Stories To Be Told...

Hi again! I am now writing from the 'Internet Point' in our hotel in Bologna. I say Hotel because it is indeed such. Emma found this bargain of €35 per night which includes our own lovely room, SKY tv and buffet breakfast which is fantastic!! It is a little out of the way so we've been spending some time on Bolongna-ese (?) buses. (I think all Italian drivers are insane, however that would include me.. hmm, still accurate I suppose!)

Anyway, for those of you who have been to Venice you may recall the rose sellers that are sprinkled across St Marks Square.

St. Mark's Square (Piazza Sant Marco) at night and me in front of the Basilica.

They peddle the most beautiful roses, long stemmed and fragrant for about €5 ($8AUD), however a simple 'no, grazie' is wildly insufficient. Two guys independantly proceeded to beg us to take pity on them as they were so poor and to buy a rose if for no other reason than that!! Hilarious!! The first time this happened, I of course artfully placed a superior and annoyed look on my face which was quickly spotted by two passing Police men. They snuck up behind the guy and as he turned to see who was behind him, we made our getaway!! We saw the same guy again later in the day, and needless to say, he didn't bother us again!

Pictures from some of the Islands of Venice.

On our last day in Venice, Emma and I went for a look at the Rialto bridge. It's a famous bridge in Venice and along it's length are many shops selling all kinds of things, from jewellery to glass and all kinds of knick knacks. Emma and I were passing a store when I took a peek inside. It was piled high with books. At first this didn't strike me as too interesting as it seemed like a bookstore, but on a second look, all the books looked really OLD!

The wonderful bookstore mentioned above.

As Emma and I stepped in the store, I picked up one of the leather bound books. I unwrapped a leather binding cord and opened the soft cover to find that in fact, this book was brand new... and completely blank! The pages were frayed on the edges and were made from an almost fabric-y like material. I began to see the store in a new light. The whole shop was FULL to the brim with blank books of all different types of bindings. At once I felt that I had been extremely lucky to find this place. It struck me that I always enter bookstores full of stories that had been written by others. Their life and their ideas, already pre-printed and prepared for your enjoyment. For the first time, I was in a bookstore with books that were waiting for stories to be scribed. For hopes that hadn't yet been hoped and dreams that had not yet been dreamt. For ideas that were not yet born! It was almost magical! The lady who ran the store showed me very briefly where the books were made (upstairs in this tiny cubby hole!!) I hated to leave the place, but we had a train to catch!

Emma and I caught a Water Taxi (the ONLY way to travel) to the train station and left for Bologna. Here we found the first ever elevator that we could use to lift our baggage to whatever insane level we'd been placed on and went to dinner. We found a tiny little family run ristorante about 1km from our hotel where we dined on Spaghetti Bolognese (for Emma) and Gnocchi Sorentina (for me). We shared a caraffe of Pepsi and a salad at the end which tasted just like my Nonna's at home.

Travelling in the luxurious water-taxi!

Dinner at quaint family restaraunt in Bolonga.

Today we spent the day trekking a bloody mountain to see a bloody church at the top. Needless to say I was not the most compliant participant for this activity. I must say though, the church of Santa Luca (Saint Luke) was amazing, with breath-taking views of Bologna city. We trekked back down just in time to join a free tour of some of the museums and attractions in the city including the statue of Neptune (Posiedon for the Greeks in the audience) and his harem below who all made practical use of their nipples by spraying jets of water from them. I kid you not! If only more women thought to do that! (LOL)

Emma halfway up the mountain and me in front of the church at the top.

The ladies of the fountain and me in front.

We finished the day with a kebab in Piazza Maggiore (the main square here) and then headed back on the number 25 bus to our hotel! Tomorrow we have another tour in the morning and then a train to Firenze (Florence) to meet our new Landlord for the next few weeks.

Unfortunately I've come down with a flu and have a terrible cough and weepy eyes as well as a runny nose! Emma however has managed to procure some cold and flu medicine by saying that I had 'influenza' in Italian! Quite funny really! The woman punched some keys on her computer and just stood there. I was asking Emma how to say 'what are we waiting for? Give me my damn medicine' when the medicine came flying along the ceiling of the store in a glass tube. When it arrived the lady at the counter sold it to me. Reminded me somewhat of Augustus Gloop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (substitute Augustus for flu meds though.. hmm)

Please keep the comments coming! I'd love to hear about what's happening in Adelaide!

Ci-aooo! (As they say it here!)