Bologna

So with my first weekend day in Italy I decided to go on the grand walking tour of Bologna to see all of the sights. I figure I should become acquainted with the place I will be living in for the next nine months. So myself and two other students here set off throughout the medieval streets to experience the city.

Arguably one of the most famous sites associated with Bologna are the two towers in the city center, Torre degli Garisenda & Torre degli Asinelli. Towers like these two use to line the skyline of Bologna, but now these are the only major towers left. The tower on the left, in the picture below, has a sizable lean to it and people are not allowed inside. Luckily the tower on the right is still straight and one can proceed up 498 precarious looking wooden steps to the top of the tower to get an arial view of Bologna and the surrounding areas. So of course we ascended the tower.

The Two Towers

Looking down from the top at the shorter leaning tower.

View of the city from the tower.

After descending from the towers we later were told by other students that the local legend is that students who climb to the top of the tower will never graduate...but we feel strongly that we can disprove this legend. After the towers we moved on to the main square of Piazza Maggiore. The Piazza is surrounded by huge medieval buildings on all sides. Most impressively is the Basilica di San Petronio. Original planning and funding for the Basilica called for it to be even larger then St. Peter! But then mysteriously the Vatican decided to divert funding away from the Basilica to a nearby Piazza causing the Basilica to be made smaller and made of cheaper materials. We were unable to go inside, one of my friends was wearing shorts, which are not acceptable, so we will have to go see the inside some other time, from what I have heard it is really cool on the inside.

The Basilica (notice the change from Marble to Brick, from when the lost part of their funding from the vatican)

After visiting the square and Basilica we simply wandered throughout the many streets of Bologna and worked our way outside the city walls. There are nice hiking trails in the nearby hills, but despite walking a long ways and finding the hills we never found the trails. Lukily we still have another nine months to explore the city!

Hills surrounding Bologna (view from the tower)

Buongiorno from Italy!

So I have now been in Italy for three full days and I decided it was high time for my first blog post. I arrived in Italy on late Tuesday night and checked into a hotel room for the night. Since I have been living out of my suitcase and backpack as I waited to move into an apartment here in Bologna. In addition to housing there are many other things I needed to get taken care off. I need to fill out a bunch of documents for my official residency here (which also means pay a bunch of taxes). I also had my first class on Thursday in advanced Microeconomics. So all in all I have been quite busy trying to settle in here.

Today I finally got housing. I am living in a three bedroom apartment with an American and British student. The apartment is quite nice and seems to have been remodeled lately. I pay about $700 a month for my apartment, which includes utilities and furnishings, all in all a good price considering the market here.

half of my bed room

Other half of my bedroom, I like the desk and the doors you can see leads to my own personal porch!

The Kitchen

So after I picked out my apartment I was able to move in right away, so I did so. As I only a suitcase, my large backpack, and some personal things it did not take too long. The next thing I did was go grocery shopping. Being in Italy I figured I would try my hand at pasta. I must admit that my pasta tasted quite bland and was far from the best I have had. I figure I have all year to try and improve my cooking (and it needs it!).

My first supper, I have made this meal before and it is normally good, I think the sauce I bought was just not very good.

When you move into your first apartment you start to realize all the little things you do not have that are somewhat essential, for example toilet paper, dish soap, and other random exciting objects! One thing I do miss from back home is air-conditioning! I now very much understand why it is so common for Italians to take the hottest months off and go to the coasts. It has been close to or over 90 degrees every day here and the humidity is very thick. Needless to say I am looking forward to the weather beginning to cool down here in the upcoming months.

As you can tell the first week has been a lot of getting adjusted to the area and settled in. For now I am happy to stay in Bologna and explore the city more (which is quite nice), before I branch out and explore some other nearby regions (Tuscany?).

Appetizer to Italy: ALASKA!

So while this blog in the past and the future focuses on my European travels and adventures, as the writer I hold the right to deviate from established precedent. As I prepare to leave for Italy in 4 days, here is a bit of reminiscing about my summer trip to Alaska during the first week of August.

The map shows my route through Alaska. After flying into Anchorage (Blue Marker), my parents and I immediately left the big city see the more rustic side of this large state. From Anchorage we drove down to Hope, Alaska (Red Marker). Hope is a very small, old, mining town. Better yet Hope is off the beaten path of all of the tourists. We used Hope as a base-camp for exploring the Kenai Peninsula. From Hope we were able to explore several glaciers including Exit, Portage, and Byran, go Salmon fishing in Hope, and go Sea Kayaking in Seward Alaska (Green Marker). The Salmon Fishing was almost too easy as the streams are chalk full of fish that will bite your hook or just get snagged, but still the fishing proved to be a great time. For Sea Kayaking we had a perfect day. We took a guided Kayak into Thumb Cove where we could see several streams, waterfalls, two extremely remote cabins, and three massive glaciers. The clear weather allowed us to take in all of the massive scenery around us.

Byran Glacier

Sea Kayaking

Mom and Dad Salmon Fishing

After several days on the Kenai Peninsula we moved on. Instead of going straight up to Denali like most Alaskan tourists, we decided to essentially go for a drive through Alaska to see more of the state. So We went north of Anchorage but then turned eastward on the Glenn Highway. The Highway essentially goes on for miles with almost no town s just mountains, streams, lakes, glaciers, and many impromptu hiking and photo opts! In other words, it was a beautiful drive. The Matanuska Glacier was one of the major highlights of the drive. Because the glacier is flat and not coming down a mountain we were able to drive up to the glacier and then walk all over it. There were signs telling us not to go any further unless we were glacier experts....but we decided to risk it and we lived to tell the tale (and the views were found were spectacular).

Matanuska Glacier (expand the picture and try to find my Dad)

After the first day of driving we stopped at mile 109 at a place called the Tundra Rose Cottages (turquoise marker) and in Copper Center (Purple Marker) the second day. Copper Center is near the entrance to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, the largest National Park in the United States. Unfortunately the smoke from 60+ forest fires throughout the state combined with rainy weather obstructed our views and reduced the park to a smokey, cloudy, mist.

Wrangell-St. Elias National Park (Mom is looking for the mountains amid the smoke and rain)

As a result we spend little time by the park and moved on Valdez (Pink Marker) and spent two days hiking in the surrounding areas. Our final major excursion was taking the ferry from Valdez to Whittier. While on the boat we saw the calving Columbia glacier, sea otters, sea lions, porpoises, and a minke whale. The boat ride proved to be an excellent way to end a great trip to Alaska.

Valdez, Alaska

Panoramic view from a mountain hike (click to expand)

Ferry from Valdez to Whittier

The trip to Alaska was a great chance to see some of the great natural wonders of the world. By no means does this blog cover all we did, and by no means did we even come close to seeing all of Alaska. For that reason I hope to someday return to this state to perhaps Backpack in the back-country of Denali, go on a extended Kayak trip in the Kenai National Fjords Park, or perhaps do something completely different.