think, what the hell is the point?


If I figure it out - I'll let you know.

My boss' college roommate moved to Bologna and is now the star in his own show as a cross dresser. My boss said, "hey you should check out his show when you go back", and I say, "sure, why not," There is a first time for everything - and I've never seen a cross dresser perform (I think.... and hope... that means sing), so why not see one in a small city in Italy.



More Italian vocabulary:


Perque no (pear kay no) - why not
Buona idea (bwoh nah, ee de eh ah) - good idea
Ma (Mah) - but
cosi cosi (koozie koozie) - so so
Niente (knee yen tay) - Nothing (common response after "Grazie")
basta! (bah stah!) - Stop (i.e. final - its meant as a demand, not a destination or suggestion)
Scusi (sku zee) - sorry (formal)
Scusa (sku zah) - sorry (informal)
Mi dispiace (me dis pee ah che) - I'm sorry (sympathetic)
Mi scusi - Excuse me - 98% of people here never say this - they just slam into you and walk off. To the remaining 2%, I always say, with a smile, "Niente".


Buona notte!
Jamie