Random Sights from Bologna

I have been quiet this week for the same reason I always have for being quiet--studying! Boring, I know. I have also been dealing with a lot of paperwork for a security clearance for a summer job. In fact, this paperwork took me to Florence on Tuesday for fingerprinting at the US Consulate. Just imagine this building with guards out front:

This was my first trip to a consulate since July 2000 in Sydney, when I had to go and make sure my passport, which fell in a river while trying to forge a canoe upstream in rapids at Katherine Gorge, would get me back to the States okay. It did. But the consulate scene in Sydney, as you can imagine, was very different from what I encountered on Tuesday. No guards, no police officers. You just got in an elevator and pushed the button for the 10th floor. Florence was very different. In fact, I was walking down the street, trying to decide if I was, in fact, going in the correct direction, when I saw a roadblock up ahead with lots of guards. I decided that must be the place! Everything for fine. Totally uneventful.

I thought I would share with you a couple random photos from Bologna. First, 'tis been a little cold and icy in Bologna, as you can see from this poor naked mermaid that sits at the base of the Neptune statue in Piazza Maggiore:

Also, Bologna is home to quite a variety of musical buskers--gentlemen who play the sax, the accordion, a weird scooter-type radio instrument, etc. I thought this guy was rather interesting, because he plays suspended glass bottles:

And that is all I have from here right now. Next week I have 3 finals and then I am headed to western Ireland for a few days before heading to Vienna for the big Austrian ball! I promise to have lots of great photos!