Various updates

First of all, here are some deleted scenes from the last blog post.

Marc and Emily standing triumphant in the Verona coliseum:

View from the top:

I FOUND A CASTLE!

Team Cornell visits Parma:

 So let's talk about the store that just opened down the street from me.  For the past two months, I've been drinking this on a regular basis:

Coffee here is tiny.  For a euro, you get a small, caffeine-saturated sample-size beverage that you can down in three seconds.  It is a suggestion of coffee.  It invokes visions of elementary school girls playing tea party with their stuffed animals.  I don't drink coffee for the caffeine, I drink it because it's warm, filling, and I can't have hot chocolate every day.  This doesn't cut it, Europe.

That's cultural problem number one.  Cultural problem number two is that libraries and public spaces here are open from about 10 to 6, then close for the day.  My roommates are typically inside for the evening, watching the same thing on the two televisions about ten feet from either side of my desk.  Any current college student will immediately see the problem: American students like to study in the 8-11 hours.  They don't do that here; evening is relax time (so is the afternoon, and the morning...)

A few days ago I entered a new cafe.  And I ordered something that looked like this:

God bless America.

The new cafe down the street is open from 8 to midnight.  It's got tables and chairs for sitting and reading and writing.  And the drinks actually satisfy thirst.

In other news, I recently met up with Mr. Sciortino, a friend of my grandfather's, who coincidentally has a home right around the corner from me.  He gave me a tour of his favorite spots in Bologna (he was a student here in the nineties), including the wonderful Biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio library and the free university museum right around the corner from me I had no idea about.  Displaying the typical Italian gentility he took me to lunch at his favorite spot (again, right down the street from me) and we talked about my family.  Speaking of which, I've been doing some research into the Campasano family, and have discovered the source of our name: there is a town outside of Naples called "Camposano," and distant relatives have confirmed that this was the original name of the family, before it was changed during immigration.  I hope to visit there and take a picture with the town sign!

I'm trying to get my spring break plans together, hopefully to Paris, but coordinating with others has been difficult.  Something tells me it'll all turn out okay.