Rainy Days and Mondays

It's been fairly cool (60s) and rainy for a couple of days here. Good days to tour a bit. Today Sarah and I took the train to Bologna. We stopped in to see her part of the university where she earned a master's degree in semantics. Umberto Eco was her Dean, and she had a class under him! If you don't know who he is, Google him. He's "the man" in semantics. We walked and walked in this ancient city. Students everywhere, and smoking like crazy. Ah, youth (young and foolish). I hope they learn soon. We spent about 4-5 hours strolling under the arcades and doing a little poking in shops. A brief nibble of some cheeses, arugala, tomatoes and bread about 1:30, and a tiny cup of chocolate and coffee about 4:00. On the ride back we stopped in Modena to visit the place Sarah used to work: Direct English, a British language company. Then home to a nice cup of Charleston Plantation Tea Company tea that I'd given the family. A fairly light dinner at 8:00, a hot soak in the tub, and now to this blog. I'll try to post more pictures now.

I'm still learning how to post pictures, so let me tell you what I think I've just attached (probably not in the correct order since I can't see them): one of me with the OLLI banner at the Bovis' vacation home, one of the group of Clemson (and Kansas and Missouri and College of Charleston) students at our first lunch together after an orientation meeting last Monday at the piazza in Carpi, one of the tiny kitchen in the Bovi home where Franco creates miracles, one of dinner at the Bovis' the first night I was here with two couples they dine with every Saturday night. I'd been up about 36 hours by then, but it was still fun. Tomorrow is another school holiday, so if it's not raining we'll drive up to Valpollicella and then to Lake Garda again for the day. What a life!