In India... Reflecting...

Belgium... with its own issues...

Although I was ufortunetly not able to make it, a demonstration took place yesterday in Brussels that gathered between 20-30,000 people. It was initiated through Facebook, by students, to put pressure on the fighting political groups to form a coalition, as the country has been without a government for several months. Wish I was there to check it out.

A country of only 10 million, that's less than situated in the City of London, UK, alone and still they got issues...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/23/brussels-protests-belgium-government

Ps. I still have to write you guys about Belgium...

Never Stop Exploring

Just got my first ever North Face Jacket...great fit, and most of all it keeps me dry and warm against the endless wind and rain Gent, Belgium has to offer. Just thought I would brag a bit because I fell in love with their slogan;

Never Stop Exploring...

A Reflection on Italy

I think it`s about time that I post a short reflection on my time in Italy. I’m doing this mostly for myself, to remember the things that affected me the most during the trip and that had the biggest influence on my original perception of this country, its regions and its people.­­­­ I have spent three months there, but I found it quite hard to keep up with writing down any of my observations, for the simple reason that I felt so at home there. It feels wierd to write about `home`. I found the people to be wonderful, and thanks to them I learned so much about the country itself. During my study I visited some beautiful regions which I would recommend to all and received the opportunity to first-hand compare the north and the south, from the perspective of people, culture, language and, best of all, food. Ummm.. food... how much I loved the food there. It`s incredible how much variety of ingredients you can put on a pizza or mix with a pasta. Overall, although I returned home with some extra pounds, it was worth every bite.

Living in Bologna, a home to the oldest University in Europe and an incredibly large student population, you have access to almost anything with a mere few-hour train ride. Located almost at the Adriatic sea, approximately 4-hours train ride to the mountains, 2-hours to Rome and even closer to cities like Verona, Venice or Mantova - Bologna was a perfect home base.

Here`s a short breakdown:

In the northern region of Italy, interestingly, each town offers a unique architecture to its inhabitants and visitors;

Bologna; miles of stretching arcades that can protect you from the rain on your way to school,

Ravenna; the home of Dante’s tomb (most important figure in Italian literature) with a more simple looking yet still authentic window structures. It is also situated right at the sea. I love the sea!

Verona; you can find the home of Romeo’s Julliet, has the pretties collection of flowery balconies

Mantova; a UNESCO heritage site, offers a palace and castle for display that almost shocks at first entrance into the city

Florence; regarded by many as one of the most beautiful cities in the world, does not need a second introduction

In the south... you find a completely different architecture, language and way of life.

Catania; with Volcanoe Etna in its background provides a mix of Greek, Roman and even Norman influence scattered in its streets. When visiting a famous local pisceria, you will hear the unqiue Catanian dialect as men try to sell the fresh fish of the day.

Paterno; just outside of Catania is surrounded by farms of orange and lemon trees just a ride away

Toarmina; north of Catania, is an enchanting town situated in hills of Sicily that fall into the Ionian Sea (just south of Adriatic), with the small Isola Bella, where many gather for a swim during the warmer moths (warmer months – meaning most of the year!)

Then you have the region of Puglia in the ‘heal’ of Italy, which further offers its own dialects, and many, many wonderful people.

Polignano A Mare; will always be my most well remembered city, and I would recommend for anyone to at least once take the chance to stop by to see the breathtaking cliffs and caves the town offers.

Ostuni; situated elevated about 10 km from the coast offers an amazing view on the Adriatic Sea and fields of protected oil tree cultivation.

Alberobello; also a UNESCO protected town, has some of the most interesting structures that have been sustained for many years.

I provide you with a general map to help you associate..

So... overall these are the regions and cities I had the opportunity to visit. Each one with its own, and very unique.. well.. everything. My biggest recommendations lead toward the south, and do not neglect the small towns these regions have to offer.

Overall, it seems that Italy represents a sense of ‘organized chaos’ with so many people and so much history and difference in traditions between the smallest regions. After all Italy has approximately 60 Million people and its land mass is smaller than the size of Poland, Poland has approximately 40 Million people, which is approximately same amount as Canada...

My personal experiences showed me, that everyone who I met was clearly proud of their roots and what’s best of all, they were happy to teach you about their `home`... and it’s those lessons that I know I will never forget.

