Bologna adventures

We Arrived! (Just in time for a Zombie Apocalypse)

Our class’s first day was a great way to start our adventures in Italy. Beginning with two plane rides which included multiple security checks, gum chewing competitions and little sleep, we all had jet-lagged butterflies in our stomachs.  Upon arrival in Milan (Linate), Lauren and I made a bee-line for some much needed coffee. To our delight, we succeeded in ordering a cafe americano and a cappuccino in Italian. Applying what we learned in our recent Italian language classes made us feel quite proud. Even normally energetic Kiernan developed an affection for the phrase,          " sono stanca!", meaning " I am tired!"

From Milan we drove to Bologna, our first city. This last leg of the trip proved how tired everyone really was- within the first half an hour everyone started to fall asleep watching the rolling hills out of the bus windows. Arrival in Bologna came with some hiccups, but Ms.Sandes and Ms.Alexis handled everything expertly as always.

 In the first afternoon we settled into our hotel rooms and then ventured out to gaze curiously at the surroundings and were awed by the stately, old architecture. As a class we have gotten so close in the past year that spending time together is a lot of fun. We spent the first few hours in one of the hotel rooms playing card games, dancing, and talking about everything we were excited to see. 

Later, donning beautiful new sundresses, everyone set out for walk around the hotel to take pictures and explore. Despite the heat our class enjoyed our first peek into Italian life. We saw colorful buildings , children playing soccer, and many motos in the vias.

In the evening, while strolling through the center of Bologna we came across something very unexpected. On one of the main vias dozens of young people were dressed in military uniform, poised as though preparing for battle. Moments later hundreds more approached from the opposite direction, dressed as zombies, and attacking the ‘soldiers’. Although the zombies seemed to lose (they reanimated and continued on their way to repeat the show in Piazza Maggiore), we saw a very entertaining  zombie apocalypse. Upon further research, I discovered that this event is called the "Zombie Walk" and is an annual occurrence in Bologna. That same evening we also walked through a music festival going on in the main piazza. There were also several performers and musicians throughout the streets, which gave us a glimpse the rich culture of Bologna. 

We are looking forward to new adventures and experiences this week before we depart for Venice on Friday.We have been in bologna for 3 days now and the city looks like it just popped out of a movie set. The red roofs, arches, and beautiful shops all add to the experience. In addition to that we got explore bologna by ourselves as well, which I thought was pretty cool. 

My feet hurt so much. If they could scream they would be screeching. In the span of 2 days I have climbed over 500 stairs!

With more food, gelato, and foot aches, I head to my fourth day in Italy. Pictures to come soon!