Twisty-turny


To the river, I went.




















To San Luca, I went.




















Also went on a long drive through the countryside with Beppe, to pick up F from some ancient church where he'd spent the night with his class.  It wasn't educational as far as I can tell, so....it was the Italian version of a camping trip, I guess?  The drive was alternately beautiful, enlightening (much WWII history was bestowed upon me), and terrifying, as the roads were...well, it's generous to call them roads.  Steep and twisty-turny.  B had a lover who died on these roads, he said.  So lots of emotions, white-knuckles, and stories of German slaughter.  We stopped at a cafe along the mountainside for a pick-me-up, and arrived back in Bologna in time for a raging thunderstorm.  This is the time of year when I start experiencing a deep longing for thunderstorms, so I was comforted by all the crashing and flashing and torrential rain.

Watched the new pope play peek-a-boo at St. Peter's on...was that Wednesday?  I don't pretend to know anything much about him, but he seemed to have a sense of humor.  V thought he was cute.  She also thought all the people gathered in the piazza were crazy.  I'd say our collective mood in the living room was a strange mix of hypnotized and detached, but Papa Francesco did his thing quick, and then we all went and had octopus for dinner.

Juventus, the popular soccer team from Turin, is playing Bologna tomorrow night.  The stadium's practically in our backyard, so that should be cool.

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