Sicily pix here. It's mostly nature shots, and I'm not in any of them, but there's much prettiness. Now that I'm back I have to get back into school mode, and go grocery shopping and do piles of laundry and other fun stuff like that. I don't wanna. But on the other hand, it's nice to have some privacy for a change and sleep in my own bed again.

Hello readership! I love Sicily. Love. The whole island smells like jasmine and every available centimeter is lush with exotic, aromatic flowers and citrus trees. The weather is great, warm but not sweaty. So far I've been doing lots of nature appreciation - two volcanos, this cool gorge formed by lava flow and lots of random Sicilian countryside. ( Read more... )

So, I'm off to sunny Sicily, and leaving the laptop home again. Maybe I'll log in on vacation, if I can drag myself off the beach long enough. It's okay to be jealous.

I just know you're all on the edge of your seat like I am about the results of the Italian elections. For those of you who may not be quite caught up, it's a squeaker: The most recent results give Prodi's coalition the win with 49.8% of the popular vote over Berlusconi's 49.7%. That's a difference of only 50,000 votes. Berlusconi disputes the ( Read more... )

In honor of tomorrow's elections here in Italy, here's a collection of Berlusconi quotes from this year's campaign:

"I have too much respect for the intelligence of Italians to think that there are so many idiots around that will vote against their own interests."
Update: Italians buy "I'm an idiot" merchandise to signal their opposition to ( Read more... )

Time is a funny thing. I was going through my calendar yesterday, planning out the rest of the semester, which made me realize how little time I have left here in Bologna. Three months. I've been here for five, but it certainly doesn't feel like it. It seems like I just got here and I'm already running out of time to go where I want to go, see what ( Read more... )

The lights are dim. It's just warm enough to be really warm without quite making it to hot. You settle back into the deep, soft couch. You relax as a heavy gold watch swings slowly back and forth in front of you and someone murmurs assurances into your ear. You are getting sleeeeeepy ( Read more... )

In the course of my webwandering today I happened across a public-service ad by Americans for the Arts. It goes like this ( Read more... )

I had the day off on Monday, so I spent the afternoon in Ferrara, ancient seat of the House of Este. I toured their castle, of which little remains except the building itself, though that's in great shape. There were no artifacts, no furniture or paintings except the frescos on the ceilings and one of two on the walls, but some of those were ( Read more... )

I haven't really been feeling like travelling since I've been here. With all the school stuff going on it's so easy just to fall into a comfortable school/home routine and not bother with getting up early on weekends and spending money to go places and see things. Still, as one of my classmates said, sometimes you just have to make yourself do it, ( Read more... )