A Bologna Break

I just returned to the United States for the Christmas season, in order to celebrate the holiday with my family and then visit my friend and new homeowner, Ron, for New Year's Eve. Today marks my second day back in the United States. So far, so good....

Yesterday, I went to Wegman's with my mother to buy groceries for a family dinner last night. I didn't realize how many food items I missed while in Italy. I bought (or convinced my mother to buy) sushi, diet wild cherry Pepsi, dill pickles, hummus, etc. Don't worry--I didn't eat all of this food together!
Last night we had our annual family dinner with the Maguire clan. I decided to use this occasion to introduce a group of people to the Italian way of dining. I served them panettone and, at the end of the meal, I broke out the grappa. I am not sure if everyone (myself included) appreciated the wonderment that is grappa, but oh well....

Anyway, back to my first day home. I think it is important to include what I learned over the course of my 36-hour journey from Bologna to Trumansburg, NY; a journey that included a night train to Roma, 2 plane flights to get me to the US, a much-delayed flight from Chicago to Rochester that got me into Rochester at 2:30 AM EST, and a 1.5 hour car ride with my father who had to wait at the airport for the arrival of the 2:30 AM flight. We got home at 4 AM. He had to go to work at 7 AM. However, I don't think this was as inconvenient as the time 3 years ago when he had to drive me to Rochester on Christmas Day in the middle of a Nor'easter, so I could make my flight to Hong Kong. What a trooper...What I learned, though, is that I am never doing this again. It should NOT take 36 hours to travel from Italy to the east coast of the US. I am going to become a more civilized traveler....THAT is my New Year's resolution...

Beautiful Bologna

Today was an especially beautiful and sunny day in Bologna. Actually, I am not sure why I added the word especially, because this suggests that Bologna is normally beautiful and sunny. Do not let me fool you--Bologna is normally neither of these two things. Actually, it is interesting, because a lot of people lament the constant gray sky that hangs over our fair city. I, however, do not. Why don't I? Because a gray sky is normal for me, after living in Ithaca, NY for 10 years and Seattle for 3 years. Both of these cities are sunny and beautiful in the summer, as is Bologna, but in the winter? No way....So, Bologna's perpetual gray sky suits me just fine....

Anyway, today we had sun and blue skies. Here is a picture of Bologna, taken from the penthouse of the Bologna Center, my home away from home. This picture was taken at about 9:30 AM, during a break in class. Pretty nice, huh?

Later this afternoon, I decided to go Christmas shopping. I do not like shopping. But the sunset time was pretty, so this helped to soften the blow....Here are some pictures of Piazza Maggiore, taken at about 5 PM:

After the shopping part of the program, I strolled down Rizzoli to take in the Christmas street lights:

Oh, and in case you were using this post to decide whether you want to visit me/Bologna, please forget what I said about the gray skies. I didn't mean it. Really....

My Second Visitor*

Okay, Joanna did not actually come to Bologna, but I think she still counts as a visitor. We will just mark the visit with an asterisk....Joanna and her family decided to spend some time in Florence before spending the holidays in France. So, I decided to take advantage of the Italian rail system and pay her a visit. [As a side note, the trains were running on time yesterday; it was truly amazing. Only a 5 minute delay in the morning. Amazing....] I arrived at noon and we went to a lovely restaurant across the river for lunch. The menu was in Italian, as opposed to English, which is always a good sign. You would be amazed at the number of menus, even in Bologna, that are written in both Italian and English. Anyway, after lunch we visited the Pitti Palace and took in a very special exhibit....

Unfortunately, after the Palace and a quick tea, I had to head back to Bologna. I was going to stay for dinner, but being up past 3 AM for 5 nights in a row ensured that if I had stayed in Florence for dinner, I would have fallen asleep in my primi piatto. I had already started the day with a doppio espresso, followed shortly after with a cappuccino....So, I was on a 7:15 PM train back to Bologna....

Anyway, here is a picture of my friend Joanna, at the cafe where we had tea:


Oh, I guess I forgot to mention how I know Joanna....Joanna interned with me at New America Foundation last year and was one of my co-conspirators during my first tour-of-duty in Washington, D.C. What times we had....Our other fellow pod-mate, Swati, is currently a superstar in LA and, sadly, could not join us yesterday. But she was definitely thought of often....So, to that end, I also include a picture of the 3 of us at the DCI Group's Inaugural Party, held in Jan. 2005. Our good friend, JP, hooked us up with tickets. Boy did we have fun masquerading as Republicans that night....

The Best Thing I Have Ever Received in the Mail

Yesterday, I had a paper due for one class and a midterm exam in another one. My weekend pretty much consisted of me sitting and working at the table in our living room. I literally did not leave my apartment from Saurday morning until 10 PM on Sunday, when I went to church.

Anyway, after finishing the exam (which I think went rather well; fingers crossed), I went out in the lobby of the school and saw that I had a rather large package from my Aunt Margaret and Uncle Bob. I theorize that Christian may have had something to do with it, too....I had no idea what the package might contain. This is what was in the package:

Yes, it is a hot-pink Christmas tree with silver garland and disco ball ornaments. It is even better in person....

This is the single greatest thing I have ever received in the mail. And just the day before I was thinking about how nice it would be to have a tree in my room....I was seriously thinking this....

My First Visitor

I will admit this post is about one week overdue, but schoolwork took priority last week. Now, the hard stuff is over, at least until after Christmas.

