Walking to Work

Wow, I really wish that I had taken this photo, but I found it online and had to put it up here. What it says is, "Today I get up and I go on strike", and it's very appropriate because today Bologna's public transportation is on strike. After learning for years about the endless striking of the Italian labor unions, I get to experience it firsthand. It's not as fun as it looks, but it was pretty eerie to see all the buses heading back to wherever they come from with "Out of Service" tags - at 8:30 this morning when the strike began. I almost didn't make it to work today. However, the union does the labor force a favor by calling off the strike during rush hour, so that working people can get to work and home. Apparently strikes are so commonplace that no one really pays attention - the posters plastered all over the bus stops didn't even say what the strike was for.

Speaking of buses, Italy has a really interesting way of checking the tickets of passengers: the honor system. If you don't stamp your ticket when getting on the bus - or if you don't even buy a ticket - no one will know. Unless the ticket inspectors come, and then they will yell at you and fine you. And - even if you read in your guidebook that the inspectors don't ever show up - they do. And they are not nice. That's all I'm going to say about that. I stamp my ticket every day now.

One more quick story about food. This week I went with my boss and some other coworkers to a regional restaurant in the hills outside the city. There I was treated to a lard sandwich. Real lard. Whipped up with bacon bits, garlic, herbs, and parmesan cheese - and it almost sounds good, but really it's not so yummy. Though I have to admit I ate my whole sandwich, because I didn't want to seem rude.

This is what all the sidewalks of Bologna look like. There's some saying that you can get wherever you want to go in the city without ever getting hit by a drop of rain. (Not true.)