Pictures!

So there's tons to say, I should have posted something earlier. Here's the long and short of it:

1) I went to Venice for a beach tournament - the same weekend as Sandblast, with kids around 16-17 years old. It was their first tournament and their coach, the same Davide and the other tournament, as well as his girlfriend Alba, and I were there to more or less be their hands. The sand was hot, the ocean was warm, and the fireworks were amazing, or, in bolognese dialect slang - "Soch mel." (That actually means something pretty vulgar, but is used more like "wow" than anything else.)

2) I received the best package - a camera! I took tons of pictures and put most of them here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32796644@N05/sets/72157621836886028/
It's actually my dad's flickr, but I made a set of "Bologna" for the summer, and then I'll make another set, probably called "Rome" for the fall.

3) If you look at the flickr the rest of this post is pretty unnecessary, but basically I've been doing some sight-seeing (lots of churches and towers) and I went to Ravenna, a town due east of Bologna with Dante's Tomb and gorgeous Byzantine frescoes. I've also been enjoying "aperitivi," basically cocktails, but so much better. Any place that has them also has a free buffet for anyone who buys a drink. That's basically somewhere between 4 and 1o euro, depending, for a satisfactory dinner and drink.

All in all, lots of Italian, and lots of amazing people and places to see! Now let's see if I can get pictures to work...

I climbed a medieval tower last week, which had an incredible panoramic view of this city. Here you can see Le due Torri and Strada Maggiore. Behind the lower lit-up building is Piazza Maggiore, literally the center of Bologna.


This is via Santo Stefano and Le Sette Chiese - which once was a complex of seven churches, but now is just a monestary with four churches. I think it's the prettiest part of Bologna.







Also, Bologna has a gorgeous Venetian-style river. Who knew?

That's about it for this post. The flickr speaks for itself, especially about my visit to Ravenna. Anyway, I'm feeling a little homesick, and I'd love to hear about everyone's summers so far. Seriously. Email works wonders. :)

Ciao ciao!