Anyway, last Monday I had my first friend visit me in Bologna--my friend Miguel:

The story of how/why I know Miguel is actually kind of interesting. I met him when he was working as a mountain-bike instructor at the youth hostel Ron, Sri, and I stayed at in Mendoza, Argentina when we traveled there in January 2001. After that Miguel and I kept in touch over e-mail. Later in 2001, Miguel moved to Italy and then subsequently to Switzerland. Now he is working for Cannondale in Basel, Switzerland, but passes through Italy for business relatively often. Hence the visit. Anyway, we had dinner and then played our customary game of pool (and I won my first game of pool in years). It was a very nice visit....

And don't forget, if YOU come to visit me, you will get your own special posting on my blog, too! Isn't that a great incentive!

German Christmas Markets

Yesterday, I returned from a weekend trip to Köln (Cologne to you non-Germans), Germany. It was great. Took a non-stop flight out of Bologna on Friday afternoon and returned to Bologna on Sunday at 4 PM. Okay, enough about the travel logistics....

The Christmas markets were amazing. Köln is home to 6 markets, including medieval market. Over the course of two days, we managed to hit 5 of them. The place that I stayed was right across the street from the Fairytale Christmas Market, where the tops of the market stalls had animatronic fairytale scenes. The first stop at this market was to sample one of the traditions of the German Christmas Market scene--Glüwein, which is a warm, spiced wine. This is not the tastiest beverage I have ever sampled, but when it is served to you in a cute, fun ceramic boot and you drink amongest a crowd of excited, festive Germans, the drink takes on a new life. And then pair it with a bratwurst smothered in mustard, and you have one tasty meal!

The Fairytale Market at night and during the day:

After visiting the Fairytale Market and the Neumarkt, we made it down to the Market am Dom, situated right next to the large cathedral.

After this brief introduction to the Christmas markets, dinner was had at the Früh Brauhaus. It was quite interesting. Waiters carry around trays of 0.2L glasses of Kölcsh, which is the only variety of beer that you can buy in a restaurant in Köln. I thought the beer was pretty good, although a little like Bud Lite. Anyways, the waiters walk around with these trays and replace your empty glass with a fresh one, sometimes without you even requesting a new one. Even taking into account a run-in with the waiter over an undercooked chicken, the meal/experience was quite fun and interesting.

The next day was filled with more Christmas markets, a trip to the Chocolate Museum, the German-Roman museum, a church service/choir recital in the very cold Dom, and a little bit of shopping. First, the Christmas markets. In addition to briefly revisiting the markets from Friday night, we also visited the medieval market. And one does not drink Glüwein at this market, oh no. You drink a hot honey wine served in a ceramic chalice. I don't know why I don't have more pictures of this:

After the medieval market came the Chocolate Museum. It had a chocolate fountain, as well as an operating production line. The woman in this picture has the job of dunking wafers in the fountain and then passing them out to drooling museum patrons (don't know any of those!):

Here is a great picture of Köln, taken from the terrace of the Chocolate Museum:

Here are Mark and me at a lovely brauhaus near the NeuMarkt (I know if looks like just another night at the Druid. Me in black, sitting in a bar....). Two older ladies served as the bartenders. And the place was dressed up like it was Valentine's Day. The Germans like to incorporate the heart into Christmas decorations. Very strange....I mean unique....

In addition to these scheduled activities and sites, here are some more fun pictures from the streets of Köln:

Gingerbread Men:

Apples with hearts (don't ask me how they did that):

Advertisements with supposed baby pictures of Angela Merkel, Pope Benedict XVI (how scary is his photo), and George W, to name a few:

And a donkey doing his part to raise money for the poor. I saw a llama, too. Instead of the Salvation Army using Santa, the Germans use animals!

And that is about it for this trip. It was a very good time; nice to get away from Bologna for a couple days. Although, I realized something very interesting about the Bolognese experience almost immediately getting off the train from the flughafen in Köln. The two McDonalds in the center of Bologna are pretty much the only US franchises in the city and they are fairly well hidden from sight. In the train station in Köln, I immediately encountered a Pizza Hut, Burger King (with a separate stall especially for the purchase of Whoppers), McDonalds, and Subway. I encountered more of these establishments in the town center, in addition to a KFC. All of these franchises were in Germany the last time I visited the country in 2001, but it was still odd to see them. Living in Bologna, you are treated to an almost old-time way of life, with family-run businesses and restaurants. Traveling to Köln catapulted me back into the 21st century. It was bizarre and slightly unnerving. A little bit like Marty McFly returning to 1985....And for all of you ladies out there, Köln is home to at least 4 H&Ms, all within a quarter-miles of each other. Amazing. I let out an audible gasp when I saw this....

Okay, back to my studies. I may have more pictures to add later....

Christmas Markets

Tomorrow I am heading to Cologne, Germany to behold the wonderments of the famed German Christmas markets. I expect a lot of Nutcrackers and kitsch. Should be a good time. If nothing else, I am very excited at the prospect of taking a direct flight to Cologne from the airport here in Bologna. Usually my travels require me to take a bus or train or 2 hour car ride just to get to the airport!

Anyway, I will be back on Sunday with a bunch of photos. Until then, I will leave you with a picture of the Nativity store at one of the Christmas markets here in Bologna. I have never seen anything like this stall. You literally can hand-pick all the elements of your Nativity scene. Sort of a design-your-own Bethlehem store....