Io sono contenta, che io ho potuto passare qualche mesi in Italian. Io credo che io ho ricevuto opportunità a veramente imparare e capire la cultura Italiana. Mi molto piacie tutti personni Italiani e l'altri amici che io ho incontrato mentre la tempo. Io voglio ringraziarvi tutti, particolarmente quelli gente chi hanno prenduto il tempo per me insegnare con molto pazienza.

(If any Italian-speaker reads this don`t laugh, I only have my A1- Certificate in Italian. Thanks.)

Non dimenticare... Si Vive Una Volta Sola.....

Bologna, my home, Emiglia-Romagna

Ravenna, Emiglia-RomagnaVerona, Veneto

Mantova, Lombardy

Firenze, Toscana

Catania, Sicily

Pisceria - Catania, SicilyMount Etna, Sicily

Orange Tree and Lime Farm - Outside of Paterno, Sicily

Isola Bella, Toarmina, Sicily

Polignano a Mare, Puglia

Ostuni, Puglia (view)

Alberobello, Puglia

Oh.. This Crazy Nation...

Berlusconi survives, but Italy faces uncertain future....www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11994889

During my last few days in Italy, Roma experienced some of the worst rioting in years as the current Prime Minister
survived a victory in confidence votes in both houses of parliament. As an extremely unpopular leader this was a surprise to many.

Bologna... First Days...

Ok.. so... Its my second full day here in Bologna and lets just say I desperately need to get my Italian to start working for me. I have three Italian roommates and these people just talk soooo fast, it doesn't help that everyone in the street assumes I'm Italian. So far, my first word most frequently used over and over is 'scuzi'.
This city is absolutely beautiful. My apartment, although shared with four other people is very nice, and I can't complain based on other horror stories that I heard from other students today. It was our first day of class today and our professors are pretty hilarious. Awesome accents, and very good teachers so far. First class of Italian tomorrow. Sweet.

Here's some pictures so far from my first day as a tourist trekking around town.

This is the entrance to my apartment... it reminds me very much so of Eat.Pray.Love.

This is the view from my room.. we have a set of doors that walks out to a very small balcony. Although the buildings here are very old and worn down, its really, really pretty.

This is the view from our kitchen, another reference to a movie it reminds me of is Amelie. It looks upon a very little courtyard type of structure.

And this is our kitchen, with the smallest stove I've ever seen.

Just a picture of how most of the streets look like. The town is covered with these arcades, I believe are referred to as "Portici'. Bologna is covered overall by 38km worth of these arcs. Meaning even if it's raining I can walk my 12min to school and barely get rained on.

More portici.


This is not an illusion... I'm not sure what's going on with the Italian people, but they just don't seem to get their towers straight. These are the iconic towers of Bologna. I still have to go up there, you can see all of the city from there. In the past, the theory is, the towers used to belong to some of the richest families. There used to be alot more of these in the city but most of them were demolished, taken down or simply collapsed.

Statue of Neptune near the Piazzo Maggiore.

These things EVERYWHERE.

Polish Vodka Everywhere.


Piazza Maggiore is approx 4 min walk from my apartment. Its the city center. Yesterday was a Holiday in Bologna. It turns out every City in Italy has its own Holiday once a year. Every city here has a patron, who is celebrated. Bishop Petronius was the one who built the grand church at Piazza Maggiore, and yesterday was the Petronius Festival.

More Arcs.

How do you pack your life into a suitcase of 23kg?

So when I first started this blog it was June 2009 to reflect my need to get away from the day to day routine of traffic, work, and everything else.... now its over a year later.. and I am away. This last year has been so crazy and so random... we moved out... we worked some more... we traveled some more and got to see a lot of the West Coast and Western Canada...

Calgary... Banff... West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island...Vancouver in the Summer... Drive down to San Francisco... Mt. St. Helens, Washington... Oregon Sand Dunes...and California.

I just got to Bologna, Italy about a day ago and I'm still taking it all in. I will be studying here for 3 months before I head over to Ghent, Belgium and then Mumbai, India. Sitting here its 2.30 am as I'm fighting with my jet lag, I still have trouble truly believing this is actually happening.

Lets see how this goes...

I soon realized that no journey carries one far unless,

as it extends into the world around us,
it goes an equal distance into the world within. ~