Sorry for the lack of posts in a while. School has restarted, so things are getting going again. Our new professor is much more keen on having scheudled meetings, so all of us meet her in groups based on our school year once a week and in one of four mixed groups bi-weekly. We went to Bologna on Friday to see the Bologna Art Show, which to be honest didn't have much in the way of work that suited my taste. There was some cool stuff, but the majority of it was far to obtuse or bizarre to really connect with me.

The weekend before, we went to Rome. We arrived early in the morning on the thursday and immediatly went to our hotel to drop off our bags an then went off again. We checked out the Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. We stopped in a number of churches and saw some beautiful Caravaggio's. We went to a resturant that night called 'Africa' for some delicious Ethiopian food.

Friday, we went to the Vatican. We arrived early and quickly slid past customs and into the small country. We saw some neat Rapheals before slowly meandering through a maze of hallways and rooms to the Sistine Chapel. By the time we got to the chapel, I was getting really tired of looking at art and was starving. Thankfully, there is a cafe and restaurant right nearby. After gorging ourselves full of food, we continued onto St. Peters. We managed to sneak into a secret door in the Sistine Chapel, which is reserved for tour groups. We scuttled down a hallway, past some Swiss Guards going about their business and then popped out next to St. Peters. The largest catholic church in the world. We stepping inside, saw some dead popes and basked in the glory of this magnificent building. We then went for beers in a building which used to be Raphael's house. The rest of the day was spent slowly making it back to our hotel, but we stopped at an alehouse on the way back for dinner. Good beer, but terrible food.

Saturday, was our last day. We however didn't leave until quite late in the afternoon. We saw more churches and some more paintings by well renowned artists, but we were given full reign to wander around Rome on our own for most of the day. Went back to the Colosseum and some of the other ancient wonders (but didn't bother trying to go inside). Saw a lot of ruins and more churches. Ended up being a very good day, but it was nice to finally get back to Florence in the end.

I took an amazing amount of pictures, too much to post here. However, you can see them on my Facebook here.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2262084086441.88861.1678620007&type=1

Things are getting serious now.

In case you may be wondering where I was the last week, the answer is England. I visited the port town of Bristol and then further North in Nottingham. I stayed at hostels during the journey, which worked out rather well. I stayed in the YHA hostel in Bristol and the Igloo in Nottingham. Both were very different experiences.

In Bristol, I planned to meet up with some buddies of mine (Alex and Allan) at a place called Cut and Thrust on the thursday to play some 40k, but I spent the rest of the time checking out the city. It was rather novel being in an english speaking country again and things were sort of a mix between Canadian and Italian sort of culture. English breakfasts almost always contain fired beans and black pudding, which both ended up being rather good. There was a few art galleries in Bristol, which were all right. The Museum/art gallery in Bristol had a very large and eclectic collection of stuff. Everything from piano's, to a legion of stuffed animals. I spent a good part of the day in it anyway. I make a good use of the Starbucks in Town, the ability to sit at a coffee shop and draw for a while is something you cannot do in Italia without paying extra. Also, free wi-fi, which the hostel did not provide. Oh, and as Banksy is from Bristol, I saw some of his street art. There was actually a lot of street art and it was a lot more interesting then the stuff in the museum and art gallery.

The YHA, was sort of like a really cheap hotel. They had keycards for getting in and out, but you had to rent your towel. It was rather odd. I shared a room with a scandinavian fellow, an American and a fellow from India. Showers and washrooms in all the rooms and an option breakfast you had to pay for. Also, they charged you 50p for ten minutes of internet. Bah humbug.

In Nottingham, I arrived durring the early afternoon, which was much better then the 1:30am arrival in bristol a few days before. I met up with a fellow who worked at my camp last summer, Colin. He showed me around the town and then his folks invited me over to their place in Southwell the following night. It was good catching up about camp stuff and having a nice home cooked meal. After the dinner, we had time to got to the local pub for the 'pub quiz' before catching the last bus back to Nottingham.

I also went to Warhammer world and Bugmans bar. Warhammer world is essentially the warhammer museum. The place is massive and houses the headquaters for the game. I saw (one of my favourite artist) John Blanche and some of the developers. Very cool. The place has a room with over a hundred 6x4 tables for gaming and a room full of beautifully painted miniatures in glass cases on the top floor. Attached to gamesworkshop is Bugmans Bar, which is a pub decorated like a dwarven alehouse. Good food and drinks and a really comfortable atmosphere. I met some folks there two days in a row for gaming.

Anyway, some pictures.

Bristol






Traveling






Nottingham





Warhammer World

Happy New Years!

A bit late. But happy new years all!