Bologna or Bust

Ciao!
Coming to you from my hotel room in Bologna, Italy.  What am I doing in my hotel room on a Saturday night in Italy?  Blogging.  That's what.  HaHa!

In all honestly, Bologna (Italy as a whole) is freakin' expensive!  I gotta be real careful with my money especially since this is only the beginning of my trip.  I went to the center today and it cost 15 euros one way.  Bologna, from what I can tell, is so spread out that it takes a decent taxi ride to get anywhere I need to go.  So, keeping in mind that I will have to spend 30 euro just in taxi fare to get from here to the stadium tomorrow, I have decided to have a mellow night.  I was hoping to meet up with Pullen and snag a photo, but I'm not sure how available he will be now that he's made his opinion on K-State's new hire quite public.  He's pretty occupied on the Twitter front right now, haha.  Anyway, that may or may not happen, but he did say that the ticket will be at will call tomorrow and that they spoke English, so I should be okay.  :)  Here's hoping!

When I went to the center today, I initially went to find something to eat.  It was about 2:00 or 2:30.  In Spain, that's about the time to eat lunch.  Here?  Apparently, that's closing time.  I was on the search for some legit Italian food and am sad to say that I am without right now, but still hopeful.  I've got plenty of time to find some good eats.  So, I walked around the center for a bit.  I strayed off the beaten path a little in hopes of finding a little cafe or something to have a coffee or beer in.  The 'tender did not speak a lick of English, so I spoke Spanish.  That went over a little better.  The languages are similar in many aspects, but still quite different.  I had a drink and then continued my walk.  I window shopped a little bit.  I didn't see a single thing that was less than 150 euro.  No thank you!  I bought some gelato and walked a little bit more before heading home.  The gelato was cheap!  :)

My hotel is very nice.  It's not in a prime location, but I'm not sure that any hotel is too much better than another here with everything so spread out.  I'm sure there are better options, but this is what I have and I will deal.  It's a very cozy room, but it's hot as hell!  I tried to adjust the air and it never got better, so I phoned the front desk and asked them if I was doing something wrong, haha, and they informed me that they are not allowed to turn on the AC until the 15th, so I would have to open the window if I wanted a little airflow.  This window is massive and there's no screen or anything.  I open it and, if I wanted, could climb out it and sit on the window ledge, feet dangling from my top floor room.  No thank you.  :)  And who doesn't have AC?  I don't know if that is all of Italy or just Bologna, but I do not agree with that, haha. 

To be completely honest with you, I don't feel a connection with Italy.  Not yet, anyway.  I know it may sound silly to some of you, but when I visited Belgium and Madrid, I fell in love with both places.  Madrid, especially.  I had an instant connection with the cities and I haven't felt that yet.  I honestly didn't feel like I was in Italy when I was able to look out my window in the daylight this morning.  It looks like I'm by an interstate in the states.  A McDonalds sits right across from my hotel and a carwash is right in front of it where I can see a sign, in English, that says "Hand Wash."  It's very green.  That part is very pretty.  There are loads of trees and open areas that are gorgeously green.  While I was in the plaza this afternoon, I did see some older buildings that gave me the sense of history and were very picturesque.  It was nice.  But, not like what I've felt elsewhere.  The drive to the center had me see strings of buildings, etc, but every one of them were covered in graffiti.  It was really quite trashy looking.  It didn't make me want to go shop at any of those stores at all.  I wouldn't feel safe walking into those areas.  That may be completely unjustified on my part, but it's the impression that the area gives me.  I suppose my lack of connection to Italy could have something to do with not having a 'tour guide' or even a friend to share my time and adventures with, but I don't even think it's that.  I don't know.  I'm sure it is silly to some, but I just haven't fallen in love yet.  I'm really excited to see Venice and I am hoping that it doesn't disappoint.  Let's be honest, I came here to watch Jacob Pullen play basketball.  I wouldn't have came to Bologna otherwise, I don't think.  I suppose I never had a connection to this city from the beginning.  No worries, though, I am loving the adventure I am on and I embrace it wholly.

Let's see, what else can I tell you about?  My day of traveling was fairly uneventful.  Very long, but nothing exciting.  On the bus ride to Malaga, we were passed by 6 police vans.  They were all carrying, well, criminals, I assume.  HaHa, my first thought was, "What if the A-Team is right behind us and BA is about to break out of one of those right now."  It was kind of creepy to see them.  Not sure why, really, but it was.  My timing worked out pretty perfectly as far as all my buses and taxis to and from where I was going.  No delays, so overall, a good day.  I do want to mention that I fit all of my week's packing into one tiny suitcase and I am quite proud of myself, haha.  You should be proud of me, too.  :)

I was really hoping I'd have the chance to meet up with Pullen tonight, so I am kind of bummed about that.  I wish it would've worked out, but I suppose I can be hopeful that maybe he'll see my K-State getup tomorrow in the crowd and acknowledge me.  I suppose we'll see how that all goes, haha.  I'm just grateful to be able to see him play over here. 

Obviously, it's all Italian all the time, but I've came across a few people that speak some English.  The people in the hotel are fluent in English, so there are no issues here whatsoever.  None of my taxi drivers have spoken any English yet, so my taxi rides have been very quiet, haha.  Spanish gets me farther than English, that's for sure.   I ate at McDonald's tonight.  I came to Italy just for Micky D's!  Didn't you know?  Well, now you know the real reason I am here.  ;)  Anyway, they serve beer in McDonald's here!  Why wouldn't you go to McDonald's if you could get beer and the $1 menu!?  I didn't order one, but thought it was a fantastic concept, haha. 

Okay, I'm going to check out for the night.  I will probably write again tomorrow evening when I get back from the game.  Hopefully, I will have some pictures to share.  It's gonna be interesting watching a game being announced solely in Italian, but it'll be quite the experience, I think.  Cross your fingers that I still have a small chance to meet him!  :)  Hope this finds you all well!!

Ciao!